Psalm 38:1–22 (NIV84)

¹ O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. ² For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me. ³ Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin. ⁴ My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. ⁵ My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. ⁶ I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning. ⁷ My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body. ⁸ I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart. ⁹ All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. ¹⁰ My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes. ¹¹ My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away. ¹² Those who seek my life set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they plot deception. ¹³ I am like a deaf man, who cannot hear, like a mute, who cannot open his mouth; ¹⁴ I have become like a man who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply. ¹⁵ I wait for you, O Lord; you will answer, O Lord my God. ¹⁶ For I said, “Do not let them gloat or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.” ¹⁷ For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me. ¹⁸ I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin. ¹⁹ Many are those who are my vigorous enemies; those who hate me without reason are numerous. ²⁰ Those who repay my good with evil slander me when I pursue what is good. ²¹ O Lord, do not forsake me; be not far from me, O my God. ²² Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior.

Exodus 39:1–7 (NIV84)

¹ From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary. They also made sacred garments for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses. ² They made the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. ³ They hammered out thin sheets of gold and cut strands to be worked into the blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen—the work of a skilled craftsman. ⁴ They made shoulder pieces for the ephod, which were attached to two of its corners, so it could be fastened. ⁵ Its skillfully woven waistband was like it—of one piece with the ephod and made with gold, and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen, as the Lord commanded Moses. ⁶ They mounted the onyx stones in gold filigree settings and engraved them like a seal with the names of the sons of Israel. ⁷ Then they fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.

2 Corinthians 7:2–16 (NIV84)

² Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. ³ I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. ⁴ I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds. ⁵ For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. ⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, ⁷ and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever. ⁸ Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— ⁹ yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. ¹¹ See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. ¹² So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong or of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. ¹³ By all this we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. ¹⁴ I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. ¹⁵ And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶ I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.