Psalm 16

New International Version

Psalm 16

A miktam^[a] of David.

¹Keep me safe,^(A) my God,
for in you I take refuge.^(B)

²I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;^(C)
    apart from you I have no good thing.”^(D)
³I say of the holy people^(E) who are in the land,^(F)
    “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
⁴Those who run after other gods^(G) will suffer^(H) more and more.
    I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
    or take up their names^(I) on my lips.

⁵Lord, you alone are my portion^(J) and my cup;^(K)
    you make my lot^(L) secure.
⁶The boundary lines^(M) have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance.^(N)
⁷I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;^(O)
    even at night^(P) my heart instructs me.
⁸I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
    With him at my right hand,^(Q) I will not be shaken.^(R)

⁹Therefore my heart is glad^(S) and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure,^(T)
¹⁰because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,^(U)
    nor will you let your faithful^[b] one^(V) see decay.^(W)
¹¹You make known to me the path of life;^(X)
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,^(Y)
    with eternal pleasures^(Z) at your right hand.^(AA)

Footnotes

Psalm 16:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
Psalm 16:10 Or holy

Amos 5:1-17

New International Version

A Lament and Call to Repentance

5 Hear this word, Israel, this lament^(A) I take up concerning you:

²“Fallen is Virgin^(B) Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.^(C)”

³This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.^(D)”

⁴This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek^(E) me and live;^(F)
⁵    do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,^(G)
    do not journey to Beersheba.^(H)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.^[a]^(I)”
⁶Seek^(J) the Lord and live,^(K)
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;^(L)
it will devour them,
    and Bethel^(M) will have no one to quench it.^(N)

⁷There are those who turn justice into bitterness^(O)
and cast righteousness^(P) to the ground.^(Q)

⁸He who made the Pleiades and Orion,^(R)
    who turns midnight into dawn^(S)
    and darkens day into night,^(T)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.^(U)
⁹With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.^(V)

¹⁰There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court^(W)
and detest the one who tells the truth.^(X)

¹¹You levy a straw tax on the poor^(Y)
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,^(Z)
    you will not live in them;^(AA)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.^(AB)
¹²For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.^(AC)

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes^(AD)
and deprive the poor^(AE) of justice in the courts.^(AF)
¹³Therefore the prudent keep quiet^(AG) in such times,
for the times are evil.^(AH)

¹⁴Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.^(AI)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
¹⁵Hate evil,^(AJ) love good;^(AK)
    maintain justice in the courts.^(AL)
Perhaps^(AM) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy^(AN)
    on the remnant^(AO) of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing^(AP) in all the streets^(AQ)
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers^(AR) will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
¹⁷There will be wailing^(AS) in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through^(AT) your midst,”
says the Lord.^(AU)

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Footnotes

Amos 5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.

2 Peter 3:11-18

New International Version

¹¹Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹²as you look forward^(A) to the day of God and speed its coming.^[a]^(B) That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.^(C) ¹³But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth,^(D) where righteousness dwells.

¹⁴So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless^(E) and at peace with him. ¹⁵Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience^(F) means salvation,^(G) just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.^(H) ¹⁶He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable^(I) people distort,^(J) as they do the other Scriptures,^(K) to their own destruction.

¹⁷Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard^(L) so that you may not be carried away by the error^(M) of the lawless^(N) and fall from your secure position.^(O) ¹⁸But grow in the grace^(P) and knowledge^(Q) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.^(R) To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.^(S)

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Footnotes

2 Peter 3:12 Or as you wait eagerly for the day of God to come

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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