Psalm 94

New International Version

Psalm 94

¹The Lord is a God who avenges.^(A)
    O God who avenges, shine forth.^(B)
²Rise up,^(C) Judge^(D) of the earth;
    pay back^(E) to the proud what they deserve.
³How long, Lord, will the wicked,
    how long will the wicked be jubilant?^(F)

⁴They pour out arrogant^(G) words;
    all the evildoers are full of boasting.^(H)
⁵They crush your people,^(I) Lord;
    they oppress your inheritance.^(J)
⁶They slay the widow^(K) and the foreigner;
    they murder the fatherless.^(L)
⁷They say, “The Lord does not see;^(M)
    the God of Jacob^(N) takes no notice.”

⁸Take notice, you senseless ones^(O) among the people;
    you fools, when will you become wise?
⁹Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?
    Does he who formed the eye not see?^(P)
¹⁰Does he who disciplines^(Q) nations not punish?
    Does he who teaches^(R) mankind lack knowledge?
¹¹The Lord knows all human plans;^(S)
    he knows that they are futile.^(T)

¹²Blessed is the one you discipline,^(U) Lord,
    the one you teach^(V) from your law;
¹³you grant them relief from days of trouble,^(W)
    till a pit^(X) is dug for the wicked.
¹⁴For the Lord will not reject his people;^(Y)
    he will never forsake his inheritance.
¹⁵Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,^(Z)
    and all the upright in heart^(AA) will follow it.

¹⁶Who will rise up^(AB) for me against the wicked?
    Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?^(AC)
¹⁷Unless the Lord had given me help,^(AD)
    I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.^(AE)
¹⁸When I said, “My foot is slipping,^(AF)”
    your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
¹⁹When anxiety^(AG) was great within me,
    your consolation^(AH) brought me joy.

²⁰Can a corrupt throne^(AI) be allied with you—
    a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?^(AJ)
²¹The wicked band together^(AK) against the righteous
    and condemn the innocent^(AL) to death.^(AM)
²²But the Lord has become my fortress,
    and my God the rock^(AN) in whom I take refuge.^(AO)
²³He will repay^(AP) them for their sins
    and destroy^(AQ) them for their wickedness;
    the Lord our God will destroy them.

Song of Songs 6:4-12

New International Version

He

⁴You are as beautiful as Tirzah,^(A) my darling,
    as lovely as Jerusalem,^(B)
    as majestic as troops with banners.^(C)
⁵Turn your eyes from me;
    they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    descending from Gilead.^(D)
⁶Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
    coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin,
    not one of them is missing.^(E)
⁷Your temples behind your veil^(F)
    are like the halves of a pomegranate.^(G)
⁸Sixty queens^(H) there may be,
    and eighty concubines,^(I)
    and virgins beyond number;
⁹but my dove,^(J) my perfect one,^(K) is unique,
    the only daughter of her mother,
    the favorite of the one who bore her.^(L)
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    the queens and concubines praised her.

Friends

¹⁰Who is this that appears like the dawn,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
majestic as the stars in procession?

He

¹¹I went down to the grove of nut trees
    to look at the new growth in the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
    or the pomegranates were in bloom.^(M)
¹²Before I realized it,
    my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.^[a]

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Footnotes

Song of Songs 6:12 Or among the chariots of Amminadab; or among the chariots of the people of the prince

Revelation 9:1-12

New International Version

9 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth.^(A) The star was given the key^(B) to the shaft of the Abyss.^(C) ²When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.^(D) The sun and sky were darkened^(E) by the smoke from the Abyss.^(F) ³And out of the smoke locusts^(G) came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions^(H) of the earth. ⁴They were told not to harm^(I) the grass of the earth or any plant or tree,^(J) but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.^(K) ⁵They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months.^(L) And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion^(M) when it strikes. ⁶During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.^(N)

⁷The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle.^(O) On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces.^(P) ⁸Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.^(Q) ⁹They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.^(R) ¹⁰They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.^(S) ¹¹They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss,^(T) whose name in Hebrew^(U) is Abaddon^(V) and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

¹²The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.^(W)

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Luke 10:25-37

New International Version

The Parable of the Good Samaritan^(A)

²⁵On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”^(B)

²⁶“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

²⁷He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a];^(C) and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”^(D)

²⁸“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”^(E)

²⁹But he wanted to justify himself,^(F) so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.^(G) ³²So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan,^(H) as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two denarii^[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’