Psalm 86

New International Version

Psalm 86

A prayer of David.

¹Hear me, Lord, and answer^(A) me,
    for I am poor and needy.
²Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;
    save your servant who trusts in you.^(B)
You are my God; ³have mercy^(C) on me, Lord,
    for I call^(D) to you all day long.
⁴Bring joy to your servant, Lord,
    for I put my trust^(E) in you.

⁵You, Lord, are forgiving and good,
    abounding in love^(F) to all who call to you.
⁶Hear my prayer, Lord;
    listen to my cry^(G) for mercy.
⁷When I am in distress,^(H) I call^(I) to you,
    because you answer^(J) me.

⁸Among the gods^(K) there is none like you,^(L) Lord;
    no deeds can compare with yours.
⁹All the nations you have made
    will come^(M) and worship^(N) before you, Lord;
    they will bring glory^(O) to your name.
¹⁰For you are great^(P) and do marvelous deeds;^(Q)
    you alone^(R) are God.

¹¹Teach me your way,^(S) Lord,
    that I may rely on your faithfulness;^(T)
give me an undivided^(U) heart,
    that I may fear^(V) your name.
¹²I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;^(W)
    I will glorify your name forever.
¹³For great is your love toward me;
    you have delivered me^(X) from the depths,
    from the realm of the dead.^(Y)

¹⁴Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God;
    ruthless people are trying to kill me—
    they have no regard for you.^(Z)
¹⁵But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious^(AA) God,
    slow to anger,^(AB) abounding^(AC) in love and faithfulness.^(AD)
¹⁶Turn to me^(AE) and have mercy^(AF) on me;
    show your strength^(AG) in behalf of your servant;
save me, because I serve you
    just as my mother did.^(AH)
¹⁷Give me a sign^(AI) of your goodness,
    that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,
    for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

1 Samuel 15:10-31

New International Version

¹⁰Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: ¹¹“I regret^(A) that I have made Saul king, because he has turned^(B) away from me and has not carried out my instructions.”^(C) Samuel was angry,^(D) and he cried out to the Lord all that night.

¹²Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel.^(E) There he has set up a monument^(F) in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”

¹³When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”

¹⁴But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

¹⁵Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”

¹⁶“Enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

“Tell me,” Saul replied.

¹⁷Samuel said, “Although you were once small^(G) in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ ¹⁹Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder^(H) and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”

²⁰“But I did obey^(I) the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. ²¹The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

²²But Samuel replied:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
    as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,^(J)
    and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
²³For rebellion is like the sin of divination,^(K)
    and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected^(L) the word of the Lord,
    he has rejected you as king.”

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned.^(M) I violated^(N) the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid^(O) of the men and so I gave in to them. ²⁵Now I beg you, forgive^(P) my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.”

²⁶But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected^(Q) the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!”

²⁷As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe,^(R) and it tore.^(S) ²⁸Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn^(T) the kingdom^(U) of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you.^(V) ²⁹He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie^(W) or change^(X) his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.”

³⁰Saul replied, “I have sinned.^(Y) But please honor^(Z) me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” ³¹So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

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Acts 5:1-11

New International Version

Ananias and Sapphira

5 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. ²With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself,^(A) but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.^(B)

³Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan^(C) has so filled your heart^(D) that you have lied to the Holy Spirit^(E) and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?^(F) ⁴Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?^(G) What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”^(H)

⁵When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.^(I) And great fear^(J) seized all who heard what had happened. ⁶Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body,^(K) and carried him out and buried him.

⁷About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”^(L)

⁹Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord?^(M) Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹⁰At that moment she fell down at his feet and died.^(N) Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.^(O) ¹¹Great fear^(P) seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

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