Proverbs 30:1-4, 30:24-33
The words of Agur son of Jakeh. An oracle. Thus says the man: I am weary, O God, I am weary, O God. How can I prevail? Surely I am too stupid to be human; I do not have human understanding. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the holy ones. Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is the person's name? And what is the name of the person's child? Surely you know! Four things on earth are small, yet they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people without strength, yet they provide their food in the summer; the badgers are a people without power, yet they make their homes in the rocks; the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank; the lizard can be grasped in the hand, yet it is found in kings' palaces. Three things are stately in their stride; four are stately in their gait: the lion, which is mightiest among wild animals and does not turn back before any; the strutting rooster, the he-goat, and a king striding before his people. If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth. For as pressing milk produces curds, and pressing the nose produces blood, so pressing anger produces strife.
Philippians 3:1-11
Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a safeguard. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh-- even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
John 18:28-38
Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate's headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this man?" They answered, "If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you." Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law." The Jews replied, "We are not permitted to put anyone to death." (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, "I find no case against him.
Psalm 26 Judica me, Domine
1 Give judgment for me, O LORD, for I have lived with integrity; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.
2 Test me, O LORD, and try me; examine my heart and my mind.
3 For your love is before my eyes; I have walked faithfully with you.
4 I have not sat with the worthless, nor do I consort with the deceitful.
5 I have hated the company of evildoers; I will not sit down with the wicked.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence, O LORD, that I may go in procession round your altar,
7 Singing aloud a song of thanksgiving and recounting all your wonderful deeds.
8 LORD, I love the house in which you dwell and the place where your glory abides.
9 Do not sweep me away with sinners, nor my life with those who thirst for blood,
10 Whose hands are full of evil plots, and their right hand full of bribes.
11 As for me, I will live with integrity; redeem me, O LORD, and have pity on me.
12 My foot stands on level ground; in the full assembly I will bless the LORD.
Psalm 28 Ad te, Domine
1 O LORD, I call to you; my Rock, do not be deaf to my cry; lest, if you do not hear me, I become like those who go down to the Pit.
2 Hear the voice of my prayer when I cry out to you, when I lift up my hands to your holy of holies.
3 Do not snatch me away with the wicked or with the evildoers, who speak peaceably with their neighbors, while strife is in their hearts.
4 Repay them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their actions.
5 According to the work of their hands repay them, and give them their just deserts.
6 They have no understanding of the LORD'S doings, nor of the works of his hands; therefore he will break them down and not build them up.
7 Blessed is the LORD! for he has heard the voice of my prayer.
8 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I have been helped;
9 Therefore my heart dances for joy, and in my song will I praise him.
10 The LORD is the strength of his people, a safe refuge for his anointed.
11 Save your people and bless your inheritance; shepherd them and carry them for ever.
Psalm 36 Dixit injustus
1 There is a voice of rebellion deep in the heart of the wicked; there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 He flatters himself in his own eyes that his hateful sin will not be found out.
3 The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has left off acting wisely and doing good.
4 He thinks up wickedness upon his bed and has set himself in no good way; he does not abhor that which is evil.
5 Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, and your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the strong mountains, your justice like the great deep; you save both man and beast, O LORD.
7 How priceless is your love, O God! your people take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast upon the abundance of your house; you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the well of life, and in your light we see light.
10 Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, and your favor to those who are true of heart.
11 Let not the foot of the proud come near me, nor the hand of the wicked push me aside.
12 See how they are fallen, those who work wickedness! they are cast down and shall not be able to rise.
Psalm 39 Dixi, Custodiam
1 I said, "I will keep watch upon my ways, so that I do not offend with my tongue.
2 I will put a muzzle on my mouth while the wicked are in my presence."
3 So I held my tongue and said nothing; I refrained from rash words; but my pain became unbearable.
4 My heart was hot within me; while I pondered, the fire burst into flame; I spoke out with my tongue:
5 LORD, let me know my end and the number of my days, so that I may know how short my life is.
6 You have given me a mere handful of days, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight; truly, even those who stand erect are but a puff of wind.
7 We walk about like a shadow, and in vain we are in turmoil; we heap up riches and cannot tell who will gather them.
8 And now, what is my hope? O Lord, my hope is in you.
9 Deliver me from all my transgressions and do not make me the taunt of the fool.
10 I fell silent and did not open my mouth, for surely it was you that did it.
11 Take your affliction from me; I am worn down by the blows of your hand.
12 With rebukes for sin you punish us; like a moth you eat away all that is dear to us; truly, everyone is but a puff of wind.
13 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears.
14 For I am but a sojourner with you, a wayfarer, as all my forebears were.
15 Turn your gaze from me, that I may be glad again, before I go my way and am no more.
