Office of the Reading, Friday 18th April 2025

Psalm 22:2-23
God hears the suffering of his Holy One

Jesus cried with a loud voice: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46).

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? *
You are far from my plea and the cry of my distress.
O my God, I call by day and you give no reply; *
I call by night and I find no peace.

Yet you, O God, are holy, *
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers put their trust; *
they trusted and you set them free.
When they cried to you, they escaped. *
In you they trusted and never in vain.

But I am a worm and no man, *
scorned by men, despised by the people.
All who see me deride me. *
They curl their lips, they toss their heads.
“He trusted in the Lord, let him save him; *
let him release him if this is his friend.”

Yes, it was you who took me from the womb, *
entrusted me to my mother’s breast.
To you I was committed from my birth, *
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Do not leave me alone in my distress; *
come close, there is none else to help.

Many bulls have surrounded me, *
fierce bulls of Bashan close me in.
Against me they open wide their jaws, *
like lions, rending and roaring.

Like water I am poured out, *
disjointed are all my bones.
My heart has become like wax, *
it is melted within my breast.

Parched as burnt clay is my throat, *
my tongue cleaves to my jaws.
Many dogs have surrounded me, *
a band of the wicked beset me.
They tear holes in my hands and my feet *
and lay me in the dust of death.

I can count every one of my bones. *
These people stare at me and gloat;
they divide my clothing among them. *
They cast lots for my robe.

O Lord, do not leave me alone, *
my strength, make haste to help me!
Rescue my soul from the sword, *
my life from the grip of these dogs.
Save my life from the jaws of these lions, *
my poor soul from the horns of these oxen.

I will tell of your name to my brethren *
and praise you where they are assembled.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.