Psalm 119:1-8

New International Version

Psalm 119^[a]

א Aleph

¹Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,^(A)
    who walk^(B) according to the law of the Lord.^(C)
²Blessed^(D) are those who keep his statutes^(E)
    and seek him^(F) with all their heart—^(G)
³they do no wrong^(H)
    but follow his ways.^(I)
⁴You have laid down precepts^(J)
    that are to be fully obeyed.^(K)
⁵Oh, that my ways were steadfast
    in obeying your decrees!^(L)
⁶Then I would not be put to shame^(M)
    when I consider all your commands.^(N)
⁷I will praise you with an upright heart
    as I learn your righteous laws.^(O)
⁸I will obey your decrees;
    do not utterly forsake me.^(P)

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Footnotes

Psalm 119:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the stanzas of which begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet; moreover, the verses of each stanza begin with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Deuteronomy 30:1-9

New International Version

Prosperity After Turning to the Lord

30 When all these blessings and curses^(A) I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,^(B) ²and when you and your children return^(C) to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart^(D) and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, ³then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes^[a]^(E) and have compassion^(F) on you and gather^(G) you again from all the nations where he scattered^(H) you.^(I) ⁴Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens,^(J) from there the Lord your God will gather^(K) you and bring you back.^(L) ⁵He will bring^(M) you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous^(N) than your ancestors. ⁶The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants,^(O) so that you may love^(P) him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. ⁷The Lord your God will put all these curses^(Q) on your enemies who hate and persecute you.^(R) ⁸You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. ⁹Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land.^(S) The Lord will again delight^(T) in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors,

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Footnotes

Deuteronomy 30:3 Or will bring you back from captivity

Matthew 15:1-9

New International Version

That Which Defiles^(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ²“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”^(B)

³Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a]^(C) and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^[b]^(D) ⁵But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

⁸“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
⁹They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.^(E)’^[c]^(F)”