Psalm 74

English Standard Version

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)Asaph.

74 O God, why do you ^(B)cast us off forever?
    Why does your anger ^(C)smoke against ^(D)the sheep of your pasture?
²^(E)Remember your congregation, which you have ^(F)purchased of old,
    which you have ^(G)redeemed to be ^(H)the tribe of your heritage!
    Remember Mount Zion, ^(I)where you have dwelt.
³Direct your steps to ^(J)the perpetual ruins;
    the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

⁴Your foes have ^(K)roared in the midst of your meeting place;
    ^(L)they set up their ^(M)own signs for ^(N)signs.
⁵They were like those who swing ^(O)axes
    in a forest of trees.^[b]
⁶And all its ^(P)carved wood
    they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
⁷They ^(Q)set your sanctuary on fire;
    they ^(R)profaned ^(S)the dwelling place of your name,
    bringing it down to the ground.
⁸They ^(T)said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
    they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our ^(U)signs;
    ^(V)there is no longer any prophet,
    and there is none among us who knows how long.
¹⁰How long, O God, ^(W)is the foe to scoff?
    Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
¹¹Why ^(X)do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
    Take it from the fold of your garment^[c] and destroy them!

¹²Yet ^(Y)God my King is from of old,
    working salvation in the midst of the earth.
¹³You ^(Z)divided the sea by your might;
    you ^(AA)broke the heads of ^(AB)the sea monsters^[d] on the waters.
¹⁴You crushed the heads of ^(AC)Leviathan;
    you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
¹⁵You ^(AD)split open springs and brooks;
    you ^(AE)dried up ever-flowing streams.
¹⁶Yours is the day, yours also the night;
    you have established ^(AF)the heavenly lights and the sun.
¹⁷You have ^(AG)fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
    you have made ^(AH)summer and winter.

¹⁸^(AI)Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and ^(AJ)a foolish people reviles your name.
¹⁹Do not deliver the soul of your ^(AK)dove to the wild beasts;
^(AL)do not forget the life of your poor forever.

²⁰Have regard for ^(AM)the covenant,
for ^(AN)the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
²¹Let not ^(AO)the downtrodden ^(AP)turn back in shame;
let ^(AQ)the poor and needy praise your name.

²²Arise, O God, ^(AR)defend your cause;
^(AS)remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
²³Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
^(AT)the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

Footnotes

Psalm 74:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
Psalm 74:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Psalm 74:11 Hebrew from your bosom
Psalm 74:13 Or the great sea creatures

1 Samuel 18

English Standard Version

David and Jonathan's Friendship

18 As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan ^(A)loved him as his own soul. ²And Saul took him that day ^(B)and would not let him return to his father's house. ³Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because ^(C)he loved him as his own soul. ⁴And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. ⁵And David went out ^(D)and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

Saul's Jealousy of David

⁶As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, ^(E)the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.^[a] ⁷And the women ^(F)sang to one another as they celebrated,

^(G)“Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.”

⁸And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but ^(H)the kingdom?” ⁹And Saul eyed David from that day on.

¹⁰The next day ^(I)a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and ^(J)he raved within his house while David was ^(K)playing the lyre, as he did day by day. ^(L)Saul had his spear in his hand. ¹¹And Saul ^(M)hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.

¹²^(N)Saul was afraid of David because ^(O)the Lord was with him ^(P)but had departed from Saul. ¹³So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. ^(Q)And he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴And David ^(R)had success in all his undertakings, ^(S)for the Lord was with him. ¹⁵And when Saul saw that ^(T)he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. ¹⁶^(U)But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.

David Marries Michal

¹⁷Then Saul said to David, “Here is ^(V)my elder daughter Merab. ^(W)I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me ^(X)and fight the Lord's battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, ^(Y)but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” ¹⁸And David said to Saul, ^(Z)“Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” ¹⁹But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to ^(AA)Adriel the ^(AB)Meholathite for a wife.

²⁰Now ^(AC)Saul's daughter Michal ^(AD)loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. ²¹Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may ^(AE)be a snare for him ^(AF)and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time,^[b] ^(AG)“You shall now be my son-in-law.” ²²And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king's son-in-law.’” ²³And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, ^(AH)“Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” ²⁴And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.” ²⁵Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no ^(AI)bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, ^(AJ)that he may be avenged of the king's enemies.’” ^(AK)Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. ^(AL)Before the time had expired, ²⁷David arose and went, ^(AM)along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. ^(AN)And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. ²⁸But when Saul saw and knew that ^(AO)the Lord was with David, ^(AP)and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him, ²⁹Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David's enemy continually.

³⁰^(AQ)Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out ^(AR)David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.

Footnotes

1 Samuel 18:6 Or triangles, or three-stringed instruments
1 Samuel 18:21 Hebrew by two

2 Corinthians 12:1-13

English Standard Version

Paul's Visions and His Thorn

12 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and ^(A)revelations of the Lord. ²I know a man ^(B)in Christ who fourteen years ago was ^(C)caught up to ^(D)the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, ^(E)God knows. ³And I know that this man was caught up into ^(F)paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, ^(G)God knows— ⁴and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. ⁵On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, ^(H)except of my weaknesses— ⁶though if I should wish to boast, ^(I)I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. ⁷So ^(J)to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,^[a] ^(K)a thorn was given me in the flesh, ^(L)a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ⁸^(M)Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹But he said to me, ^(N)“My grace is sufficient for you, for ^(O)my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that ^(P)the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰^(Q)For the sake of Christ, then, ^(R)I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For ^(S)when I am weak, then I am strong.

Concern for the Corinthian Church

¹¹^(T)I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was ^(U)not at all inferior to these super-apostles, ^(V)even though I am nothing. ¹²^(W)The signs of a true apostle were performed among you ^(X)with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. ¹³For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that ^(Y)I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!