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

Jeremiah 50:21-46

English Standard Version

²¹“Go up against the land of Merathaim,^[a]
    and against the inhabitants of Pekod.^[b]
Kill, ^(A)and devote them to destruction,^[c]
declares the Lord,
    and do all that I have commanded you.
²²^(B)The noise of battle is in the land,
    and great destruction!
²³^(C)How the hammer of the whole earth
    is cut down and broken!
^(D)How Babylon ^(E)has become
    a horror among the nations!
²⁴^(F)I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,
    and ^(G)you did not know it;
you were found and caught,
    because you opposed the Lord.
²⁵The Lord has opened his armory
    and brought out ^(H)the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do
    in the land of the Chaldeans.
²⁶Come against her from every quarter;
    open her granaries;
^(I)pile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction;
    let nothing be left of her.
²⁷Kill all ^(J)her bulls;
    let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
    ^(K)the time of their punishment.

²⁸“A voice! They ^(L)flee and escape from the land of Babylon, ^(M)to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for ^(N)his temple.

²⁹^(O)“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. ^(P)Encamp around her; let no one escape. ^(Q)Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has ^(R)proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰^(S)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares the Lord.

³¹“Behold, I am against you, O ^(T)proud one,
    declares the Lord God of hosts,
^(U)for your day has come,
    the time when I will punish you.
³²^(V)The proud one shall stumble and fall,
    with none to raise him up,
^(W)and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
    and it will devour all that is around him.

³³“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(X)The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; ^(Y)they refuse to let them go. ³⁴^(Z)Their Redeemer is strong; ^(AA)the Lord of hosts is his name. ^(AB)He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵“A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,
    and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
    and against ^(AC)her officials and her ^(AD)wise men!
³⁶A sword against the diviners,
    that they may become fools!
A sword against her ^(AE)warriors,
    that they may be destroyed!
³⁷A sword against her horses and against her chariots,
    and against all ^(AF)the foreign troops in her midst,
    that ^(AG)they may become women!
^(AH)A sword against all her treasures,
    that they may be plundered!
³⁸^(AI)A drought against her waters,
    that they may be dried up!
^(AJ)For it is a land of images,
    and they are mad over idols.

³⁹^(AK)“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon,^[d] and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations. ⁴⁰^(AL)As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the Lord, ^(AM)so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.

⁴¹^(AN)“Behold, a people comes from the north;
    a mighty nation and many kings
    are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
⁴²They lay hold of bow and spear;
    they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;
    they ride on horses,
arrayed as a man for battle
    against you, O daughter of Babylon!

⁴³“The king of Babylon heard the report of them,
and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
pain as of a woman in labor.

⁴⁴^(AO)“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd ^(AP)can stand before me? ⁴⁵Therefore hear ^(AQ)the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon, ^(AR)and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: ^(AS)Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ⁴⁶^(AT)At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.”

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 50:21 Merathaim means double rebellion
Jeremiah 50:21 Pekod means punishment
Jeremiah 50:21 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
Jeremiah 50:39 Hebrew lacks in Babylon

Romans 12

English Standard Version

A Living Sacrifice

12 ^(A)I appeal to you therefore, brothers,^[a] by the mercies of God, ^(B)to present your bodies ^(C)as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.^[b] ²^(D)Do not be conformed to this world,^[c] but be transformed by ^(E)the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may ^(F)discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.^[d]

Gifts of Grace

³For ^(G)by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you ^(H)not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, ^(I)each according to ^(J)the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴For ^(K)as in one body we have many members,^[e] and the members do not all have the same function, ⁵so we, ^(L)though many, ^(M)are one body in Christ, and individually ^(N)members one of another. ⁶^(O)Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if ^(P)prophecy, ^(Q)in proportion to our faith; ⁷if ^(R)service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; ^(S)the one who leads,^[f] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with ^(T)cheerfulness.

Marks of the True Christian

⁹^(U)Let love be genuine. ^(V)Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ¹⁰^(W)Love one another with brotherly affection. ^(X)Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹Do not be slothful in zeal, ^(Y)be fervent in spirit,^[g] ^(Z)serve the Lord. ¹²^(AA)Rejoice in hope, ^(AB)be patient in tribulation, ^(AC)be constant in prayer. ¹³^(AD)Contribute to the needs of the saints and ^(AE)seek to show hospitality.

¹⁴^(AF)Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵^(AG)Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶^(AH)Live in harmony with one another. ^(AI)Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.^[h] ^(AJ)Never be wise in your own sight. ¹⁷^(AK)Repay no one evil for evil, but ^(AL)give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, ^(AM)live peaceably with all. ¹⁹Beloved, ^(AN)never avenge yourselves, but leave it^[i] to the wrath of God, for it is written, ^(AO)“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰To the contrary, ^(AP)“if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.