צ Tsadhe

137 You are righteous,(A) Lord,
    and your laws are right.(B)
138 The statutes you have laid down are righteous;(C)
    they are fully trustworthy.(D)
139 My zeal wears me out,(E)
    for my enemies ignore your words.
140 Your promises(F) have been thoroughly tested,(G)
    and your servant loves them.(H)
141 Though I am lowly and despised,(I)
    I do not forget your precepts.(J)
142 Your righteousness is everlasting
    and your law is true.(K)
143 Trouble and distress have come upon me,
    but your commands give me delight.(L)
144 Your statutes are always righteous;
    give me understanding(M) that I may live.

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137 Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments.

138 Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.

139 My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.

140 Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

141 I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.

142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.

143 Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.

144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.

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The prophecy(A) that Habakkuk the prophet received.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

How long,(B) Lord, must I call for help,
    but you do not listen?(C)
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
    but you do not save?(D)
Why do you make me look at injustice?
    Why do you tolerate(E) wrongdoing?(F)
Destruction and violence(G) are before me;
    there is strife,(H) and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law(I) is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice(J) is perverted.(K)

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The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!

Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.

Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

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I will stand at my watch(A)
    and station myself on the ramparts;(B)
I will look to see what he will say(C) to me,
    and what answer I am to give to this complaint.[a](D)

The Lord’s Answer

Then the Lord replied:

“Write(E) down the revelation
    and make it plain on tablets
    so that a herald[b] may run with it.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time;(F)
    it speaks of the end(G)
    and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait(H) for it;
    it[c] will certainly come
    and will not delay.(I)

“See, the enemy is puffed up;
    his desires are not upright—
    but the righteous person(J) will live by his faithfulness[d](K)

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Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 2:1 Or and what to answer when I am rebuked
  2. Habakkuk 2:2 Or so that whoever reads it
  3. Habakkuk 2:3 Or Though he linger, wait for him; / he
  4. Habakkuk 2:4 Or faith

I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

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Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

19 Jesus entered Jericho(A) and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig(B) tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.(C)

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”(D)

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord,(E) “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything,(F) I will pay back four times the amount.”(G)

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.(H) 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”(I)

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19 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.

And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.

And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.

And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.

And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.

10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

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Paul, Silas[a](A) and Timothy,(B)

To the church of the Thessalonians(C) in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.(D)

Thanksgiving and Prayer

We ought always to thank God for you,(E) brothers and sisters,[b] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.(F) Therefore, among God’s churches we boast(G) about your perseverance and faith(H) in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Thessalonians 1:1 Greek Silvanus, a variant of Silas
  2. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 2:1, 13, 15; 3:1, 6, 13.

Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

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11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you,(A) that our God may make you worthy(B) of his calling,(C) and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness(D) and your every deed prompted by faith.(E) 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,(F) and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Thessalonians 1:12 Or God and Lord, Jesus Christ

11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:

12 That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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