Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.’
But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him.
For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.
‘In my distress I called to the Lord;
I called out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came to his ears.
But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them.
‘Therefore I will not keep silent;
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Give us aid against the enemy,
for human help is worthless.
When I am in distress, I call to you,
because you answer me.
Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;
no deeds can compare with yours.
He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honour him.
My comfort in my suffering is this:
your promise preserves my life.
A wicked person earns deceptive wages,
but the one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.
If you falter in a time of trouble,
how small is your strength!
You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
is like a storm driving against a wall
Lord, my strength and my fortress,
my refuge in time of distress,
to you the nations will come
from the ends of the earth and say,
‘Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,
worthless idols that did them no good.
We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
‘Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations,
who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.