Psalm 37:18-40

English Standard Version

¹⁸The Lord ^(A)knows the days of the blameless,
and their ^(B)heritage will remain forever;
¹⁹they are not put to shame in evil times;
in ^(C)the days of famine they have abundance.

²⁰But the wicked will perish;
the enemies of the Lord are like ^(D)the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like ^(E)smoke they vanish away.

²¹The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
but the righteous ^(F)is generous and gives;
²²for those blessed by the Lord^[a] shall ^(G)inherit the land,
but those cursed by him ^(H)shall be cut off.

²³The ^(I)steps of a man are ^(J)established by the Lord,
when he delights in his way;
²⁴^(K)though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord ^(L)upholds his hand.

²⁵I have been young, and now am old,
    yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
    or his children ^(M)begging for bread.
²⁶He is ever ^(N)lending generously,
    and his children become a blessing.

²⁷^(O)Turn away from evil and do good;
    so shall you ^(P)dwell forever.
²⁸For the Lord ^(Q)loves justice;
    he will not forsake his ^(R)saints.
They are preserved forever,
    but the children of the wicked shall be ^(S)cut off.
²⁹The righteous shall inherit the land
    and ^(T)dwell upon it forever.

³⁰The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
³¹^(U)The law of his God is in his heart;
his ^(V)steps do not slip.

³²The wicked ^(W)watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
³³The Lord will not ^(X)abandon him to his power
or let him ^(Y)be condemned when he is brought to trial.

³⁴^(Z)Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on ^(AA)when the wicked are cut off.

³⁵^(AB)I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like ^(AC)a green laurel tree.^[b]
³⁶But he passed away,^[c] and behold, ^(AD)he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.

³⁷Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of ^(AE)peace.
³⁸But ^(AF)transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked ^(AG)shall be cut off.

³⁹^(AH)The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
    he is their stronghold in ^(AI)the time of trouble.
⁴⁰The Lord helps them and ^(AJ)delivers them;
    ^(AK)he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
    because they ^(AL)take refuge in him.

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Footnotes

Psalm 37:22 Hebrew by him
Psalm 37:35 The identity of this tree is uncertain
Psalm 37:36 Or But one passed by

Ezra 3

English Standard Version

Rebuilding the Altar

3 ^(A)When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. ²Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and ^(B)Zerubbabel the son of ^(C)Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, ^(D)as it is written in the Law of Moses the ^(E)man of God. ³They set the altar in its place, ^(F)for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and ^(G)they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. ⁴^(H)And they kept the Feast of Booths, ^(I)as it is written, ^(J)and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required, ⁵and after that the regular burnt ^(K)offerings, the offerings at the new moon ^(L)and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord. ⁶From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. ⁷So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, ^(M)and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians ^(N)to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, ^(O)according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

Rebuilding the Temple

⁸Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, ^(P)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and ^(Q)Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They ^(R)appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to ^(S)supervise the work of the house of the Lord. ⁹And ^(T)Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together ^(U)supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the ^(V)sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.

¹⁰And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, ^(W)according to the directions of David king of Israel. ¹¹And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

^(X)“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. ¹²But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, ^(Y)old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, ¹³so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Titus 1

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant^[a] of God and ^(A)an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and ^(B)their knowledge of the truth, ^(C)which accords with godliness, ²^(D)in hope of eternal life, which God, ^(E)who never lies, ^(F)promised ^(G)before the ages began^[b] ³and ^(H)at the proper time manifested in his word^[c] ^(I)through the preaching ^(J)with which I have been entrusted ^(K)by the command of God our Savior;

⁴To Titus, ^(L)my true child in ^(M)a common faith:

^(N)Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

⁵^(O)This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^(P)appoint elders in every town as I directed you— ⁶^(Q)if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,^[d] and his children are believers^[e] and not open to the charge of ^(R)debauchery or insubordination. ⁷For an overseer,^[f] ^(S)as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^(T)be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^(U)or greedy for gain, ⁸but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^(V)and disciplined. ⁹He must ^(W)hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^(X)sound^[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

¹⁰For there are many who are insubordinate, ^(Y)empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^(Z)the circumcision party.^[h] ¹¹They must be silenced, since ^(AA)they are upsetting whole families by teaching ^(AB)for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. ¹²^(AC)One of the Cretans,^[i] a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”^[j] ¹³This testimony is true. Therefore ^(AD)rebuke them ^(AE)sharply, that they ^(AF)may be sound in the faith, ¹⁴^(AG)not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^(AH)the commands of people ^(AI)who turn away from the truth. ¹⁵^(AJ)To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^(AK)unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^(AL)their minds and their consciences are defiled. ¹⁶^(AM)They profess to know God, but they ^(AN)deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^(AO)unfit for any good work.