Psalm 119:49-72

English Standard Version

Zayin

⁴⁹Remember ^(A)your word to your servant,
    in which you have made me ^(B)hope.
⁵⁰This is ^(C)my comfort in my affliction,
    that your promise ^(D)gives me life.
⁵¹^(E)The insolent utterly deride me,
    but I do not ^(F)turn away from your law.
⁵²When I think of your rules from of old,
    I take comfort, O Lord.
⁵³^(G)Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,
    who forsake your law.
⁵⁴Your statutes have been my songs
    in the house of my ^(H)sojourning.
⁵⁵I ^(I)remember your name in the night, O Lord,
    and keep your law.
⁵⁶This blessing has fallen to me,
    that ^(J)I have kept your precepts.

Heth

⁵⁷^(K)The Lord is my portion;
    I promise to keep your words.
⁵⁸I ^(L)entreat your favor with all my heart;
    be gracious to me ^(M)according to your promise.
⁵⁹When I ^(N)think on my ways,
    I turn my feet to your testimonies;
⁶⁰I hasten and do not delay
    to keep your commandments.
⁶¹Though ^(O)the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
    I do not ^(P)forget your law.
⁶²At ^(Q)midnight I rise to praise you,
    because of your ^(R)righteous rules.
⁶³^(S)I am a companion of all who fear you,
    of those who keep your precepts.
⁶⁴^(T)The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love;
    ^(U)teach me your statutes!

Teth

⁶⁵You have dealt well with your servant,
    O Lord, ^(V)according to your word.
⁶⁶Teach me ^(W)good judgment and knowledge,
    for I believe in your commandments.
⁶⁷^(X)Before I was afflicted I went astray,
    but now I keep your word.
⁶⁸^(Y)You are good and do good;
    ^(Z)teach me your statutes.
⁶⁹^(AA)The insolent ^(AB)smear me with lies,
    but with my whole heart I ^(AC)keep your precepts;
⁷⁰their heart is unfeeling ^(AD)like fat,
    but I ^(AE)delight in your law.
⁷¹It is ^(AF)good for me that I was afflicted,
    that I might learn your statutes.
⁷²^(AG)The law of your mouth is better to me
    than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

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Psalm 49

English Standard Version

Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of ^(A)the Sons of Korah.

49 ^(B)Hear this, all peoples!
    Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
²^(C)both low and high,
    rich and poor together!
³My mouth shall speak ^(D)wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
⁴I will incline my ear to ^(E)a proverb;
    I will solve my ^(F)riddle to the music of the lyre.

⁵^(G)Why should I fear in ^(H)times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
⁶those who ^(I)trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?
⁷Truly no man ^(J)can ransom another,
    or ^(K)give to God ^(L)the price of his life,
⁸for ^(M)the ransom of their life is costly
    and can never suffice,
⁹that he should live on forever
    and ^(N)never see the pit.

¹⁰For he sees ^(O)that even the wise die;
    ^(P)the fool and the stupid alike must perish
    and ^(Q)leave their wealth to others.
¹¹Their ^(R)graves are their homes forever,^[a]
    their dwelling places ^(S)to all generations,
    though they ^(T)called lands by their own names.
¹²Man in his pomp ^(U)will not remain;
    ^(V)he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This is the path of those who have ^(W)foolish confidence;
    yet after them people approve of their boasts.^[b] Selah
¹⁴Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
    death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright ^(X)shall rule over them in the morning.
    ^(Y)Their form shall be consumed ^(Z)in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
¹⁵But God will ^(AA)ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will ^(AB)receive me. Selah

¹⁶Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
    when the glory of his house increases.
¹⁷^(AC)For when he dies he will ^(AD)carry nothing away;
    his glory will not go down after him.
¹⁸For though, while he lives, he counts himself ^(AE)blessed
    —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
¹⁹his soul will ^(AF)go to the generation of his fathers,
    who will never again ^(AG)see light.
²⁰^(AH)Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Footnotes

Psalm 49:11 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Their inward thought was that their homes were forever
Psalm 49:13 Or and of those after them who approve of their boasts

Psalm 53

English Standard Version

There Is None Who Does Good

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Mahalath. A Maskil^[a] of David.

53 ^(B)The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.

²God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,^[b]
who seek after God.

³They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.

⁴Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?

⁵There they are, in great terror,
^(C)where there is no terror!
For God ^(D)scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

⁶Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Footnotes

Psalm 53:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms
Psalm 53:2 Or who act wisely

Deuteronomy 13:1-11

English Standard Version

13 “If a prophet or ^(A)a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, ²and ^(B)the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ ³you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God ^(C)is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴You shall ^(D)walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and ^(E)hold fast to him. ⁵But ^(F)that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. ^(G)So you shall purge the evil^[a] from your midst.

⁶^(H)“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or ^(I)the wife you embrace^[b] or your friend ^(J)who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ ^(K)which neither you nor your fathers have known, ⁷some ^(L)of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, ⁸you shall ^(M)not yield to him or listen to him, nor ^(N)shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. ⁹But you shall kill him. ^(O)Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. ¹⁰^(P)You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹¹And ^(Q)all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.

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Footnotes

Deuteronomy 13:5 Or evil person
Deuteronomy 13:6 Hebrew the wife of your bosom

2 Corinthians 7:2-16

English Standard Version

Paul's Joy

²^(A)Make room in your hearts^[a] for us. ^(B)We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. ³I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that ^(C)you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴I am acting with ^(D)great boldness toward you; ^(E)I have great pride in you; ^(F)I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

⁵For even ^(G)when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—^(H)fighting without and fear within. ⁶But ^(I)God, who comforts the downcast, ^(J)comforted us by the coming of Titus, ⁷and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. ⁸For ^(K)even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though ^(L)I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. ⁹As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but ^(M)because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

¹⁰For ^(N)godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas ^(O)worldly grief produces death. ¹¹For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, ^(P)what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. ¹²So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one ^(Q)who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. ¹³Therefore ^(R)we are comforted.

And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit ^(S)has been refreshed by you all. ¹⁴For ^(T)whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you ^(U)was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. ¹⁵And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers ^(V)the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶I rejoice, because I have complete ^(W)confidence in you.

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Footnotes

2 Corinthians 7:2 Greek lacks in your hearts

Luke 17:20-37

English Standard Version

The Coming of the Kingdom

²⁰Being asked by the Pharisees ^(A)when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God ^(B)is not coming in ways that can be observed, ²¹nor ^(C)will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”^[a]

²²And he said to the disciples, ^(D)“The days are coming when you will desire ^(E)to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ²³^(F)And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. ²⁴^(G)For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be ^(H)in his day.^[b] ²⁵But first ^(I)he must suffer many things and ^(J)be rejected by this generation. ²⁶^(K)Just as it was in the days of ^(L)Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ²⁷^(M)They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸Likewise, just as it was in the days of ^(N)Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, ²⁹^(O)but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— ³⁰so will it be ^(P)on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹On that day, ^(Q)let the one who is on ^(R)the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. ³²^(S)Remember Lot's wife. ³³^(T)Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will ^(U)keep it. ³⁴I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. ³⁵^(V)There will be two women ^(W)grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”^[c] ³⁷And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, ^(X)“Where the corpse^[d] is, there the vultures^[e] will gather.”

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Footnotes

Luke 17:21 Or within you, or within your grasp
Luke 17:24 Some manuscripts omit in his day
Luke 17:35 Some manuscripts add verse 36: Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left
Luke 17:37 Greek body
Luke 17:37 Or eagles