Psalm 97

English Standard Version

The Lord Reigns

97 ^(A)The Lord reigns, ^(B)let the earth rejoice;
    let the many ^(C)coastlands be glad!
²^(D)Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
    ^(E)righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
³^(F)Fire goes before him
    and burns up his adversaries all around.
⁴His ^(G)lightnings light up the world;
    the earth sees and ^(H)trembles.
⁵The mountains ^(I)melt like ^(J)wax before the Lord,
    before ^(K)the Lord of all the earth.

⁶^(L)The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
    and all ^(M)the peoples see his glory.
⁷All worshipers of images are ^(N)put to shame,
    who make their boast in ^(O)worthless idols;
    ^(P)worship him, all you gods!

⁸Zion hears and ^(Q)is glad,
    and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
    because of your judgments, O Lord.
⁹For you, O Lord, are ^(R)most high over all the earth;
    you are exalted far above ^(S)all gods.

¹⁰O you who love the Lord, ^(T)hate evil!
    He ^(U)preserves the lives of his ^(V)saints;
    he ^(W)delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
¹¹^(X)Light ^(Y)is sown^[a] for the righteous,
    and joy for the upright in heart.
¹²^(Z)Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
    and ^(AA)give thanks to his holy name!

Footnotes

Psalm 97:11 Most Hebrew manuscripts; one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome Light dawns

Psalm 99

English Standard Version

The Lord Our God Is Holy

99 ^(A)The Lord reigns; ^(B)let the peoples tremble!
    He ^(C)sits enthroned upon the cherubim; ^(D)let the earth quake!
²The Lord is ^(E)great in Zion;
    he is ^(F)exalted over all the peoples.
³Let them praise your ^(G)great and awesome name!
    ^(H)Holy is he!
⁴^(I)The King in his might ^(J)loves justice.^[a]
    You have established equity;
you have executed justice
    and righteousness in Jacob.
⁵^(K)Exalt the Lord our God;
    ^(L)worship at his ^(M)footstool!
    ^(N)Holy is he!

⁶^(O)Moses and Aaron were among his ^(P)priests,
    Samuel also was among those who ^(Q)called upon his name.
    They ^(R)called to the Lord, and he answered them.
⁷In ^(S)the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
    they ^(T)kept his testimonies
    and the statute that he gave them.

⁸O Lord our God, you answered them;
    you were ^(U)a forgiving God to them,
    but ^(V)an avenger of their wrongdoings.
⁹Exalt the Lord our God,
    and worship at his ^(W)holy mountain;
    for the Lord our God is holy!

Footnotes

Psalm 99:4 Or The might of the King loves justice

Psalm 94

English Standard Version

The Lord Will Not Forsake His People

94 O Lord, God of ^(A)vengeance,
    O God of vengeance, ^(B)shine forth!
²^(C)Rise up, O ^(D)judge of the earth;
    repay to the ^(E)proud what they deserve!
³O Lord, ^(F)how long shall the wicked,
    how long shall ^(G)the wicked exult?
⁴They pour out their ^(H)arrogant words;
    all ^(I)the evildoers boast.
⁵They ^(J)crush your people, O Lord,
    and afflict your heritage.
⁶They kill ^(K)the widow and the sojourner,
    and murder ^(L)the fatherless;
⁷^(M)and they say, “The Lord does not see;
    the God of Jacob does not perceive.”

⁸^(N)Understand, O dullest of the people!
    Fools, when will you be wise?
⁹^(O)He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
¹⁰He who ^(P)disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who ^(Q)teaches man knowledge—
¹¹    ^(R)the Lord—knows the thoughts of man,
    that they are ^(S)but a breath.^[a]

¹²^(T)Blessed is the man whom you ^(U)discipline, O Lord,
    and whom you teach out of your law,
¹³to give him ^(V)rest from ^(W)days of trouble,
    until ^(X)a pit is dug for the wicked.
¹⁴^(Y)For the Lord will not forsake his ^(Z)people;
    he will not abandon his ^(AA)heritage;
¹⁵for ^(AB)justice will return to the righteous,
    and all the upright in heart will ^(AC)follow it.

¹⁶^(AD)Who rises up for me against the wicked?
    Who stands up for me against evildoers?
¹⁷^(AE)If the Lord had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have lived in the land of ^(AF)silence.
¹⁸When I thought, ^(AG)“My foot slips,”
    your steadfast love, O Lord, ^(AH)held me up.
¹⁹When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.
²⁰Can ^(AI)wicked rulers be allied with you,
    those who frame^[b] injustice by ^(AJ)statute?
²¹They ^(AK)band together against the life of the righteous
    and condemn ^(AL)the innocent to death.^[c]
²²But the Lord has become my ^(AM)stronghold,
    and my God ^(AN)the rock of my ^(AO)refuge.
²³He will bring back on them ^(AP)their iniquity
    and ^(AQ)wipe them out for their wickedness;
    the Lord our God will wipe them out.

Footnotes

Psalm 94:11 Septuagint they are futile
Psalm 94:20 Or fashion
Psalm 94:21 Hebrew condemn innocent blood

Habakkuk 3

English Standard Version

Habakkuk's Prayer

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.

²O Lord, ^(A)I have heard the report of you,
    and ^(B)your work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years ^(C)revive it;
    in the midst of the years make it known;
    ^(D)in wrath remember mercy.
³God came from ^(E)Teman,
    ^(F)and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
    and the earth was full of his praise.
⁴^(G)His brightness was like the light;
    rays flashed from his hand;
    and there he veiled his power.
⁵^(H)Before him went pestilence,
    and plague followed ^(I)at his heels.^[a]
⁶He stood ^(J)and measured the earth;
    he looked and shook the nations;
then the ^(K)eternal mountains ^(L)were scattered;
    the everlasting hills sank low.
    His were ^(M)the everlasting ways.
⁷I saw the tents of ^(N)Cushan in affliction;
    ^(O)the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
⁸^(P)Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?
    Was your anger against the rivers,
    ^(Q)or your indignation against the sea,
^(R)when you rode on your horses,
    ^(S)on your chariot of salvation?
⁹You stripped the sheath from your bow,
    calling for many arrows.^[b] Selah
    ^(T)You split the earth with rivers.
¹⁰^(U)The mountains saw you and writhed;
    the raging waters swept on;
^(V)the deep gave forth its voice;
    ^(W)it lifted its hands on high.
¹¹^(X)The sun and moon stood still in their place
    ^(Y)at the light of your arrows as they sped,
    at the flash of your glittering spear.
¹²^(Z)You marched through the earth in fury;
    ^(AA)you threshed the nations in anger.
¹³^(AB)You went out for the salvation of your people,
    for the salvation of ^(AC)your anointed.
^(AD)You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
    laying him bare from thigh to neck.^[c] Selah
¹⁴You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,
    who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
    rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
¹⁵^(AE)You trampled the sea with your horses,
    the surging of mighty waters.

¹⁶^(AF)I hear, and ^(AG)my body trembles;
    my lips quiver at the sound;
^(AH)rottenness enters into my bones;
    my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet ^(AI)I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
    to come upon people who invade us.

Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord

¹⁷Though the fig tree should not blossom,
    nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
    and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
    and there be no herd in the stalls,
¹⁸^(AJ)yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
    ^(AK)I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹God, the Lord, is my strength;
    ^(AL)he makes my feet like the deer's;
    he makes me ^(AM)tread on my ^(AN)high places.

^(AO)To the choirmaster: with ^(AP)stringed^[d] instruments.

Footnotes

Habakkuk 3:5 Hebrew feet
Habakkuk 3:9 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
Habakkuk 3:13 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
Habakkuk 3:19 Hebrew my stringed

James 3:1-12

English Standard Version

Taming the Tongue

3 ^(A)Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ²For ^(B)we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, ^(C)he is a perfect man, ^(D)able also to bridle his whole body. ³If we put ^(E)bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵So also the tongue is a small member, yet ^(F)it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶And ^(G)the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, ^(H)staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,^[a] and set on fire by hell.^[b] ⁷For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, ^(I)full of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people ^(J)who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,^[c] these things ought not to be so. ¹¹Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

James 3:6 Or wheel of birth
James 3:6 Greek Gehenna
James 3:10 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 12

Luke 17:1-10

English Standard Version

Temptations to Sin

17 And he said to his disciples, ^(A)“Temptations to sin^[a] are ^(B)sure to come, but ^(C)woe to the one through whom they come! ²^(D)It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.^[b] ³Pay attention to yourselves! ^(E)If your brother sins, ^(F)rebuke him, and if he repents, ^(G)forgive him, ⁴and if he sins against you ^(H)seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Increase Our Faith

⁵^(I)The apostles said to the Lord, ^(J)“Increase our faith!” ⁶And the Lord said, ^(K)“If you had faith like ^(L)a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this ^(M)mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Unworthy Servants

⁷“Will any one of you who has a servant^[c] plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? ⁸Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and ^(N)dress properly,^[d] and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? ⁹Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? ¹⁰So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are ^(O)unworthy servants;^[e] we have only done what was our duty.’”