Psalm 81

New International Version

Psalm 81^[a]

For the director of music. According to gittith.^[b] Of Asaph.

¹Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!^(A)
²Begin the music, strike the timbrel,^(B)
play the melodious harp^(C) and lyre.^(D)

³Sound the ram’s horn^(E) at the New Moon,^(F)
    and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
⁴this is a decree for Israel,
    an ordinance of the God of Jacob.^(G)
⁵When God went out against Egypt,^(H)
    he established it as a statute for Joseph.

I heard an unknown voice say:^(I)

⁶“I removed the burden^(J) from their shoulders;^(K)
    their hands were set free from the basket.
⁷In your distress you called^(L) and I rescued you,
    I answered^(M) you out of a thundercloud;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.^[c]^(N)
⁸Hear me, my people,^(O) and I will warn you—
    if you would only listen to me, Israel!
⁹You shall have no foreign god^(P) among you;
    you shall not worship any god other than me.
¹⁰I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of Egypt.^(Q)
Open^(R) wide your mouth and I will fill^(S) it.

¹¹“But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.^(T)
¹²So I gave them over^(U) to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.

¹³“If my people would only listen to me,^(V)
    if Israel would only follow my ways,
¹⁴how quickly I would subdue^(W) their enemies
    and turn my hand against^(X) their foes!
¹⁵Those who hate the Lord would cringe^(Y) before him,
    and their punishment would last forever.
¹⁶But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;^(Z)
    with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Footnotes

Psalm 81:1 In Hebrew texts 81:1-16 is numbered 81:2-17.
Psalm 81:1 Title: Probably a musical term
Psalm 81:7 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.

Genesis 29:1-14

New International Version

Jacob Arrives in Paddan Aram

29 Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples.^(A) ²There he saw a well in the open country, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well.^(B) The stone^(C) over the mouth of the well was large. ³When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone^(D) away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep.^(E) Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

⁴Jacob asked the shepherds, “My brothers, where are you from?”^(F)

“We’re from Harran,^(G)” they replied.

⁵He said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?”^(H)

“Yes, we know him,” they answered.

⁶Then Jacob asked them, “Is he well?”

“Yes, he is,” they said, “and here comes his daughter Rachel^(I) with the sheep.^(J)”

⁷“Look,” he said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.”

⁸“We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone^(K) has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water^(L) the sheep.”

⁹While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep,^(M) for she was a shepherd. ¹⁰When Jacob saw Rachel^(N) daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone^(O) away from the mouth of the well and watered^(P) his uncle’s sheep.^(Q) ¹¹Then Jacob kissed^(R) Rachel and began to weep aloud.^(S) ¹²He had told Rachel that he was a relative^(T) of her father and a son of Rebekah.^(U) So she ran and told her father.^(V)

¹³As soon as Laban^(W) heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him^(X) and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things. ¹⁴Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.”^(Y)

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month,

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1 Corinthians 10:1-4

New International Version

Warnings From Israel’s History

10 For I do not want you to be ignorant^(A) of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud^(B) and that they all passed through the sea.^(C) ²They were all baptized into^(D) Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³They all ate the same spiritual food^(E) ⁴and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock^(F) that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.