Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Proverbs 30:1-4, 24-33 and Psalm 102

Proverbs 30:1-4, 24-33

[1]The words of Agur son of Jakeh. An oracle.
Thus says the man: I am weary, O God,
I am weary, O God. How can I prevail?
[2]Surely I am too stupid to be human;
I do not have human understanding.
[3]I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the holy ones.
[4]Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is the person's name?
And what is the name of the person's child?
Surely you know!

[24]Four things on earth are small,
yet they are exceedingly wise:
[25]the ants are a people without strength,
yet they provide their food in the summer;
[26]the badgers are a people without power,
yet they make their homes in the rocks;
[27]the locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in rank;
[28]the lizard can be grasped in the hand,
yet it is found in kings' palaces.

[29]Three things are stately in their stride;
four are stately in their gait:
[30]the lion, which is mightiest among wild animals
and does not turn back before any;
[31]the strutting rooster, the he-goat,
and a king striding before his people.

[32]If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
or if you have been devising evil,
put your hand on your mouth.
[33]For as pressing milk produces curds,
and pressing the nose produces blood,
so pressing anger produces strife.

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Psalm 102

[1]   Hear my prayer, O LORD;  
          let my cry come to you.  
[2]   Do not hide your face from me  
          in the day of my distress.  
     Incline your ear to me;  
          answer me speedily in the day when I call.

[3]   For my days pass away like smoke,  
          and my bones burn like a furnace.  
[4]   My heart is stricken and withered like grass;  
          I am too wasted to eat my bread.  
[5]   Because of my loud groaning  
          my bones cling to my skin.  
[6]   I am like an owl of the wilderness,  
          like a little owl of the waste places.  
[7]   I lie awake;  
          I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.  
[8]   All day long my enemies taunt me;  
          those who deride me use my name for a curse.  
[9]   For I eat ashes like bread,  
          and mingle tears with my drink,  
[10]  because of your indignation and anger;  
          for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.  
[11]  My days are like an evening shadow;  
          I wither away like grass.

[12]  But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;  
          your name endures to all generations.  
[13]  You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,  
          for it is time to favor it;  
          the appointed time has come.  
[14]  For your servants hold its stones dear,  
          and have pity on its dust.  
[15]  The nations will fear the name of the LORD,  
          and all the kings of the earth your glory.  
[16]  For the LORD will build up Zion;  
          he will appear in his glory.  
[17]  He will regard the prayer of the destitute,  
          and will not despise their prayer.  
[18]  Let this be recorded for a generation to come,  
          so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:  
[19]  that he looked down from his holy height,  
          from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,  
[20]  to hear the groans of the prisoners,  
          to set free those who were doomed to die;  
[21]  so that the name of the LORD may be declared in Zion,  
          and his praise in Jerusalem,  
[22]  when peoples gather together,  
          and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

[23]  He has broken my strength in midcourse;  
          he has shortened my days.  
[24]  "O my God," I say, "do not take me away  
          at the mid-point of my life,  
     you whose years endure  
          throughout all generations."

[25]  Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,  
          and the heavens are the work of your hands.  
[26]  They will perish, but you endure;  
          they will all wear out like a garment.  
     You change them like clothing, and they pass away;  
[27]       but you are the same, and your years have no end.  
[28]  The children of your servants shall live secure;  

          their offspring shall be established in your presence.

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