Psalm 119:89-104

English Standard Version

Lamedh

⁸⁹Forever, O Lord, your ^(A)word
    is firmly fixed in the heavens.
⁹⁰Your ^(B)faithfulness endures to all generations;
    you have ^(C)established the earth, and it ^(D)stands fast.
⁹¹By your ^(E)appointment they stand this day,
    for all things are your servants.
⁹²If your law had not been my ^(F)delight,
    I would have perished in my affliction.
⁹³I will never forget your precepts,
    for by them you have ^(G)given me life.
⁹⁴I am yours; save me,
    ^(H)for I have sought your precepts.
⁹⁵The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,
    but I consider your testimonies.
⁹⁶I have seen a limit to all perfection,
    but your commandment is exceedingly ^(I)broad.

Mem

⁹⁷Oh how ^(J)I love your law!
    It is my ^(K)meditation all the day.
⁹⁸Your commandment makes me ^(L)wiser than my enemies,
    for it is ever with me.
⁹⁹I have more understanding than all my teachers,
    for ^(M)your testimonies are my meditation.
¹⁰⁰I understand more than ^(N)the aged,^[a]
    for I ^(O)keep your precepts.
¹⁰¹I ^(P)hold back my feet from every evil way,
    in order to keep your word.
¹⁰²I do not turn aside from your rules,
    for you have taught me.
¹⁰³How ^(Q)sweet are your words to my taste,
    sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴Through your precepts I get understanding;
    therefore ^(R)I hate every false way.

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Footnotes

Psalm 119:100 Or the elders

Isaiah 55-56

English Standard Version

The Compassion of the Lord

55 ^(A)“Come, everyone who thirsts,
    come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
    ^(B)come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.
²^(C)Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.
³Incline your ear, and come to me;
    ^(D)hear, that your soul may live;
^(E)and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
    ^(F)my steadfast, sure love for ^(G)David.
⁴^(H)Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
    ^(I)a leader and commander for the peoples.
⁵^(J)Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
    and ^(K)a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
    ^(L)for he has glorified you.

⁶^(M)“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call upon him while he is near;
⁷let the wicked forsake his way,
    and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
⁸For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
⁹^(N)For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰^(O)“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    ^(P)giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but ^(Q)it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

¹²^(R)“For you shall go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
^(S)the mountains and the hills before you
    shall break forth into singing,
    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³^(T)Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
    instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
    an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Salvation for Foreigners

56 Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
^(U)for soon my salvation will come,
    and my righteousness be revealed.
²Blessed is the man who does this,
    and the son of man who holds it fast,
^(V)who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
    and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

³Let not ^(W)the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
    “Behold, I am ^(X)a dry tree.”
⁴For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs ^(Y)who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose the things that please me
    and hold fast my covenant,
⁵^(Z)I will give in my house and within my walls
    a ^(AA)monument and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
^(AB)I will give them an everlasting name
    that shall not be cut off.

⁶“And ^(AC)the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
    to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
everyone ^(AD)who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
    and holds fast my covenant—
⁷^(AE)these I will bring to ^(AF)my holy mountain,
    and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
^(AG)their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for ^(AH)my house shall be called a house of prayer
    for all peoples.”
⁸The Lord God,
    ^(AI)who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
^(AJ)“I will gather yet others to him
    besides those already gathered.”

Israel's Irresponsible Leaders

⁹^(AK)All you beasts of the field, come to devour—
    all you beasts in the forest.
¹⁰^(AL)His watchmen are blind;
    they are all without knowledge;
they are all silent ^(AM)dogs;
    they cannot bark,
dreaming, lying down,
    loving to slumber.
¹¹^(AN)The dogs have a mighty appetite;
    they never have enough.
But ^(AO)they are shepherds who have no understanding;
    they have all turned to their own way,
    ^(AP)each to his own gain, one and all.
¹²^(AQ)“Come,” they say, “let me get wine;
    let us fill ourselves with strong drink;
^(AR)and tomorrow will be like this day,
    great beyond measure.”

James 2

English Standard Version

The Sin of Partiality

2 My brothers,^[a] ^(A)show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(B)the Lord of glory. ²For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, ³and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” ^(C)while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” ⁴have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become ^(D)judges with evil thoughts? ⁵Listen, my beloved brothers, ^(E)has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be ^(F)rich in faith and heirs of ^(G)the kingdom, ^(H)which he has promised to those who love him? ⁶But you ^(I)have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who ^(J)drag you ^(K)into court? ⁷Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable ^(L)name by which you were called?

⁸If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ^(M)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹But if you ^(N)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point ^(O)has become guilty of all of it. ¹¹For he who said, ^(P)“Do not commit adultery,” also said, ^(Q)“Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹²So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under ^(R)the law of liberty. ¹³For ^(S)judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith Without Works Is Dead

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith ^(T)but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ¹⁵^(U)If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ¹⁶^(V)and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good^[b] is that? ¹⁷So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith ^(W)apart from your works, and I will show you my faith ^(X)by my works. ¹⁹^(Y)You believe that God is one; you do well. Even ^(Z)the demons believe—and shudder! ²⁰Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? ²¹^(AA)Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that ^(AB)faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed ^(AC)by his works; ²³and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ^(AD)“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a ^(AE)friend of God. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵And in the same way was not also ^(AF)Rahab the prostitute justified by works ^(AG)when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? ²⁶For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.