Psalm 74:9-17

New International Version

⁹We are given no signs from God;^(A)
    no prophets^(B) are left,
    and none of us knows how long this will be.
¹⁰How long^(C) will the enemy mock^(D) you, God?
    Will the foe revile^(E) your name forever?
¹¹Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?^(F)
    Take it from the folds of your garment^(G) and destroy them!

¹²But God is my King^(H) from long ago;
he brings salvation^(I) on the earth.

¹³It was you who split open the sea^(J) by your power;
    you broke the heads of the monster^(K) in the waters.
¹⁴It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan^(L)
    and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.^(M)
¹⁵It was you who opened up springs^(N) and streams;
    you dried up^(O) the ever-flowing rivers.
¹⁶The day is yours, and yours also the night;
    you established the sun and moon.^(P)
¹⁷It was you who set all the boundaries^(Q) of the earth;
    you made both summer and winter.^(R)

Read full chapter

Proverbs 16:18-20

New International Version

¹⁸Pride^(A) goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit^(B) before a fall.^(C)

¹⁹Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed
than to share plunder with the proud.

²⁰Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,^[a]^(D)
and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.^(E)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Proverbs 16:20 Or whoever speaks prudently finds what is good

Luke 1:39-45

New International Version

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,^(A) ⁴⁰where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.^(B) ⁴²In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women,^(C) and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord^(D) should come to me? ⁴⁴As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Read full chapter

Galatians 2:11-21

New International Version

Paul Opposes Cephas

¹¹When Cephas^(A) came to Antioch,^(B) I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹²For before certain men came from James,^(C) he used to eat with the Gentiles.^(D) But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.^(E) ¹³The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas^(F) was led astray.

¹⁴When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel,^(G) I said to Cephas^(H) in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew.^(I) How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?^(J)

¹⁵“We who are Jews by birth^(K) and not sinful Gentiles^(L) ¹⁶know that a person is not justified by the works of the law,^(M) but by faith in Jesus Christ.^(N) So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in^[a] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.^(O)

¹⁷“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners,^(P) doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!^(Q) ¹⁸If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

¹⁹“For through the law I died to the law^(R) so that I might live for God.^(S) ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ^(T) and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.^(U) The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,^(V) who loved me^(W) and gave himself for me.^(X) ²¹I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law,^(Y) Christ died for nothing!”^[b]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Galatians 2:16 Or but through the faithfulness of … justified on the basis of the faithfulness of
Galatians 2:21 Some interpreters end the quotation after verse 14.