Psalm 17

A Prayer for Protection

A Davidic prayer.

Lord, hear a just cause;(A)
pay attention to my cry;
listen to my prayer—
from lips free of deceit.(B)
Let my vindication come from You,
for You see what is right.(C)
You have tested my heart;(D)
You have examined me at night.
You have tried me and found nothing evil;(E)
I have determined that my mouth will not sin.[a]
Concerning what people do:
by the word of Your lips[b]
I have avoided the ways of the violent.(F)
My steps are on Your paths;
my feet have not slipped.(G)

I call on You, God,
because You will answer me;(H)
listen closely to me; hear what I say.
Display the wonders of Your faithful love,(I)
Savior of all who seek refuge(J)
from those who rebel against Your right hand.[c]
Protect me as the pupil of Your eye;(K)
hide me in the shadow of Your wings(L)
from[d] the wicked who treat me violently,[e]
my deadly enemies who surround me.(M)

10 They have become hardened;[f](N)
their mouths speak arrogantly.(O)
11 They advance against me;[g] now they surround me.(P)
They are determined[h]
to throw me to the ground.(Q)
12 They are[i] like a lion eager to tear,
like a young lion lurking in ambush.(R)

13 Rise up, Lord!
Confront him; bring him down.(S)
With Your sword, save me from the wicked.(T)
14 With Your hand, Lord, save me from men,
from men of the world
whose portion is in this life:
You fill their bellies with what You have in store;
their sons are satisfied,
and they leave their surplus to their children.(U)

15 But I will see Your face in righteousness;(V)
when I awake, I will be satisfied with Your presence.[j](W)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 17:3 Or [evil]; my mouth will not sin
  2. Psalm 17:4 God’s instruction
  3. Psalm 17:7 Or love, You who save with Your right hand those seeking refuge from adversaries
  4. Psalm 17:9 Lit from the presence of
  5. Psalm 17:9 Or who plunder me
  6. Psalm 17:10 Lit have closed up their fat
  7. Psalm 17:11 Vg; one Hb ms, LXX read They cast me out; MT reads Our steps
  8. Psalm 17:11 Lit They set their eyes
  9. Psalm 17:12 Lit He is
  10. Psalm 17:15 Lit form

30 But now they mock(A) me,
men younger than I am,
whose fathers I would have refused to put
with my sheep dogs.
What use to me was the strength of their hands?
Their vigor had left them.
Emaciated from poverty and hunger,
they gnawed the dry land,
the desolate wasteland by night.
They plucked mallow[a](B) among the shrubs,
and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
They were expelled from human society;
people shouted at them as if they were thieves.
They are living on the slopes of the wadis,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
They bray among the shrubs;
they huddle beneath the thistles.
Foolish(C) men, without even a name.
They were forced to leave the land.

Now I am mocked by their songs;(D)
I have become an object of scorn to them.
10 They despise me and keep their distance from me;(E)
they do not hesitate to spit(F) in my face.
11 Because God has loosened my[b] bowstring and oppressed me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence.(G)
12 The rabble[c] rise up at my right;
they trap[d] my feet
and construct their siege ramp[e] against me.(H)
13 They tear up my path;
they contribute to my destruction,(I)
without anyone to help them.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;
they keep rolling in through the ruins.(J)
15 Terrors(K) are turned loose against me;
they chase my dignity away like the wind,
and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.

16 Now my life is poured out before my eyes,
and days of suffering(L) have seized me.
17 Night pierces my bones,
but my gnawing pains never rest.(M)
18 My clothing is distorted with great force;
He chokes me by the neck of my garment.[f]
19 He throws me into the mud,
and I have become like dust and ashes.(N)

20 I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;(O)
when I stand up, You merely look at me.
21 You have turned against me with cruelty;
You harass(P) me with Your strong hand.
22 You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it;
You scatter me in the storm.(Q)
23 Yes, I know that You will lead me to death—
the place(R) appointed for all who live.

24 Yet no one would stretch out his hand
against a ruined man[g]
when he cries out to him for help
because of his distress.(S)
25 Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times?
Has my soul not grieved for the needy?(T)
26 But when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, darkness(U) came.
27 I am churning within[h] and cannot rest;
days of suffering confront me.
28 I walk about blackened, but not by the sun.[i]
I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.
29 I have become a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin blackens and flakes off,[j]
and my bones burn with fever.(V)
31 My lyre is used for mourning
and my flute for the sound of weeping.(W)

Footnotes

  1. Job 30:4 Or saltwort
  2. Job 30:11 Alt Hb tradition, LXX, Vg read His
  3. Job 30:12 Hb obscure
  4. Job 30:12 Lit stretch out
  5. Job 30:12 Lit and raise up their destructive paths
  6. Job 30:18 Hb obscure
  7. Job 30:24 Lit a heap of ruins
  8. Job 30:27 Lit My bowels boil
  9. Job 30:28 Or walk in sunless gloom
  10. Job 30:30 Lit blackens away from me

God’s Good News for Rome

Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle[a](A) and singled out(B) for God’s good news(C) which He promised long ago(D) through His prophets(E) in the Holy Scriptures— concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David[b](F) according to the flesh(G) and who has been declared to be the powerful(H) Son of God(I) by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness.[c] We have received grace and apostleship(J) through Him to bring about[d] the obedience(K) of faith[e] among all the nations,[f](L) on behalf of His name, including yourselves who also belong to Jesus Christ by calling:(M)

To all who are in Rome, loved by God,(N) called(O) as saints.(P)

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

Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith[g] is being reported in all the world.(Q) For God, whom I serve with my spirit(R) in telling the good news about His Son, is my witness(S) that I constantly mention you,(T) 10 always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.(U) 11 For I want very much to see you,(V) so I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, 12 that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

13 Now I want you to know,[h](W) brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now(X)) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry[i] among you,(Y) just as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians,[j](Z) both to the wise and the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the good news(AA) to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Will Live by Faith

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel,[k](AB) because it is God’s power for salvation(AC) to everyone who believes, first to the Jew,(AD) and also to the Greek.(AE) 17 For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith,[l](AF) just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.[m](AG)[n]

The Guilt of the Gentile World

18 For God’s wrath(AH) is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,(AI) 19 since what can be known[o] about God is evident among them,(AJ) because God has shown it to them. 20 For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world,(AK) being understood through what He has made.(AL) As a result, people are without excuse. 21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.(AM) 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools(AN) 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.(AO)

24 Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts(AP) to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,(AQ) and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever.(AR) Amen.

From Idolatry to Depravity

26 This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions.(AS) For even their females exchanged natural sexual relations[p] for unnatural ones. 27 The males in the same way also left natural relations[q] with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males(AT) and received in their own persons[r] the appropriate penalty of their error.

28 And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. 29 They are filled with all unrighteousness,[s] evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,(AU) 30 slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful,(AV) inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,(AW) 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving,[t](AX) and unmerciful. 32 Although they know full well God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die[u](AY)—they not only do them, but even applaud[v](AZ) others who practice them.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 1:1 Or Jesus, a called apostle
  2. Romans 1:3 Lit was of the seed of David
  3. Romans 1:4 Or the spirit of holiness, or the Holy Spirit
  4. Romans 1:5 Or Him for; lit Him into
  5. Romans 1:5 Or the obedience that is faith, or the faithful obedience, or the obedience that comes from faith; Rm 16:26
  6. Romans 1:5 Or Gentiles
  7. Romans 1:8 Or because your faith
  8. Romans 1:13 Lit I don’t want you to be unaware
  9. Romans 1:13 Lit have some fruit
  10. Romans 1:14 Or non-Greeks
  11. Romans 1:16 Other mss add of Christ
  12. Romans 1:17 Or revealed out of faith into faith
  13. Romans 1:17 Or The one who is righteous by faith will live
  14. Romans 1:17 Hab 2:4
  15. Romans 1:19 Or what is known
  16. Romans 1:26 Lit natural use
  17. Romans 1:27 Lit natural use
  18. Romans 1:27 Or in themselves
  19. Romans 1:29 Other mss add sexual immorality
  20. Romans 1:31 Other mss add unforgiving
  21. Romans 1:32 Lit things are worthy of death
  22. Romans 1:32 Lit even take pleasure in

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