Psalm 119:146-175
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
146 I cry to you; save me,
that I may observe your decrees.
147 I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I put my hope in your words.(A)
148 My eyes are awake before each watch of the night,
that I may meditate on your promise.
149 In your steadfast love hear my voice;
O Lord, in your justice preserve my life.(B)
150 Those who persecute me with evil purpose draw near;
they are far from your law.
151 Yet you are near, O Lord,
and all your commandments are true.(C)
152 Long ago I learned from your decrees
that you have established them forever.(D)
153 Look on my misery and rescue me,
for I do not forget your law.(E)
154 Plead my cause and redeem me;
give me life according to your promise.(F)
155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek your statutes.(G)
156 Great is your mercy, O Lord;
be gracious to me[a] according to your justice.(H)
157 Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
yet I do not swerve from your decrees.(I)
158 I look at the faithless with disgust
because they do not keep your commands.(J)
159 Consider how I love your precepts;
be gracious to me[b] according to your steadfast love.(K)
160 The sum of your word is truth,
and every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever.(L)
161 Princes persecute me without cause,
but my heart stands in awe of your words.(M)
162 I rejoice at your word
like one who finds great spoil.(N)
163 I hate and abhor falsehood,
but I love your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your righteous ordinances.(O)
165 Great peace have those who love your law;
nothing can make them stumble.(P)
166 I hope for your salvation, O Lord,
and I fulfill your commandments.(Q)
167 My soul keeps your decrees;
I love them exceedingly.
168 I keep your precepts and decrees,
for all my ways are before you.(R)
169 Let my cry come before you, O Lord;
give me understanding according to your word.(S)
170 Let my supplication come before you;
deliver me according to your promise.(T)
171 My lips will pour forth praise,
because you teach me your statutes.(U)
172 My tongue will sing of your promise,
for all your commandments are right.
173 Let your hand be ready to help me,
for I have chosen your precepts.(V)
174 I long for your salvation, O Lord,
and your law is my delight.
175 Let me live that I may praise you,
and let your ordinances help me.(W)
Ruth 2:14-23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some of this bread and dip your morsel in the sour wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.(A) 15 When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied.(B) 19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, saying, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”(C) 20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.”[a](D) 21 Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” 22 Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is better, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, otherwise someone might bother you in another field.” 23 So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests, and she lived with her mother-in-law.(E)
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- 2.20 Or one with the right to redeem
Matthew 5:21-26
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Concerning Anger
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’(A) 22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister,[a] you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult[b] a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council, and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell[c] of fire.(B) 23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,(C) 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court[d] with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.(D) 26 Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
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Psalm 128
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 128
The Happy Home of the Faithful
A Song of Ascents.
1 Happy is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in his ways.(A)
2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.(B)
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.(C)
4 Thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.
Psalm 129
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 129
Prayer for the Downfall of Israel’s Enemies
A Song of Ascents.
1 Often have they attacked me from my youth
—let Israel now say—(A)
2 often have they attacked me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.(B)
3 The plowers plowed on my back;
they made their furrows long.
4 The Lord is righteous;
he has cut the cords of the wicked.(C)
5 May all who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned backward.(D)
6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops
that withers before it grows up,(E)
7 with which reapers do not fill their hands
or binders of sheaves their arms,
8 while those who pass by do not say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”(F)
Psalm 130
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 130
Waiting for Divine Redemption
A Song of Ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.(A)
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!(B)
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?(C)
4 But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.(D)
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.