The Blessing and Suffering of the Godly

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

41 Blessed is he who considers the [a]poor;
The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive,
And he will be blessed on the earth;
(A)You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness;
You will [b]sustain him on his sickbed.

I said, “Lord, be merciful to me;
(B)Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”
My enemies speak evil of me:
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
And if he comes to see me, he speaks [c]lies;
His heart gathers iniquity to itself;
When he goes out, he tells it.

All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they [d]devise my hurt.
“An[e] evil disease,” they say, “clings to him.
And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more.”
(C)Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,
(D)Who ate my bread,
Has [f]lifted up his heel against me.

10 But You, O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that You are well pleased with me,
Because my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
And (E)set me before Your face forever.

13 (F)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

BOOK TWO

Psalms 42–72

Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses

To the Chief Musician. A [g]Contemplation of the sons of Korah.

42 As the deer [h]pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
(G)My soul thirsts for God, for the (H)living God.
When shall I come and [i]appear before God?
(I)My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
(J)“Where is your God?”

When I remember these things,
(K)I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
(L)I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

(M)Why are you [j]cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
(N)Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
[k]For the help of His countenance.

[l]O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From [m]the Hill Mizar.
Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
(O)All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
The Lord will (P)command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And (Q)in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God my Rock,
(R)“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a [n]breaking of my bones,
My enemies [o]reproach me,
(S)While they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

11 (T)Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The [p]help of my countenance and my God.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 41:1 helpless or powerless
  2. Psalm 41:3 restore
  3. Psalm 41:6 empty words
  4. Psalm 41:7 plot
  5. Psalm 41:8 Lit. A thing of Belial
  6. Psalm 41:9 Acted as a traitor
  7. Psalm 42:1 Heb. Maschil
  8. Psalm 42:1 Lit. longs for
  9. Psalm 42:2 So with MT, Vg.; some Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Tg. I see the face of God
  10. Psalm 42:5 Lit. bowed down
  11. Psalm 42:5 So with MT, Tg.; a few Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. The help of my countenance, my God
  12. Psalm 42:6 So with MT, Tg.; a few Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. put my God at the end of v. 5
  13. Psalm 42:6 Or Mount
  14. Psalm 42:10 Lit. shattering
  15. Psalm 42:10 revile
  16. Psalm 42:11 Lit. salvation

The Transfiguration of Christ(A)

And He said to them, (B)“Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see (C)the kingdom of God [a]present with power.”

Jesus Transfigured on the Mount

(D)Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly (E)white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.

And a (F)cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is (G)My beloved Son. (H)Hear Him!” Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.

(I)Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept this word to themselves, questioning (J)what the rising from the dead meant.

11 And they asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say (K)that Elijah must come first?”

12 Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And (L)how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and (M)be treated with contempt? 13 But I say to you that (N)Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”

A Boy Is Healed(O)

14 (P)And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. 15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. 16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”

17 Then (Q)one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”

19 He answered him and said, “O (R)faithless[b] generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I [c]bear with you? Bring him to Me.” 20 Then they brought him to Him. And (S)when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”

And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

23 Jesus said to him, (T)“If[d] you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; (U)help my unbelief!”

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He (V)rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

28 (W)And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”

29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but (X)prayer [e]and fasting.”

Jesus Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection

30 Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. 31 (Y)For He taught His disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will (Z)kill Him. And after He is killed, He will (AA)rise the third day.” 32 But they (AB)did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.

Who Is the Greatest?(AC)

33 (AD)Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you [f]disputed among yourselves on the road?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the road they had (AE)disputed among themselves who would be the (AF)greatest. 35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, (AG)“If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then (AH)He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and (AI)whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.”

Jesus Forbids Sectarianism(AJ)

38 (AK)Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.”

39 But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, (AL)for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. 40 For (AM)he who is not against [g]us is on [h]our side. 41 (AN)For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

Jesus Warns of Offenses(AO)

42 (AP)“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me [i]to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. 43 (AQ)If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life [j]maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to [k]hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 44 [l]where

(AR)‘Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’

45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into [m]hell, [n]into the fire that shall never be quenched— 46 where

(AS)‘Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’

47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into [o]hell fire— 48 where

(AT)‘Their worm does not die
And the (AU)fire is not quenched.’

Tasteless Salt Is Worthless

49 “For everyone will be (AV)seasoned with fire, (AW)and[p] every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. 50 (AX)Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? (AY)Have salt in yourselves, and (AZ)have peace with one another.”

Footnotes

  1. Mark 9:1 having come
  2. Mark 9:19 unbelieving
  3. Mark 9:19 put up with
  4. Mark 9:23 NU “ ‘If You can!’ All things
  5. Mark 9:29 NU omits and fasting
  6. Mark 9:33 discussed
  7. Mark 9:40 M you
  8. Mark 9:40 M your
  9. Mark 9:42 To fall into sin
  10. Mark 9:43 crippled
  11. Mark 9:43 Gr. Gehenna
  12. Mark 9:44 NU omits v. 44.
  13. Mark 9:45 Gr. Gehenna
  14. Mark 9:45 NU omits the rest of v. 45 and all of v. 46.
  15. Mark 9:47 Gr. Gehenna
  16. Mark 9:49 NU omits the rest of v. 49.

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