1 Remember, O Jehovah, what is come upon us: Behold, and see our reproach.
2 Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, Our houses unto aliens.
3 We are orphans and fatherless; Our mothers are as widows.
4 We have drunken our water for money; Our wood is sold unto us.
5 Our pursuers are upon our necks: We are weary, and have no rest.
6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, And to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are not; And we have borne their iniquities.
8 Servants rule over us: There is none to deliver us out of their hand.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives, Because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin is black like an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hanged up by their hand: The faces of elders were not honored.
13 The young men bare the mill; And the children stumbled under the wood.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased; Our dance is turned into mourning.
16 The crown is fallen from our head: Woe unto us! for we have sinned.
17 For this our heart is faint; For these things our eyes are dim;
18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: The foxes walk upon it.
19 Thou, O Jehovah, abidest for ever; Thy throne is from generation to generation.
20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, And forsake us so long time?
21 Turn thou us unto thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned; Renew our days as of old.
22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; Thou art very wroth against us.
You Must Hear the Gospel
Romans 10:17
You must hear the gospel and then understand and recognize that you are lost without Jesus Christ no matter who you are and no matter what your background is. The Bible tells us that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Before you can be saved, you must understand that you are lost and that the only way to be saved is by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)
You Must Believe
Hebrews 11:6
You must believe and have faith in God because “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) But neither belief alone nor faith alone is sufficient to save. (James 2:19; James 2:24; Matthew 7:21)
You Must Repent
Acts 3:19
You must repent of your sins. (Acts 3:19) But repentance alone is not enough. The so-called “Sinner’s Prayer” that you hear so much about today from denominational preachers does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Indeed, nowhere in the Bible was anyone ever told to pray the “Sinner’s Prayer” to be saved. By contrast, there are numerous examples showing that prayer alone does not save. Saul, for example, prayed following his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), but Saul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always, and yet there was something else he needed to do to be saved (Acts 10:2, 6, 33, 48). If prayer alone did not save Saul or Cornelius, prayer alone will not save you. You must obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:8)
You Must Confess
Romans 10:9
You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Romans 10:9-10) Note that you do NOT need to make Jesus “Lord of your life.” Why? Because Jesus is already Lord of your life whether or not you have obeyed his gospel. Indeed, we obey him, not to make him Lord, but because he already is Lord. (Acts 2:36) Also, no one in the Bible was ever told to just “accept Jesus as your personal savior.” We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but, as with faith and repentance, confession alone does not save. (Matthew 7:21)
You Must Be Baptized
Acts 2:38
Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. (Acts 2:38) It is at this point (and not before) that your sins are forgiven. (Acts 22:16) It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. (Acts 8:35-36; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21) Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!
You Must Be Faithful Unto Death
Revelation 2:10
Once you are saved, God adds you to his church and writes your name in the Book of Life. (Acts 2:47; Philippians 4:3) To continue in God’s grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death. Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God’s grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:5; Galatians 5:4)