Psalm 107:33-43

English Standard Version

³³He ^(A)turns rivers into a desert,
    springs of water into thirsty ground,
³⁴^(B)a fruitful land into a salty waste,
    because of the evil of its inhabitants.
³⁵He ^(C)turns a desert into pools of water,
    ^(D)a parched land into springs of water.
³⁶And there he lets the hungry dwell,
    and they establish ^(E)a city to live in;
³⁷they sow fields and plant vineyards
    and get a fruitful yield.
³⁸^(F)By his blessing they multiply greatly,
    and he does not let their livestock diminish.

³⁹When they are diminished and brought low
    through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
⁴⁰^(G)he pours contempt on princes
    and ^(H)makes them wander ^(I)in trackless wastes;
⁴¹but ^(J)he raises up the needy out of affliction
    and ^(K)makes their families like flocks.
⁴²^(L)The upright see it and are glad,
    and ^(M)all wickedness shuts its mouth.

⁴³^(N)Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

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Psalm 108

English Standard Version

With God We Shall Do Valiantly

A Song. A Psalm of David.

108 ^(A)My heart is steadfast, O God!
    I will sing and make melody with all my being!^[a]
²Awake, O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
³I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
⁴For your steadfast love is great ^(B)above the heavens;
    your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

⁵Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
⁶^(C)That your beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer me!

⁷God has promised in his holiness:^[b]
    “With exultation I will divide up Shechem
    and portion out the Valley of Succoth.
⁸Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
    Ephraim is my helmet,
    Judah my scepter.
⁹Moab is my washbasin;
    upon Edom I cast my shoe;
    ^(D)over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

¹⁰Who will bring me to the fortified city?
    Who will lead me to Edom?
¹¹Have you not rejected us, O God?
    You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
¹²Oh grant us help against the foe,
    for vain is the salvation of man!
¹³With God we shall do valiantly;
    it is he who will tread down our foes.

Footnotes

Psalm 108:1 Hebrew with my glory
Psalm 108:7 Or sanctuary

Psalm 33

English Standard Version

The Steadfast Love of the Lord

33 ^(A)Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
    ^(B)Praise befits the upright.
²Give thanks to the Lord with the ^(C)lyre;
    make melody to him with ^(D)the harp of ^(E)ten strings!
³Sing to him ^(F)a new song;
    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

⁴For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in ^(G)faithfulness.
⁵He ^(H)loves righteousness and justice;
^(I)the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

⁶By ^(J)the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by ^(K)the breath of his mouth all ^(L)their host.
⁷He gathers the waters of the sea as ^(M)a heap;
he ^(N)puts the deeps in storehouses.

⁸Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
⁹For ^(O)he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰The Lord ^(P)brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
¹¹^(Q)The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
    the plans of his heart to all generations.
¹²^(R)Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people whom he has ^(S)chosen as his heritage!

¹³The Lord ^(T)looks down from heaven;
    he sees all the children of man;
¹⁴from ^(U)where he sits enthroned he ^(V)looks out
    on all the inhabitants of the earth,
¹⁵he who fashions the hearts of them all
    and observes all their deeds.
¹⁶^(W)The king is not saved by his great army;
    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
¹⁷^(X)The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
    and by its great might it cannot rescue.

¹⁸Behold, ^(Y)the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
^(Z)on those who hope in his steadfast love,
¹⁹that he may ^(AA)deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in ^(AB)famine.

²⁰Our soul ^(AC)waits for the Lord;
    he is our ^(AD)help and ^(AE)our shield.
²¹For our heart is ^(AF)glad in him,
    because we ^(AG)trust in his holy name.
²²Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

Malachi 3:1-12

English Standard Version

3 ^(A)“Behold, I send ^(B)my messenger, and ^(C)he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord ^(D)whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and ^(E)the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ²But ^(F)who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For ^(G)he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. ³He will sit ^(H)as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring ^(I)offerings in righteousness to the Lord.^[a] ⁴^(J)Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

⁵“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be ^(K)a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those ^(L)who oppress the hired worker in his wages, ^(M)the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Robbing God

⁶“For ^(N)I the Lord do not change; ^(O)therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. ⁷^(P)From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. ^(Q)Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. ^(R)But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ ⁸Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. ^(S)But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ ^(T)In your tithes and contributions. ⁹^(U)You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ¹⁰^(V)Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby ^(W)put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open ^(X)the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ¹¹I will rebuke ^(Y)the devourer^[b] for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. ¹²Then ^(Z)all nations will call you blessed, for you will be ^(AA)a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

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Footnotes

Malachi 3:3 Or and they will belong to the Lord, bringers of an offering in righteousness
Malachi 3:11 Probably a name for some crop-destroying pest or pests

James 5:7-12

English Standard Version

Patience in Suffering

⁷Be patient, therefore, brothers,^[a] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives ^(A)the early and the late rains. ⁸You also, be patient. ^(B)Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^(C)is at hand. ⁹Do not grumble against one another, brothers, ^(D)so that you may not be judged; behold, ^(E)the Judge is standing ^(F)at the door. ¹⁰As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take ^(G)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of ^(H)the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ^(I)the purpose of the Lord, how ^(J)the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹²But above all, my brothers, ^(K)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

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Footnotes

James 5:7 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 9, 10, 12, 19

Luke 18:1-8

English Standard Version

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought ^(A)always to pray and not ^(B)lose heart. ²He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who ^(C)neither feared God nor respected man. ³And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ^(D)‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” ⁶And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷And ^(E)will not God give justice to ^(F)his elect, ^(G)who cry to him day and night? ^(H)^(I)Will he delay long over them? ⁸I tell you, he will give justice to them ^(J)speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, ^(K)will he find faith on earth?”