Psalm 118

New International Version

Psalm 118

¹Give thanks to the Lord,^(A) for he is good;^(B)
his love endures forever.^(C)

²Let Israel say:^(D)
    “His love endures forever.”^(E)
³Let the house of Aaron say:^(F)
    “His love endures forever.”
⁴Let those who fear the Lord^(G) say:
    “His love endures forever.”

⁵When hard pressed,^(H) I cried to the Lord;
    he brought me into a spacious place.^(I)
⁶The Lord is with me;^(J) I will not be afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?^(K)
⁷The Lord is with me; he is my helper.^(L)
    I look in triumph on my enemies.^(M)

⁸It is better to take refuge in the Lord^(N)
    than to trust in humans.^(O)
⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes.^(P)
¹⁰All the nations surrounded me,
    but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.^(Q)
¹¹They surrounded me^(R) on every side,^(S)
    but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
¹²They swarmed around me like bees,^(T)
    but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;^(U)
    in the name of the Lord I cut them down.^(V)
¹³I was pushed back and about to fall,
    but the Lord helped me.^(W)
¹⁴The Lord is my strength^(X) and my defense^[a];
    he has become my salvation.^(Y)

¹⁵Shouts of joy^(Z) and victory
    resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand^(AA) has done mighty things!^(AB)
¹⁶    The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
    the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”
¹⁷I will not die^(AC) but live,
    and will proclaim^(AD) what the Lord has done.
¹⁸The Lord has chastened^(AE) me severely,
    but he has not given me over to death.^(AF)
¹⁹Open for me the gates^(AG) of the righteous;
    I will enter^(AH) and give thanks to the Lord.
²⁰This is the gate of the Lord^(AI)
    through which the righteous may enter.^(AJ)
²¹I will give you thanks, for you answered me;^(AK)
    you have become my salvation.^(AL)

²²The stone^(AM) the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;^(AN)
²³the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous^(AO) in our eyes.
²⁴The Lord has done it this very day;
    let us rejoice today and be glad.^(AP)

²⁵Lord, save us!^(AQ)
Lord, grant us success!

²⁶Blessed is he who comes^(AR) in the name of the Lord.
    From the house of the Lord we bless you.^[b]^(AS)
²⁷The Lord is God,^(AT)
    and he has made his light shine^(AU) on us.
With boughs in hand,^(AV) join in the festal procession
    up^[c] to the horns of the altar.^(AW)

²⁸You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God,^(AX) and I will exalt^(AY) you.

²⁹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Footnotes

Psalm 118:14 Or song
Psalm 118:26 The Hebrew is plural.
Psalm 118:27 Or Bind the festal sacrifice with ropes / and take it

Isaiah 5:1-7

New International Version

The Song of the Vineyard

5 I will sing for the one I love
    a song about his vineyard:^(A)
My loved one had a vineyard
    on a fertile hillside.
²He dug it up and cleared it of stones
    and planted it with the choicest vines.^(B)
He built a watchtower^(C) in it
    and cut out a winepress^(D) as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
    but it yielded only bad fruit.^(E)

³“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
    judge between me and my vineyard.^(F)
⁴What more could have been done for my vineyard
    than I have done for it?^(G)
When I looked for good grapes,
    why did it yield only bad?^(H)
⁵Now I will tell you
    what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
    and it will be destroyed;^(I)
I will break down its wall,^(J)
    and it will be trampled.^(K)
⁶I will make it a wasteland,^(L)
    neither pruned nor cultivated,
    and briers and thorns^(M) will grow there.
I will command the clouds
    not to rain^(N) on it.”

⁷The vineyard^(O) of the Lord Almighty
    is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
    are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice,^(P) but saw bloodshed;
    for righteousness,^(Q) but heard cries of distress.^(R)

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Philippians 3:12-21

New International Version

¹²Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal,^(A) but I press on to take hold^(B) of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.^(C) ¹³Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind^(D) and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴I press on^(E) toward the goal to win the prize^(F) for which God has called^(G) me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Following Paul’s Example

¹⁵All of us, then, who are mature^(H) should take such a view of things.^(I) And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.^(J) ¹⁶Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

¹⁷Join together in following my example,^(K) brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.^(L) ¹⁸For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears,^(M) many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.^(N) ¹⁹Their destiny^(O) is destruction, their god is their stomach,^(P) and their glory is in their shame.^(Q) Their mind is set on earthly things.^(R) ²⁰But our citizenship^(S) is in heaven.^(T) And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,^(U) ²¹who, by the power^(V) that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies^(W) so that they will be like his glorious body.^(X)

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Matthew 21:33-43

New International Version

The Parable of the Tenants^(A)

³³“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted^(B) a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.^(C) Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.^(D) ³⁴When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants^(E) to the tenants to collect his fruit.

³⁵“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.^(F) ³⁶Then he sent other servants^(G) to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

³⁸“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir.^(H) Come, let’s kill him^(I) and take his inheritance.’^(J) ³⁹So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

⁴¹“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,”^(K) they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants,^(L) who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’^[a]?^(M)

⁴³“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you^(N) and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

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