Bible Reading Plan – Day 116

₁O Lord, you have always been our home.

₂Before you created the hills

or brought the world into being,

you were eternally God,

and will be God for ever.

₃You tell us to return to what we were;

you change us back to dust.

₄A thousand years to you are like one day;

they are like yesterday, already gone,

like a short hour in the night.

₅You carry us away like a flood;

we last no longer than a dream.

We are like weeds that sprout in the morning,

₆that grow and burst into bloom,

then dry up and die in the evening.

₇We are destroyed by your anger;

we are terrified by your fury.

₈You place our sins before you,

our secret sins where you can see them.

₉Our life is cut short by your anger;

it fades away like a whisper.

₁₀Seventy years is all we have —

eighty years, if we are strong;

yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow;

life is soon over, and we are gone.

₁₁Who has felt the full power of your anger?

Who knows what fear your fury can bring?

₁₂Teach us how short our life is,

so that we may become wise.

₁₃How much longer will your anger last?

Have pity, O LORD, on your servants!

₁₄Fill us each morning with your constant love,

so that we may sing and be glad all our life.

₁₅Give us now as much happiness as the sadness you gave us

during all our years of misery.

₁₆Let us, your servants, see your mighty deeds;

let our descendants see your glorious might.

₁₇LORD our God, may your blessings be with us.

Give us success in all we do!

₁Whoever goes to the LORD for safety,

whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty,

₂can say to him,

“You are my defender and protector.

You are my God; in you I trust.”

₃He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers

and from all deadly diseases.

₄He will cover you with his wings;

you will be safe in his care;

his faithfulness will protect and defend you.

₅You need not fear any dangers at night

or sudden attacks during the day

₆or the plagues that strike in the dark

or the evils that kill in daylight.

₇A thousand may fall dead beside you,

10,000 all round you,

but you will not be harmed.

₈You will look and see

how the wicked are punished.

₉You have made the LORD your defender,

the Most High your protector,

₁₀and so no disaster will strike you,

no violence will come near your home.

₁₁God will put his angels in charge of you

to protect you wherever you go.

₁₂They will hold you up with their hands

to keep you from hurting your feet on the stones.

₁₃You will trample down lions and snakes,

fierce lions and poisonous snakes.

₁₄God says, “I will save those who love me

and will protect those who acknowledge me as LORD.

₁₅When they call to me, I will answer them;

when they are in trouble, I will be with them.

I will rescue them and honour them.

₁₆I will reward them with long life;

I will save them.”

₁How good it is to give thanks to you, O LORD,

to sing in your honour, O Most High God,

₂to proclaim your constant love every morning

and your faithfulness every night,

₃with the music of stringed instruments

and with melody on the harp.

₄Your mighty deeds, O LORD, make me glad;

because of what you have done, I sing for joy.

₅How great are your actions, LORD!

How deep are your thoughts!

₆This is something a fool cannot know;

a stupid person cannot understand:

₇the wicked may grow like weeds,

those who do wrong may prosper;

yet they will be totally destroyed,

₈because you, LORD, are supreme for ever.

₉We know that your enemies will die,

and all the wicked will be defeated.

₁₀You have made me as strong as a wild ox;

you have blessed me with happiness.

₁₁I have seen the defeat of my enemies

and heard the cries of the wicked.

₁₂The righteous will flourish like palm trees;

they will grow like the cedars of Lebanon.

₁₃They are like trees planted in the house of the LORD,

that flourish in the Temple of our God,

₁₄that still bear fruit in old age

and are always green and strong.

₁₅This shows that the LORD is just,

that there is no wrong in my protector.

₁The LORD is king.

He is clothed with majesty and strength.

The earth is set firmly in place

and cannot be moved.

₂Your throne, O LORD, has been firm from the beginning,

and you existed before time began.

₃The ocean depths raise their voice, O LORD;

they raise their voice and roar.

₄The LORD rules supreme in heaven,

greater than the roar of the ocean,

more powerful than the waves of the sea.

₅Your laws are eternal, LORD,

and your Temple is holy indeed,

for ever and ever.

₁LORD, you are a God who punishes;

reveal your anger!

₂You are the judge of all;

rise and give the proud what they deserve!

₃How much longer will the wicked be glad?

How much longer, LORD?

₄How much longer will criminals be proud

and boast about their crimes?

₅They crush your people, LORD;

they oppress those who belong to you.

₆They kill widows and orphans,

and murder the strangers who live in our land.

₇They say, “The LORD does not see us;

the God of Israel does not notice.”

₈My people, how can you be such stupid fools?

When will you ever learn?

₉God made our ears — can't he hear?

He made our eyes — can't he see?

₁₀He scolds the nations — won't he punish them?

He is the teacher of all — hasn't he any knowledge?

₁₁The LORD knows what they think;

he knows how senseless their reasoning is.

₁₂LORD, how happy are those you instruct,

the ones to whom you teach your law!

₁₃You give them rest from days of trouble

until a pit is dug to trap the wicked.

₁₄The LORD will not abandon his people;

he will not desert those who belong to him.

₁₅Justice will again be found in the courts,

and all righteous people will support it.

₁₆Who stood up for me against the wicked?

Who took my side against the evildoers?

₁₇If the LORD had not helped me,

I would have gone quickly to the land of silence.

₁₈I said, “I am falling”;

but your constant love, O LORD, held me up.

₁₉Whenever I am anxious and worried,

you comfort me and make me glad.

₂₀You have nothing to do with corrupt judges,

who make injustice legal,

₂₁who plot against good people

and sentence the innocent to death.

₂₂But the LORD defends me;

my God protects me.

₂₃He will punish them for their wickedness

and destroy them for their sins;

the LORD our God will destroy them.

₁Come, let us praise the LORD!

Let us sing for joy to God, who protects us!

₂Let us come before him with thanksgiving

and sing joyful songs of praise.

₃For the LORD is a mighty God,

a mighty king over all the gods.

₄He rules over the whole earth,

from the deepest caves to the highest hills.

₅He rules over the sea, which he made;

the land also, which he himself formed.

₆Come, let us bow down and worship him;

let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

₇He is our God;

we are the people he cares for,

the flock for which he provides.

Listen today to what he says:

₈“Don't be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah,

as they were that day in the desert at Massah.

₉There they put me to the test and tried me,

although they had seen what I did for them.

₁₀For forty years I was disgusted with those people.

I said, ‘How disloyal they are!

They refuse to obey my commands.’

₁₁I was angry and made a solemn promise:

‘You will never enter the land

where I would have given you rest.’ ”

₁Sing a new song to the LORD!

Sing to the LORD, all the world!

₂Sing to the LORD, and praise him!

Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us.

₃Proclaim his glory to the nations,

his mighty deeds to all peoples.

₄The LORD is great and is to be highly praised;

he is to be honoured more than all the gods.

₅The gods of all other nations are only idols,

but the LORD created the heavens.

₆Glory and majesty surround him;

power and beauty fill his Temple.

₇Praise the LORD, all people on earth;

praise his glory and might.

₈Praise the LORD's glorious name;

bring an offering and come into his Temple.

₉Bow down before the Holy One when he appears;

tremble before him, all the earth!

₁₀Say to all the nations, “The LORD is king!

The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved;

he will judge the peoples with justice.”

₁₁Be glad, earth and sky!

Roar, sea, and every creature in you;

₁₂be glad, fields, and everything in you!

The trees in the woods will shout for joy

₁₃when the LORD comes to rule the earth.

He will rule the peoples of the world

with justice and fairness.