Psalm 143-145

English Standard Version

My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David.

143 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
    ^(A)give ear to my pleas for mercy!
    In your ^(B)faithfulness answer me, in your ^(C)righteousness!
²^(D)Enter not into judgment with your servant,
    for no one living is righteous ^(E)before you.

³For the enemy has pursued my soul;
    ^(F)he has crushed my life to the ground;
    ^(G)he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
⁴Therefore my spirit ^(H)faints within me;
    my heart within me is appalled.

⁵^(I)I remember the days of old;
    ^(J)I meditate on all that you have done;
    I ponder the work of your hands.
⁶^(K)I stretch out my hands to you;
    ^(L)my soul thirsts for you like ^(M)a parched land. Selah

⁷^(N)Answer me quickly, O Lord!
    ^(O)My spirit fails!
^(P)Hide not your face from me,
    ^(Q)lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
⁸^(R)Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
    for in you I ^(S)trust.
^(T)Make me know the way I should go,
    ^(U)for to you I lift up my soul.

⁹^(V)Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord!
    I have fled to you for refuge.^[a]
¹⁰^(W)Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God!
^(X)Let your good Spirit ^(Y)lead me
    on ^(Z)level ground!

¹¹^(AA)For your name's sake, O Lord, ^(AB)preserve my life!
    In your righteousness ^(AC)bring my soul out of trouble!
¹²And in your steadfast love you will ^(AD)cut off my enemies,
    and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
    for I am your ^(AE)servant.

My Rock and My Fortress

Of David.

144 Blessed be the Lord, my ^(AF)rock,
    ^(AG)who trains my hands for war,
    and my fingers for battle;
²he is my ^(AH)steadfast love and my ^(AI)fortress,
    my ^(AJ)stronghold and my deliverer,
my ^(AK)shield and he in whom I take refuge,
    who ^(AL)subdues peoples^[b] under me.

³O Lord, ^(AM)what is man that you ^(AN)regard him,
or the son of man that you think of him?
⁴^(AO)Man is like a breath;
his days are like ^(AP)a passing ^(AQ)shadow.

⁵^(AR)Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down!
    ^(AS)Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
⁶^(AT)Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
    ^(AU)send out your arrows and rout them!
⁷^(AV)Stretch out your hand from on high;
    ^(AW)rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
    from the hand ^(AX)of foreigners,
⁸whose mouths speak ^(AY)lies
    and whose right hand is ^(AZ)a right hand of falsehood.

⁹I will sing ^(BA)a new song to you, O God;
    upon ^(BB)a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
¹⁰who gives victory to kings,
    who ^(BC)rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
¹¹Rescue me and deliver me
    from the hand ^(BD)of foreigners,
whose mouths speak ^(BE)lies
    and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

¹²May our sons in their youth
    be like ^(BF)plants full grown,
our daughters like ^(BG)corner pillars
    cut for the structure of a palace;
¹³^(BH)may our granaries be full,
    ^(BI)providing all kinds of produce;
may our sheep bring forth thousands
    and ten thousands in our fields;
¹⁴may our cattle be heavy with young,
    suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;^[c]
may there be no ^(BJ)cry of distress in our streets!
¹⁵^(BK)Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
    ^(BL)Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!

Great Is the Lord

^[d] A Song of Praise. Of David.

145 ^(BM)I will extol you, my God and ^(BN)King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.
²Every day I will bless you
    ^(BO)and praise your name forever and ever.
³^(BP)Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
    and his ^(BQ)greatness is unsearchable.

⁴^(BR)One generation shall commend your works to another,
    and shall declare your mighty acts.
⁵On ^(BS)the glorious splendor of your majesty,
    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
⁶They shall speak of ^(BT)the might of your awesome deeds,
    and I will declare your greatness.
⁷They shall pour forth the fame of your ^(BU)abundant goodness
    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

⁸The Lord is ^(BV)gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹The Lord is ^(BW)good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.

¹⁰^(BX)All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
    and all your ^(BY)saints shall bless you!
¹¹They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
    and tell of your power,
¹²to ^(BZ)make known to the children of man your^[e] ^(CA)mighty deeds,
    and ^(CB)the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
¹³^(CC)Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The Lord is faithful in all his words
    and kind in all his works.^[f]]
¹⁴The Lord ^(CD)upholds all who are falling
    and ^(CE)raises up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵The eyes of all ^(CF)look to you,
    and you give them their food in due season.
¹⁶You ^(CG)open your hand;
    you ^(CH)satisfy the desire of every living thing.
¹⁷The Lord is ^(CI)righteous in all his ways
    and ^(CJ)kind in all his works.
¹⁸The Lord is ^(CK)near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him ^(CL)in truth.
¹⁹He ^(CM)fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
    he also ^(CN)hears their cry and saves them.
²⁰The Lord ^(CO)preserves all who love him,
    but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and ^(CP)let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Footnotes

Psalm 143:9 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts To you I have covered
Psalm 144:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Dead Sea Scroll, Jerome, Syriac, Aquila; most Hebrew manuscripts subdues my people
Psalm 144:14 Hebrew with no breaking in or going out
Psalm 145:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
Psalm 145:12 Hebrew his; also next line
Psalm 145:13 These two lines are supplied by one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac (compare Dead Sea Scroll)

Mark 6

English Standard Version

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

6 ^(A)He went away from there and came to ^(B)his hometown, and his disciples followed him. ²And ^(C)on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and ^(D)many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? ³^(E)Is not this ^(F)the carpenter,^[a] the son of Mary and ^(G)brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And ^(H)they took offense at him. ⁴And Jesus said to them, ^(I)“A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” ⁵And ^(J)he could do no mighty work there, except that ^(K)he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶And ^(L)he marveled because of their unbelief.

^(M)And he went about among the villages teaching.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

⁷^(N)And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— ⁹but to ^(O)wear sandals and not put on two tunics.^[b] ¹⁰And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. ¹¹And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, ^(P)shake off the dust that is on your feet ^(Q)as a testimony against them.” ¹²^(R)So they went out and ^(S)proclaimed ^(T)that people should repent. ¹³^(U)And they cast out many demons and ^(V)anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

¹⁴^(W)King Herod heard of it, for Jesus'^[c] name had become known. Some^[d] said, ^(X)“John the Baptist^[e] has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ¹⁵^(Y)But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is ^(Z)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” ¹⁷^(AA)For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and ^(AB)bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. ¹⁸^(AC)For John had been saying to Herod, ^(AD)“It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” ¹⁹And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰for Herod ^(AE)feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he ^(AF)heard him gladly.

²¹But an opportunity came when Herod ^(AG)on his birthday ^(AH)gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²²For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, ^(AI)up to half of my kingdom.” ²⁴And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. ²⁷And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's^[f] head. He went and beheaded him in the prison ²⁸and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹When his ^(AJ)disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

³⁰^(AK)^(AL)The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and ^(AM)they had no leisure even to eat. ³²^(AN)And they went away in ^(AO)the boat to a desolate place by themselves. ³³Now many saw them going and ^(AP)recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴When he went ashore he ^(AQ)saw a great crowd, and ^(AR)he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. ³⁵And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. ³⁶^(AS)Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷But he answered them, ^(AT)“You give them something to eat.” And ^(AU)they said to him, ^(AV)“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii^[g] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, ^(AW)“Five, and two fish.” ³⁹Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ^(AX)looked up to heaven and ^(AY)said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²And they all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

⁴⁵^(AZ)Immediately he ^(BA)made his disciples get into ^(BB)the boat and go before him to the other side, ^(BC)to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶And after he had taken leave of them, ^(BD)he went up on the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷And when ^(BE)evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about ^(BF)the fourth watch of the night^[h] he came to them, walking on the sea. ^(BG)He meant to pass by them, ⁴⁹but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, ⁵⁰for they all saw him and ^(BH)were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ^(BI)“Take heart; it is I. ^(BJ)Do not be afraid.” ⁵¹And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, ⁵²for ^(BK)they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts ^(BL)were hardened.

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

⁵³^(BM)When they had crossed over, they came to land at ^(BN)Gennesaret and moored to the shore. ⁵⁴And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately ^(BO)recognized him ⁵⁵and ran about the whole region and began to bring ^(BP)the sick people ^(BQ)on their beds to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, ^(BR)they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even ^(BS)the fringe of his garment. And ^(BT)as many as touched it were made well.