BOOK IV

Psalms 90–106

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

⁵ Hezekiah trusted^(A) in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. ⁶ He held fast^(B) to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. ⁷ And the Lord was with him; he was successful^(C) in whatever he undertook. He rebelled^(D) against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ⁸ From watchtower to fortified city,^(E) he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.

⁹ In King Hezekiah’s fourth year,^(F) which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. ¹⁰ At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. ¹¹ The king^(G) of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.^{(H) 12} This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant^(I)—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.^(J) They neither listened to the commands^(K) nor carried them out.

¹³ In the fourteenth year^(L) of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah^(M) and captured them. ¹⁴ So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:^(N) “I have done wrong.^(O) Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents^[a] of silver and thirty talents^[b] of gold. ¹⁵ So Hezekiah gave^(P) him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

¹⁶ At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors^(Q) and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem^(R)(S)

¹⁷ The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,^(T) his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool,^(U) on the road to the Washerman’s Field. ¹⁸ They called for the king; and Eliakim^(V) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna^(W) the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.

¹⁹ The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

²⁶ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,^(AC) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

²⁷ But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”

Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols

8 Now about food sacrificed to idols:^(A) We know that “We all possess knowledge.”^(B) But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. ² Those who think they know something^(C) do not yet know as they ought to know.^{(D) 3} But whoever loves God is known by God.^[a](E)

⁴ So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols:^(F) We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world”^(G) and that “There is no God but one.”^{(H) 5} For even if there are so-called gods,^(I) whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), ⁶ yet for us there is but one God,^(J) the Father,^(K) from whom all things came^(L) and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord,^(M) Jesus Christ, through whom all things came^(N) and through whom we live.

⁷ But not everyone possesses this knowledge.^(O) Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak,^(P) it is defiled. ⁸ But food does not bring us near to God;^(Q) we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

⁹ Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block^(R) to the weak.^{(S) 10} For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols?^{(T) 11} So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed^(U) by your knowledge. ¹² When you sin against them^(V) in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.^{(W) 13} Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.^(X)

The Narrow and Wide Gates

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate.^(A) For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

True and False Prophets

¹⁵ “Watch out for false prophets.^(B) They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.^{(C) 16} By their fruit you will recognize them.^(D) Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?^{(E) 17} Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.^{(F) 19} Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.^{(G) 20} Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

True and False Disciples

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’^(H) will enter the kingdom of heaven,^(I) but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.^(J)