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Psalm 95

A Call to Worship and Obedience

O come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!(A)
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!(B)
For the Lord is a great God
    and a great King above all gods.(C)
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
    and the dry land, which his hands have formed.(D)

O come, let us worship and bow down;
    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!(E)
For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture
    and the sheep of his hand.

O that today you would listen to his voice!(F)
    Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
    as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,(G)
when your ancestors tested me
    and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.(H)
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
    and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,
    and they do not regard my ways.”(I)
11 Therefore in my anger I swore,
    “They shall not enter my rest.”(J)

Psalm 95

A Call to Worship and Obedience

O come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!(A)
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!(B)
For the Lord is a great God
    and a great King above all gods.(C)
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
    and the dry land, which his hands have formed.(D)

O come, let us worship and bow down;
    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!(E)
For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture
    and the sheep of his hand.

O that today you would listen to his voice!(F)
    Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
    as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,(G)
when your ancestors tested me
    and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.(H)
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
    and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,
    and they do not regard my ways.”(I)
11 Therefore in my anger I swore,
    “They shall not enter my rest.”(J)

The Brothers Come Again, Bringing Benjamin

43 Now the famine was severe in the land.(A) And when they had eaten up the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again; buy us a little more food.” But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’(B) If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food, but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ ” Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”(C) Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and let us be on our way, so that we may live and not die—you and we and also our little ones. I myself will be surety for him; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.(D) 10 If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”

11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry them down as a present to the man: a little balm and a little honey, gum, resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds.(E) 12 Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the top of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight.(F) 13 Take your brother also, and be on your way again to the man; 14 may God Almighty[a] grant you mercy before the man, so that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”(G) 15 So the men took the present, and they took double the money with them, as well as Benjamin. Then they went on their way down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

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Footnotes

  1. 43.14 Traditional rendering of Heb El Shaddai

Jesus Stills a Storm

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.(A) 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And waking up, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Be silent! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”(B) 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

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Book III

(Psalms 73–89)

Psalm 73

Plea for Relief from Oppressors

A Psalm of Asaph.

Truly God is good to Israel,
    to those who are pure in heart.(A)
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
    my steps had nearly slipped.(B)
For I was envious of the arrogant;
    I saw the prosperity of the wicked.(C)

For they have no pain;
    their bodies are sound and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not plagued like other people.(D)
Therefore pride is their necklace;
    violence covers them like a garment.(E)
Their eyes swell out with fatness;
    their hearts overflow with follies.(F)
They scoff and speak with malice;
    loftily they threaten oppression.(G)
They set their mouths against heaven,
    and their tongues range over the earth.

10 Therefore the people turn and praise them[a]
    and find no fault in them.[b]
11 And they say, “How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”(H)
12 Such are the wicked;
    always at ease, they increase in riches.(I)
13 All in vain I have kept my heart clean
    and washed my hands in innocence.(J)
14 For all day long I have been plagued
    and am punished every morning.(K)

15 If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”
    I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me a wearisome task,(L)
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
    then I perceived their end.(M)
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.(N)
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
    swept away utterly by terrors!(O)
20 They are[c] like a dream when one awakes;
    on awaking you despise their phantoms.(P)

21 When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was stupid and ignorant;
    I was like a brute beast toward you.(Q)
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will receive me with honor.[d](R)
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.(S)
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength[e] of my heart and my portion forever.(T)

27 Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;
    you put an end to those who are false to you.(U)
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my refuge,
    to tell of all your works.(V)

Footnotes

  1. 73.10 Cn: Heb his people return here
  2. 73.10 Cn: Heb abundant waters are drained by them
  3. 73.20 Cn: Heb Lord
  4. 73.24 Or to glory
  5. 73.26 Heb rock