Psalm 34

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.

¹ I will extol the Lord at all times;

his praise will always be on my lips.

² I will glory in the Lord;

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

³ Glorify the Lord with me;

let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

⁶ This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,

and he delivers them.

⁸ Taste and see that the Lord is good;

blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

⁹ Fear the Lord, you his holy people,

for those who fear him lack nothing.

¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

¹² Whoever of you loves life

and desires to see many good days,

¹³ keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from telling lies.

¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are attentive to their cry;

¹⁶ but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

to blot out their name from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;

he delivers them from all their troubles.

¹⁸ The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ The righteous person may have many troubles,

but the Lord delivers him from them all;

²⁰ he protects all his bones,

not one of them will be broken.

²¹ Evil will slay the wicked;

the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

²² The Lord will rescue his servants;

no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

John 19:31-36

³¹ Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crossesduring the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³² The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. ³⁵ The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. ³⁶ These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”^[

1 Peter 2:1-3

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. ² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³ now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.