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16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.(A)

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16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

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But he answered, “It is written,

‘One does not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”(A)

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But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

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Psalm 139

The Inescapable God

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.(A)
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from far away.(B)
You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.(C)
Even before a word is on my tongue,
    O Lord, you know it completely.(D)
You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.(E)
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is so high that I cannot attain it.(F)

Where can I go from your spirit?
    Or where can I flee from your presence?(G)
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.(H)
If I take the wings of the morning
    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me fast.(I)
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and night wraps itself around me,”[a](J)
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.(K)

13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.(L)
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.(M)
15     My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.(N)
16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
    all the days that were formed for me,
    when none of them as yet existed.[b]
17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!(O)
18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
    I come to the end[c]—I am still with you.

19 O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
    and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—(P)
20 those who speak of you maliciously
    and lift themselves up against you for evil![d](Q)
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
    And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?(R)
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my thoughts.(S)
24 See if there is any wicked[e] way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.[f](T)

Footnotes

  1. 139.11 Q ms: MT and the light around me become night
  2. 139.16 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  3. 139.18 Or I awake
  4. 139.20 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
  5. 139.24 Heb hurtful
  6. 139.24 Or the ancient way

139 O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

21 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.(A) Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.(B) And God is able to provide you with every blessing[a] in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.(C) As it is written,

“He scatters abroad; he gives to the poor;
    his righteousness[b] endures forever.”(D)

10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. 9.8 Gk gift or grace
  2. 9.9 Or benevolence
  3. 9.10 Or benevolence

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

(As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.

10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)

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Do Not Worry

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,[a] or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?(A) 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?(B) 27 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?[b] 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God[c] and his[d] righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.(C)

34 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

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Footnotes

  1. 6.25 Other ancient authorities lack or what you will drink
  2. 6.27 Or add one cubit to your height
  3. 6.33 Other ancient authorities lack of God
  4. 6.33 Or its

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

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