Psalm 52

New International Version

Psalm 52^[a]

For the director of music. A maskil^[b] of David. When Doeg the Edomite^(A) had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”

¹Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
    Why do you boast^(B) all day long,^(C)
    you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
²You who practice deceit,^(D)
    your tongue plots destruction;^(E)
    it is like a sharpened razor.^(F)
³You love evil^(G) rather than good,
    falsehood^(H) rather than speaking the truth.^[c]
⁴You love every harmful word,
    you deceitful tongue!^(I)

⁵Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
    He will snatch you up and pluck^(J) you from your tent;
    he will uproot^(K) you from the land of the living.^(L)
⁶The righteous will see and fear;
    they will laugh^(M) at you, saying,
⁷“Here now is the man
    who did not make God his stronghold^(N)
but trusted in his great wealth^(O)
    and grew strong by destroying others!”

⁸But I am like an olive tree^(P)
    flourishing in the house of God;
I trust^(Q) in God’s unfailing love
    for ever and ever.
⁹For what you have done I will always praise you^(R)
    in the presence of your faithful people.^(S)
And I will hope in your name,^(T)
    for your name is good.^(U)

Footnotes

Psalm 52:1 In Hebrew texts 52:1-9 is numbered 52:3-11.
Psalm 52:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
Psalm 52:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 5.

Ezekiel 31:1-12

New International Version

Pharaoh as a Felled Cedar of Lebanon

31 In the eleventh year,^(A) in the third month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me:^(B) ²“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes:

“‘Who can be compared with you in majesty?
³Consider Assyria,^(C) once a cedar in Lebanon,^(D)
    with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;
it towered on high,
    its top above the thick foliage.^(E)
⁴The waters^(F) nourished it,
    deep springs made it grow tall;
their streams flowed
    all around its base
and sent their channels
    to all the trees of the field.^(G)
⁵So it towered higher^(H)
    than all the trees of the field;
its boughs increased
    and its branches grew long,
    spreading because of abundant waters.^(I)
⁶All the birds of the sky
    nested in its boughs,
all the animals of the wild
    gave birth^(J) under its branches;
all the great nations
    lived in its shade.^(K)
⁷It was majestic in beauty,
    with its spreading boughs,
for its roots went down
    to abundant waters.^(L)
⁸The cedars^(M) in the garden of God
    could not rival it,
nor could the junipers
    equal its boughs,
nor could the plane trees^(N)
    compare with its branches—
no tree in the garden of God
    could match its beauty.^(O)
⁹I made it beautiful
    with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden^(P)
    in the garden of God.^(Q)

¹⁰“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud^(R) of its height, ¹¹I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside,^(S) ¹²and the most ruthless of foreign nations^(T) cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys;^(U) its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it.^(V)

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Galatians 6:11-18

New International Version

Not Circumcision but the New Creation

¹¹See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!^(A)

¹²Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh^(B) are trying to compel you to be circumcised.^(C) The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted^(D) for the cross of Christ. ¹³Not even those who are circumcised keep the law,^(E) yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.^(F) ¹⁴May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,^(G) through which^[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.^(H) ¹⁵Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything;^(I) what counts is the new creation.^(J) ¹⁶Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to^[b] the Israel of God.