Psalm 41

English Standard Version

O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

41 ^(A)Blessed is the one who considers the poor!^[a]
    ^(B)In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
²the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
    he is called blessed in the land;
    you ^(C)do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
³The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
    in his illness you restore him to full health.^[b]

⁴As for me, I said, “O Lord, ^(D)be gracious to me;
    ^(E)heal me,^[c] for I have sinned against you!”
⁵My enemies say of me in malice,
    “When will he die, and his name perish?”
⁶And when one comes to see me, ^(F)he utters empty words,
    while his heart gathers iniquity;
    when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
⁷All who hate me whisper together about me;
    they imagine the worst for me.^[d]

⁸They say, “A deadly thing is poured out^[e] on him;
    he will not rise again from where he lies.”
⁹Even my ^(G)close friend in whom I trusted,
    who ^(H)ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
¹⁰But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
    and raise me up, that I may repay them!

¹¹By this I know that ^(I)you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
¹²But ^(J)you have upheld me because of ^(K)my integrity,
and ^(L)set me in your presence ^(M)forever.

¹³^(N)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

Footnotes

Psalm 41:1 Or weak
Psalm 41:3 Hebrew you turn all his bed
Psalm 41:4 Hebrew my soul
Psalm 41:7 Or they devise evil against me
Psalm 41:8 Or has fastened

Psalm 52

English Standard Version

The Steadfast Love of God Endures

To the choirmaster. A Maskil^[a] of David, when ^(A)Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

52 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
    The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
²Your ^(B)tongue plots destruction,
    like ^(C)a sharp razor, you ^(D)worker of deceit.
³You love evil more than good,
    and ^(E)lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
⁴You love all words that devour,
    O deceitful tongue.

⁵But God will break you down forever;
    he will snatch and ^(F)tear you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from ^(G)the land of the living. Selah
⁶The righteous shall ^(H)see and fear,
    and shall ^(I)laugh at him, saying,
⁷“See the man who would not make
    God his refuge,
but ^(J)trusted in the abundance of his riches
    and sought refuge in his own destruction!”^[b]

⁸But I am like ^(K)a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    forever and ever.
⁹I will thank you forever,
    because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, ^(L)for it is good,
    in the presence of the ^(M)godly.

Footnotes

Psalm 52:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
Psalm 52:7 Or in his work of destruction

Genesis 14

English Standard Version

Abram Rescues Lot

14 In the days of Amraphel king of ^(A)Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of ^(B)Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, ²these kings made war with ^(C)Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of ^(D)Admah, Shemeber king of ^(E)Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (^(F)that is, the Salt Sea). ⁴Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the ^(G)Rephaim in ^(H)Ashteroth-karnaim, the ^(I)Zuzim in Ham, the ^(J)Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, ⁶and the ^(K)Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as ^(L)El-paran on the border of the wilderness. ⁷Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, ^(M)Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling ^(N)in Hazazon-tamar.

⁸Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. ¹⁰Now the Valley of Siddim was full of ^(O)bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled ^(P)to the hill country. ¹¹So the enemy took ^(Q)all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. ¹²They also took Lot, ^(R)the son of Abram's brother, ^(S)who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.

¹³Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, ^(T)who was living by the ^(U)oaks^[a] of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. ¹⁴When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, ^(V)born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as ^(W)Dan. ¹⁵And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot ^(X)with his possessions, and the women and the people.

Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

¹⁷After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the ^(Y)King's Valley). ¹⁸And ^(Z)Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was ^(AA)priest of ^(AB)God Most High.) ¹⁹And he blessed him and said,

^(AC)“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
^(AD)Possessor^[b] of heaven and earth;
²⁰and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”

And Abram gave him ^(AE)a tenth of everything. ²¹And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” ²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ^(AF)“I have lifted my hand^[c] to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³that ^(AG)I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ ²⁴I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let ^(AH)Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”

Footnotes

Genesis 14:13 Or terebinths
Genesis 14:19 Or Creator; also verse 22
Genesis 14:22 Or I have taken a solemn oath

Hebrews 8

English Standard Version

Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant

8 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, ^(A)one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ²a minister in the holy places, in ^(B)the true tent^[a] that the Lord ^(C)set up, not man. ³For ^(D)every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus ^(E)it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. ⁴Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. ⁵They serve ^(F)a copy and ^(G)shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ^(H)“See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” ⁶But as it is, Christ^[b] has obtained a ministry that is ^(I)as much more excellent than the old as ^(J)the covenant ^(K)he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. ⁷^(L)For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

⁸For he finds fault with them when he says:^[c]

^(M)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
    when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
    and with the house of Judah,
⁹not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
    on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant,
    and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
¹⁰^(N)For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
    after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
    and ^(O)write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
¹¹And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
    and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall ^(P)all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest.
¹²For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
    ^(Q)and I will remember their sins no more.”

¹³In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And ^(R)what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

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Footnotes

Hebrews 8:2 Or tabernacle; also verse 5
Hebrews 8:6 Greek he
Hebrews 8:8 Some manuscripts For finding fault with it he says to them

John 4:43-54

English Standard Version

⁴³After ^(A)the two days he departed for Galilee. ⁴⁴(For Jesus himself had testified ^(B)that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) ⁴⁵So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, ^(C)having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For ^(D)they too had gone to the feast.

Jesus Heals an Official's Son

⁴⁶So he came again to ^(E)Cana in Galilee, ^(F)where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. ⁴⁷When this man heard that Jesus ^(G)had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸So Jesus said to him, ^(H)“Unless you^[a] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” ⁴⁹The official said to him, “Sir, come down ^(I)before my child dies.” ⁵⁰Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. ⁵¹As he was going down, his servants^[b] met him and told him that his son was recovering. ⁵²So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour^[c] the fever left him.” ⁵³The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, ^(J)and all his household. ⁵⁴^(K)This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.