Psalm 68:1-18
English Standard Version
God Shall Scatter His Enemies
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
68 (A)God shall arise, his enemies shall be (B)scattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
2 As (C)smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
(D)as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
3 But (E)the righteous shall be glad;
they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!
4 Sing to God, (F)sing praises to his name;
(G)lift up a song to him who (H)rides through (I)the deserts;
his name is (J)the Lord;
exult before him!
5 (K)Father of the fatherless and (L)protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6 God (M)settles the solitary in a home;
he (N)leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but (O)the rebellious dwell in (P)a parched land.
7 O God, when you (Q)went out before your people,
(R)when you marched through (S)the wilderness, Selah
8 (T)the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God,[a] the God of Israel.
9 (U)Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
you restored your inheritance as it languished;
10 your flock[b] found a dwelling in it;
in your goodness, O God, you (V)provided for the needy.
11 The Lord gives (W)the word;
(X)the women who announce the news are a great host:
12 (Y)“The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”
The women at home (Z)divide the spoil—
13 though you men lie among (AA)the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
its pinions with shimmering gold.
14 When the Almighty scatters kings there,
let snow fall on (AB)Zalmon.
15 O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
O many-peaked[c] mountain, mountain of Bashan!
16 Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
at the mount that God (AC)desired for his abode,
yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?
17 (AD)The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
18 (AE)You ascended on high,
(AF)leading a host of captives in your train
and (AG)receiving gifts among men,
even among (AH)the rebellious, (AI)that the Lord God may dwell there.
Footnotes
- Psalm 68:8 Or before God, even Sinai before God
- Psalm 68:10 Or your congregation
- Psalm 68:15 Or hunch-backed; also verse 16
James 2
English Standard Version
The Sin of Partiality
2 My brothers,[a] (A)show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, (B)the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” (C)while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become (D)judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, (E)has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be (F)rich in faith and heirs of (G)the kingdom, (H)which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you (I)have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who (J)drag you (K)into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable (L)name by which you were called?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, (M)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you (N)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point (O)has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, (P)“Do not commit adultery,” also said, (Q)“Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under (R)the law of liberty. 13 For (S)judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Faith Without Works Is Dead
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith (T)but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 (U)If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 (V)and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[b] is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith (W)apart from your works, and I will show you my faith (X)by my works. 19 (Y)You believe that God is one; you do well. Even (Z)the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 (AA)Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that (AB)faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed (AC)by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, (AD)“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a (AE)friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also (AF)Rahab the prostitute justified by works (AG)when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
Footnotes
- James 2:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 14
- James 2:16 Or benefit
Mark 1:14-20
English Standard Version
Jesus Begins His Ministry
14 (A)Now after John was arrested, Jesus (B)came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, (C)“The time is fulfilled, and (D)the kingdom of God is at hand;[a] (E)repent and believe in the gospel.”
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
16 (F)Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become (G)fishers of men.”[b] 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
Read full chapterThe Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.