Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.

我未受苦以先走迷了路，现在却遵守你的话。

我未受苦以先曾经迷失，现在却遵守你的话。

我未受苦以先曾经迷失，现在却遵守你的话。

从前我没有受苦的时候走迷了路，现在我要遵行你的话。

我受苦以先，犯了错误；现在我谨守你的话。

在我受磨炼之前，我是迷失的；而现在，我遵守你的言语。

我未受苦以先走迷了路，現在卻遵守你的話。

我未受苦以先曾經迷失，現在卻遵守你的話。

我未受苦以先曾經迷失，現在卻遵守你的話。

從前我沒有受苦的時候走迷了路，現在我要遵行你的話。

我受苦以先，犯了錯誤；現在我謹守你的話。

在未遭受苦難以前、我犯了錯誤；現在我遵守你的訓言。

在我受磨煉之前，我是迷失的；而現在，我遵守你的言語。

我未受苦之先、曾入歧路、今守爾言兮、

我未受苦、則迷我途、今守爾道兮、

我未受苦之先、誤行錯路、今我遵守主言、

昔處順境。沈溺邪淫。既遭顚沛。玉我於成。

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.

Before I went through suffering, I went down the wrong path. But now I obey your word.

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.

I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word.

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.

Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.

Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.

Before I was afflicted I went astray; But now I observe thy word.

Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.

Before I was afflicted I used to stray off, but now I keep your instructions.

Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I observe your word.

I have heard Ephraim moaning,“ You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined like an untrained calf. Restore me, and I will return, for you, Lord, are my God.After I returned, I repented; After I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”

I will depart and return to My place until they recognize their guilt and seek My face; they will search for Me in their distress.Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, and He will heal us; He has wounded us, and He will bind up our wounds.

Therefore, this is what I will do: I will block her way with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so that she cannot find her paths.She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them. Then she will think,“ I will go back to my former husband, for then it was better for me than now.”

It was good for me to be afflicted so that I could learn Your statutes.

So Manasseh caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to stray so that they did worse evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they didn’t listen.So He brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria. They captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.When he was in distress, he sought the favor of Yahweh his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.He prayed to Him, so He heard his petition and granted his request, and brought him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom. So Manasseh came to know that Yahweh is God.

I wander like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commands.

I know, Lord, that Your judgments are just and that You have afflicted me fairly.

For the turning away of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or faint when you are reproved by Him,for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives.Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?But if you are without discipline— which all receive— then you are illegitimate children and not sons.Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness.No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Because you have kept My command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come over the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

When all the kings who were Hadadezer’s subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became their subjects. After this, the Arameans were afraid to ever help the Ammonites again.

They are not in trouble like others; they are not afflicted like most people.Therefore, pride is their necklace, and violence covers them like a garment.Their eyes bulge out from fatness; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.They mock, and they speak maliciously; they arrogantly threaten oppression.They set their mouths against heaven, and their tongues strut across the earth.Therefore His people turn to them and drink in their overflowing words.The wicked say,“ How can God know? Does the Most High know everything?”Look at them— the wicked! They are always at ease, and they increase their wealth.Did I purify my heart and wash my hands in innocence for nothing?For I am afflicted all day long and punished every morning.If I had decided to say these things aloud, I would have betrayed Your people.When I tried to understand all this, it seemed hopelessuntil I entered God’s sanctuary. Then I understood their destiny.Indeed, You put them in slippery places; You make them fall into ruin.How suddenly they become a desolation! They come to an end, swept away by terrors.Like one waking from a dream, Lord, when arising, You will despise their image.When I became embittered and my innermost being was wounded,I was stupid and didn’t understand; I was an unthinking animal toward You.Yet I am always with You; You hold my right hand.You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will take me up in glory.Who do I have in heaven but You? And I desire nothing on earth but You.My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.Those far from You will certainly perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.But as for me, God’s presence is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge, so I can tell about all You do.

One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing— a very beautiful woman.So David sent someone to inquire about her, and he reported,“ This is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite.”David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. Now she had just been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Afterward, she returned home.The woman conceived and sent word to inform David:“ I am pregnant.”David sent orders to Joab:“ Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David.When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going.Then he said to Uriah,“ Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him.But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.When it was reported to David,“ Uriah didn’t go home,” David questioned Uriah,“ Haven’t you just come from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?”Uriah answered David,“ The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!”“ Stay here today also,” David said to Uriah,“ and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. He went out in the evening to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.In the letter he wrote: Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies.When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were.Then the men of the city came out and attacked Joab, and some of the men from David’s soldiers fell in battle; Uriah the Hittite also died.Joab sent someone to report to David all the details of the battle.He commanded the messenger,“ When you’ve finished telling the king all the details of the battle—if the king’s anger gets stirred up and he asks you,‘ Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the top of the wall?At Thebez, who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died? Why did you get so close to the wall?’— then say,‘ Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”Then the messenger left. When he arrived, he reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell.The messenger reported to David,“ The men gained the advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we counterattacked right up to the entrance of the gate.However, the archers shot down on your soldiers from the top of the wall, and some of the king’s soldiers died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”David told the messenger,“ Say this to Joab:‘ Don’t let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him.”When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah had died, she mourned for him.When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the Lord considered what David had done to be evil.

I spoke to you when you were secure. You said,“ I will not listen.” This has been your way since youth; indeed, you have never listened to Me.

Then Jeshurun became fat and rebelled— you became fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.