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

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

English Standard Version

Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes

26 “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, ²^(A)you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall ^(B)go to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. ³And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land ^(C)that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ ⁴Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.

⁵“And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A ^(D)wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, ^(E)few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. ⁶And ^(F)the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. ⁷Then ^(G)we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. ⁸And ^(H)the Lord brought us out of Egypt ^(I)with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror,^[a] with signs and wonders. ⁹And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, ^(J)a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. ¹¹And ^(K)you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

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Footnotes

Deuteronomy 26:8 Hebrew with great terror

2 Corinthians 8:16-24

English Standard Version

Commendation of Titus

¹⁶But ^(A)thanks be to God, ^(B)who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. ¹⁷For ^(C)he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going^[a] to you of his own accord. ¹⁸With him we are sending^[b] ^(D)the brother who is famous among ^(E)all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. ¹⁹And not only that, but he has been ^(F)appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of ^(G)grace that is being ministered by us, ^(H)for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. ²⁰We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, ²¹for ^(I)we aim at what is honorable ^(J)not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man. ²²And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. ²³As for Titus, he is ^(K)my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers^[c] of the churches, the glory of Christ. ²⁴So give proof before the churches of your love and of ^(L)our boasting about you to these men.

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Footnotes

2 Corinthians 8:17 Or he went
2 Corinthians 8:18 Or we sent; also verse 22
2 Corinthians 8:23 Greek apostles

Luke 18:9-14

English Standard Version

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹He also told this parable to some ^(A)who trusted ^(B)in themselves that they were righteous, ^(C)and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰“Two men ^(D)went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee, ^(E)standing by himself, prayed^[a] ^(F)thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹²^(G)I fast twice a week; ^(H)I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³But the tax collector, ^(I)standing far off, ^(J)would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but ^(K)beat his breast, saying, ‘God, ^(L)be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For ^(M)everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”