Psalm 116

New International Version

Psalm 116

¹I love the Lord,^(A) for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry^(B) for mercy.^(C)
²Because he turned his ear^(D) to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.

³The cords of death^(E) entangled me,
    the anguish of the grave came over me;
    I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
⁴Then I called on the name^(F) of the Lord:
    “Lord, save me!^(G)”

⁵The Lord is gracious and righteous;^(H)
our God is full of compassion.^(I)
⁶The Lord protects the unwary;
when I was brought low,^(J) he saved me.^(K)

⁷Return to your rest,^(L) my soul,
for the Lord has been good^(M) to you.

⁸For you, Lord, have delivered me^(N) from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling,
⁹that I may walk before the Lord^(O)
    in the land of the living.^(P)

¹⁰I trusted^(Q) in the Lord when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;^(R)
¹¹in my alarm I said,
“Everyone is a liar.”^(S)

¹²What shall I return to the Lord
for all his goodness^(T) to me?

¹³I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name^(U) of the Lord.
¹⁴I will fulfill my vows^(V) to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.

¹⁵Precious in the sight^(W) of the Lord
    is the death of his faithful servants.^(X)
¹⁶Truly I am your servant, Lord;^(Y)
    I serve you just as my mother did;^(Z)
    you have freed me from my chains.^(AA)

¹⁷I will sacrifice a thank offering^(AB) to you
    and call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸I will fulfill my vows^(AC) to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹in the courts^(AD) of the house of the Lord—
    in your midst, Jerusalem.^(AE)

Praise the Lord.^[a]

Footnotes

Psalm 116:19 Hebrew Hallelu Yah

Joel 2:28-3:8

New International Version

The Day of the Lord

²⁸“And afterward,
    I will pour out my Spirit^(A) on all people.^(B)
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,^(C)
    your old men will dream dreams,^(D)
    your young men will see visions.
²⁹Even on my servants,^(E) both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days.^(F)
³⁰I will show wonders in the heavens^(G)
    and on the earth,^(H)
    blood and fire and billows of smoke.
³¹The sun will be turned to darkness^(I)
    and the moon to blood
    before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.^(J)
³²And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord^(K) will be saved;^(L)
for on Mount Zion^(M) and in Jerusalem
    there will be deliverance,^(N)
    as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors^(O)
    whom the Lord calls.^[a]^(P)

The Nations Judged

3 ^[b]“In those days and at that time,
    when I restore the fortunes^(Q) of Judah^(R) and Jerusalem,
²I will gather^(S) all nations
    and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.^[c]^(T)
There I will put them on trial^(U)
    for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scattered^(V) my people among the nations
    and divided up my land.
³They cast lots^(W) for my people
    and traded boys for prostitutes;
    they sold girls for wine^(X) to drink.

⁴“Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon^(Y) and all you regions of Philistia?^(Z) Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.^(AA) ⁵For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.^[d]^(AB) ⁶You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,^(AC) that you might send them far from their homeland.

⁷“See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them,^(AD) and I will return^(AE) on your own heads what you have done. ⁸I will sell your sons^(AF) and daughters to the people of Judah,^(AG) and they will sell them to the Sabeans,^(AH) a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.^(AI)

Footnotes

Joel 2:32 In Hebrew texts 2:28-32 is numbered 3:1-5.
Joel 3:1 In Hebrew texts 3:1-21 is numbered 4:1-21.
Joel 3:2 Jehoshaphat means the Lord judges; also in verse 12.
Joel 3:5 Or palaces

James 1:16-27

New International Version

¹⁶Don’t be deceived,^(A) my dear brothers and sisters.^(B) ¹⁷Every good and perfect gift is from above,^(C) coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,^(D) who does not change^(E) like shifting shadows. ¹⁸He chose to give us birth^(F) through the word of truth,^(G) that we might be a kind of firstfruits^(H) of all he created.

Listening and Doing

¹⁹My dear brothers and sisters,^(I) take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak^(J) and slow to become angry, ²⁰because human anger^(K) does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ²¹Therefore, get rid of^(L) all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you,^(M) which can save you.

²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.^(N) ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom,^(O) and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.^(P)

²⁶Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues^(Q) deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after^(R) orphans and widows^(S) in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.^(T)

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Luke 16:1-9

New International Version

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.^(A) ²So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

³“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— ⁴I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

⁵“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

⁶“‘Nine hundred gallons^[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

⁷“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“‘A thousand bushels^[b] of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

⁸“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world^(B) are more shrewd^(C) in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.^(D) ⁹I tell you, use worldly wealth^(E) to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.^(F)