Psalm 128

New International Version

Psalm 128

A song of ascents.

¹Blessed are all who fear the Lord,^(A)
    who walk in obedience to him.^(B)
²You will eat the fruit of your labor;^(C)
    blessings and prosperity^(D) will be yours.
³Your wife will be like a fruitful vine^(E)
    within your house;
your children^(F) will be like olive shoots^(G)
    around your table.
⁴Yes, this will be the blessing^(H)
    for the man who fears the Lord.^(I)

⁵May the Lord bless you from Zion;^(J)
    may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem^(K)
    all the days of your life.
⁶May you live to see your children’s children—^(L)
    peace be on Israel.^(M)

Deuteronomy 31:30-32:14

New International Version

The Song of Moses

³⁰And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

32 Listen,^(A) you heavens,^(B) and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.^(C)
²Let my teaching fall like rain^(D)
    and my words descend like dew,^(E)
like showers^(F) on new grass,
    like abundant rain on tender plants.

³I will proclaim^(G) the name of the Lord.^(H)
    Oh, praise the greatness^(I) of our God!
⁴He is the Rock,^(J) his works are perfect,^(K)
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God^(L) who does no wrong,
    upright^(M) and just is he.^(N)

⁵They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.^(O)
⁶Is this the way you repay^(P) the Lord,
    you foolish^(Q) and unwise people?^(R)
Is he not your Father,^(S) your Creator,^[a]
    who made you and formed you?^(T)

⁷Remember the days of old;^(U)
    consider the generations long past.^(V)
Ask your father and he will tell you,
    your elders, and they will explain to you.^(W)
⁸When the Most High^(X) gave the nations their inheritance,
    when he divided all mankind,^(Y)
he set up boundaries^(Z) for the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of Israel.^[b]^(AA)
⁹For the Lord’s portion^(AB) is his people,
    Jacob his allotted inheritance.^(AC)

¹⁰In a desert^(AD) land he found him,
    in a barren and howling waste.^(AE)
He shielded^(AF) him and cared for him;
    he guarded him as the apple of his eye,^(AG)
¹¹like an eagle that stirs up its nest
    and hovers over its young,^(AH)
that spreads its wings to catch them
    and carries them aloft.^(AI)
¹²The Lord alone led^(AJ) him;^(AK)
    no foreign god was with him.^(AL)

¹³He made him ride on the heights^(AM) of the land
    and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,^(AN)
    and with oil^(AO) from the flinty crag,
¹⁴with curds and milk from herd and flock
    and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan^(AP)
    and the finest kernels of wheat.^(AQ)
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.^(AR)

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 32:6 Or Father, who bought you
Deuteronomy 32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God

2 Corinthians 11:1-21

New International Version

Paul and the False Apostles

11 I hope you will put up with^(A) me in a little foolishness.^(B) Yes, please put up with me! ²I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband,^(C) to Christ, so that I might present you^(D) as a pure virgin to him. ³But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning,^(E) your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ⁴For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached,^(F) or if you receive a different spirit^(G) from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel^(H) from the one you accepted, you put up with it^(I) easily enough.

⁵I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.”^[a]^(J) ⁶I may indeed be untrained as a speaker,^(K) but I do have knowledge.^(L) We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. ⁷Was it a sin^(M) for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God^(N) to you free of charge?^(O) ⁸I robbed other churches by receiving support from them^(P) so as to serve you. ⁹And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed.^(Q) I have kept myself from being a burden to you^(R) in any way, and will continue to do so. ¹⁰As surely as the truth of Christ is in me,^(S) nobody in the regions of Achaia^(T) will stop this boasting^(U) of mine. ¹¹Why? Because I do not love you? God knows^(V) I do!^(W)

¹²And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. ¹³For such people are false apostles,^(X) deceitful^(Y) workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.^(Z) ¹⁴And no wonder, for Satan^(AA) himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.^(AB)

Paul Boasts About His Sufferings

¹⁶I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool.^(AC) But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. ¹⁷In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would,^(AD) but as a fool.^(AE) ¹⁸Since many are boasting in the way the world does,^(AF) I too will boast.^(AG) ¹⁹You gladly put up with^(AH) fools since you are so wise!^(AI) ²⁰In fact, you even put up with^(AJ) anyone who enslaves you^(AK) or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. ²¹To my shame I admit that we were too weak^(AL) for that!

Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about.^(AM)

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Footnotes

2 Corinthians 11:5 Or to the most eminent apostles

Luke 19:11-27

New International Version

The Parable of the Ten Minas^(A)

¹¹While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God^(B) was going to appear at once.^(C) ¹²He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. ¹³So he called ten of his servants^(D) and gave them ten minas.^[a] ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’

¹⁴“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

¹⁵“He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

¹⁶“The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’

¹⁷“‘Well done, my good servant!’^(E) his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’^(F)

¹⁸“The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’

¹⁹“His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’

²⁰“Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. ²¹I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’^(G)

²²“His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words,^(H) you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow?^(I) ²³Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’

²⁴“Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

²⁵“‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’

²⁶“He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.^(J) ²⁷But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”

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