Psalm 139:1-18

New International Version

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹You have searched me,^(A) Lord,
    and you know^(B) me.
²You know when I sit and when I rise;^(C)
    you perceive my thoughts^(D) from afar.
³You discern my going out^(E) and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.^(F)
⁴Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.^(G)
⁵You hem me in^(H) behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,^(I)
    too lofty^(J) for me to attain.

⁷Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee^(K) from your presence?
⁸If I go up to the heavens,^(L) you are there;
    if I make my bed^(M) in the depths, you are there.
⁹If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰even there your hand will guide me,^(N)
    your right hand^(O) will hold me fast.
¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
¹²even the darkness will not be dark^(P) to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

¹³For you created my inmost being;^(Q)
    you knit me together^(R) in my mother’s womb.^(S)
¹⁴I praise you^(T) because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,^(U)
    I know that full well.
¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made^(V) in the secret place,
    when I was woven together^(W) in the depths of the earth.^(X)
¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained^(Y) for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
¹⁷How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a]^(Z) God!^(AA)
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸Were I to count them,^(AB)
    they would outnumber the grains of sand^(AC)—
    when I awake,^(AD) I am still with you.

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Footnotes

Psalm 139:17 Or How amazing are your thoughts concerning me

2 Kings 5:1-14

New International Version

Naaman Healed of Leprosy

5 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram.^(A) He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.^[a]^(B)

²Now bands of raiders^(C) from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet^(D) who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

⁴Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵“By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents^[b] of silver, six thousand shekels^[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing.^(E) ⁶The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

⁷As soon as the king of Israel read the letter,^(F) he tore his robes and said, “Am I God?^(G) Can I kill and bring back to life?^(H) Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel^(I) with me!”

⁸When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet^(J) in Israel.” ⁹So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash^(K) yourself seven times^(L) in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

¹¹But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand^(M) over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters^(N) of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.^(O)

¹³Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father,^(P) if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” ¹⁴So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times,^(Q) as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored^(R) and became clean like that of a young boy.^(S)

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Footnotes

2 Kings 5:1 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verses 3, 6, 7, 11 and 27.
2 Kings 5:5 That is, about 750 pounds or about 340 kilograms
2 Kings 5:5 That is, about 150 pounds or about 69 kilograms

James 4:8-17

New International Version

⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you.^(A) Wash your hands,^(B) you sinners, and purify your hearts,^(C) you double-minded.^(D) ⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.^(E) ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.^(F)

¹¹Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another.^(G) Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister^[a] or judges them^(H) speaks against the law^(I) and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it,^(J) but sitting in judgment on it. ¹²There is only one Lawgiver and Judge,^(K) the one who is able to save and destroy.^(L) But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?^(M)

Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³Now listen,^(N) you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”^(O) ¹⁴Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.^(P) ¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will,^(Q) we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.^(R) ¹⁷If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.^(S)