Psalm 53
Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 53
A Portrait of Sinners
For the choir director: on Mahalath.(A) A Maskil of David.
1 The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.”
They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.(B)
2 God looks down from heaven on the human race[a]
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.(C)
3 All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.(D)
4 Will evildoers never understand?
They consume my people as they consume bread;(E)
they do not call on God.(F)
5 Then they will be filled with dread—
dread like no other(G)—
because God will scatter
the bones of those who besiege you.(H)
You will put them to shame,
for God has rejected them.(I)
Zephaniah 2:4-3:5
Christian Standard Bible
Judgment against the Nations
4 For Gaza will be abandoned,
and Ashkelon will become a ruin.
Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
and Ekron will be uprooted.(A)
5 Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast,
nation of the Cherethites
The word of the Lord is against you,(C)
Canaan, land of the Philistines:
I will destroy you until there is no one left.(D)
6 The seacoast will become pasturelands
with caves for shepherds and pens for sheep.
7 The coastland will belong
to the remnant of the house of Judah;
they will find pasture there.
They will lie down in the evening
among the houses of Ashkelon,
for the Lord their God will return to them
and restore their fortunes.(E)
8 I have heard the taunting(F) of Moab
and the insults of the Ammonites,(G)
who have taunted my people
and threatened their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live—
this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel—
Moab will be like Sodom(H)
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah:(I)
a place overgrown with weeds,
a salt pit, and a perpetual wasteland.
The remnant of my people will plunder them;
the remainder of my nation will dispossess them.
10 This is what they get for their pride,
because they have taunted and acted arrogantly(J)
against the people of the Lord of Armies.
11 The Lord will be terrifying to them
when he starves all the gods of the earth.
Then all the distant coasts and islands of the nations
will bow in worship to him,
each in its own place.
12 You Cushites will also be slain by my sword.(K)
13 He will also stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria;
he will make Nineveh a desolate ruin,(L)
dry as the desert.
14 Herds will lie down in the middle of it,
every kind of wild animal.[b]
Both eagle owls[c] and herons[d]
will roost in the capitals of its pillars.
Their calls will sound[e] from the window,
but devastation[f] will be on the threshold,
for he will expose the cedar work.[g]
15 This is the jubilant(M) city
that lives in security,
that says to herself:
I exist, and there is no one else.
What a desolation she has become,
a place for wild animals to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
scoffs[h] and shakes his fist.
Woe to Oppressive Jerusalem
3 Woe to the city that is rebellious[i](N) and defiled,(O)
the oppressive city!
2 She has not obeyed;(P)
she has not accepted discipline.(Q)
She has not trusted(R) in the Lord;
she has not drawn near to her God.
3 The[j] princes within her are roaring lions;(S)
her judges are wolves of the night,(T)
which leave nothing for[k] the morning.
4 Her prophets are reckless(U)—
treacherous men.
Her priests profane the sanctuary;
they do violence to instruction.(V)
5 The righteous Lord is in her;(W)
he does no wrong.(X)
He applies his justice morning by morning;
he does not fail at dawn,
yet the one who does wrong knows no shame.(Y)
Acts 1:12-26
Christian Standard Bible
United in Prayer
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they arrived, they went to the room(A) upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.(B) 14 They all were continually united(C) in prayer,[a] along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.(D)
Matthias Chosen
15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters[b]—the number of people who were together was about a hundred twenty—and said, 16 “Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David foretold about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.(E) 17 For he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”(F) 18 Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst, his body burst open and his intestines spilled out.(G) 19 This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field is called Hakeldama (that is, “Field of Blood”). 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
Let his dwelling become desolate;
let no one live in it; [c] and
Let someone else take his position.[d](H)
21 “Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us—from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of his resurrection.”(I)
23 So they proposed two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.(J) 24 Then they prayed,(K) “You, Lord, know everyone’s hearts; show which of these two you have chosen(L) 25 to take the place[e] in this apostolic ministry(M) that Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots(N) for them, and the lot fell to Matthias and he was added to the eleven apostles.
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