Psalm 73

English Standard Version

Book Three

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

73 Truly God is good to ^(B)Israel,
    to those who are ^(C)pure in heart.
²But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
    my steps had nearly slipped.
³^(D)For I was ^(E)envious of the arrogant
    when I saw the ^(F)prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For they have no pangs until death;
    their bodies are fat and sleek.
⁵They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not ^(G)stricken like the rest of mankind.
⁶Therefore pride is ^(H)their necklace;
    violence covers them as ^(I)a garment.
⁷Their ^(J)eyes swell out through fatness;
    their hearts overflow with follies.
⁸They scoff and ^(K)speak with malice;
    loftily they threaten oppression.
⁹They set their mouths against the heavens,
    and their tongue struts through the earth.
¹⁰Therefore his people turn back to them,
    and find ^(L)no fault in them.^[a]
¹¹And they say, ^(M)“How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
¹²Behold, these are the wicked;
    always at ease, they ^(N)increase in riches.
¹³All in vain have I ^(O)kept my heart clean
    and ^(P)washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴For all the day long I have been ^(Q)stricken
    and ^(R)rebuked ^(S)every morning.
¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
    I would have betrayed ^(T)the generation of your children.

¹⁶But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me ^(U)a wearisome task,
¹⁷until I went into ^(V)the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their ^(W)end.

¹⁸Truly you set them in ^(X)slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.
¹⁹How they are destroyed ^(Y)in a moment,
    swept away utterly by ^(Z)terrors!
²⁰Like ^(AA)a dream when one awakes,
    O Lord, when ^(AB)you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
²¹When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
²²I was ^(AC)brutish and ignorant;
    I was like ^(AD)a beast toward you.

²³Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you ^(AE)hold my right hand.
²⁴You ^(AF)guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will ^(AG)receive me to glory.
²⁵^(AH)Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
²⁶^(AI)My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is ^(AJ)the strength^[b] of my heart and my ^(AK)portion ^(AL)forever.

²⁷For behold, those who are ^(AM)far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is ^(AN)unfaithful to you.
²⁸But for me it is good to ^(AO)be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my ^(AP)refuge,
    that I may ^(AQ)tell of all your works.

Footnotes

Psalm 73:10 Probable reading; Hebrew the waters of a full cup are drained by them
Psalm 73:26 Hebrew rock

2 Peter 1

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 Simeon^[a] Peter, a servant^[b] and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained ^(A)a faith of equal standing with ours ^(B)by the righteousness of our ^(C)God and Savior Jesus Christ:

²^(D)May grace and peace be multiplied to you ^(E)in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Confirm Your Calling and Election

³His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him ^(F)who called us to^[c] his own glory and excellence,^[d] ⁴by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become ^(G)partakers of the divine nature, ^(H)having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith ^(I)with virtue,^[e] and virtue ^(J)with knowledge, ⁶and knowledge with self-control, and self-control ^(K)with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷and godliness ^(L)with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection ^(M)with love. ⁸For if these qualities^[f] are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or ^(N)unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he ^(O)is blind, having forgotten that he was ^(P)cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰Therefore, brothers,^[g] be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and ^(Q)election, for if you practice these qualities ^(R)you will never fall. ¹¹For in this way there will be richly provided for you ^(S)an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

¹²Therefore I intend ^(T)always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in ^(U)the truth that you have. ¹³I think it right, as long as I am in this ^(V)body,^[h] ^(W)to stir you up by way of reminder, ¹⁴^(X)since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, ^(Y)as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. ¹⁵And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Christ's Glory and the Prophetic Word

¹⁶For we did not follow ^(Z)cleverly devised ^(AA)myths when we made known to you ^(AB)the power and ^(AC)coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but ^(AD)we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ^(AE)“This is my beloved Son,^[i] with whom I am well pleased,” ¹⁸we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on ^(AF)the holy mountain. ¹⁹And ^(AG)we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention ^(AH)as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until ^(AI)the day ^(AJ)dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, ²⁰knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. ²¹For ^(AK)no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God ^(AL)as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Footnotes

2 Peter 1:1 Some manuscripts Simon
2 Peter 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
2 Peter 1:3 Or by
2 Peter 1:3 Or virtue
2 Peter 1:5 Or excellence; twice in this verse
2 Peter 1:8 Greek these things; also verses 9, 10, 12
2 Peter 1:10 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
2 Peter 1:13 Greek tent; also verse 14
2 Peter 1:17 Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved

2 Peter 3

English Standard Version

The Day of the Lord Will Come

3 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them ^(A)I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, ²^(B)that you should remember the predictions of ^(C)the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, ³knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come ^(D)in the last days with scoffing, ^(E)following their own sinful desires. ⁴^(F)They will say, “Where is the promise of ^(G)his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” ⁵For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth ^(H)was formed out of water and through water ^(I)by the word of God, ⁶and that by means of these the world that then existed ^(J)was deluged with water and ^(K)perished. ⁷But by the same word ^(L)the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and ^(M)destruction of the ungodly.

⁸But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and ^(N)a thousand years as one day. ⁹^(O)The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise ^(P)as some count slowness, but ^(Q)is patient toward you,^[a] ^(R)not wishing that any should perish, but ^(S)that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰But ^(T)the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then ^(U)the heavens will pass away with a roar, and ^(V)the heavenly bodies^[b] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.^[c]

¹¹Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, ^(W)what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹²^(X)waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and ^(Y)the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³But according to his promise we are waiting for ^(Z)new heavens and a new earth ^(AA)in which righteousness dwells.

Final Words

¹⁴^(AB)Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him ^(AC)without spot or ^(AD)blemish, and ^(AE)at peace. ¹⁵And count ^(AF)the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as ^(AG)our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you ^(AH)according to the wisdom given him, ¹⁶as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. ^(AI)There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, ^(AJ)as they do the other Scriptures. ¹⁷You therefore, beloved, ^(AK)knowing this beforehand, ^(AL)take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. ¹⁸But ^(AM)grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ^(AN)To him be the glory both now and to the day of ^(AO)eternity. Amen.