Psalm 79:1-9

New International Version

Psalm 79

A psalm of Asaph.

¹O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;^(A)
    they have defiled^(B) your holy temple,
    they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.^(C)
²They have left the dead bodies of your servants
    as food for the birds of the sky,^(D)
    the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.^(E)
³They have poured out blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there is no one to bury^(F) the dead.^(G)
⁴We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
    of scorn^(H) and derision to those around us.^(I)

⁵How long,^(J) Lord? Will you be angry^(K) forever?
    How long will your jealousy burn like fire?^(L)
⁶Pour out your wrath^(M) on the nations
    that do not acknowledge^(N) you,
on the kingdoms
    that do not call on your name;^(O)
⁷for they have devoured^(P) Jacob
    and devastated his homeland.

⁸Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;^(Q)
    may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
    for we are in desperate need.^(R)
⁹Help us,^(S) God our Savior,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
    for your name’s sake.^(T)

Read full chapter

Jeremiah 12:14-13:11

New International Version

¹⁴This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance^(A) I gave my people Israel, I will uproot^(B) them from their lands and I will uproot^(C) the people of Judah from among them. ¹⁵But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion^(D) and will bring^(E) each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. ¹⁶And if they learn^(F) well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’^(G)—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal^(H)—then they will be established among my people.^(I) ¹⁷But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy^(J) it,” declares the Lord.

A Linen Belt

13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.” ²So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put it around my waist.

³Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time:^(K) ⁴“Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath^[a]^(L) and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.” ⁵So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord told me.^(M)

⁶Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.” ⁷So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹“This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride^(N) of Jerusalem. ¹⁰These wicked people, who refuse to listen^(O) to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts^(P) and go after other gods^(Q) to serve and worship them,^(R) will be like this belt—completely useless!^(S) ¹¹For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown^(T) and praise and honor.^(U) But they have not listened.’^(V)

Footnotes

Jeremiah 13:4 Or possibly to the Euphrates; similarly in verses 5-7

Romans 3:1-8

New International Version

God’s Faithfulness

3 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? ²Much in every way!^(A) First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.^(B)

³What if some were unfaithful?^(C) Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?^(D) ⁴Not at all! Let God be true,^(E) and every human being a liar.^(F) As it is written:

“So that you may be proved right when you speak
and prevail when you judge.”^[a]^(G)

⁵But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly,^(H) what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)^(I) ⁶Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?^(J) ⁷Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory,^(K) why am I still condemned as a sinner?”^(L) ⁸Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”?^(M) Their condemnation is just!