1
2
God was looking down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who had wisdom, searching after God.
3
Every one of them has gone back they are unclean: there is not one who does good, no, not one.
4
Have the workers of evil no knowledge? they take my people for food, as they would take bread they make no prayer to God.
5
They were in great fear, where there was no cause for fear: for the bones of those who make war on you have been broken by God you have put them to shame, because God has no desire for them.
6
May the salvation of Israel come out of Zion! When the fate of his people is changed by God, Jacob will have joy, and Israel will be glad.
Psalm 54
1
Let your name be my salvation, O God let my cause be judged by your strength.
2
Let my prayer come before you, O God give ear to the words of my mouth.
3
For men who are going after me have come out against me, violent men are purposing to take my soul they have not put God before their eyes. (Selah.)
4
See, God is my helper: the Lord is the great supporter of my soul.
5
Let the evil works of my haters come back on them again let them be cut off by your good faith.
6
Freely will I make my offerings to you I will give praise to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7
Because it has been my saviour from all my trouble and my eyes have seen the punishment of my haters.
Psalm 55
1
Give hearing to my prayer, O God and let not your ear be shut against my request.
2
Give thought to me, and let my prayer be answered: I have been made low in sorrow
3
I am troubled because of the voice of the cruel ones, because of the loud cry of the evil-doers for they put a weight of evil on me, and they are cruel in their hate for me.
4
My heart is deeply wounded, and the fear of death has come on me.
5
Fear and shaking have come over me, with deep fear I am covered.
6
And I said, If only I had wings like a dove! for then I would go in flight from here and be at rest.
7
I would go wandering far away, living in the waste land. (Selah.)
8
I would quickly take cover from the driving storm and from the violent wind.
9
Send destruction on them, O Lord, make a division of tongues among them: for I have seen fighting and violent acts in the town.
10
By day and night they go round the town, on the walls trouble and sorrow are in the heart of it.
11
Evil is there cruel rule and deceit are ever in the streets.
12
For it was not my hater who said evil of me that would have been no grief to me it was not one outside the number of my friends who made himself strong against me, or I would have kept myself from him in a secret place
13
But it was you, my equal, my guide, my well-loved friend.
14
We had loving talk together, and went to the house of God in company.
15
Let the hand of death come on them suddenly, and let them go down living into the underworld because evil is in their houses and in their hearts.
16
As for me, I will make my prayer to God, and he will be my saviour.
17
In the evening and in the morning and in the middle of the day I will make my prayer with sounds of grief and my voice will come to his ears.
18
He has taken my soul away from the attack which was made against me, and given it peace for great numbers were against me.
19
God will give thought to me he who from early times is strong will send pain and trouble on them. (Selah.) Because they are unchanged, they have no fear of God.
20
He has put out his hand against those who were at peace with him he has not kept his agreement.
21
The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart his words were softer than oil, but they were sharp swords.
22
Put your cares on the Lord, and he will be your support he will not let the upright man be moved.
23
But you, O God, will send them down into the underworld the cruel and the false will be cut off before half their days are ended but I will have faith in you.
2 Corinthians 7
2-16
2
Let your hearts be open to us: we have done no man wrong, no man has been damaged by us, we have made no profit out of any man,
3
It is not with the purpose of judging you that I say this: for I have said before that you are in our hearts for life and death together.
4
My words to you are without fear, I am full of pride on account of you: I have great comfort and joy in all our troubles.
5
For even when we had come into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side there were fightings outside and fears inside.
6
But God who gives comfort to the poor in spirit gave us comfort by the coming of Titus
7
And not by his coming only, but by the comfort which he had in you, while he gave us word of your desire, your sorrow, your care for me so that I was still more glad.
8
For though my letter gave you pain, I have no regret for it now, though I had before for I see that the letter gave you pain, but only for a time.
9
Now I am glad, not that you had sorrow, but that your sorrow was the cause of a change of heart for yours was a holy sorrow so that you might undergo no loss by us in anything.
10
For the sorrow which God gives is the cause of salvation through a change of heart, in which there is no reason for grief: but the sorrow of the world is a cause of death.
11
For you see what care was produced in you by this very sorrow of yours before God, what clearing of yourselves, what wrath against sin, what fear, what desire, what serious purpose, what punishment. In everything you have made it clear that you are free from sin in this business.
12
So though I sent you a letter, it was not only because of the man who did the wrong, or because of him to whom the wrong was done, but so that your true care for us might be made clear in the eyes of God.
13
So we have been comforted: and we had the greater joy in our comfort because of the joy of Titus, for his spirit had been made glad by you all.
14
For I was not put to shame in anything in which I may have made clear to him my pride in you but as we said nothing to you but what was true, so the good things which I said to Titus about you were seen by him to be true.
15
And his love to you is the more increased by his memory of you all, how you gave way to his authority, and how you took him to your hearts with fear and honour.
16
It gives me great joy to see you answering to my good opinion of you in every way.
