Psalm 116

I love the Lord,(A) for he heard my voice;
    he heard my cry(B) for mercy.(C)
Because he turned his ear(D) to me,
    I will call on him as long as I live.

The cords of death(E) entangled me,
    the anguish of the grave came over me;
    I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
Then I called on the name(F) of the Lord:
    Lord, save me!(G)

The Lord is gracious and righteous;(H)
    our God is full of compassion.(I)
The Lord protects the unwary;
    when I was brought low,(J) he saved me.(K)

Return to your rest,(L) my soul,
    for the Lord has been good(M) to you.

For you, Lord, have delivered me(N) from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before the Lord(O)
    in the land of the living.(P)

10 I trusted(Q) in the Lord when I said,
    “I am greatly afflicted”;(R)
11 in my alarm I said,
    “Everyone is a liar.”(S)

12 What shall I return to the Lord
    for all his goodness(T) to me?

13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
    and call on the name(U) of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vows(V) to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people.

15 Precious in the sight(W) of the Lord
    is the death of his faithful servants.(X)
16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;(Y)
    I serve you just as my mother did;(Z)
    you have freed me from my chains.(AA)

17 I will sacrifice a thank offering(AB) to you
    and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vows(AC) to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts(AD) of the house of the Lord
    in your midst, Jerusalem.(AE)

Praise the Lord.[a]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 116:19 Hebrew Hallelu Yah

24 So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud(A) and spoke with him,(B) and he took some of the power of the Spirit(C) that was on him and put it on the seventy elders.(D) When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied(E)—but did not do so again.

26 However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them,(F) and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

28 Joshua son of Nun,(G) who had been Moses’ aide(H) since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”(I)

29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets(J) and that the Lord would put his Spirit(K) on them!”(L) 30 Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

31 Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail(M) in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits[a] deep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. 32 All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers.[b] Then they spread them out all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth(N) and before it could be consumed, the anger(O) of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague.(P) 34 Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah,[c](Q) because there they buried the people who had craved other food.

35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth(R) and stayed there.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 11:31 That is, about 3 feet or about 90 centimeters
  2. Numbers 11:32 That is, possibly about 1 3/4 tons or about 1.6 metric tons
  3. Numbers 11:34 Kibroth Hattaavah means graves of craving.

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over(A) to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,(B) 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;(C) 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love,(D) no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death,(E) they not only continue to do these very things but also approve(F) of those who practice them.

God’s Righteous Judgment

You, therefore, have no excuse,(G) you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.(H) Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches(I) of his kindness,(J) forbearance(K) and patience,(L) not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?(M)

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath(N), when his righteous judgment(O) will be revealed. God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[a](P) To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor(Q) and immortality,(R) he will give eternal life.(S) But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil,(T) there will be wrath and anger.(U) There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil:(V) first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;(W) 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.(X) 11 For God does not show favoritism.(Y)

Footnotes

  1. Romans 2:6 Psalm 62:12; Prov. 24:12

The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven(A)

18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children,(B) you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.(C) Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.(D) And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.(E)

Causing to Stumble

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.(F) Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!(G) If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble,(H) cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble,(I) gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.(J)

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