Add parallel Print Page Options

Psalm 31

Prayer and Praise for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
    do not let me ever be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me.(A)
Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me.(B)

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
    for your name’s sake lead me and guide me;(C)
take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.(D)
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.(E)

You hate[a] those who pay regard to worthless idols,
    but I trust in the Lord.(F)
I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,
    because you have seen my affliction;
    you have taken notice of my adversities(G)
and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
    you have set my feet in a broad place.(H)

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
    my eye wastes away from grief,
    my soul and body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow
    and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,[b]
    and my bones waste away.(I)

11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
    a horror[c] to my neighbors,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
    those who see me in the street flee from me.(J)
12 I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
    I have become like a broken vessel.(K)
13 For I hear the whispering of many—
    terror all around!—
as they scheme together against me,
    as they plot to take my life.(L)

14 But I trust in you, O Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”(M)
15 My times are in your hand;
    deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.(N)
16 Let your face shine upon your servant;
    save me in your steadfast love.(O)
17 Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,
    for I call on you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
    let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.(P)
18 Let the lying lips be stilled
    that speak insolently against the righteous
    with pride and contempt.(Q)

19 O how abundant is your goodness
    that you have laid up for those who fear you
and accomplished for those who take refuge in you,
    in the sight of everyone!(R)
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
    from human plots;
you hold them safe under your shelter
    from contentious tongues.(S)

21 Blessed be the Lord,
    for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
    when I was beset as a city under siege.(T)
22 I had said in my alarm,
    “I am driven far[d] from your sight.”
But you heard my supplications
    when I cried out to you for help.(U)

23 Love the Lord, all you his saints.
    The Lord preserves the faithful
    but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.(V)
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord.(W)

Footnotes

  1. 31.6 Heb ms Gk Syr Jerome: MT I hate
  2. 31.10 Gk Syr: Heb my iniquity
  3. 31.11 Cn: Heb exceedingly
  4. 31.22 Heb mss: MT cut off

Psalm 31

Prayer and Praise for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
    do not let me ever be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me.(A)
Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me.(B)

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
    for your name’s sake lead me and guide me;(C)
take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.(D)
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.(E)

You hate[a] those who pay regard to worthless idols,
    but I trust in the Lord.(F)
I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,
    because you have seen my affliction;
    you have taken notice of my adversities(G)
and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
    you have set my feet in a broad place.(H)

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
    my eye wastes away from grief,
    my soul and body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow
    and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,[b]
    and my bones waste away.(I)

11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
    a horror[c] to my neighbors,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
    those who see me in the street flee from me.(J)
12 I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
    I have become like a broken vessel.(K)
13 For I hear the whispering of many—
    terror all around!—
as they scheme together against me,
    as they plot to take my life.(L)

14 But I trust in you, O Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”(M)
15 My times are in your hand;
    deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.(N)
16 Let your face shine upon your servant;
    save me in your steadfast love.(O)
17 Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,
    for I call on you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
    let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.(P)
18 Let the lying lips be stilled
    that speak insolently against the righteous
    with pride and contempt.(Q)

19 O how abundant is your goodness
    that you have laid up for those who fear you
and accomplished for those who take refuge in you,
    in the sight of everyone!(R)
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
    from human plots;
you hold them safe under your shelter
    from contentious tongues.(S)

21 Blessed be the Lord,
    for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
    when I was beset as a city under siege.(T)
22 I had said in my alarm,
    “I am driven far[d] from your sight.”
But you heard my supplications
    when I cried out to you for help.(U)

23 Love the Lord, all you his saints.
    The Lord preserves the faithful
    but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.(V)
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord.(W)

Footnotes

  1. 31.6 Heb ms Gk Syr Jerome: MT I hate
  2. 31.10 Gk Syr: Heb my iniquity
  3. 31.11 Cn: Heb exceedingly
  4. 31.22 Heb mss: MT cut off

Jesus Again Foretells His Death and Resurrection

30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it, 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”(A) 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.(B)

Who Is the Greatest?

33 Then they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest.(C) 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”(D) 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them, and taking it in his arms he said to them,(E) 37 “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”(F)

Another Exorcist

38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name,[a] and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.”(G) 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 Whoever is not against us is for us.(H) 41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.(I)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 9.38 Other ancient authorities add who does not follow us

Psalm 35

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

Of David.

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
    fight against those who fight against me!(A)
Take hold of shield and buckler,
    and rise up to help me!
Draw the spear and javelin
    against my pursuers;
say to my soul,
    “I am your salvation.”

Let them be put to shame and dishonor
    who seek after my life.
Let them be turned back and confounded
    who devise evil against me.(B)
Let them be like chaff before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord driving them on.(C)
Let their way be dark and slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.(D)

For without cause they hid their net[a] for me;
    without cause they dug a pit[b] for my life.(E)
Let ruin come on them unawares,
and let the net that they hid ensnare them;
    let them fall in it—to their ruin.(F)

Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,
    exulting in his deliverance.(G)
10 All my bones shall say,
    “O Lord, who is like you?
You deliver the weak
    from those too strong for them,
    the weak and needy from those who despoil them.”(H)

11 Malicious witnesses rise up;
    they ask me about things I do not know.(I)
12 They repay me evil for good;
    my soul is forlorn.(J)
13 But as for me, when they were sick,
    I wore sackcloth;
    I afflicted myself with fasting.
I prayed with head bowed[c] on my bosom,(K)
14     as though I grieved for a friend or a brother;
I went about as one who laments for a mother,
    bowed down and in mourning.

15 But at my stumbling they gathered in glee;
    they gathered together against me;
ruffians whom I did not know
    tore at me without ceasing;(L)
16 they impiously mocked more and more,[d]
    gnashing at me with their teeth.

17 How long, O Lord, will you look on?
    Rescue me from their ravages,
    my life from the lions!(M)
18 Then I will thank you in the great congregation;
    in the mighty throng I will praise you.(N)

19 Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me
    or those who hate me without cause wink the eye.(O)
20 For they do not speak peace,
    but they conceive deceitful words
    against those who are quiet in the land.
21 They open wide their mouths against me;
    they say, “Aha, Aha,
    our eyes have seen it.”(P)

22 You have seen, O Lord; do not be silent!
    O Lord, do not be far from me!(Q)
23 Wake up! Rouse yourself for my defense,
    for my cause, my God and my Lord!(R)
24 Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,
    according to your righteousness,
    and do not let them rejoice over me.(S)
25 Do not let them say to themselves,
    “Aha, we have our heart’s desire.”
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed you[e] up.”(T)

26 Let all those who rejoice at my calamity
    be put to shame and confusion;
let those who exalt themselves against me
    be clothed with shame and dishonor.(U)

27 Let those who desire my vindication
    shout for joy and be glad
    and say evermore,
“Great is the Lord,
    who delights in the welfare of his servant.”(V)
28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
    and of your praise all day long.(W)

Footnotes

  1. 35.7 Heb a pit, their net
  2. 35.7 The word pit is transposed from the preceding line
  3. 35.13 Or My prayer turned back
  4. 35.16 Cn Compare Gk: Heb like the profanest of mockers of a cake
  5. 35.25 Heb him