PSALM 94

The Lord Implored to Avenge His People.

1O Lord, God of vengeance,

God of vengeance, shine forth!

2Rise up, O Judge of the earth,

Render recompense to the proud.

3How long shall the wicked, O Lord,

How long shall the wicked exult?

4They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly;

All who do wickedness vaunt themselves.

5They crush Your people, O Lord,

And afflict Your heritage.

6They slay the widow and the stranger

And murder the orphans.

7They have said, “The Lord does not see,

Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed.”

8Pay heed, you senseless among the people;

And when will you understand, stupid ones?

9He who planted the ear, does He not hear?

He who formed the eye, does He not see?

10He who chastens the nations, will He not rebuke,

Even He who teaches man knowledge?

11The Lord knows the thoughts of man,

That they are a mere breath.

12Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O Lord,

And whom You teach out of Your law;

13That You may grant him relief from the days of adversity,

Until a pit is dug for the wicked.

14For the Lord will not abandon His people,

Nor will He forsake His inheritance.

15For judgment will again be righteous,

And all the upright in heart will follow it.

11whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. 12But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, 13suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, 14having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; 15forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.

1) How does divine judgment reveal יהוה’s justice?

2) Why must discipline purify rather than destroy?

3) What preserves the righteous amid corruption?

8There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord,

Nor are there any works like Yours.

9All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord,

And they shall glorify Your name.

10For You are great and do wondrous deeds;

You alone are God.

11Teach me Your way, O Lord;

I will walk in Your truth;

Unite my heart to fear Your name.

12I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,

And will glorify Your name forever.

13For Your lovingkindness toward me is great,

And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

14O God, arrogant men have risen up against me,

And a band of violent men have sought my life,

And they have not set You before them.

15But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.

16Turn to me, and be gracious to me;

Oh grant Your strength to Your servant,

And save the son of Your handmaid.

17Show me a sign for good,

That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,

Because You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Jesus before Pilate

1Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. 2Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He *answered him, “It is as you say.” 3The chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. 4Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!” 5But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed.

6Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. 7The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. 8The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. 9Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. 12Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” 13They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” 14But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

16The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman cohort. 17They *dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. 20After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him.

21They *pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.

The Crucifixion

22Then they *brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24And they *crucified Him, and *divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take. 25It was the third hour when they crucified Him. 26The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

27They *crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. 28[And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”] 29Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. 32Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

33When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 35When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” 36Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” 37And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. 38And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

40There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome. 41When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and minister to Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

42When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 44Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead.

Purpose of This Letter

1This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.

The Coming Day of the Lord

3Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” 5For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. 7But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

8But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

A New Heaven and Earth

10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

11Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

14Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.