Psalm 31

English Standard Version

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

31 ^(A)In you, O Lord, do I ^(B)take refuge;
    ^(C)let me never be put to shame;
    in your ^(D)righteousness deliver me!
²Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
Be ^(E)a rock of ^(F)refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!

³For you are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your ^(G)name's sake you lead me and guide me;
⁴you ^(H)take me out of ^(I)the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my ^(J)refuge.
⁵^(K)Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O Lord, ^(L)faithful God.

⁶I ^(M)hate^[a] those who pay ^(N)regard to worthless ^(O)idols,
    but I trust in the Lord.
⁷I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
    because you have seen my affliction;
    you have ^(P)known the distress of my soul,
⁸and you have not ^(Q)delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
    you have set my feet in ^(R)a broad place.

⁹Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am ^(S)in distress;
    ^(T)my eye is wasted from grief;
    my soul and my body also.
¹⁰For my life is spent with sorrow,
    and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
    and ^(U)my bones waste away.

¹¹Because of all my adversaries I have become ^(V)a reproach,
    especially to my ^(W)neighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
    those who see me in the street ^(X)flee from me.
¹²I have been ^(Y)forgotten like one who is dead;
    I have become like ^(Z)a broken vessel.
¹³For I ^(AA)hear the whispering of many—
    terror on every side!—
^(AB)as they scheme together against me,
    as they plot to take my life.

¹⁴But I ^(AC)trust in you, O Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵My ^(AD)times are in your hand;
    ^(AE)rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
¹⁶^(AF)Make your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your steadfast love!
¹⁷O Lord, ^(AG)let me not be put to shame,
    for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
    let them go ^(AH)silently to Sheol.
¹⁸Let the lying lips be mute,
    which ^(AI)speak ^(AJ)insolently against the righteous
    in pride and contempt.

¹⁹Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
    which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
    ^(AK)in the sight of the children of mankind!
²⁰In ^(AL)the cover of your presence you hide them
    from the plots of men;
you ^(AM)store them in your shelter
    from the strife of tongues.

²¹Blessed be the Lord,
    for he has wondrously ^(AN)shown his steadfast love to me
    when I was in ^(AO)a besieged city.
²²I had said in my ^(AP)alarm,^[b]
    “I am ^(AQ)cut off from ^(AR)your sight.”
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
    when I cried to you for help.

²³Love the Lord, all you his ^(AS)saints!
    The Lord preserves the faithful
    but abundantly ^(AT)repays the one who acts in pride.
²⁴^(AU)Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord!

Footnotes

Psalm 31:6 Masoretic Text; one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome You hate
Psalm 31:22 Or in my haste

Psalm 35

English Standard Version

Great Is the Lord

Of David.

35 Contend, O Lord, with those who ^(A)contend with me;
    ^(B)fight against those who fight against me!
²Take hold of ^(C)shield and buckler
    and rise for my help!
³Draw the spear and javelin^[a]
    against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
    “I am your salvation!”

⁴^(D)Let them be ^(E)put to shame and dishonor
    who seek after my life!
Let them be ^(F)turned back and disappointed
    who devise evil against me!
⁵Let them be like ^(G)chaff before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
⁶Let their way be dark and ^(H)slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

⁷For ^(I)without cause ^(J)they hid their net for me;
without cause they dug ^(K)a pit for my life.^[b]
⁸Let ^(L)destruction come upon him ^(M)when he does not know it!
And let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his destruction!

⁹Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,
    ^(N)exulting in his salvation.
¹⁰All my ^(O)bones shall say,
    “O Lord, ^(P)who is like you,
delivering the poor
    from him who is too strong for him,
    the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

¹¹^(Q)Malicious^[c] witnesses rise up;
    they ask me of things that I do not know.
¹²^(R)They repay me evil for good;
    my soul is bereft.^[d]
¹³But I, ^(S)when they were sick—
    I ^(T)wore sackcloth;
    I ^(U)afflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed ^(V)with head bowed^[e] on my chest.
¹⁴    I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
    I ^(W)bowed down in mourning.

¹⁵But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
    they gathered together against me;
^(X)wretches whom I did not know
    tore at me without ceasing;
¹⁶like profane mockers at a feast,^[f]
    they ^(Y)gnash at me with their teeth.

¹⁷How long, O Lord, will you ^(Z)look on?
    Rescue me from their destruction,
    ^(AA)my precious life from the lions!
¹⁸I will thank you in ^(AB)the great congregation;
    in the mighty throng I will praise you.

¹⁹^(AC)Let not those rejoice over me
    who are ^(AD)wrongfully my foes,
and let not those ^(AE)wink the eye
    who ^(AF)hate me ^(AG)without cause.
²⁰For they do not speak peace,
    but against those who are quiet in the land
    they devise words of deceit.
²¹They ^(AH)open wide their mouths against me;
    they say, ^(AI)“Aha, Aha!
    Our eyes have seen it!”

²²^(AJ)You have seen, O Lord; ^(AK)be not silent!
    O Lord, ^(AL)be not far from me!
²³Awake and ^(AM)rouse yourself for ^(AN)my vindication,
    for my cause, my God and my Lord!
²⁴^(AO)Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,
    according to your righteousness,
    and ^(AP)let them not rejoice over me!
²⁵Let them not say in their hearts,
    ^(AQ)“Aha, our heart's desire!”
Let them not say, ^(AR)“We have swallowed him up.”

²⁶Let them be ^(AS)put to shame and disappointed altogether
who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be ^(AT)clothed with shame and dishonor
who ^(AU)magnify themselves against me!

²⁷Let those who delight in my righteousness
    shout for joy and be glad
    ^(AV)and say evermore,
^(AW)“Great is the Lord,
    who ^(AX)delights in the welfare of his servant!”
²⁸Then my ^(AY)tongue shall tell of your righteousness
    and of your praise all the day long.

Footnotes

Psalm 35:3 Or and close the way
Psalm 35:7 The word pit is transposed from the preceding line; Hebrew For without cause they hid the pit of their net for me; without cause they dug for my life
Psalm 35:11 Or Violent
Psalm 35:12 Hebrew it is bereavement to my soul
Psalm 35:13 Or my prayer shall turn back
Psalm 35:16 The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain

Galatians 4

English Standard Version

Sons and Heirs

4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,^[a] though he is the owner of everything, ²but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. ³In the same way we also, when we were children, ^(A)were enslaved to the elementary principles^[b] of the world. ⁴But ^(B)when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, ^(C)born ^(D)of woman, born ^(E)under the law, ⁵^(F)to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive ^(G)adoption as sons. ⁶And because you are sons, God has sent ^(H)the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then ^(I)an heir through God.

Paul's Concern for the Galatians

⁸Formerly, when you ^(J)did not know God, you ^(K)were enslaved to those that by nature ^(L)are not gods. ⁹But now that you have come to know God, or rather ^(M)to be known by God, ^(N)how can you turn back again to ^(O)the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? ¹⁰^(P)You observe days and months and seasons and years! ¹¹I am afraid ^(Q)I may have labored over you in vain.

¹²Brothers,^[c] ^(R)I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. ^(S)You did me no wrong. ¹³You know it was ^(T)because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you ^(U)at first, ¹⁴and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me ^(V)as an angel of God, ^(W)as Christ Jesus. ¹⁵What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶Have I then become your enemy by ^(X)telling you the truth?^[d] ¹⁷They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. ¹⁸It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and ^(Y)not only when I am present with you, ¹⁹^(Z)my little children, ^(AA)for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ ^(AB)is formed in you! ²⁰I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Example of Hagar and Sarah

²¹Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? ²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, ^(AC)one by a slave woman and ^(AD)one by a free woman. ²³But ^(AE)the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while ^(AF)the son of the free woman was born through promise. ²⁴Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two ^(AG)covenants. ^(AH)One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. ²⁵Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;^[e] she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶But ^(AI)the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷For it is written,

^(AJ)“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband.”

²⁸Now you,^[f] brothers, ^(AK)like Isaac, ^(AL)are children of promise. ²⁹But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh ^(AM)persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, ^(AN)so also it is now. ³⁰But what does the Scripture say? ^(AO)“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” ³¹So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but ^(AP)of the free woman.

Footnotes

Galatians 4:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 7
Galatians 4:3 Or elemental spirits; also verse 9
Galatians 4:12 Or Brothers and sisters; also verses 28, 31
Galatians 4:16 Or by dealing truthfully with you
Galatians 4:25 Some manuscripts For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia
Galatians 4:28 Some manuscripts we