Psalm 131

New International Version

Psalm 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹My heart is not proud,^(A) Lord,
    my eyes are not haughty;^(B)
I do not concern myself with great matters^(C)
    or things too wonderful for me.^(D)
²But I have calmed and quieted myself,^(E)
    I am like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child I am content.^(F)

³Israel, put your hope^(G) in the Lord
both now and forevermore.^(H)

Numbers 23:11-26

New International Version

¹¹Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies,^(A) but you have done nothing but bless them!”^(B)

¹²He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”^(C)

Balaam’s Second Message

¹³Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place^(D) where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp.^(E) And from there, curse them for me.^(F)” ¹⁴So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah,^(G) and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.^(H)

¹⁵Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”

¹⁶The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth^(I) and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”

¹⁷So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials.^(J) Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”

¹⁸Then he spoke his message:^(K)

“Arise, Balak, and listen;
    hear me, son of Zippor.^(L)
¹⁹God is not human,^(M) that he should lie,^(N)
    not a human being, that he should change his mind.^(O)
Does he speak and then not act?
    Does he promise^(P) and not fulfill?
²⁰I have received a command to bless;^(Q)
    he has blessed,^(R) and I cannot change it.^(S)

²¹“No misfortune is seen in Jacob,^(T)
    no misery observed^[a] in Israel.^(U)
The Lord their God is with them;^(V)
    the shout of the King^(W) is among them.
²²God brought them out of Egypt;^(X)
    they have the strength of a wild ox.^(Y)
²³There is no divination against^[b] Jacob,
    no evil omens^(Z) against^[c] Israel.
It will now be said of Jacob
    and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
²⁴The people rise like a lioness;^(AA)
    they rouse themselves like a lion^(AB)
that does not rest till it devours its prey
    and drinks the blood^(AC) of its victims.”

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”

²⁶Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?”^(AD)

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Footnotes

Numbers 23:21 Or He has not looked on Jacob’s offenses / or on the wrongs found
Numbers 23:23 Or in
Numbers 23:23 Or in

Romans 8:1-11

New International Version

Life Through the Spirit

8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation^(A) for those who are in Christ Jesus,^(B) ²because through Christ Jesus^(C) the law of the Spirit who gives life^(D) has set you^[a] free^(E) from the law of sin^(F) and death. ³For what the law was powerless^(G) to do because it was weakened by the flesh,^[b]^(H) God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh^(I) to be a sin offering.^[c]^(J) And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴in order that the righteous requirement^(K) of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.^(L)

⁵Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires;^(M) but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.^(N) ⁶The mind governed by the flesh is death,^(O) but the mind governed by the Spirit is life^(P) and peace. ⁷The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God;^(Q) it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸Those who are in the realm of the flesh^(R) cannot please God.

⁹You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh^(S) but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.^(T) And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,^(U) they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you,^(V) then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life^[d] because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead^(W) is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies^(X) because of^[e] his Spirit who lives in you.

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Footnotes

Romans 8:2 The Greek is singular; some manuscripts me
Romans 8:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 4-13.
Romans 8:3 Or flesh, for sin
Romans 8:10 Or you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive
Romans 8:11 Some manuscripts bodies through

Matthew 22:1-14

New International Version

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet^(A)

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ²“The kingdom of heaven is like^(B) a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³He sent his servants^(C) to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

⁴“Then he sent some more servants^(D) and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. ⁶The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers^(E) and burned their city.

⁸“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹So go to the street corners^(F) and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good,^(G) and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹²He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend^(H)?’ The man was speechless.

¹³“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’^(I)

¹⁴“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”^(J)

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