A Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors

571 To the Overseer.—'Destroy not.'—A secret treasure of David, in his fleeing from the face of Saul into a cave. Favour me, O God, favour me, For in Thee is my soul trusting, And in the shadow of Thy wings I trust, Until the calamities pass over. 2 I call to God Most High, To God 'who' is perfecting for me. 3 He sendeth from the heaven, and saveth me, He reproached—who is panting after me. Selah. God sendeth forth His kindness and His truth. 4 My soul 'is' in the midst of lions, I lie down 'among' flames—sons of men, Their teeth 'are' a spear and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword. 5 Be Thou exalted above the heavens, O God, Above all the earth Thine honour. 6 A net they have prepared for my steps, Bowed down hath my soul, They have digged before me a pit, They have fallen into its midst. Selah.

7 Prepared is my heart, O God, Prepared is my heart, I sing and praise. 8 Awake, mine honour, awake, psaltery and harp, I awake the morning dawn. 9 I thank Thee among the peoples, O Lord, I praise Thee among the nations. 10 For great unto the heavens 'is' Thy kindness, And unto the clouds Thy truth. 11 Be thou exalted above the heavens, O God. Above all the earth Thine honour!

A Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked

581 To the Overseer.—'Destroy not.'—A secret treasure, by David. Is it true, O dumb one, righteously ye speak? Uprightly ye judge, O sons of men? 2 Even in heart ye work iniquities, In the land the violence of your hands ye ponder. 3 The wicked have been estranged from the womb, They have erred from the belly, speaking lies. 4 Their poison 'is' as poison of a serpent, As a deaf asp shutting its ear, 5 Which hearkeneth not to the voice of whisperers, A charmer of charms most skilful.

6 O God, break their teeth in their mouth, The jaw-teeth of young lions break down, O Jehovah. 7 They are melted as waters, They go up and down for themselves, His arrow proceedeth as they cut themselves off. 8 As a snail that melteth he goeth on, 'As' an untimely birth of a woman, They have not seen the sun. 9 Before your pots discern the bramble, As well the raw as the heated He whirleth away. 10 The righteous rejoiceth that he hath seen vengeance, His steps he washeth in the blood of the wicked. 11 And man saith: 'Surely fruit 'is' for the righteous: Surely there is a God judging in the earth!'

A Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

591 To the Overseer.—'Destroy not,' by David.—A secret treasure, in Saul's sending, and they watch the house to put him to death. Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God, From my withstanders set me on high. 2 Deliver me from workers of iniquity, And from men of blood save me. 3 For, lo, they laid wait for my soul, Assembled against me are strong ones, Not my transgression nor my sin, O Jehovah. 4 Without punishment they run and prepare themselves, Stir up to meet me, and see. 5 And Thou, Jehovah, God of Hosts, God of Israel, Awake to inspect all the nations. Favour not any treacherous dealers of iniquity. Selah. 6 They turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And go round about the city. 7 Lo, they belch out with their mouths, Swords 'are' in their lips, for 'Who heareth?'

8 And Thou, O Jehovah dost laugh at them, Thou dost mock at all the nations. 9 O my Strength, unto Thee I take heed, For God 'is' my tower—the God of my kindness. 10 God doth go before me, He causeth me to look on mine enemies. 11 Slay them not, lest my people forget, Shake them by Thy strength, And bring them down, O Lord our shield. 12 The sin of their mouth 'is' a word of their lips, And they are captured in their pride, And from the curse and lying they recount. 13 Consume in fury, consume and they are not, And they know that God is ruling in Jacob, To the ends of the earth. Selah. 14 And they turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And they go round about the city. 15 They—they wander for food, If they are not satisfied—then they murmur. 16 And I—I sing 'of' Thy strength, And I sing at morn 'of' Thy kindness, For thou hast been a tower to me, And a refuge for me in a day of adversity. 17 O my Strength, unto Thee I sing praise, For God 'is' my tower, the God of my kindness!

The Example of Abraham

41 What, then, shall we say Abraham our father, to have found, according to flesh? 2 for if Abraham by works was declared righteous, he hath to boast—but not before god; 3 for what doth the writing say? 'And Abraham did believe God, and it was reckoned to him—to righteousness;' 4 and to him who is working, the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt; 5 and to him who is not working, and is believing upon Him who is declaring righteous the impious, his faith is reckoned—to righteousness: 6 even as David also doth speak of the happiness of the man to whom God doth reckon righteousness apart from works: 7 'Happy they whose lawless acts were forgiven, and whose sins were covered; 8 happy the man to whom the Lord may not reckon sin.'

9 'Is' this happiness, then, upon the circumcision, or also upon the uncircumcision—for we say that the faith was reckoned to Abraham—to righteousness? 10 how then was it reckoned? he being in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision; 11 and a sign he did receive of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith in the uncircumcision, for his being father of all those believing through uncircumcision, for the righteousness also being reckoned to them, 12 and father of circumcision to those not of circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of the faith, that 'is' in the uncircumcision of our father Abraham.

The Promise Realized through Faith

13 For not through law 'is' the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, of his being heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith; 14 for if they who are of law 'are' heirs, the faith hath been made void, and the promise hath been made useless; 15 for the law doth work wrath; for where law is not, neither 'is' transgression. 16 Because of this 'it is' of faith, that 'it may be' according to grace, for the promise being sure to all the seed, not to that which 'is' of the law only, but also to that which 'is' of the faith of Abraham,

17 who is father of us all (according as it hath been written—'A father of many nations I have set thee,') before Him whom he did believe—God, who is quickening the dead, and is calling the things that be not as being. 18 Who, against hope in hope did believe, for his becoming father of many nations according to that spoken: 'So shall thy seed be;' 19 and not having been weak in the faith, he did not consider his own body, already become dead, (being about a hundred years old,) and the deadness of Sarah's womb, 20 and at the promise of God did not stagger in unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, having given glory to God, 21 and having been fully persuaded that what He hath promised He is able also to do: 22 wherefore also it was reckoned to him to righteousness.

23 And it was not written on his account alone, that it was reckoned to him, 24 but also on ours, to whom it is about to be reckoned—to us believing on Him who did raise up Jesus our Lord out of the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous.