Psalms 77:2–6

⁹With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

¹⁵And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

³⁵And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

¹⁶Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

⁷Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

¹WHEN Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;

²And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.

³And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴¶ So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not.

¹THEN Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly,

²And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.

¹⁵¶ Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

¹HEAR my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee.

²Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.

²⁸¶ If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:

⁷And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

⁸For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.

¹⁶Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.

¹⁷Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,

¹⁸And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

¹⁹Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.

²⁰¶ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.

³And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

⁴It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.

²⁸And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

⁷Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;

⁸And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.

⁹¶ And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:

¹⁰I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.

¹¹Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.

¹²And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

¹COME, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

⁵¶ Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

⁶From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

¹³If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;

³¹The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.

¹⁴The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?

¹OUT of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.

²Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

⁶In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

³There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.

⁴For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

⁵My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.

⁶I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

⁷For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.

⁸I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.

²Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.

³My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long?

⁶When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

⁷In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.

¹O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:

²Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;

³For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

²I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.

³When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.

²From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

²³For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

¹¹Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹⁷Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.

¹⁵Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.

¹⁶For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:

⁴For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

³⁹Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

³For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.

⁴My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.

⁵By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.

⁶I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.

⁷I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.

⁸Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.

⁹For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,

¹⁰Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.

¹¹My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

¹²But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.

¹³Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.

¹⁴For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.

¹⁵So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

¹⁶When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.

¹⁷He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

¹⁸This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.

¹⁹For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth;

²⁰To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;

²¹To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;

²²When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

²³He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

²⁴I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.

²⁵Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

²⁶They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:

²⁷But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

²⁸The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.

⁴Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.

⁵I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

¹¹Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

⁵Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

⁵Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

⁴My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.

⁵Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.

¹⁷And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.

³For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

⁴I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:

⁵Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.

⁶Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.

⁷Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.

⁸Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

⁹Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.

¹⁰Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.

¹¹Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?

¹²Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.

¹⁴Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?

¹⁵I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.

¹⁶Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.

¹⁷They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.

¹⁸Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

¹³When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;

¹⁴Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:

¹⁵So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.

⁶I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.

¹³So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

¹ON that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.

³For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.

⁷¶ Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.

⁹¶ Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

⁵I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

¹WE have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.

⁹In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

¹⁰¶ But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

¹¹Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?

¹²That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?

¹³That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?

¹⁴As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.

¹⁵¶ Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?

¹⁴¶ Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

¹⁵According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.

¹²For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

¹⁴Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

¹⁵Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.

¹⁶The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

¹⁷Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.

⁸Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

⁴Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

²⁴And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

⁴⁰Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.

²⁵¶ And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

¹⁶I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

²I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.

¹⁰But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night;

²Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

²⁸But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

²⁹For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

³⁰For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

³¹For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

³²But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

¹⁷¶ Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

¹⁸Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.