1 Kings 19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Elijah Flees from Jezebel
19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.(A) 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”(B) 3 Then he was afraid;[a] he got up and fled for his life and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”(C) 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” 8 He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.(D) 9 At that place he came to a cave and spent the night there.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”(E)
Elijah Meets God at Horeb
11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake,(F) 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”(G) 14 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”(H) 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.(I) 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel, and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.(J) 17 Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill, and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill.(K) 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”(L)
Elisha Becomes Elijah’s Disciple
19 So he set out from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was plowing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him.(M) 20 He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” Then Elijah[b] said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”(N) 21 He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah and became his servant.(O)
Ecclesiastes 1-2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Reflections of a Royal Philosopher
1 The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.(A)
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.(B)
3 What do people gain from all the toil
at which they toil under the sun?(C)
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.(D)
5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down
and hurries to the place where it rises.(E)
6 The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
round and round goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.(F)
7 All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they continue to flow.
8 All things[a] are wearisome,
more than one can express;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing
or the ear filled with hearing.(G)
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.(H)
10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has already been
in the ages before us.
11 The people of long ago are not remembered,
nor will there be any remembrance
of people yet to come
by those who come after them.
The Futility of Seeking Wisdom
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to humans to be busy with.(I) 14 I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun, and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.(J)
15 What is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.(K)
16 I said to myself, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”(L) 17 And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a chasing after wind.(M)
18 For in much wisdom is much vexation,
and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow.(N)
The Futility of Self-Indulgence
2 I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But again, this also was vanity.(O) 2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”(P) 3 I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, until I might see what was good for mortals to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4 I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself;(Q) 5 I made myself gardens and parks and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.(R) 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, many concubines.[b](S)
9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me.(T) 10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure from all my toil, and this was my reward from all my toil.(U) 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.(V)
Wisdom and Joy Given to One Who Pleases God
12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly, for what can the king’s successor do? Only what has already been done.(W) 13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.
14 The wise have eyes in their head,
but fools walk in darkness.
Yet I perceived that the same fate befalls all of them.(X) 15 Then I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also; why then have I been so very wise?” And I said to myself that this also is vanity.(Y) 16 For there is no enduring remembrance of the wise or of fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How can the wise die just like fools? 17 So I hated life because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.(Z)
18 I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to my successor,(AA) 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun,(AB) 21 because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.(AC) 22 What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun?(AD) 23 For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.(AE)
24 There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,(AF) 25 for apart from him[c] who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.(AG)
Psalm 6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 6
Prayer for Recovery from Grave Illness
To the leader: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.(A)
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.(B)
3 My soul also is struck with terror,
while you, O Lord—how long?(C)
4 Turn, O Lord, save my life;
deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who can give you praise?(D)
6 I am weary with my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eyes waste away because of grief;
they grow weak because of all my foes.(E)
Psalm 22:1-2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 22
Plea for Deliverance from Suffering and Hostility
To the leader: according to The Deer of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?(A)
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night but find no rest.(B)
Psalm 34:17-20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and rescues them from all their troubles.(A)
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.(B)
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord rescues them from them all.(C)
20 He keeps all their bones;
not one of them will be broken.(D)
Psalm 40
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 40
Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for Help
To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.(A)
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit,[a]
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.(B)
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.(C)
4 Happy are those who make
the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after false gods.(D)
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
they would be more than can be counted.(E)
6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
but you have given me an open ear.[b]
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.(F)
7 Then I said, “Here I am;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me.[c]
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”(G)
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.(H)
10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.(I)
11 Do not, O Lord, withhold
your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
keep me safe forever.(J)
12 For evils have encompassed me
without number;
my iniquities have overtaken me
until I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails me.(K)
13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
O Lord, make haste to help me.(L)
14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who desire my hurt.(M)
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”(N)
Psalm 42
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Book II
(Psalms 42–72)
Psalm 42
Longing for God and His Help in Distress
To the leader. A Maskil of the Korahites.
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.(A)
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?(B)
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”(C)
4 These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng[a]
and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.(D)
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,
my help(E) 6 and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the thunder of your torrents;
all your waves and your billows
have gone over me.(F)
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.(G)
9 I say to God, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully
because the enemy oppresses me?”(H)
10 As with a deadly wound in my body,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”(I)
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.(J)
Footnotes
- 42.4 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Lamentations 3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God’s Steadfast Love Endures
3 I am one who has seen affliction
under the rod of God’s[a] wrath;(A)
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 against me alone he turns his hand,
again and again, all day long.(B)
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
he has broken my bones;(C)
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me sit in darkness
like the dead of long ago.(D)
7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has put heavy chains on me;(E)
8 though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;(F)
9 he has blocked my ways with hewn stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;(G)
11 he led me off my way and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate;
12 he bent his bow and set me
as a mark for his arrow.(H)
13 He shot into my vitals
the arrows of his quiver;
14 I have become the laughingstock of all my people,
the object of their taunt songs all day long.(I)
15 He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with wormwood.
16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel;
he has made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, “Gone is my glory
and all that I had hoped for from the Lord.”
19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
is wormwood and gall!(J)
20 My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.(K)
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,[b]
his mercies never come to an end;(L)
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.(M)
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”(N)
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.(O)
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.(P)
27 It is good for one to bear
the yoke in youth,(Q)
28 to sit alone in silence
when the Lord[c] has imposed it,(R)
29 to put one’s mouth to the dust
(there may yet be hope),
30 to give one’s cheek to the smiter
and be filled with insults.(S)
31 For the Lord will not
reject forever.(T)
32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;(U)
33 for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve anyone.(V)
34 When all the prisoners of the land
are crushed under foot,
35 when justice is perverted
in the presence of the Most High,(W)
36 when one’s case is subverted—
does the Lord not see it?(X)
37 Who can command and have it done,
if the Lord has not ordained it?(Y)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that evil and good come?(Z)
39 Why should any who draw breath complain
about the punishment of their sins?(AA)
40 Let us test and examine our ways
and return to the Lord.(AB)
41 Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands
to God in heaven.(AC)
42 We have transgressed and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.(AD)
43 You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
killing without pity;(AE)
44 you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us filth and rubbish
among the peoples.(AF)
46 All our enemies
have opened their mouths against us;(AG)
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and destruction.(AH)
48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of my people.[d]
49 My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,(AI)
50 until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees.(AJ)
51 My eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the young women in my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
have hunted me like a bird;(AK)
53 they flung me alive into a pit
and hurled stones on me;(AL)
54 water closed over my head;
I said, “I am lost.”(AM)
55 I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;(AN)
56 you heard my plea, “Do not close your ear
to my cry for help, but give me relief!”(AO)
57 You came near when I called on you;
you said, “Do not fear!”(AP)
58 You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
you have redeemed my life.(AQ)
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their malice,
all their plots against me.(AR)
61 You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all their plots against me.
62 The whispers and murmurs of my assailants
are against me all day long.
63 Whether they sit or rise—see,
I am the object of their taunt songs.
64 Pay them back for their deeds, O Lord,
according to the work of their hands!
65 Give them anguish of heart;
your curse be on them!
66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under the Lord’s heavens.(AS)
Isaiah 61:1-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Good News of Deliverance
61 The spirit of the Lord God is upon me
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,(A)
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,(B)
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.(C)
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.(D)
Matthew 26:36-46
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and agitated.(A) 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.”(B) 39 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.”(C) 40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour?(D) 41 Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial;[a] the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”(E) 42 Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”(F) 43 Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Now the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.(G) 46 Get up, let us be going. Look, my betrayer is at hand.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 26.41 Or into testing
Matthew 27:46
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”(A)
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Romans 8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Life in the Spirit
8 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.(A) 2 For the law of the Spirit[a] of life in Christ Jesus has set you[b] free from the law of sin and of death.(B) 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin,[c] he condemned sin in the flesh,(C) 4 so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.[d](D) 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit[e] set their minds on the things of the Spirit.[f](E) 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit[g] is life and peace.(F) 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed, it cannot,(G) 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit,[h] since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.(H) 10 But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit[i] is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus[j] from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through[k] his Spirit that dwells in you.(I)
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are obligated, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.(J) 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.(K) 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba![l] Father!”(L) 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness[m] with our spirit that we are children of God,(M) 17 and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.(N)
Future Glory
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.(O) 24 For in[n] hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes[o] with groanings too deep for words.(P) 27 And God,[p] who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit[q] intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.(Q)
28 We know that all things work together[r] for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.(R) 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.[s](S) 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.(T)
God’s Love in Christ Jesus
31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?(U) 32 He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.(V) 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ[t] who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.(W) 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”(X)
37 No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us.(Y) 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,(Z) 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Footnotes
- 8.2 Or spirit
- 8.2 Gk you is singular; other ancient authorities read me or us
- 8.3 Or and as a sin offering
- 8.4 Or spirit
- 8.5 Or spirit
- 8.5 Or spirit
- 8.6 Or spirit
- 8.9 Or spirit
- 8.10 Or spirit
- 8.11 Other ancient authorities read Christ or the Christ or Jesus Christ
- 8.11 Other ancient authorities read on account of
- 8.15 Aramaic for Father
- 8.16 Or
. . . a spirit of adoption, by which we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit itself bears witness - 8.24 Or by
- 8.26 Other ancient authorities add for us
- 8.27 Gk And the one
- 8.27 Gk he or it
- 8.28 Other ancient authorities read God makes all things work together or in all things God works
- 8.29 Gk among many brothers
- 8.34 Other ancient authorities read Christ Jesus
2 Corinthians 1:3-11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Paul’s Thanksgiving after Affliction
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation,(A) 4 who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ.(B) 6 If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.
8 We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself.(C) 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us;[a] on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again,(D) 11 as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many may give thanks on our[b] behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.(E)
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2 Corinthians 4:7-12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.(A) 8 We are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, 9 persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, 10 always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.(B) 11 For we who are living are always being handed over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us but life in you.
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Philippians 1:20-26
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
20 It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way but that by my speaking with all boldness Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death.(A) 21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet I cannot say which I will choose. 23 I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better,(B) 24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. 25 Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, 26 so that, by my presence again with you, your boast might abound in Christ Jesus because of me.(C)
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