Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd,(A) I lack nothing.(B)
    He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,(C)
    he refreshes my soul.(D)
He guides me(E) along the right paths(F)
    for his name’s sake.(G)
Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,[a](H)
I will fear no evil,(I)
    for you are with me;(J)
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

You prepare a table(K) before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;(L)
    my cup(M) overflows.
Surely your goodness and love(N) will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 23:4 Or the valley of the shadow of death

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Coming Destruction

17 Gather up your belongings(A) to leave the land,
    you who live under siege.
18 For this is what the Lord says:
    “At this time I will hurl(B) out
    those who live in this land;
I will bring distress(C) on them
    so that they may be captured.”

19 Woe to me because of my injury!
    My wound(D) is incurable!
Yet I said to myself,
    “This is my sickness, and I must endure(E) it.”
20 My tent(F) is destroyed;
    all its ropes are snapped.
My children are gone from me and are no more;(G)
    no one is left now to pitch my tent
    or to set up my shelter.
21 The shepherds(H) are senseless(I)
    and do not inquire of the Lord;(J)
so they do not prosper(K)
    and all their flock is scattered.(L)
22 Listen! The report is coming—
    a great commotion from the land of the north!(M)
It will make the towns of Judah desolate,(N)
    a haunt of jackals.(O)

Jeremiah’s Prayer

23 Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
    it is not for them to direct their steps.(P)
24 Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—
    not in your anger,(Q)
    or you will reduce me to nothing.(R)
25 Pour out your wrath on the nations(S)
    that do not acknowledge you,
    on the peoples who do not call on your name.(T)
For they have devoured(U) Jacob;
    they have devoured him completely
    and destroyed his homeland.(V)

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17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.

18 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.

19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.

20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.

22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.

23 O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

24 O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

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In Athens

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue(A) with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news(B) about Jesus and the resurrection.(C) 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus,(D) where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching(E) is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians(F) and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus(G) and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.(H) 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship(I)—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it(J) is the Lord of heaven and earth(K) and does not live in temples built by human hands.(L) 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.(M) 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.(N) 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.(O) 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[a](P) As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[b]

29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.(Q) 30 In the past God overlooked(R) such ignorance,(S) but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.(T) 31 For he has set a day when he will judge(U) the world with justice(V) by the man he has appointed.(W) He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”(X)

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 17:28 From the Cretan philosopher Epimenides
  2. Acts 17:28 From the Cilician Stoic philosopher Aratus

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.

18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

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