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Psalm 51

For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God,
    because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
    blot out the stain of my sins.
Wash me clean from my guilt.
    Purify me from my sin.
For I recognize my rebellion;
    it haunts me day and night.
Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
    I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
    and your judgment against me is just.[a]
For I was born a sinner—
    yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
But you desire honesty from the womb,[b]
    teaching me wisdom even there.

Purify me from my sins,[c] and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Oh, give me back my joy again;
    you have broken me—
    now let me rejoice.
Don’t keep looking at my sins.
    Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
    Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
    and don’t take your Holy Spirit[d] from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
    and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
    then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
    that my mouth may praise you.

16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
    You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
    You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;
    rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
    with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
    Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Footnotes

  1. 51:4 Greek version reads and you will win your case in court. Compare Rom 3:4.
  2. 51:6 Or from the heart; Hebrew reads in the inward parts.
  3. 51:7 Hebrew Purify me with the hyssop branch.
  4. 51:11 Or your spirit of holiness.

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when (A)Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51 (B)Have mercy on me,[a] O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your (C)abundant mercy
    (D)blot out my transgressions.
(E)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and (F)cleanse me from my sin!

(G)For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
(H)Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil (I)in your sight,
(J)so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, (K)I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in (L)the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me (M)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    (N)wash me, and I shall be (O)whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
    (P)let the bones (Q)that you have broken rejoice.
(R)Hide your face from my sins,
    and (S)blot out all my iniquities.
10 (T)Create in me a (U)clean heart, O God,
    and (V)renew a right[b] spirit within me.
11 (W)Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not (X)your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will (Y)return to you.
14 Deliver me from (Z)bloodguiltiness, O God,
    O (AA)God of my salvation,
    and (AB)my tongue will sing aloud of your (AC)righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 (AD)For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
    you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are (AE)a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18 (AF)Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    (AG)build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in (AH)right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and (AI)whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 51:1 Or Be gracious to me
  2. Psalm 51:10 Or steadfast

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”

This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.[a] On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.

When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city:

“No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”

10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:3 Hebrew a great city to God, of three days’ journey.

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to (A)Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now (B)Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,[a] three days' journey in breadth.[b] Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (C)And the people of Nineveh believed God. (D)They called for a fast and (E)put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

The People of Nineveh Repent

The word reached[c] the king of Nineveh, and (F)he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, (G)and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, (H)“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor (I)beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and (J)beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. (K)Let everyone turn from his evil way and from (L)the violence that is in his hands. (M)Who knows? God may turn and relent (N)and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did, (O)how they turned from their evil way, (P)God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

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Footnotes

  1. Jonah 3:3 Hebrew a great city to God
  2. Jonah 3:3 Or a visit was a three days' journey
  3. Jonah 3:6 Or had reached

Greetings from Paul

This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be[a] the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.[b] He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Christ, God has given us the privilege[c] and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.

And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people.

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:4a Or and was designated.
  2. 1:4b Or by the Spirit of holiness; or in the new realm of the Spirit.
  3. 1:5 Or the grace.

Greeting

Paul, (A)a servant[a] of Christ Jesus, (B)called to be an apostle, (C)set apart for the gospel of God, which (D)he promised beforehand (E)through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, (F)who was descended from David[b] (G)according to the flesh and (H)was declared to be the Son of God (I)in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom (J)we have received grace and (K)apostleship (L)to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name (M)among all the nations, including you who are (N)called to belong to Jesus Christ,

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

(O)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
  2. Romans 1:3 Or who came from the offspring of David