Psalm 72:1-7
English Standard Version
Give the King Your Justice
Of (A)Solomon.
72 Give the king your (B)justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
2 May he (C)judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
3 Let the mountains bear (D)prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!
5 May they fear you[a] while (E)the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, (F)throughout all generations!
6 May he be like (G)rain that falls on (H)the mown grass,
like (I)showers that water the earth!
7 In his days may (J)the righteous flourish,
and (K)peace abound, till the moon be no more!
Footnotes
- Psalm 72:5 Septuagint He shall endure
Psalm 72:1-8
The Message
72 1-8 Give the gift of wise rule to the king, O God,
the gift of just rule to the crown prince.
May he judge your people rightly,
be honorable to your meek and lowly.
Let the mountains give exuberant witness;
shape the hills with the contours of right living.
Please stand up for the poor,
help the children of the needy,
come down hard on the cruel tyrants.
Outlast the sun, outlive the moon—
age after age after age.
Be rainfall on cut grass,
earth-refreshing rain showers.
Let righteousness burst into blossom
and peace abound until the moon fades to nothing.
Rule from sea to sea,
from the River to the Rim.
Psalm 72:18-20
The Message
18-20 Blessed God, Israel’s God,
the one and only wonder-working God!
Blessed always his blazing glory!
All earth brims with his glory.
Yes and Yes and Yes.
Isaiah 4:2-6
English Standard Version
The Branch of the Lord Glorified
2 In that day (A)the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and (B)the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3 (C)And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called (D)holy, everyone who has (E)been recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 when (F)the Lord shall have washed away the filth of (G)the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by (H)a spirit of burning.[a] 5 Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies (I)a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be (J)a canopy. 6 (K)There will be a (L)booth for shade by day from the heat, and (M)for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
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- Isaiah 4:4 Or purging
Isaiah 4:2-6
The Message
God’s Branch
2-4 And that’s when God’s Branch will sprout green and lush. The produce of the country will give Israel’s survivors something to be proud of again. Oh, they’ll hold their heads high! Everyone left behind in Zion, all the discards and rejects in Jerusalem, will be reclassified as “holy”—alive and therefore precious. God will give Zion’s women a good bath. He’ll scrub the bloodstained city of its violence and brutality, purge the place with a firestorm of judgment.
5-6 Then God will bring back the ancient pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night and mark Mount Zion and everyone in it with his glorious presence, his immense, protective presence, shade from the burning sun and shelter from the driving rain.
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Acts 1:12-17
English Standard Version
Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas
12 Then (A)they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to (B)the upper room, where they were staying, (C)Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon (D)the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these (E)with one accord (F)were devoting themselves to prayer, together with (G)the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and (H)his brothers.[a]
15 In those days Peter stood up among (I)the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, (J)the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, (K)who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For (L)he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in (M)this ministry.”
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Acts 1:12-17
The Message
Returning to Jerusalem
12-13 So they left the mountain called Olives and returned to Jerusalem. It was a little over half a mile. They went to the upper room they had been using as a meeting place:
Peter,
John,
James,
Andrew,
Philip,
Thomas,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Simon the Zealot,
Judas, son of James.
14 They agreed they were in this for good, completely together in prayer, the women included. Also Jesus’ mother, Mary, and his brothers.
Replacing Judas
15-17 During this time, Peter stood up in the company—there were about 120 of them in the room at the time—and said, “Friends, long ago the Holy Spirit spoke through David regarding Judas, who became the guide to those who arrested Jesus. That Scripture had to be fulfilled, and now has been. Judas was one of us and had his assigned place in this ministry.
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Acts 1:21-26
English Standard Version
21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during (A)all the time that the Lord Jesus (B)went in and out among us, 22 (C)beginning from the baptism of John until the day when (D)he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us (E)a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called (F)Barsabbas, who was also called (G)Justus, and (H)Matthias. 24 And (I)they prayed and said, “You, Lord, (J)who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in (K)this ministry and (L)apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
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Acts 1:21-26
The Message
21-22 “Judas must now be replaced. The replacement must come from the company of men who stayed together with us from the time Jesus was baptized by John up to the day of his ascension, designated along with us as a witness to his resurrection.”
23-26 They nominated two: Joseph Barsabbas, nicknamed Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, O God, know every one of us inside and out. Make plain which of these two men you choose to take the place in this ministry and leadership that Judas threw away in order to go his own way.” They then drew straws. Matthias won and was counted in with the eleven apostles.
Read full chapterThe Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson