Meditate

10. Lord's Anger Against Israel

10

Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees,

who write oppressive statutes,

2

to turn aside the needy from justice

and to rob the poor of my people of their right,

that widows may be your spoil,

and that you may make the orphans your prey!

3

What will you do on the day of punishment,

in the calamity that will come from far away?

To whom will you flee for help,

and where will you leave your wealth,

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so as not to crouch among the prisoners

or fall among the slain?

For all this his anger has not turned away;

his hand is stretched out still.

Arrogant Assyria Also Judged

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Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger—

the club in their hands is my fury!

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Against a godless nation I send him,

and against the people of my wrath I command him,

to take spoil and seize plunder,

and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

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But this is not what he intends,

nor does he have this in mind;

but it is in his heart to destroy,

and to cut off nations not a few.

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For he says:

“Are not my commanders all kings?

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Is not Calno like Carchemish?

Is not Hamath like Arpad?

Is not Samaria like Damascus?

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As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols

whose images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

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shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols

what I have done to Samaria and her images?”

¹² When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride.¹³For he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,

and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;

I have removed the boundaries of peoples,

and have plundered their treasures;

like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.

14

My hand has found, like a nest,

the wealth of the peoples;

and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,

so I have gathered all the earth;

and there was none that moved a wing,

or opened its mouth, or chirped.”

15

Shall the ax vaunt itself over the one who wields it,

or the saw magnify itself against the one who handles it?

As if a rod should raise the one who lifts it up,

or as if a staff should lift the one who is not wood!

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Therefore the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,

will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,

and under his glory a burning will be kindled,

like the burning of fire.

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The light of Israel will become a fire,

and his Holy One a flame;

and it will burn and devour

his thorns and briers in one day.

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The glory of his forest and his fruitful land

the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,

and it will be as when an invalid wastes away.

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The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few

that a child can write them down.

The Repentant Remnant of Israel

²⁰ On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on the one who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.²¹A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.²²For though your people Israel were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.²³For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in all the earth.

²⁴ Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: O my people, who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they beat you with a rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did.²⁵For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction.²⁶The Lord of hosts will wield a whip against them, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt.²⁷On that day his burden will be removed from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed from your neck.

He has gone up from Rimmon,

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he has come to Aiath;

he has passed through Migron,

at Michmash he stores his baggage;

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they have crossed over the pass,

at Geba they lodge for the night;

Ramah trembles,

Gibeah of Saul has fled.

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Cry aloud, O daughter Gallim!

Listen, O Laishah!

Answer her, O Anathoth!

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Madmenah is in flight,

the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.

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This very day he will halt at Nob,

he will shake his fist

at the mount of daughter Zion,

the hill of Jerusalem.

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Look, the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,

will lop the boughs with terrifying power;

the tallest trees will be cut down,

and the lofty will be brought low.

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He will hack down the thickets of the forest with an ax,

and Lebanon with its majestic trees will fall.

9. Psalm 9

Psalm 9

God’s Power and Justice

To the leader: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

1

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

2

I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3

When my enemies turned back,

they stumbled and perished before you.

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For you have maintained my just cause;

you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.

5

You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;

you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

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The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;

their cities you have rooted out;

the very memory of them has perished.

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But the Lord sits enthroned forever,

he has established his throne for judgment.

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He judges the world with righteousness;

he judges the peoples with equity.

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The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

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And those who know your name put their trust in you,

for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

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Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.

Declare his deeds among the peoples.

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For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;

he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

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Be gracious to me, O Lord.

See what I suffer from those who hate me;

you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,

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so that I may recount all your praises,

and, in the gates of daughter Zion,

rejoice in your deliverance.

15

The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;

in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.

16

The Lord has made himself known, he has executed judgment;

the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.Higgaion. Selah

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The wicked shall depart to Sheol,

all the nations that forget God.

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For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

nor the hope of the poor perish forever.

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Rise up, O Lord! Do not let mortals prevail;

let the nations be judged before you.

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Put them in fear, O Lord;

let the nations know that they are only human.Selah