Habakkuk 3:2-19

New King James Version

²O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.

³God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah

His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
⁴His brightness was like the light;
He had rays flashing from His hand,
And there His power was hidden.
⁵Before Him went pestilence,
And fever followed at His feet.

⁶He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
^(A)And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.
⁷I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.

⁸O Lord, were You displeased with the rivers,
Was Your anger against the rivers,
Was Your wrath against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
Your chariots of salvation?
⁹Your bow was made quite ready;
Oaths were sworn over Your ^[a]arrows. Selah

You divided the earth with rivers.
¹⁰The mountains saw You and trembled;
The overflowing of the water passed by.
The deep uttered its voice,
And ^(B)lifted its hands on high.
¹¹The ^(C)sun and moon stood still in their habitation;
At the light of Your arrows they went,
At the shining of Your glittering spear.

¹²You marched through the land in indignation;
You ^[b]trampled the nations in anger.
¹³You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For salvation with Your Anointed.
You struck the head from the house of the wicked,
By laying bare from foundation to neck. Selah

¹⁴You thrust through with his own arrows
The head of his villages.
They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.
¹⁵^(D)You walked through the sea with Your horses,
Through the heap of great waters.

¹⁶When I heard, ^(E)my body trembled;
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entered my bones;
And I trembled in myself,
That I might rest in the day of trouble.
When he comes up to the people,
He will invade them with his troops.

A Hymn of Faith

¹⁷Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
¹⁸Yet I will ^(F)rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.

¹⁹^[c]The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like ^(G)deer’s feet,
And He will make me ^(H)walk on my high hills.

To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Habakkuk 3:9 Lit. tribes or rods, cf. v. 14
Habakkuk 3:12 Or threshed
Habakkuk 3:19 Heb. YHWH Adonai

1 Corinthians 7

New King James Version

Principles of Marriage

7 Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me:

^(A)It is good for a man not to touch a woman. ²Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ³^(B)Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. ⁴The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ⁵^(C)Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that ^(D)Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶But I say this as a concession, ^(E)not as a commandment. ⁷For ^(F)I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.

⁸But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: ^(G)It is good for them if they remain even as I am; ⁹but ^(H)if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Keep Your Marriage Vows

¹⁰Now to the married I command, yet not I but the ^(I)Lord: ^(J)A wife is not to depart from her husband. ¹¹But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.

¹²But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. ¹³And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. ¹⁴For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise ^(K)your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. ¹⁵But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us ^(L)to peace. ¹⁶For how do you know, O wife, whether you will ^(M)save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?

Live as You Are Called

¹⁷But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And ^(N)so I ^[a]ordain in all the churches. ¹⁸Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? ^(O)Let him not be circumcised. ¹⁹^(P)Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but ^(Q)keeping the commandments of God is what matters. ²⁰Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. ²¹Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. ²²For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is ^(R)the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is ^(S)Christ’s slave. ²³^(T)You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. ²⁴Brethren, let each one remain with ^(U)God in that state in which he was called.

To the Unmarried and Widows

²⁵Now concerning virgins: ^(V)I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one ^(W)whom the Lord in His mercy has made ^(X)trustworthy. ²⁶I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—^(Y)that it is good for a man to remain as he is: ²⁷Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.

²⁹But ^(Z)this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, ³⁰those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, ³¹and those who use this world as not ^(AA)misusing it. For ^(AB)the form of this world is passing away.

³²But I want you to be without ^[b]care. ^(AC)He who is unmarried ^[c]cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. ³³But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife. ³⁴There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman ^(AD)cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. ³⁵And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.

³⁶But if any man thinks he is behaving improperly toward his ^[d]virgin, if she is past the flower of youth, and thus it must be, let him do what he wishes. He does not sin; let them marry. ³⁷Nevertheless he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power over his own will, and has so determined in his heart that he will keep his ^[e]virgin, does well. ³⁸^(AE)So then he who gives ^[f]her in marriage does well, but he who does not give her in marriage does better.

³⁹^(AF)A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, ^(AG)only in the Lord. ⁴⁰But she is happier if she remains as she is, ^(AH)according to my judgment—and ^(AI)I think I also have the Spirit of God.

Footnotes

1 Corinthians 7:17 direct
1 Corinthians 7:32 concern
1 Corinthians 7:32 is concerned about
1 Corinthians 7:36 Or virgin daughter
1 Corinthians 7:37 Or virgin daughter
1 Corinthians 7:38 NU his own virgin

Malachi 1

New King James Version

Polluted Offerings to God

1 The ^[a]burden of the word of the Lord to Israel ^[b]by Malachi.

Israel Beloved of God

²“I^(A) have loved you,” says the Lord.
“Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’
Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?”
Says the Lord.
“Yet ^(B)Jacob I have loved;
³But Esau I have hated,
And ^(C)laid waste his mountains and his heritage
For the jackals of the wilderness.”

⁴Even though Edom has said,
“We have been impoverished,
But we will return and build the desolate places,”

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“They may build, but I will ^(D)throw down;
They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness,
And the people against whom the Lord will have indignation forever.
⁵Your eyes shall see,
And you shall say,
^(E)‘The Lord is magnified beyond the border of Israel.’

Polluted Offerings

⁶“A son ^(F)honors his father,
And a servant his master.
^(G)If then I am the Father,
Where is My honor?
And if I am a Master,
Where is My reverence?
Says the Lord of hosts
To you priests who despise My name.
^(H)Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’

⁷“You offer ^(I)defiled food on My altar,
But say,
‘In what way have we defiled You?’
By saying,
^(J)‘The table of the Lord is ^[c]contemptible.’
⁸And ^(K)when you offer the blind as a sacrifice,
Is it not evil?
And when you offer the lame and sick,
Is it not evil?
Offer it then to your governor!
Would he be pleased with you?
Would he ^(L)accept^[d] you favorably?”
Says the Lord of hosts.

⁹“But now entreat God’s favor,
That He may be gracious to us.
^(M)While this is being done by your hands,
Will He accept you favorably?”
Says the Lord of hosts.
¹⁰“Who is there even among you who would shut the doors,
^(N)So that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain?
I have no pleasure in you,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
^(O)“Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.
¹¹For ^(P)from the rising of the sun, even to its going down,
My name shall be great ^(Q)among the Gentiles;
^(R)In every place ^(S)incense shall be offered to My name,
And a pure offering;
^(T)For My name shall be great among the nations,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

¹²“But you profane it,
In that you say,
^(U)‘The table of the ^[e]Lord is defiled;
And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’
¹³You also say,
‘Oh, what a ^(V)weariness!’
And you sneer at it,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick;
Thus you bring an offering!
^(W)Should I accept this from your hand?”
Says the Lord.
¹⁴“But cursed be ^(X)the deceiver
Who has in his flock a male,
And takes a vow,
But sacrifices to the Lord ^(Y)what is blemished—
For ^(Z)I am a great King,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“And My name is to be feared among the nations.

Footnotes

Malachi 1:1 oracle, prophecy
Malachi 1:1 Lit. by the hand of
Malachi 1:7 Or to be despised
Malachi 1:8 Lit. lift up your face
Malachi 1:12 So with Bg.; MT Lord

1 Corinthians 8

New King James Version

Be Sensitive to Conscience

8 Now ^(A)concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have ^(B)knowledge. ^(C)Knowledge ^[a]puffs up, but love ^[b]edifies. ²And ^(D)if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. ³But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

⁴Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that ^(E)an idol is nothing in the world, ^(F)and that there is no other God but one. ⁵For even if there are ^(G)so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), ⁶yet ^(H)for us there is one God, the Father, ^(I)of whom are all things, and we for Him; and ^(J)one Lord Jesus Christ, ^(K)through whom are all things, and ^(L)through whom we live.

⁷However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, ^(M)with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is ^(N)defiled. ⁸But ^(O)food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

⁹But ^(P)beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become ^(Q)a ^[c]stumbling block to those who are weak. ¹⁰For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not ^(R)the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? ¹¹And ^(S)because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? ¹²But ^(T)when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. ¹³Therefore, ^(U)if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.