Habakkuk 3:2-19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Prophet’s Prayer
2 O Lord, I have heard of your renown,
and I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work.
In our own time revive it;
in our own time make it known;
in wrath may you remember mercy.(A)
3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.(B)
4 The brightness was like the sun;
rays came forth from his hand,
where his power lay hidden.(C)
5 Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed close behind.(D)
6 He stopped and shook the earth;
he looked and made the nations tremble.
The eternal mountains were shattered;
along his ancient pathways
the everlasting hills sank low.(E)
7 I saw the tents of Cushan under affliction;
the tent curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8 Was your wrath against the rivers,[a] O Lord,
or your anger against the rivers[b]
or your rage against the sea,[c]
when you drove your horses,
your chariots to victory?(F)
9 You brandished your naked bow;
sated[d] were the arrows at your command.[e] Selah
You split the earth with rivers.(G)
10 The mountains saw you and writhed;
a torrent of water swept by;
the deep gave forth its voice.
The sun raised high its hands;(H)
11 the moon stood still in its exalted place,
at the light of your arrows speeding by,
at the gleam of your flashing spear.(I)
12 In fury you marched on the earth;
in anger you trampled nations.(J)
13 You came forth to save your people,
to save your anointed.
You crushed the head of the wicked house,
laying it bare from foundation to roof.[f] Selah(K)
14 You pierced with their[g] own arrows the head of his warriors,[h]
who came like a whirlwind to scatter us,[i]
gloating as if ready to devour the poor who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the mighty waters.(L)
16 I hear, and I tremble within;
my lips quiver at the sound.
Rottenness enters into my bones,
and my steps tremble[j] beneath me.
I wait quietly for the day of calamity
to come upon the people who attack us.(M)
Trust and Joy in the Midst of Trouble
17 Though the fig tree does not blossom
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,(N)
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.(O)
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and makes me tread upon the heights.[k]
1 Corinthians 7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Directions concerning Marriage
7 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” 2 But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 The husband should give to his wife what is due her and likewise the wife to her husband.(A) 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time, to devote yourselves to prayer,[a] and then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.(B) 6 This I say by way of concession, not of command.(C) 7 I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind.(D)
8 To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain unmarried as I am.(E) 9 But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.(F)
10 To the married I give this command—not I but the Lord—that the wife should not separate from her husband(G) 11 (but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband) and that the husband should not divorce his wife.
12 To the rest I say—I and not the Lord—that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.(H) 13 And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce the husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through the brother.[b] Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.(I) 15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. It is to peace that God has called us.[c](J) 16 Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife.(K)
The Life that the Lord Has Assigned
17 However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches.(L) 18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.(M) 19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but obeying the commandments of God is everything.(N) 20 Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.(O)
21 Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make the most of it.[d] 22 For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave belonging to Christ.(P) 23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of humans.(Q) 24 In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters, there remain with God.
The Unmarried and the Widows
25 Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.(R) 26 I think that, in view of the impending[e] crisis,[f] it is good for you to remain as you are.(S) 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in the flesh, and I would spare you that. 29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,(T) 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.(U)
32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord,(V) 33 but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit, but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband.(W) 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.
36 If anyone thinks that he is behaving indecently toward his fiancée,[g] if his passions are strong and so it has to be, let him marry as he wishes; it is no sin. Let them marry. 37 But if someone stands firm in his resolve, being under no necessity but having his own desire under control, and has determined in his own mind to keep her as his fiancée,[h] he will do well. 38 So then, he who marries his fiancée[i] does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do better.
39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies,[j] she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord.(X) 40 But in my opinion she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I think that I, too, have the Spirit of God.
Malachi 1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
1 An oracle. The word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.[a]
Israel Preferred to Edom
2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” says the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob,(A) 3 but I have hated Esau; I have made his hill country a desolation and his heritage a desert for jackals.(B) 4 If Edom says, ‘We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,’ the Lord of hosts says: They may build, but I will tear down, until they are called the wicked country, the people with whom the Lord is angry forever. 5 Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, ‘Great is the Lord beyond the borders of Israel!’ ”(C)
Corruption of the Priesthood
6 A son honors his father and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is the honor due me? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. You say, “How have we despised your name?”(D) 7 By offering polluted food on my altar. And you say, “How have we polluted it?”[b] By thinking that the Lord’s table may be despised.(E) 8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not wrong? Try presenting that to your governor; will he be pleased with you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts.(F) 9 And now implore the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. The fault is yours. Will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts.(G) 10 Oh, that someone among you would shut the temple[c] doors, so that you would not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hands.(H) 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name and a pure offering, for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.(I) 12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted and its food[d] may be despised. 13 “What a weariness this is,” you say, and you sniff at it,[e] says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord.(J) 14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in the flock and vows to give it and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished, for I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is reverenced among the nations.(K)
1 Corinthians 8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Food Offered to Idols
8 Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.(A) 2 Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge,(B) 3 but anyone who loves God is known by him.(C)
4 Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists” and that “there is no God but one.”(D) 5 Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.(E)
7 It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.(F) 8 “Food will not bring us close to God.”[a] We are no worse off if we do not eat and no better off if we do.(G) 9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.(H) 10 For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? 11 So by your knowledge the weak brother or sister for whom Christ died is destroyed.(I) 12 But when you thus sin against brothers and sisters and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never again eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.(J)
Footnotes
- 8.8 The quotation may extend to the end of the verse
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.