Psalm 69

⁶ Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    may those who hope in you
    not be disgraced because of me;
God of Israel,
    may those who seek you
    not be put to shame because of me.
⁷ For I endure scorn for your sake,
    and shame covers my face.
⁸ I am a foreigner to my own family,
    a stranger to my own mother’s children;
⁹ for zeal for your house consumes me,
    and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
¹⁰ When I weep and fast,
    I must endure scorn;
¹¹ when I put on sackcloth,
    people make sport of me.
¹² Those who sit at the gate mock me,
    and I am the song of the drunkards.

¹³ But I pray to you, Lord,
    in the time of your favor;
in your great love, O God,
    answer me with your sure salvation.
¹⁴ Rescue me from the mire,
    do not let me sink;
deliver me from those who hate me,
    from the deep waters.
¹⁵ Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
    or the depths swallow me up
    or the pit close its mouth over me.

2 Corinthians 1

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

Psalm 78

The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, 
    turned back on the day of battle; 
¹⁰ they did not keep God’s covenant 
    and refused to live by his law. 
¹¹ They forgot what he had done, 
    the wonders he had shown them.
¹² He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. 
¹³ He divided the sea and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall. 
¹⁴ He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night. 
¹⁵ He split the rocks in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
¹⁶ he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷ But they continued to sin against him,
    rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
¹⁸ They willfully put God to the test 
    by demanding the food they craved. 
¹⁹ They spoke against God; 
    they said, “Can God really
    spread a table in the wilderness?
²⁰ True, he struck the rock,
    and water gushed out, 
    streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
    Can he supply meat for his people?”
²¹ When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
    his fire broke out against Jacob,
    and his wrath rose against Israel,
²² for they did not believe in God
    or trust in his deliverance.
²³ Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens; 
²⁴ he rained down manna for the people to eat,
    he gave them the grain of heaven.
²⁵ Human beings ate the bread of angels;
    he sent them all the food they could eat.
²⁶ He let loose the east wind from the heavens
    and by his power made the south wind blow.
²⁷ He rained meat down on them like dust,
    birds like sand on the seashore.
²⁸ He made them come down inside their camp,
    all around their tents.
²⁹ They ate till they were gorged— 
    he had given them what they craved.
³⁰ But before they turned from what they craved,
    even while the food was still in their mouths, 
³¹ God’s anger rose against them;
    he put to death the sturdiest among them,
    cutting down the young men of Israel.

³² In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; 
    in spite of his wonders, they did not believe. 
³³ So he ended their days in futility 
    and their years in terror.
³⁴ Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;
    they eagerly turned to him again.
³⁵ They remembered that God was their Rock, 
    that God Most High was their Redeemer. 
³⁶ But then they would flatter him with their mouths, 
    lying to him with their tongues;
³⁷ their hearts were not loyal to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
³⁸ Yet he was merciful; 
    he forgave their iniquities 
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger 
    and did not stir up his full wrath.
³⁹ He remembered that they were but flesh, 
    a passing breeze that does not return.

Isaiah 51:12-14

“I, even I, am he who comforts you.
    Who are you that you fear mere mortals, 
    human beings who are but grass, 
¹³ that you forget the Lord your Maker, 
    who stretches out the heavens 
    and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror every day
    because of the wrath of the oppressor,
    who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor? 
¹⁴     The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; 
they will not die in their dungeon,
    nor will they lack bread. 

Isaiah 51

“I, even I, am he who comforts you.
    Who are you that you fear mere mortals, 
    human beings who are but grass, 
¹³ that you forget the Lord your Maker, 
    who stretches out the heavens 
    and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror every day
    because of the wrath of the oppressor,
    who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor? 
¹⁴     The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; 
they will not die in their dungeon,
    nor will they lack bread. 
¹⁵ For I am the Lord your God,
    who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar —
    the Lord Almighty is his name.
¹⁶ I have put my words in your mouth 
    and covered you with the shadow of my hand —
I who set the heavens in place,
    who laid the foundations of the earth, 
    and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people. ’”

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

¹⁷ Awake, awake! 
    Rise up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
    the cup of his wrath, 
you who have drained to its dregs 
    the goblet that makes people stagger. 
¹⁸ Among all the children she bore
    there was none to guide her; 
among all the children she reared
    there was none to take her by the hand. 
¹⁹ These double calamities have come upon you—
    who can comfort you? —
ruin and destruction, famine and sword —
    who can^[a] console you?
²⁰ Your children have fainted;
    they lie at every street corner, 
    like antelope caught in a net. 
They are filled with the wrath of the Lord,
    with the rebuke of your God.

²¹ Therefore hear this, you afflicted one,
    made drunk, but not with wine.
²² This is what your Sovereign Lord says,
    your God, who defends his people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
    the cup that made you stagger;
from that cup, the goblet of my wrath,
    you will never drink again.
²³ I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, 
    who said to you,
    ‘Fall prostrate that we may walk on you.’
And you made your back like the ground,
    like a street to be walked on.”

Isaiah 43:25

²⁵ “I, even I, am he who blots out
    your transgressions, for my own sake, 
    and remembers your sins no more.

Jeremiah 10

Jeremiah’s Prayer

²³ Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
    it is not for them to direct their steps. 
²⁴ Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—
    not in your anger, 
    or you will reduce me to nothing. 
²⁵ Pour out your wrath on the nations 
    that do not acknowledge you,
    on the peoples who do not call on your name. 
For they have devoured Jacob;
    they have devoured him completely
    and destroyed his homeland.

Psalm 103

Praise the Lord, my soul; 
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 
² Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins 
    and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion, 
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The Lord works righteousness 
    and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
    his deeds to the people of Israel:
⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious, 
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever; 
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve 
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him; 
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

Isaiah 43:1-

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel: 
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 
² When you pass through the waters, 
    I will be with you; 
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, 
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze. 
³ For I am the Lord your God, 
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; 
I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush^[a] and Seba in your stead. 
⁴ Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.