Psalm 43

New International Version

Psalm 43^[a]

¹Vindicate me, my God,
    and plead my cause^(A)
    against an unfaithful nation.
Rescue me^(B) from those who are
    deceitful and wicked.^(C)
²You are God my stronghold.
    Why have you rejected^(D) me?
Why must I go about mourning,^(E)
    oppressed by the enemy?^(F)
³Send me your light^(G) and your faithful care,^(H)
    let them lead me;^(I)
let them bring me to your holy mountain,^(J)
    to the place where you dwell.^(K)
⁴Then I will go^(L) to the altar^(M) of God,
    to God, my joy^(N) and my delight.^(O)
I will praise you with the lyre,^(P)
    O God, my God.

⁵Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.^(Q)

Footnotes

Psalm 43:1 In many Hebrew manuscripts Psalms 42 and 43 constitute one psalm.

Micah 3:5-12

New International Version

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“As for the prophets
    who lead my people astray,^(A)
they proclaim ‘peace’^(B)
    if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
    who refuses to feed them.
⁶Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
    and darkness, without divination.^(C)
The sun will set for the prophets,^(D)
    and the day will go dark for them.^(E)
⁷The seers will be ashamed^(F)
    and the diviners disgraced.^(G)
They will all cover^(H) their faces^(I)
    because there is no answer from God.^(J)”
⁸But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
    to Israel his sin.^(K)

⁹Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;^(L)
¹⁰who build^(M) Zion with bloodshed,^(N)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.^(O)
¹¹Her leaders judge for a bribe,^(P)
    her priests teach for a price,^(Q)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.^(R)
Yet they look^(S) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”^(T)
¹²Therefore because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,^(U)
    the temple^(V) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.^(W)

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1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

New International Version

⁹Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked^(A) night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone^(B) while we preached the gospel of God to you. ¹⁰You are witnesses,^(C) and so is God,^(D) of how holy,^(E) righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. ¹¹For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children,^(F) ¹²encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy^(G) of God, who calls^(H) you into his kingdom and glory.

¹³And we also thank God continually^(I) because, when you received the word of God,^(J) which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

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Matthew 23:1-12

New International Version

A Warning Against Hypocrisy^(A)^(B)

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ²“The teachers of the law^(C) and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.^(D)

⁵“Everything they do is done for people to see:^(E) They make their phylacteries^[a]^(F) wide and the tassels on their garments^(G) long; ⁶they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;^(H) ⁷they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.^(I)

⁸“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father,^(J) and he is in heaven. ¹⁰Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant.^(K) ¹²For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.^(L)