Psalm 40

English Standard Version

My Help and My Deliverer

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

40 I ^(A)waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and ^(B)heard my cry.
²He drew me up from ^(C)the pit of destruction,
    out of ^(D)the miry bog,
and ^(E)set my feet upon a rock,
    ^(F)making my steps secure.
³He put ^(G)a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will ^(H)see and fear,
    and put their trust in the Lord.

⁴Blessed is the man who ^(I)makes
    the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
    to those who ^(J)go astray after a lie!
⁵You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
    your ^(K)wondrous deeds and your ^(L)thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
    yet they are ^(M)more than can be told.

⁶^(N)In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
    but you have given me an open ^(O)ear.^[a]
Burnt offering and sin offering
    you have not required.
⁷Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
    in the scroll of the book it is written ^(P)of me:
⁸^(Q)I delight to do your will, O my God;
    your law is ^(R)within my heart.”

⁹I have told the glad news of deliverance^[b]
    in ^(S)the great congregation;
behold, I have not ^(T)restrained my lips,
    ^(U)as you know, O Lord.
¹⁰I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    from the great congregation.

¹¹As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
    your mercy from me;
your ^(V)steadfast love and your faithfulness will
    ever preserve me!
¹²For evils have ^(W)encompassed me
    beyond number;
my ^(X)iniquities have overtaken me,
    and I cannot ^(Y)see;
they are ^(Z)more than the hairs of my head;
    my heart ^(AA)fails me.

¹³^(AB)Be pleased, O Lord, to ^(AC)deliver me!
    O Lord, ^(AD)make haste to help me!
¹⁴^(AE)Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
    who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be ^(AF)turned back and brought to dishonor
    who delight in my hurt!
¹⁵Let those be appalled because of their shame
    who ^(AG)say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

¹⁶But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
    ^(AH)say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
¹⁷As for me, I am ^(AI)poor and needy,
    but ^(AJ)the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    do not delay, O my God!

Footnotes

Psalm 40:6 Hebrew ears you have dug for me
Psalm 40:9 Hebrew righteousness; also verse 10

Psalm 54

English Standard Version

The Lord Upholds My Life

To the choirmaster: with ^(A)stringed instruments. A Maskil^[a] of David, ^(B)when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

54 O God, save me by your ^(C)name,
and vindicate me by your might.
²O God, ^(D)hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.

³^(E)For ^(F)strangers^[b] have risen against me;
ruthless men ^(G)seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah

⁴Behold, ^(H)God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
⁵He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your ^(I)faithfulness ^(J)put an end to them.

⁶With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, ^(K)for it is good.
⁷For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has ^(L)looked in triumph on my enemies.

Footnotes

Psalm 54:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
Psalm 54:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Targum insolent men (compare Psalm 86:14)

Psalm 51

English Standard Version

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when ^(A)Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51 ^(B)Have mercy on me,^[a] O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your ^(C)abundant mercy
    ^(D)blot out my transgressions.
²^(E)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and ^(F)cleanse me from my sin!

³^(G)For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
⁴^(H)Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil ^(I)in your sight,
^(J)so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
⁵Behold, ^(K)I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶Behold, you delight in truth in ^(L)the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

⁷Purge me ^(M)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    ^(N)wash me, and I shall be ^(O)whiter than snow.
⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;
    ^(P)let the bones ^(Q)that you have broken rejoice.
⁹^(R)Hide your face from my sins,
    and ^(S)blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰^(T)Create in me a ^(U)clean heart, O God,
    and ^(V)renew a right^[b] spirit within me.
¹¹^(W)Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not ^(X)your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will ^(Y)return to you.
¹⁴Deliver me from ^(Z)bloodguiltiness, O God,
    O ^(AA)God of my salvation,
    and ^(AB)my tongue will sing aloud of your ^(AC)righteousness.
¹⁵O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶^(AD)For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
    you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
¹⁷The sacrifices of God are ^(AE)a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

¹⁸^(AF)Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    ^(AG)build up the walls of Jerusalem;
¹⁹then will you delight in ^(AH)right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and ^(AI)whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Footnotes

Psalm 51:1 Or Be gracious to me
Psalm 51:10 Or steadfast

Acts 15:12-21

English Standard Version

¹²And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul ^(A)as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. ¹³After they finished speaking, ^(B)James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴^(C)Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them ^(D)a people for his name. ¹⁵And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁶^(E)“‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
     and I will restore it,
¹⁷that the remnant^[a] of mankind ^(F)may seek the Lord,
    and all the Gentiles ^(G)who are called by my name,
     says the Lord, who makes these things ¹⁸^(H)known from of old.’

¹⁹Therefore ^(I)my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who ^(J)turn to God, ²⁰but should write to them ^(K)to abstain from ^(L)the things polluted by idols, and from ^(M)sexual immorality, and from ^(N)what has been strangled, and from ^(O)blood. ²¹For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, ^(P)for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

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Footnotes

Acts 15:17 Or rest

John 11:30-44

English Standard Version

³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹When the Jews ^(A)who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³²Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ^(B)“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he ^(C)was deeply moved^[a] in his spirit and ^(D)greatly troubled. ³⁴And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵^(E)Jesus wept. ³⁶So the Jews said, “See ^(F)how he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he ^(G)who opened the eyes of the blind man ^(H)also have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

³⁸Then Jesus, ^(I)deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was ^(J)a cave, and ^(K)a stone lay against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for ^(L)he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, ^(M)“Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see ^(N)the glory of God?” ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus ^(O)lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²^(P)I knew that you always hear me, but I said this ^(Q)on account of the people standing around, ^(R)that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴^(S)The man who had died came out, ^(T)his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and ^(U)his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”