Psalm 50
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 50
The Acceptable Sacrifice
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 The mighty one, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.(A)
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.(B)
3 Our God comes and does not keep silent;
before him is a devouring fire
and a mighty tempest all around him.(C)
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:(D)
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”(E)
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge. Selah(F)
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.(G)
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.(H)
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.(I)
10 For every wild animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.(J)
11 I know all the birds of the air,[a]
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all that is in it is mine.(K)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[b]
and pay your vows to the Most High.(L)
15 Call on me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”(M)
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?(N)
17 For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.(O)
18 You make friends with a thief when you see one,
and you keep company with adulterers.(P)
19 You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your kin;
you slander your own mother’s child.(Q)
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.(R)
Acts 15:1-11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Council at Jerusalem
15 Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”(A) 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.(B) 3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers and sisters.(C) 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.(D) 5 But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. 7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers,[a] you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers.(E) 8 And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us,(F) 9 and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us.(G) 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?(H) 11 On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”(I)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 15.7 Gk Men, brothers
Mark 5:1-20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus Heals a Man Possessed by Demons
5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.[a] 2 And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met him.(A) 3 He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain, 4 for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces, and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him,(B) 7 and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”(C) 8 For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 Then Jesus[b] asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. 11 Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding, 12 and the unclean spirits[c] begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, stampeded down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.
14 The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man possessed by demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion, and they became frightened.(D) 16 Those who had seen what had happened to the man possessed by demons and to the swine reported it. 17 Then they began to beg Jesus[d] to leave their neighborhood.(E) 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 But Jesus[e] refused and said to him, “Go home to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and what mercy he has shown you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.(F)
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Psalm 59
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 59
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
To the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam, when Saul ordered his house to be watched in order to kill him.
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me.(A)
2 Deliver me from those who work evil;
from the bloodthirsty, save me.(B)
3 Even now they lie in wait for my life;
the mighty stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,(C)
4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Rouse yourself, come to my help and see!(D)
5 You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Awake to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah(E)
6 Each evening they come back
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.(F)
7 There they are, bellowing with their mouths,
with sharp words[a] on their lips,
for “Who,” they think,[b] “will hear us?”(G)
8 But you laugh at them, O Lord;
you hold all the nations in derision.(H)
9 O my strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are my fortress.(I)
10 My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.(J)
11 Do not kill them, or my people may forget;
make them totter by your power and bring them down,
O Lord, our shield.(K)
12 For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,(L)
13 consume them in wrath;
consume them until they are no more.
Then it will be known to the ends of the earth
that God rules over Jacob. Selah(M)
14 Each evening they come back
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.(N)
15 They roam about for food
and growl if they do not get their fill.
Psalm 60
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 60
Prayer for National Victory after Defeat
To the leader: according to the Lily of the Covenant. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
1 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses;
you have been angry; now restore us!(A)
2 You have caused the land to quake; you have torn it open;
repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering.(B)
3 You have made your people suffer hard things;
you have given us wine to drink that made us reel.(C)
4 You have set up a banner for those who fear you,
to rally to it out of bowshot.[a] Selah(D)
5 Give victory with your right hand and answer us,[b]
so that those whom you love may be rescued.(E)
6 God has promised in his sanctuary,[c]
“With exultation I will divide up Shechem
and portion out the Vale of Succoth.(F)
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet;
Judah is my scepter.(G)
8 Moab is my washbasin;
on Edom I hurl my shoe;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”(H)
Psalm 66
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 66
Praise for God’s Goodness to Israel
To the leader. A Song. A Psalm.
1 Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;(A)
2 sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise.(B)
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.(C)
4 All the earth worships you;
they sing praises to you,
sing praises to your name.” Selah(D)
5 Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.(E)
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him,(F)
7 who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let the rebellious not exalt themselves. Selah(G)
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,(H)
9 who has kept us among the living
and has not let our feet slip.(I)
10 For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.(J)
11 You brought us into the net;
you laid burdens on our backs;(K)
12 you let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.[a](L)
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will pay you my vows,(M)
14 those that my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.(N)
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fatted calves,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah(O)
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for me.(P)
17 I cried aloud to him,
and he was extolled with my tongue.
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.(Q)
19 But truly God has listened;
he has heard the words of my prayer.(R)
20 Blessed be God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me.(S)
Footnotes
- 66.12 Cn Compare Gk Syr Jerome Tg: Heb to a saturation
Psalm 67
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 67
The Nations Called to Praise God
To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah(A)
2 that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.(B)
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
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.