Psalm 130

A song of ascents.

Out of the depths(A) I cry to you,(B) Lord;
    Lord, hear my voice.(C)
Let your ears be attentive(D)
    to my cry for mercy.(E)

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?(F)
But with you there is forgiveness,(G)
    so that we can, with reverence, serve you.(H)

I wait for the Lord,(I) my whole being waits,(J)
    and in his word(K) I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen(L) wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning.(M)

Israel, put your hope(N) in the Lord,
    for with the Lord is unfailing love(O)
    and with him is full redemption.(P)
He himself will redeem(Q) Israel
    from all their sins.(R)

130 Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.

Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.

Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

41 The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal,(A) and from there he could see the outskirts of the Israelite camp.(B)

Balaam’s First Message

23 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams(C) for me.” Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(D)

Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet with me.(E) Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went off to a barren height.

God met with him,(F) and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth(G) and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”(H)

So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials.(I) Then Balaam(J) spoke his message:(K)

“Balak brought me from Aram,(L)
    the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.(M)
‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;
    come, denounce Israel.’(N)
How can I curse
    those whom God has not cursed?(O)
How can I denounce
    those whom the Lord has not denounced?(P)
From the rocky peaks I see them,
    from the heights I view them.(Q)
I see a people who live apart
    and do not consider themselves one of the nations.(R)
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob(S)
    or number even a fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,(T)
    and may my final end be like theirs!(U)

11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies,(V) but you have done nothing but bless them!”(W)

12 He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”(X)

41 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.

23 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the Lord will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.

And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.

And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?

For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good(A) to bring about my death,(B) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,(C) sold(D) as a slave to sin.(E) 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.(F) 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.(G) 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.(H) 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a](I) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.(J) 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.(K)

21 So I find this law at work:(L) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being(M) I delight in God’s law;(N) 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war(O) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin(P) at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(Q) 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!(R)

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,(S) but in my sinful nature[b] a slave to the law of sin.(T)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:18 Or my flesh
  2. Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh

13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

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The Parable of the Tenants(A)

33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted(B) a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.(C) Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.(D) 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants(E) to the tenants to collect his fruit.

35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.(F) 36 Then he sent other servants(G) to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir.(H) Come, let’s kill him(I) and take his inheritance.’(J) 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,”(K) they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants,(L) who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’[a]?(M)

43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you(N) and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”[b](O)

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.(P)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 21:42 Psalm 118:22,23
  2. Matthew 21:44 Some manuscripts do not have verse 44.

33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.

35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.

37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

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