In the Shadow of Your Wings

A (A)Prayer of David.

17 Hear a just cause, O Lord; (B)attend to my cry!
    Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
From your presence (C)let my vindication come!
    Let your eyes behold the right!

You have (D)tried my heart, you have (E)visited me by (F)night,
    you have (G)tested me, and you will find nothing;
    I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
    I have avoided the ways of the violent.
My steps have (H)held fast to your paths;
    my feet have not slipped.

I (I)call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
    (J)incline your ear to me; hear my words.
(K)Wondrously show[a] your steadfast love,
    O Savior of those who seek refuge
    from (L)their adversaries at your right hand.

Keep me as (M)the apple of your eye;
    hide me in (N)the shadow of your wings,
from the wicked who do me violence,
    my deadly enemies who (O)surround me.

10 (P)They close their hearts to pity;
    with their mouths they (Q)speak arrogantly.
11 They have now surrounded our (R)steps;
    they set their eyes to (S)cast us to the ground.
12 He is like a lion eager to tear,
    as a young lion (T)lurking in ambush.

13 Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!
    Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
14 from men by your hand, O Lord,
    from (U)men of the world whose (V)portion is in this life.[b]
You fill their womb with treasure;[c]
    they are satisfied with (W)children,
    and they leave their abundance to their infants.

15 As for me, I shall (X)behold your face in righteousness;
    when I (Y)awake, I shall be (Z)satisfied with your likeness.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 17:7 Or Distinguish me by
  2. Psalm 17:14 Or from men whose portion in life is of the world
  3. Psalm 17:14 Or As for your treasured ones, you fill their womb

Practical Warnings

My son, if you have put up (A)security for your neighbor,
    have (B)given your pledge for a stranger,
if you are (C)snared in the words of your mouth,
    caught in the words of your mouth,
then do this, my son, and save yourself,
    for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
    go, hasten,[a] and (D)plead urgently with your neighbor.
(E)Give your eyes no sleep
    and your eyelids no slumber;
save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,[b]
    (F)like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

(G)Go to (H)the ant, O (I)sluggard;
    consider her ways, and (J)be wise.
(K)Without having any chief,
    (L)officer, or ruler,
she prepares her bread (M)in summer
    and (N)gathers her food in harvest.
(O)How long will you lie there, (P)O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
10 (Q)A little sleep, a little slumber,
    (R)a little (S)folding of the hands to rest,
11 (T)and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.

12 (U)A worthless person, a wicked man,
    goes about with (V)crooked speech,
13 (W)winks with his eyes, signals[c] with his feet,
    points with his finger,
14 with (X)perverted heart (Y)devises evil,
    continually (Z)sowing discord;
15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
    (AA)in a moment he will be broken (AB)beyond healing.

16 There are (AC)six things that the Lord hates,
    (AD)seven that are an abomination to him:
17 (AE)haughty eyes, (AF)a lying tongue,
    and (AG)hands that shed innocent blood,
18 (AH)a heart that devises wicked plans,
    (AI)feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 (AJ)a false witness who (AK)breathes out lies,
    and one who (AL)sows discord among brothers.

Warnings Against Adultery

20 (AM)My son, keep your father's commandment,
    (AN)and forsake not your mother's teaching.
21 (AO)Bind them on your heart always;
    (AP)tie them around your neck.
22 (AQ)When you walk, they[d] will lead you;
    (AR)when you lie down, they will (AS)watch over you;
    and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is (AT)a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the (AU)reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman,[e]
    from the smooth tongue of (AV)the adulteress.[f]
25 (AW)Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
    and do not let her capture you with her (AX)eyelashes;
26 for (AY)the price of a prostitute is only (AZ)a loaf of bread,[g]
    but a married woman[h] (BA)hunts down a precious life.
27 Can a man carry (BB)fire next to his (BC)chest
    and his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one (BD)walk on hot coals
    and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;
    none who touches her (BE)will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to (BF)satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
31 but (BG)if he is caught, he will pay (BH)sevenfold;
    he will give all the goods of his house.
32 He who commits adultery lacks sense;
    he who does it destroys himself.
33 He will get wounds and dishonor,
    and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For (BI)jealousy makes a man furious,
    and he will not spare when (BJ)he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation;
    he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:3 Or humble yourself
  2. Proverbs 6:5 Hebrew lacks of the hunter
  3. Proverbs 6:13 Hebrew scrapes
  4. Proverbs 6:22 Hebrew it; three times in this verse
  5. Proverbs 6:24 Revocalization (compare Septuagint) yields from the wife of a neighbor
  6. Proverbs 6:24 Hebrew the foreign woman
  7. Proverbs 6:26 Or (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate) for a prostitute leaves a man with nothing but a loaf of bread
  8. Proverbs 6:26 Hebrew a man's wife

Christ's Example of Humility

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from (A)love, any (B)participation in the Spirit, any (C)affection and sympathy, (D)complete my joy by being (E)of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from (F)selfish ambition or (G)conceit, but in (H)humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you (I)look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (J)Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] (K)who, though he was in (L)the form of God, did not count equality with God (M)a thing to be grasped,[b] but (N)emptied himself, by taking the form of a (O)servant,[c] (P)being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by (Q)becoming obedient to the point of death, (R)even death on a cross. (S)Therefore (T)God has (U)highly exalted him and bestowed on him (V)the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus (W)every knee should bow, (X)in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and (Y)every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is (Z)Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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Footnotes

  1. Philippians 2:5 Or which was also in Christ Jesus
  2. Philippians 2:6 Or a thing to be held on to for advantage
  3. Philippians 2:7 Or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)

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