Psalm 41
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 41
Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 Happy are those who consider the poor;[a]
the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.(A)
2 The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;
they are called happy in the land.
You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.(B)
3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
in their illness you heal all their infirmities.[b](C)
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you.”(D)
5 My enemies wonder in malice
when I will die and my name perish.(E)
6 And when they come to see me, they utter empty words
while their hearts gather mischief;
when they go out, they tell it abroad.(F)
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.(G)
8 They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,
that I will not rise again from where I lie.(H)
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.(I)
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them.(J)
11 By this I know that you are pleased with me:
because my enemy has not triumphed over me.(K)
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity
and set me in your presence forever.(L)
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.(M)
Psalm 52
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 52
Judgment on the Deceitful
To the leader. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
1 Why do you boast, O mighty one,
of mischief done against the godly?[a]
All day long(A) 2 you are plotting destruction.
Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
you worker of treachery.(B)
3 You love evil more than good
and lying more than speaking the truth. Selah(C)
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.(D)
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah(E)
6 The righteous will see and fear
and will laugh at the evildoer,[b] saying,(F)
7 “See the one who would not take
refuge in God
but trusted in abundant riches
and sought refuge in wealth!”[c](G)
Philippians 1:1-11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Salutation
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops[a] and deacons:[b]
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.(A)
Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians
3 I thank my God for every remembrance of you, 4 always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy 5 for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.(B) 6 I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete[c] it until the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart,[d] for all of you are my partners in God’s grace,[e] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.(C) 8 For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the tender affection of Christ Jesus.(D) 9 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight(E) 10 to help you to determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11 having produced the harvest[f] of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
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Mark 15:40-47
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
40 There were also women looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome,(A) 41 who followed him when he was in Galilee and ministered to him, and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.(B)
The Burial of Jesus
42 When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath,(C) 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.(D) 44 Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead, and summoning the centurion he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. 45 When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph.(E) 46 Then Joseph[a] bought a linen cloth and, taking down the body,[b] wrapped it in the linen cloth and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body[c] was laid.
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Psalm 44
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 44
National Lament and Prayer for Help
To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil.
1 We have heard with our ears, O God;
our ancestors have told us
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old:(A)
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;(B)
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm give them victory,
but your right hand, and your arm,
and the light of your countenance,
for you delighted in them.(C)
4 You are my King and my God;
you command[a] victories for Jacob.
5 Through you we push down our foes;
through your name we tread down our assailants.(D)
6 For not in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have put to confusion those who hate us.(E)
8 In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah(F)
9 Yet you have rejected us and shamed us
and have not gone out with our armies.(G)
10 You made us turn back from the foe,
and our enemies have gotten spoil.(H)
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter
and have scattered us among the nations.(I)
12 You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.(J)
13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and scorn of those around us.(K)
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock[b] among the peoples.(L)
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face
16 at the words of the taunters and revilers,
at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.(M)
17 All this has come upon us,
yet we have not forgotten you
or been false to your covenant.(N)
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps departed from your way,(O)
19 yet you have broken us in the haunt of jackals
and covered us with deep darkness.(P)
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a strange god,(Q)
21 would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.(R)
22 Because of you we are being killed all day long
and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.(S)
23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Awake, do not cast us off forever!(T)
24 Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?(U)
25 For we sink down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.(V)
26 Rise up, come to our help.
Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.(W)
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.