Psalm 144-146

English Standard Version

My Rock and My Fortress

Of David.

144 Blessed be the Lord, my ^(A)rock,
    ^(B)who trains my hands for war,
    and my fingers for battle;
²he is my ^(C)steadfast love and my ^(D)fortress,
    my ^(E)stronghold and my deliverer,
my ^(F)shield and he in whom I take refuge,
    who ^(G)subdues peoples^[a] under me.

³O Lord, ^(H)what is man that you ^(I)regard him,
or the son of man that you think of him?
⁴^(J)Man is like a breath;
his days are like ^(K)a passing ^(L)shadow.

⁵^(M)Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down!
    ^(N)Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
⁶^(O)Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
    ^(P)send out your arrows and rout them!
⁷^(Q)Stretch out your hand from on high;
    ^(R)rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
    from the hand ^(S)of foreigners,
⁸whose mouths speak ^(T)lies
    and whose right hand is ^(U)a right hand of falsehood.

⁹I will sing ^(V)a new song to you, O God;
    upon ^(W)a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
¹⁰who gives victory to kings,
    who ^(X)rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
¹¹Rescue me and deliver me
    from the hand ^(Y)of foreigners,
whose mouths speak ^(Z)lies
    and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

¹²May our sons in their youth
    be like ^(AA)plants full grown,
our daughters like ^(AB)corner pillars
    cut for the structure of a palace;
¹³^(AC)may our granaries be full,
    ^(AD)providing all kinds of produce;
may our sheep bring forth thousands
    and ten thousands in our fields;
¹⁴may our cattle be heavy with young,
    suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;^[b]
may there be no ^(AE)cry of distress in our streets!
¹⁵^(AF)Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
    ^(AG)Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!

Great Is the Lord

^[c] A Song of Praise. Of David.

145 ^(AH)I will extol you, my God and ^(AI)King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.
²Every day I will bless you
    ^(AJ)and praise your name forever and ever.
³^(AK)Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
    and his ^(AL)greatness is unsearchable.

⁴^(AM)One generation shall commend your works to another,
    and shall declare your mighty acts.
⁵On ^(AN)the glorious splendor of your majesty,
    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
⁶They shall speak of ^(AO)the might of your awesome deeds,
    and I will declare your greatness.
⁷They shall pour forth the fame of your ^(AP)abundant goodness
    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

⁸The Lord is ^(AQ)gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹The Lord is ^(AR)good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.

¹⁰^(AS)All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
    and all your ^(AT)saints shall bless you!
¹¹They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
    and tell of your power,
¹²to ^(AU)make known to the children of man your^[d] ^(AV)mighty deeds,
    and ^(AW)the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
¹³^(AX)Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The Lord is faithful in all his words
    and kind in all his works.]^[e]
¹⁴The Lord ^(AY)upholds all who are falling
    and ^(AZ)raises up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵The eyes of all ^(BA)look to you,
    and you give them their food in due season.
¹⁶You ^(BB)open your hand;
    you ^(BC)satisfy the desire of every living thing.
¹⁷The Lord is ^(BD)righteous in all his ways
    and ^(BE)kind in all his works.
¹⁸The Lord is ^(BF)near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him ^(BG)in truth.
¹⁹He ^(BH)fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
    he also ^(BI)hears their cry and saves them.
²⁰The Lord ^(BJ)preserves all who love him,
    but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and ^(BK)let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Put Not Your Trust in Princes

146 ^(BL)Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
²I will praise the Lord ^(BM)as long as I live;
^(BN)I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³^(BO)Put not your trust in princes,
^(BP)in a son of man, in whom there is ^(BQ)no salvation.
⁴When ^(BR)his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.

⁵^(BS)Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose ^(BT)hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶^(BU)who made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
^(BV)who keeps faith forever;
⁷    ^(BW)who executes justice for the oppressed,
    ^(BX)who gives food to the hungry.

^(BY)The Lord sets the prisoners free;
⁸    ^(BZ)the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
^(CA)The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    ^(CB)the Lord loves the righteous.
⁹^(CC)The Lord watches over the sojourners;
    ^(CD)he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    but ^(CE)the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰^(CF)The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
^(CG)Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

Psalm 144:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Dead Sea Scroll, Jerome, Syriac, Aquila; most Hebrew manuscripts subdues my people
Psalm 144:14 Hebrew with no breaking in or going out
Psalm 145:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
Psalm 145:12 Hebrew his; also next line
Psalm 145:13 These two lines are supplied by one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac (compare Dead Sea Scroll)

James 1

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 ^(A)James, a servant^[a] of God and ^(B)of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To ^(C)the twelve tribes in ^(D)the Dispersion:

Greetings.

Testing of Your Faith

²^(E)Count it all joy, my brothers,^[b] when you meet trials ^(F)of various kinds, ³for you know that ^(G)the testing of your faith ^(H)produces steadfastness. ⁴And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be ^(I)perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵^(J)If any of you lacks wisdom, ^(K)let him ask God, ^(L)who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶But ^(M)let him ask in faith, ^(N)with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like ^(O)a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸^(P)he is a double-minded man, ^(Q)unstable in all his ways.

⁹Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰and ^(R)the rich in his humiliation, because ^(S)like a flower of the grass^[c] he will pass away. ¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and ^(T)withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

¹²^(U)Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive ^(V)the crown of life, ^(W)which God has promised to those who love him. ¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵Then desire ^(X)when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and ^(Y)sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷^(Z)Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from ^(AA)the Father of lights, ^(AB)with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.^[d] ¹⁸^(AC)Of his own will he ^(AD)brought us forth by the word of truth, ^(AE)that we should be a kind of ^(AF)firstfruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word

¹⁹^(AG)Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person ^(AH)be quick to hear, ^(AI)slow to speak, ^(AJ)slow to anger; ²⁰for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. ²¹Therefore ^(AK)put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with ^(AL)meekness the implanted word, ^(AM)which is able to save your souls.

²²But be ^(AN)doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵But the one who looks into the perfect law, ^(AO)the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, ^(AP)he will be blessed in his doing.

²⁶If anyone thinks he is religious ^(AQ)and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's ^(AR)religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: ^(AS)to visit ^(AT)orphans and widows in their affliction, and ^(AU)to keep oneself ^(AV)unstained from the world.

Footnotes

James 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
James 1:2 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 16, 19
James 1:10 Or a wild flower
James 1:17 Some manuscripts variation due to a shadow of turning