Psalm 8

English Standard Version

How Majestic Is Your Name

To the choirmaster: according to The ^(A)Gittith.^[a] A Psalm of David.

8 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your ^(B)name in all the earth!
You have set your ^(C)glory above the heavens.
²    ^(D)Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established ^(E)strength because of your foes,
    to still ^(F)the enemy and the avenger.

³When I ^(G)look at your heavens, the work of your ^(H)fingers,
the moon and the stars, ^(I)which you have set in place,
⁴^(J)what is man that you are ^(K)mindful of him,
and ^(L)the son of man that you ^(M)care for him?

⁵Yet you have made him a little lower than ^(N)the heavenly beings^[b]
    and crowned him with ^(O)glory and honor.
⁶You have given him ^(P)dominion over the works of your hands;
    ^(Q)you have put all things under his feet,
⁷all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
⁸the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

⁹O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Footnotes

Psalm 8:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
Psalm 8:5 Or than God; Septuagint than the angels

Zephaniah 3

English Standard Version

Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

3 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,
    ^(A)the oppressing city!
²She listens to no voice;
    ^(B)she accepts no correction.
^(C)She does not trust in the Lord;
    she does not draw near to her God.

³^(D)Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;
her judges are ^(E)evening wolves
    that leave nothing till the morning.
⁴^(F)Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men;
^(G)her priests ^(H)profane what is holy;
    they do violence to the law.
⁵The Lord within her ^(I)is righteous;
    he does no injustice;
every morning he shows forth his justice;
    each dawn he does not fail;
    but ^(J)the unjust knows no shame.

⁶^(K)“I have cut off nations;
    their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
    ^(L)so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
    without a man, without an inhabitant.
⁷^(M)I said, ‘Surely you will fear me;
    ^(N)you will accept correction.
Then your^[a] dwelling would not be cut off
    according to all that I have appointed against you.’^[b]
But ^(O)all the more they were eager
    to make all their deeds corrupt.

⁸“Therefore ^(P)wait for me,” declares the Lord,
    “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.
For my decision is ^(Q)to gather nations,
    to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
    all my burning anger;
for in the fire of my jealousy
    ^(R)all the earth shall be consumed.

The Conversion of the Nations

⁹“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples
    to ^(S)a pure speech,
that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord
    and serve him with one accord.
¹⁰^(T)From beyond the rivers ^(U)of Cush
    my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,
    shall bring my offering.

¹¹^(V)“On that day ^(W)you shall not be put to shame
    because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then ^(X)I will remove from your midst
    your proudly exultant ones,
and ^(Y)you shall no longer be haughty
    in my holy mountain.
¹²But I will leave in your midst
    a people ^(Z)humble and lowly.
^(AA)They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,
¹³    ^(AB)those who are left in Israel;
they ^(AC)shall do no injustice
    and speak no lies,
^(AD)nor shall there be found in their mouth
    a deceitful tongue.
^(AE)For they shall graze and lie down,
    and none shall make them afraid.”

Israel's Joy and Restoration

¹⁴^(AF)Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
    shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
    O daughter of Jerusalem!
¹⁵The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
    he has cleared away your enemies.
^(AG)The King of Israel, ^(AH)the Lord, is in your midst;
    you shall never again fear evil.
¹⁶^(AI)On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
    ^(AJ)let not your hands grow weak.
¹⁷^(AK)The Lord your God is in your midst,
    ^(AL)a mighty one who will save;
^(AM)he will rejoice over you with gladness;
    he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
¹⁸I will gather those of you who mourn ^(AN)for the festival,
    so that you will no longer suffer reproach.^[c]
¹⁹Behold, at that time ^(AO)I will deal
    with all your oppressors.
And ^(AP)I will save the lame
    and gather the outcast,
and I will change ^(AQ)their shame into ^(AR)praise
    and renown in all the earth.
²⁰^(AS)At that time I will bring you in,
    at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
    among all the peoples of the earth,
^(AT)when I restore your fortunes
    before your eyes,” says the Lord.

Footnotes

Zephaniah 3:7 Hebrew her
Zephaniah 3:7 Hebrew her
Zephaniah 3:18 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

John 3:1-21

English Standard Version

You Must Be Born Again

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named ^(A)Nicodemus, ^(B)a ruler of the Jews. ²This man came to Jesus^[a] ^(C)by night and said to him, ^(D)“Rabbi, ^(E)we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do ^(F)unless God is with him.” ³Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is ^(G)born ^(H)again^[b] he cannot ^(I)see the kingdom of God.” ⁴Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” ⁵Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born ^(J)of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶^(K)That which is born of the flesh is ^(L)flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.^[c] ⁷^(M)Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You^[d] must be born ^(N)again.’ ⁸^(O)The wind^[e] blows ^(P)where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹Nicodemus said to him, ^(Q)“How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel ^(R)and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(S)we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but ^(T)you^[f] do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³^(U)No one has ^(V)ascended into heaven except ^(W)he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.^[g] ¹⁴And ^(X)as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man ^(Y)be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes ^(Z)in him ^(AA)may have eternal life.^[h]

For God So Loved the World

¹⁶“For ^(AB)God so loved ^(AC)the world,^[i] ^(AD)that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not ^(AE)perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For ^(AF)God did not send his Son into the world ^(AG)to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸^(AH)Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not ^(AI)believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹^(AJ)And this is the judgment: ^(AK)the light has come into the world, and ^(AL)people loved the darkness rather than the light because ^(AM)their works were evil. ²⁰^(AN)For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, ^(AO)lest his works should be exposed. ²¹But whoever ^(AP)does what is true ^(AQ)comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

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Footnotes

John 3:2 Greek him
John 3:3 Or from above; the Greek is purposely ambiguous and can mean both again and from above; also verse 7
John 3:6 The same Greek word means both wind and spirit
John 3:7 The Greek for you is plural here
John 3:8 The same Greek word means both wind and spirit
John 3:11 The Greek for you is plural here; also four times in verse 12
John 3:13 Some manuscripts add who is in heaven
John 3:15 Some interpreters hold that the quotation ends at verse 15
John 3:16 Or For this is how God loved the world