Psalm 120

New International Version

Psalm 120

A song of ascents.

¹I call on the Lord^(A) in my distress,^(B)
    and he answers me.
²Save me, Lord,
    from lying lips^(C)
    and from deceitful tongues.^(D)

³What will he do to you,
    and what more besides,
    you deceitful tongue?
⁴He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows,^(E)
    with burning coals of the broom bush.

⁵Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek,
    that I live among the tents of Kedar!^(F)
⁶Too long have I lived
    among those who hate peace.
⁷I am for peace;
    but when I speak, they are for war.

Ezra 1

New International Version

Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return^(A)

1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah,^(B) the Lord moved the heart^(C) of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

²“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed^(D) me to build^(E) a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. ³Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. ⁴And in any locality where survivors^(F) may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold,^(G) with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings^(H) for the temple of God^(I) in Jerusalem.’”^(J)

⁵Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin,^(K) and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved^(L)—prepared to go up and build the house^(M) of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁶All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold,^(N) with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.

⁷Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.^[a]^(O) ⁸Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar^(P) the prince of Judah.

⁹This was the inventory:

gold dishes	30
silver dishes	1,000
silver pans^[b]	29
¹⁰gold bowls	30
matching silver bowls	410
other articles	1,000

¹¹In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

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Footnotes

Ezra 1:7 Or gods
Ezra 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

2 Corinthians 1:12-19

New International Version

Paul’s Change of Plans

¹²Now this is our boast: Our conscience^(A) testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity^[a]^(B) and godly sincerity.^(C) We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom^(D) but on God’s grace. ¹³For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, ¹⁴as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.^(E)

¹⁵Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you^(F) first so that you might benefit twice.^(G) ¹⁶I wanted to visit you on my way^(H) to Macedonia^(I) and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way^(J) to Judea.^(K) ¹⁷Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner^(L) so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?

¹⁸But as surely as God is faithful,^(M) our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹For the Son of God,^(N) Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas^[b]^(O) and Timothy^(P)—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always^(Q) been “Yes.”