Resh

153 Look on my (A)affliction and deliver me,
    for (B)I do not forget your law.
154 (C)Plead my cause and redeem me;
    (D)give me life according to your promise!
155 (E)Salvation is far from the wicked,
    (F)for they do not seek your statutes.
156 (G)Great is your mercy, O Lord;
    (H)give me life according to your rules.
157 (I)Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
    but I do not (J)swerve from your testimonies.
158 I look at (K)the faithless with (L)disgust,
    because they do not keep your commands.
159 Consider how I (M)love your precepts!
    (N)Give me life, O Lord, according to your steadfast love.
160 (O)The sum of your word is (P)truth,
    and every one of your (Q)righteous rules endures forever.

Sin and Shin

161 (R)Princes persecute me (S)without cause,
    but my heart (T)stands in awe of your words.
162 I (U)rejoice at your word
    like one who (V)finds great spoil.
163 I hate and abhor falsehood,
    but I love (W)your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
    for your (X)righteous rules.
165 Great (Y)peace have those who love your law;
    (Z)nothing can make them stumble.
166 I (AA)hope for your salvation, O Lord,
    and I do your commandments.
167 My soul keeps your testimonies;
    I (AB)love them exceedingly.
168 I keep your precepts and testimonies,
    (AC)for all my ways are before you.

Taw

169 Let my (AD)cry come before you, O Lord;
    (AE)give me understanding (AF)according to your word!
170 Let my plea come before you;
    (AG)deliver me according to your word.
171 My lips will (AH)pour forth praise,
    for you (AI)teach me your statutes.
172 My tongue will sing of your word,
    for (AJ)all your commandments are right.
173 Let your hand be ready to help me,
    for I have (AK)chosen your precepts.
174 I (AL)long for your salvation, O Lord,
    and your law is my (AM)delight.
175 Let my soul live and praise you,
    and let your rules help me.
176 I have (AN)gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
    for I do not (AO)forget your commandments.

Read full chapter

Judgment on Babylon

50 The word that the Lord spoke concerning (A)Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, (B)by Jeremiah the prophet:

“Declare among the nations and proclaim,
    set up a banner and proclaim,
    conceal it not, and say:
(C)‘Babylon is taken,
    (D)Bel is put to shame,
    Merodach is dismayed.
(E)Her images are put to shame,
    her idols are dismayed.’

“For (F)out of the north a nation has come up against her, (G)which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; (H)both man and beast shall flee away.

(I)“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, (J)the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, (K)weeping as they come, and they (L)shall seek the Lord their God. (M)They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, (N)saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an (O)everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’

(P)“My people have been lost sheep. (Q)Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them, (R)and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for (S)they have sinned against the Lord, (T)their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, (U)the hope of their fathers.’

(V)“Flee from the midst of Babylon, (W)and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon (X)a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. 10 (Y)Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord.

11 (Z)“Though you rejoice, though you exult,
    O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture,
    and neigh like stallions,
12 your mother shall be utterly shamed,
    and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
Behold, she shall be the last of the nations,
    (AA)a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13 (AB)Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited
    but shall be an utter desolation;
(AC)everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,
    (AD)and hiss because of all her wounds.
14 (AE)Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around,
    (AF)all you who bend the bow;
shoot at her, spare no arrows,
    (AG)for she has sinned against the Lord.
15 (AH)Raise a shout against her all around;
    she has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen;
    (AI)her walls are thrown down.
For (AJ)this is the vengeance of the Lord:
    take vengeance on her;
    (AK)do to her as she has done.
16 Cut off from Babylon the sower,
    and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest;
(AL)because of the sword of the oppressor,
    (AM)every one shall turn to his own people,
    and every one shall flee to his own land.

17 (AN)“Israel is a hunted sheep (AO)driven away by lions. (AP)First the king of Assyria (AQ)devoured him, and now at last (AR)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (AS)has gnawed his bones. 18 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, (AT)I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, (AU)as I punished the king of Assyria. 19 (AV)I will restore Israel to his pasture, and (AW)he shall feed on (AX)Carmel and in (AY)Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in (AZ)Gilead. 20 In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, (BA)iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for (BB)I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.

21 “Go up against the land of Merathaim,[a]
    and against the inhabitants of Pekod.[b]
Kill, (BC)and devote them to destruction,[c]
declares the Lord,
    and do all that I have commanded you.
22 (BD)The noise of battle is in the land,
    and great destruction!
23 (BE)How the hammer of the whole earth
    is cut down and broken!
(BF)How Babylon (BG)has become
    a horror among the nations!
24 (BH)I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,
    and (BI)you did not know it;
you were found and caught,
    because you opposed the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his armory
    and brought out (BJ)the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do
    in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from every quarter;
    open her granaries;
(BK)pile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction;
    let nothing be left of her.
27 Kill all (BL)her bulls;
    let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
    (BM)the time of their punishment.

28 “A voice! They (BN)flee and escape from the land of Babylon, (BO)to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for (BP)his temple.

29 (BQ)“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. (BR)Encamp around her; let no one escape. (BS)Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has (BT)proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 30 (BU)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares the Lord.

31 “Behold, I am against you, O (BV)proud one,
    declares the Lord God of hosts,
(BW)for your day has come,
    the time when I will punish you.
32 (BX)The proud one shall stumble and fall,
    with none to raise him up,
(BY)and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
    and it will devour all that is around him.

33 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: (BZ)The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; (CA)they refuse to let them go. 34 (CB)Their Redeemer is strong; (CC)the Lord of hosts is his name. (CD)He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 “A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,
    and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
    and against (CE)her officials and her (CF)wise men!
36 A sword against the diviners,
    that they may become fools!
A sword against her (CG)warriors,
    that they may be destroyed!
37 A sword against her horses and against her chariots,
    and against all (CH)the foreign troops in her midst,
    that (CI)they may become women!
(CJ)A sword against all her treasures,
    that they may be plundered!
38 (CK)A drought against her waters,
    that they may be dried up!
(CL)For it is a land of images,
    and they are mad over idols.

39 (CM)“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon,[d] and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations. 40 (CN)As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the Lord, (CO)so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.

41 (CP)“Behold, a people comes from the north;
    a mighty nation and many kings
    are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
42 They lay hold of bow and spear;
    they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;
    they ride on horses,
arrayed as a man for battle
    against you, O daughter of Babylon!

43 “The king of Babylon heard the report of them,
    and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
    pain as of a woman in labor.

44 (CQ)“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd (CR)can stand before me? 45 Therefore hear (CS)the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon, (CT)and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: (CU)Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 46 (CV)At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 50:21 Merathaim means double rebellion
  2. Jeremiah 50:21 Pekod means punishment
  3. Jeremiah 50:21 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
  4. Jeremiah 50:39 Hebrew lacks in Babylon

Peace with God Through Faith

(A)Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, (B)we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also (C)obtained access by faith[b] into this grace (D)in which we stand, and (E)we[c] rejoice[d] in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we (F)rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering (G)produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and (H)hope does not put us to shame, because God's love (I)has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For (J)while we were still weak, at the right time (K)Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but (L)God shows his love for us in that (M)while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, (N)we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from (O)the wrath of God. 10 For if (P)while we were enemies (Q)we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by (R)his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received (S)reconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

12 Therefore, just as (T)sin came into the world through one man, and (U)death through sin, and (V)so death spread to all men[e] because (W)all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but (X)sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not (Y)like the transgression of Adam, (Z)who was a type of (AA)the one who was to come.

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for (AB)many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For (AC)the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought (AD)justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness (AE)reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as one trespass[f] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness[g] leads to justification and life for (AF)all men. 19 For as by the one man's (AG)disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's (AH)obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now (AI)the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, (AJ)grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, (AK)as sin reigned in death, (AL)grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 5:1 Some manuscripts let us
  2. Romans 5:2 Some manuscripts omit by faith
  3. Romans 5:2 Or let us; also verse 3
  4. Romans 5:2 Or boast; also verses 3, 11
  5. Romans 5:12 The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women; also twice in verse 18
  6. Romans 5:18 Or the trespass of one
  7. Romans 5:18 Or the act of righteousness of one

Bible Gateway Recommends

ESV Thinline Bible, Genuine Leather, Black
ESV Thinline Bible, Genuine Leather, Black
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $29.35
Save: $30.64 (51%)
4.5 of 5.0 stars
ESV Economy Bible, Large Print Softcover
ESV Economy Bible, Large Print Softcover
Retail: $7.99
Our Price: $5.23
Save: $2.76 (35%)
4.0 of 5.0 stars
ESV Study Bible, Black Genuine Leather
ESV Study Bible, Black Genuine Leather
Retail: $114.99
Our Price: $54.73
Save: $60.26 (52%)
4.5 of 5.0 stars