Psalm 69:1-18

English Standard Version

Save Me, O God

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Lilies. Of David.

69 Save me, O God!
    For ^(B)the waters have come up to my neck.^[a]
²I sink in deep ^(C)mire,
    where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
    and the flood ^(D)sweeps over me.
³^(E)I am weary with my crying out;
    ^(F)my throat is parched.
^(G)My eyes grow dim
    with ^(H)waiting for my God.

⁴^(I)More in number than the hairs of my head
    are ^(J)those who hate me ^(K)without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
    ^(L)those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
    must I now restore?
⁵O God, you know my folly;
    the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

⁶Let not those who hope in you ^(M)be put to shame through me,
    O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
    O God of Israel.
⁷For it is ^(N)for your sake that I have borne reproach,
    that dishonor has covered my face.
⁸I have become ^(O)a stranger to my brothers,
    an alien to my mother's sons.

⁹For ^(P)zeal for your house has consumed me,
    and ^(Q)the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
¹⁰When I wept and humbled^[b] my soul with fasting,
    it became my reproach.
¹¹When I made ^(R)sackcloth my clothing,
    I became ^(S)a byword to them.
¹²I am the talk of those who ^(T)sit in the gate,
    and the drunkards make ^(U)songs about me.

¹³But as for me, my ^(V)prayer is to you, O Lord.
    At ^(W)an acceptable time, O God,
    in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
¹⁴Deliver me
    from sinking in ^(X)the mire;
^(Y)let me be delivered from my enemies
    and from ^(Z)the deep waters.
¹⁵Let not the flood sweep over me,
    or the deep swallow me up,
    or ^(AA)the pit close ^(AB)its mouth over me.

¹⁶Answer me, O Lord, for your ^(AC)steadfast love is good;
    according to your abundant ^(AD)mercy, ^(AE)turn to me.
¹⁷^(AF)Hide not your face from your servant,
    ^(AG)for I am in distress; ^(AH)make haste to answer me.
¹⁸Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
    ransom me because of my enemies!

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Footnotes

Psalm 69:1 Or waters threaten my life
Psalm 69:10 Hebrew lacks and humbled

1 Samuel 15

English Standard Version

The Lord Rejects Saul

15 And Samuel said to Saul, ^(A)“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. ²Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel ^(B)in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. ³Now go and strike Amalek and ^(C)devote to destruction^[a] all that they have. Do not spare them, ^(D)but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

⁴So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. ⁶Then Saul said to ^(E)the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. ^(F)For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. ⁷^(G)And Saul defeated the Amalekites from ^(H)Havilah as far as ^(I)Shur, which is east of Egypt. ⁸And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive ^(J)and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹^(K)But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves^[b] and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

¹⁰The word of the Lord came to Samuel: ¹¹^(L)“I regret^[c] that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and ^(M)has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. ¹²And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to ^(N)Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” ¹³And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, ^(O)“Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” ¹⁴And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” ¹⁵Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, ^(P)for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” ¹⁶Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

¹⁷And Samuel said, ^(Q)“Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ ¹⁹Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? ^(R)Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” ²⁰And Saul said to Samuel, ^(S)“I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. ²¹^(T)But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” ²²And Samuel said,

^(U)“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
    as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, ^(V)to obey is better than sacrifice,
    and to listen than the fat of rams.
²³For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
    and presumption is as iniquity and ^(W)idolatry.
Because ^(X)you have rejected the word of the Lord,
    ^(Y)he has also rejected you from being king.”

²⁴Saul said to Samuel, ^(Z)“I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. ²⁵Now therefore, please pardon my sin and ^(AA)return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” ²⁶And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. ^(AB)For you have rejected the word of the Lord, ^(AC)and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” ²⁷^(AD)As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸And Samuel said to him, ^(AE)“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. ²⁹And also the Glory of Israel ^(AF)will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” ³⁰Then he said, “I have sinned; yet ^(AG)honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, ^(AH)and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” ³¹So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord.

³²Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully.^[d] Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” ³³And Samuel said, ^(AI)“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord ^(AJ)in Gilgal.

³⁴Then Samuel went ^(AK)to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in ^(AL)Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵^(AM)And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, ^(AN)but Samuel grieved over Saul. ^(AO)And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Footnotes

1 Samuel 15:3 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verses 8, 9, 15, 18, 20, 21
1 Samuel 15:9 The meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain
1 Samuel 15:11 See also verses 29, 35
1 Samuel 15:32 Or haltingly (compare Septuagint); the Hebrew is uncertain

2 Corinthians 9

English Standard Version

The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem

9 Now ^(A)it is superfluous for me to write to you about ^(B)the ministry for the saints, ²for I know your readiness, ^(C)of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready ^(D)since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. ³But ^(E)I am sending^[a] the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, ^(F)as I said you would be. ⁴Otherwise, if some Macedonians ^(G)come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. ⁵So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the ^(H)gift^[b] you have promised, so that it may be ready ^(I)as a willing gift, ^(J)not as an exaction.^[c]

The Cheerful Giver

⁶The point is this: ^(K)whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully^[d] will also reap bountifully. ⁷Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, ^(L)not reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^(M)God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And ^(N)God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency^[e] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written,

^(O)“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰He who supplies ^(P)seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and ^(Q)increase the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹^(R)You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which ^(S)through us will produce thanksgiving to God. ¹²For the ministry of this service is not only supplying ^(T)the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. ¹³By their approval of this service, ^(U)they^[f] will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your ^(V)confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, ¹⁴while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. ¹⁵^(W)Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!