Psalm 51:15-19

Common English Bible

¹⁵Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
¹⁶You don’t want sacrifices.
    If I gave an entirely burned offering,
    you wouldn’t be pleased.
¹⁷A broken spirit is my sacrifice, God.^[a]
    You won’t despise a heart, God, that is broken and crushed.
¹⁸Do good things for Zion by your favor.
    Rebuild Jerusalem’s walls.
¹⁹Then you will again want sacrifices of righteousness—
    entirely burned offerings and complete offerings.
        Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

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Footnotes

Psalm 51:17 Correction

Hosea 6:1-6

Common English Bible

6 “Come, let’s return to the Lord;
        for it is he who has injured us and will heal us;
        he has struck us down, but he will bind us up.
²After two days he will revive us;
        on the third day he will raise us up,
            so that we may live before him.
³Let’s know, let’s press on to know the Lord;
        whose appearing is as certain as the dawn;
        who will come to us like the showers,
        like the spring rains that give drink to the earth.”

Infidelity and divine retribution

⁴    Ephraim, what will I do with you?
            Judah, what will I do with you?
    Your love is like a morning cloud,
            like the dew that vanishes quickly.
⁵    Therefore, I have attacked them by the prophets,
            I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
                and my judgment goes forth like a light.
⁶    I desire faithful love and not sacrifice,
            the knowledge of God instead of entirely burned offerings.

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Luke 18:9-14

Common English Bible

The Pharisee and the tax collector

⁹Jesus told this parable to certain people who had convinced themselves that they were righteous and who looked on everyone else with disgust: ¹⁰“Two people went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself with these words, ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like everyone else—crooks, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of everything I receive.’ ¹³But the tax collector stood at a distance. He wouldn’t even lift his eyes to look toward heaven. Rather, he struck his chest and said, ‘God, show mercy to me, a sinner.’ ¹⁴I tell you, this person went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. All who lift themselves up will be brought low, and those who make themselves low will be lifted up.”