Psalm 138-140

English Standard Version

Give Thanks to the Lord

Of David.

138 ^(A)I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
    before ^(B)the gods I sing your praise;
²I bow down ^(C)toward your ^(D)holy temple
    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
    for you have exalted above all things
    your name and your word.^[a]
³On the day I called, you answered me;
    my strength of soul you increased.^[b]

⁴^(E)All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
    for they have heard the words of your mouth,
⁵and they shall sing of ^(F)the ways of the Lord,
    for great is the glory of the Lord.
⁶^(G)For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
    but the haughty he knows from afar.

⁷^(H)Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you ^(I)preserve my life;
you ^(J)stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
    and your ^(K)right hand delivers me.
⁸The Lord will ^(L)fulfill his purpose for me;
    ^(M)your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Do not forsake ^(N)the work of your hands.

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, you have ^(O)searched me and known me!
²You ^(P)know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you ^(Q)discern my thoughts from afar.
³You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, ^(R)you know it altogether.
⁵You ^(S)hem me in, behind and before,
    and ^(T)lay your hand upon me.
⁶^(U)Such knowledge is ^(V)too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.

⁷^(W)Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where ^(X)shall I flee from your presence?
⁸^(Y)If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    ^(Z)If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰even there your hand shall ^(AA)lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹If I say, ^(AB)“Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
¹²^(AC)even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.

¹³For you ^(AD)formed my inward parts;
    you ^(AE)knitted me together in my mother's womb.
¹⁴I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.^[c]
^(AF)Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
¹⁵^(AG)My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in ^(AH)the depths of the earth.
¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your ^(AI)book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

¹⁷How precious to me are your ^(AJ)thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸^(AK)If I would count them, they are more than ^(AL)the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

¹⁹Oh that you would ^(AM)slay the wicked, O God!
    O ^(AN)men of blood, ^(AO)depart from me!
²⁰They ^(AP)speak against you with malicious intent;
    your enemies ^(AQ)take your name in vain.^[d]
²¹^(AR)Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
    And do I not ^(AS)loathe those who ^(AT)rise up against you?
²²I hate them with complete hatred;
    I count them my enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart!
^(AU)Try me and know my thoughts!^[e]
²⁴And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and ^(AV)lead me in ^(AW)the way everlasting!^[f]

Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

140 ^(AX)Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;
    preserve me from ^(AY)violent men,
²who plan evil things in their heart
    and ^(AZ)stir up wars continually.
³They make ^(BA)their tongue sharp as ^(BB)a serpent's,
    and ^(BC)under their lips is the ^(BD)venom of asps. Selah

⁴Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
    preserve me from ^(BE)violent men,
    who have planned to trip up my feet.
⁵The arrogant have ^(BF)hidden a trap for me,
    and with cords they have spread ^(BG)a net;^[g]
    beside the way they have set ^(BH)snares for me. Selah

⁶^(BI)I say to the Lord, You are my God;
    give ear to ^(BJ)the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!
⁷O Lord, my Lord, ^(BK)the strength of my salvation,
    you have covered my head in the day of battle.
⁸^(BL)Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
    do not further their^[h] evil plot, or ^(BM)they will be exalted! Selah

⁹As for the head of those who surround me,
    let ^(BN)the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
¹⁰Let ^(BO)burning coals fall upon them!
    Let them be cast into fire,
    into miry pits, no more to rise!
¹¹Let not the slanderer be established in the land;
    let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!

¹²I know that the Lord will ^(BP)maintain the cause of the afflicted,
and ^(BQ)will execute justice for the needy.
¹³Surely ^(BR)the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
^(BS)the upright shall dwell in your presence.

Footnotes

Psalm 138:2 Or you have exalted your word above all your name
Psalm 138:3 Hebrew you made me bold in my soul with strength
Psalm 139:14 Or for I am fearfully set apart
Psalm 139:20 Hebrew lacks your name
Psalm 139:23 Or cares
Psalm 139:24 Or in the ancient way (compare Jeremiah 6:16)
Psalm 140:5 Or they have spread cords as a net
Psalm 140:8 Hebrew his

2 Corinthians 12

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!

¹⁴Here ^(Z)for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for ^(AA)I seek not what is yours but you. For ^(AB)children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but ^(AC)parents for their children. ¹⁵^(AD)I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If ^(AE)I love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶But granting that ^(AF)I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. ¹⁷Did I take advantage of you ^(AG)through any of those whom I sent to you? ¹⁸^(AH)I urged Titus to go, and sent ^(AI)the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

¹⁹Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is ^(AJ)in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and ^(AK)all for your upbuilding, beloved. ²⁰For I fear that perhaps ^(AL)when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. ²¹I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those ^(AM)who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, ^(AN)sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.