Psalm 81

New International Version

Psalm 81^[a]

For the director of music. According to gittith.^[b] Of Asaph.

¹Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!^(A)
²Begin the music, strike the timbrel,^(B)
play the melodious harp^(C) and lyre.^(D)

³Sound the ram’s horn^(E) at the New Moon,^(F)
    and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
⁴this is a decree for Israel,
    an ordinance of the God of Jacob.^(G)
⁵When God went out against Egypt,^(H)
    he established it as a statute for Joseph.

I heard an unknown voice say:^(I)

⁶“I removed the burden^(J) from their shoulders;^(K)
    their hands were set free from the basket.
⁷In your distress you called^(L) and I rescued you,
    I answered^(M) you out of a thundercloud;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.^[c]^(N)
⁸Hear me, my people,^(O) and I will warn you—
    if you would only listen to me, Israel!
⁹You shall have no foreign god^(P) among you;
    you shall not worship any god other than me.
¹⁰I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of Egypt.^(Q)
Open^(R) wide your mouth and I will fill^(S) it.

¹¹“But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.^(T)
¹²So I gave them over^(U) to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.

¹³“If my people would only listen to me,^(V)
    if Israel would only follow my ways,
¹⁴how quickly I would subdue^(W) their enemies
    and turn my hand against^(X) their foes!
¹⁵Those who hate the Lord would cringe^(Y) before him,
    and their punishment would last forever.
¹⁶But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;^(Z)
    with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Footnotes

Psalm 81:1 In Hebrew texts 81:1-16 is numbered 81:2-17.
Psalm 81:1 Title: Probably a musical term
Psalm 81:7 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.

Proverbs 27

New International Version

27 Do not boast^(A) about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.^(B)

²Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
an outsider, and not your own lips.^(C)

³Stone is heavy and sand^(D) a burden,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?^(E)

⁵Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.

⁶Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.^(F)

⁷One who is full loathes honey from the comb,
but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

⁸Like a bird that flees its nest^(G)
is anyone who flees from home.

⁹Perfume^(H) and incense bring joy to the heart,
and the pleasantness of a friend
springs from their heartfelt advice.

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family,
and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster^(I) strikes you—
better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart;^(J)
then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.^(K)

¹²The prudent see danger and take refuge,
but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.^(L)

¹³Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.^(M)

¹⁴If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning,
it will be taken as a curse.

¹⁵A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping^(N)
of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;
¹⁶restraining her is like restraining the wind
or grasping oil with the hand.

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron,
so one person sharpens another.

¹⁸The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit,^(O)
and whoever protects their master will be honored.^(P)

¹⁹As water reflects the face,
so one’s life reflects the heart.^[a]

²⁰Death and Destruction^[b] are never satisfied,^(Q)
and neither are human eyes.^(R)

²¹The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,^(S)
but people are tested by their praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar,
grinding them like grain with a pestle,
you will not remove their folly from them.

²³Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,^(T)
    give careful attention to your herds;
²⁴for riches do not endure forever,^(U)
    and a crown is not secure for all generations.
²⁵When the hay is removed and new growth appears
    and the grass from the hills is gathered in,
²⁶the lambs will provide you with clothing,
    and the goats with the price of a field.
²⁷You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family
    and to nourish your female servants.

Footnotes

Proverbs 27:19 Or so others reflect your heart back to you
Proverbs 27:20 Hebrew Abaddon

Galatians 4

New International Version

4 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. ²The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. ³So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery^(A) under the elemental spiritual forces^[a] of the world.^(B) ⁴But when the set time had fully come,^(C) God sent his Son,^(D) born of a woman,^(E) born under the law,^(F) ⁵to redeem^(G) those under the law, that we might receive adoption^(H) to sonship.^[b]^(I) ⁶Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son^(J) into our hearts,^(K) the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,^[c] Father.”^(L) ⁷So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.^(M)

Paul’s Concern for the Galatians

⁸Formerly, when you did not know God,^(N) you were slaves^(O) to those who by nature are not gods.^(P) ⁹But now that you know God—or rather are known by God^(Q)—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces^[d]? Do you wish to be enslaved^(R) by them all over again?^(S) ¹⁰You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!^(T) ¹¹I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.^(U)

¹²I plead with you, brothers and sisters,^(V) become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong. ¹³As you know, it was because of an illness^(W) that I first preached the gospel to you, ¹⁴and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.^(X) ¹⁵Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?^(Y)

¹⁷Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them.^(Z) ¹⁸It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you.^(AA) ¹⁹My dear children,^(AB) for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,^(AC) ²⁰how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

Hagar and Sarah

²¹Tell me, you who want to be under the law,^(AD) are you not aware of what the law says? ²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman^(AE) and the other by the free woman.^(AF) ²³His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh,^(AG) but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.^(AH)

²⁴These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. ²⁵Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶But the Jerusalem that is above^(AI) is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷For it is written:

“Be glad, barren woman,
    you who never bore a child;
shout for joy and cry aloud,
    you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
    than of her who has a husband.”^[e]^(AJ)

²⁸Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.^(AK) ²⁹At that time the son born according to the flesh^(AL) persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit.^(AM) It is the same now. ³⁰But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”^[f]^(AN) ³¹Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman,^(AO) but of the free woman.^(AP)

Footnotes

Galatians 4:3 Or under the basic principles
Galatians 4:5 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a legal term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture.
Galatians 4:6 Aramaic for Father
Galatians 4:9 Or principles
Galatians 4:27 Isaiah 54:1
Galatians 4:30 Gen. 21:10