Psalm 8[a]

For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] A psalm of David.

Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name(A) in all the earth!

You have set your glory(B)
    in the heavens.(C)
Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold(D) against your enemies,
    to silence the foe(E) and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,(F)
    the work of your fingers,(G)
the moon and the stars,(H)
    which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?[c](I)

You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e](J)
    and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.(K)
You made them rulers(L) over the works of your hands;(M)
    you put everything under their[g] feet:(N)
all flocks and herds,(O)
    and the animals of the wild,(P)
the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,(Q)
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!(R)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 8:1 In Hebrew texts 8:1-9 is numbered 8:2-10.
  2. Psalm 8:1 Title: Probably a musical term
  3. Psalm 8:4 Or what is a human being that you are mindful of him, / a son of man that you care for him?
  4. Psalm 8:5 Or him
  5. Psalm 8:5 Or than God
  6. Psalm 8:5 Or him
  7. Psalm 8:6 Or made him ruler . . . ; / . . . his

22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow(A)
    or seen the storehouses(B) of the hail,(C)
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,(D)
    for days of war and battle?(E)
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,(F)
    or the place where the east winds(G) are scattered over the earth?(H)
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
    and a path for the thunderstorm,(I)
26 to water(J) a land where no one lives,
    an uninhabited desert,(K)
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
    and make it sprout with grass?(L)
28 Does the rain have a father?(M)
    Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
    Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens(N)
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
    when the surface of the deep is frozen?(O)

31 “Can you bind the chains[a] of the Pleiades?
    Can you loosen Orion’s belt?(P)
32 Can you bring forth the constellations(Q) in their seasons[b]
    or lead out the Bear[c] with its cubs?(R)
33 Do you know the laws(S) of the heavens?(T)
    Can you set up God’s[d] dominion over the earth?

34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
    and cover yourself with a flood of water?(U)
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?(V)
    Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who gives the ibis wisdom[e](W)
    or gives the rooster understanding?[f](X)
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
    Who can tip over the water jars(Y) of the heavens(Z)
38 when the dust becomes hard(AA)
    and the clods of earth stick together?(AB)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 38:31 Septuagint; Hebrew beauty
  2. Job 38:32 Or the morning star in its season
  3. Job 38:32 Or out Leo
  4. Job 38:33 Or their
  5. Job 38:36 That is, wisdom about the flooding of the Nile
  6. Job 38:36 That is, understanding of when to crow; the meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

The Jews and the Law

17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;(A) 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?(B) 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?(C) 23 You who boast in the law,(D) do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”[a](E)

25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law,(F) but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.(G) 26 So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements,(H) will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?(I) 27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you(J) who, even though you have the[b] written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly,(K) nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.(L) 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart,(M) by the Spirit,(N) not by the written code.(O) Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.(P)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 2:24 Isaiah 52:5 (see Septuagint); Ezek. 36:20,22
  2. Romans 2:27 Or who, by means of a

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