The Happiness of Those Who Trust in God

A Psalm of David (A)when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

34 I will (B)bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

I (C)sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
(D)The [a]angel of the Lord (E)encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.

Oh, (F)taste and see that the Lord is good;
(G)Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no [b]want to those who fear Him.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
(H)But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

11 Come, you children, listen to me;
(I)I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 (J)Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking (K)deceit.
14 (L)Depart from evil and do good;
(M)Seek peace and pursue it.

15 (N)The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 (O)The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
(P)To [c]cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

17 The righteous cry out, and (Q)the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 (R)The Lord is near (S)to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as [d]have a contrite spirit.

19 (T)Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
(U)But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He guards all his bones;
(V)Not one of them is broken.
21 (W)Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be [e]condemned.
22 The Lord (X)redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

The Lord the Avenger of His People

A Psalm of David.

35 Plead[f] my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
Take hold of shield and [g]buckler,
And stand up for my help.
Also draw out the spear,
And stop those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”

(Y)Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor
Who seek after my life;
Let those be (Z)turned back and brought to confusion
Who plot my hurt.
(AA)Let them be like chaff before the wind,
And let the [h]angel of the Lord chase them.
Let their way be (AB)dark and slippery,
And let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
For without cause they have (AC)hidden their net for me in a pit,
Which they have dug without cause for my life.
[i]Let (AD)destruction come upon him unexpectedly,
And let his net that he has hidden catch himself;
Into that very destruction let him fall.

And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
10 (AE)All my bones shall say,
Lord, (AF)who is like You,
Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him,
Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?”

11 Fierce witnesses rise up;
They ask me things that I do not know.
12 (AG)They reward me evil for good,
To the sorrow of my soul.
13 But as for me, (AH)when they were sick,
My clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting;
And my prayer would return to my own [j]heart.
14 I paced about as though he were my friend or brother;
I bowed down [k]heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.

15 But in my [l]adversity they rejoiced
And gathered together;
Attackers gathered against me,
And I did not know it;
They tore at me and did not cease;
16 With ungodly mockers at feasts
They gnashed at me with their teeth.

17 Lord, how long will You (AI)look on?
Rescue me from their destructions,
My precious life from the lions.
18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly;
I will praise You among [m]many people.

19 (AJ)Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies;
Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause.
20 For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful matters
Against the quiet ones in the land.
21 They also opened their mouth wide against me,
And said, “Aha, aha!
Our eyes have seen it.

22 This You have seen, O Lord;
Do not keep silence.
O Lord, do not be far from me.
23 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication,
To my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness;
And let them not rejoice over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so we would have it!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”

26 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who rejoice at my hurt;
Let them be (AK)clothed with shame and dishonor
Who exalt themselves against me.

27 (AL)Let them shout for joy and be glad,
Who favor my righteous cause;
And let them say continually,
“Let the Lord be magnified,
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness
And of Your praise all the day long.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 34:7 Or Angel
  2. Psalm 34:9 lack
  3. Psalm 34:16 destroy
  4. Psalm 34:18 are crushed in spirit
  5. Psalm 34:21 held guilty
  6. Psalm 35:1 Contend for me
  7. Psalm 35:2 A small shield
  8. Psalm 35:5 Or Angel
  9. Psalm 35:8 Lit. Let destruction he does not know come upon him,
  10. Psalm 35:13 Lit. bosom
  11. Psalm 35:14 in mourning
  12. Psalm 35:15 limping, stumbling
  13. Psalm 35:18 a mighty

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic(A)

And again (B)He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. [a]Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a (C)paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? (D)Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? (E)Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has [b]power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and (F)glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Matthew the Tax Collector(G)

13 (H)Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. 14 (I)As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, (J)“Follow Me.” So he arose and (K)followed Him.

15 (L)Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. 16 And when the scribes [c]and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”

17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, (M)“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, [d]to repentance.”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting(N)

18 (O)The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the [e]friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be (P)taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath(Q)

23 (R)Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began (S)to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is (T)not lawful on the Sabbath?”

25 But He said to them, “Have you never read (U)what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, (V)which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”

27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the (W)Sabbath. 28 Therefore (X)the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Healing on the Sabbath(Y)

And (Z)He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they (AA)watched Him closely, whether He would (AB)heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might [f]accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, [g]“Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the (AC)hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored [h]as whole as the other. (AD)Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with (AE)the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

A Great Multitude Follows Jesus(AF)

But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, (AG)and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how (AH)many things He was doing, came to Him. So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. 10 For He healed (AI)many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to (AJ)touch Him. 11 (AK)And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, (AL)“You are the Son of God.” 12 But (AM)He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.

The Twelve Apostles(AN)

13 (AO)And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, [i]that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have [j]power [k]to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 [l]Simon, (AP)to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

A House Divided Cannot Stand(AQ)

20 Then the multitude came together again, (AR)so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21 But when His (AS)own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, (AT)for they said, “He is out of His mind.”

22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, (AU)“He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the (AV)ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

23 (AW)So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. 27 (AX)No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin(AY)

28 (AZ)“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” 30 because they (BA)said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him(BB)

31 (BC)Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers [m]are outside seeking You.”

33 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the (BD)will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

Footnotes

  1. Mark 2:2 NU omits Immediately
  2. Mark 2:10 authority
  3. Mark 2:16 NU of the
  4. Mark 2:17 NU omits to repentance
  5. Mark 2:19 Lit. sons of the bridechamber
  6. Mark 3:2 bring charges against
  7. Mark 3:3 Lit. Arise into the midst
  8. Mark 3:5 NU omits as whole as the other
  9. Mark 3:14 NU adds whom He also named apostles
  10. Mark 3:15 authority
  11. Mark 3:15 NU omits to heal sicknesses and
  12. Mark 3:16 NU and He appointed the twelve: Simon . . .
  13. Mark 3:32 NU, M add and Your sisters

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