Psalm 81

To the Chief Musician; set to Philistine lute, or [possibly] a particular Gittite tune. [A Psalm] of Asaph.

¹ Sing aloud to God our Strength! Shout for joy to the God of Jacob!

² Raise a song, sound the timbrel, the sweet lyre with the harp.

³ Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.

⁴ For this is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁵ This He ordained in Joseph [the ^[a]savior] for a testimony when He went out over the land of Egypt. The speech of One Whom I knew not did I hear [saying],

⁶ I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from the basket.

⁷ You called in distress and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!^(A)

⁸ Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you—O Israel, if you would listen to Me!

⁹ There shall no strange god be among you, neither shall you worship any alien god.

¹⁰ I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

¹¹ But My people would not hearken to My voice, and Israel would have none of Me.

¹² So I gave them up to their own hearts’ lust and let them go after their own stubborn will, that they might follow their own counsels.^(B)

¹³ Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways!

¹⁴ Speedily then I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries.

¹⁵ [Had Israel listened to Me in Egypt, then] those who hated the Lord would have come cringing before Him, and their defeat would have lasted forever.

¹⁶ [God] would feed [Israel now] also with the finest of the wheat; and with honey out of the rock would I satisfy you.

Psalm 82

A Psalm of Asaph.

¹ God stands in the assembly [of the representatives] of God; in the midst of the magistrates or judges He gives judgment [as] among the gods.

² How long will you [magistrates or judges] judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

³ Do justice to the weak (poor) and fatherless; maintain the rights of the afflicted and needy.

⁴ Deliver the poor and needy; rescue them out of the hand of the wicked.

⁵ [The magistrates and judges] know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in the darkness [of complacent satisfaction]; all the foundations of the earth [the fundamental principles upon which rests the administration of justice] are shaking.

⁶ I said, You are gods [since you judge on My behalf, as My representatives]; indeed, all of you are children of the Most High.^(C)

⁷ But you shall die as men and fall as one of the princes.

⁸ Arise, O God, judge the earth! For to You belong all the nations.^(D)

Psalm 83

A song. A Psalm of Asaph.

¹ Keep not silence, O God; hold not Your peace or be still, O God.

² For, behold, Your enemies are in tumult, and those who hate You have raised their heads.^(E)

³ They lay crafty schemes against Your people and consult together against Your hidden and precious ones.

⁴ They have said, Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be in remembrance no more.

⁵ For they have consulted together with one accord and one heart; against You they make a covenant—

⁶ The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites,

⁷ Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, the Philistines, with the inhabitants of Tyre.

⁸ Assyria also has joined with them; they have helped the children of Lot [the Ammonites and the Moabites] and have been an arm to them. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁹ Do to them as [You did to] the Midianites, as to Sisera and Jabin at the brook of Kishon,^(F)

¹⁰ Who perished at Endor, who became like manure for the earth.

¹¹ Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, yes, all their princes as Zebah and Zalmunna,^(G)

¹² Who say, Let us take possession for ourselves of the pastures of God.

¹³ O my God, make them like whirling dust, like stubble or chaff before the wind!

¹⁴ As fire consumes the forest, and as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,

¹⁵ So pursue and afflict them with Your tempest and terrify them with Your tornado or hurricane.

¹⁶ Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek, inquire for, and insistently require Your name, O Lord.

¹⁷ Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; yes, let them be put to shame and perish,

¹⁸ That they may know that You, Whose name alone is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.

7 After Jesus had finished all that He had to say in the hearing of the people [on the mountain], He entered Capernaum.

² Now a centurion had a bond servant who was held in honor and highly valued by him, who was sick and at the point of death.

³ And when the centurion heard of Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him, requesting Him to come and make his bond servant well.

⁴ And when they reached Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying, He is worthy that You should do this for him,

⁵ For he loves our nation and he built us our synagogue [at his own expense].

⁶ And Jesus went with them. But when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent [some] friends to Him, saying, Lord, do not trouble [Yourself], for I am not ^[a]sufficiently worthy to have You come under my roof;

⁷ Neither did I consider myself worthy to come to You. But [just] speak a word, and my servant boy will be healed.

⁸ For I also am a man [daily] subject to authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my bond servant, Do this, and he does it.

⁹ Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and He turned and said to the crowd that followed Him, I tell you, not even in [all] Israel have I found such great faith [as this].

¹⁰ And when the messengers who had been sent returned to the house, they found the bond servant ^[b]who had been ill quite well again.

^11 [c]Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and His disciples and a great throng accompanied Him.

¹² [Just] as He drew near the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large gathering from the town was accompanying her.

¹³ And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, Do not weep.

¹⁴ And He went forward and touched the funeral bier, and the pallbearers stood still. And He said, Young man, I say to you, arise [^[d]from death]!

¹⁵ And the man [who was] dead sat up and began to speak. And [Jesus] gave him [back] to his mother.

¹⁶ Profound and reverent fear seized them all, and they began ^[e]to recognize God and praise and give thanks, saying, A great ^[f]Prophet has appeared among us! And God has visited His people [in order to help and care for and provide for them]!

¹⁷ And this report concerning [Jesus] spread through the whole of Judea and all the country round about.^(A)

¹⁸ And John’s disciples brought him [who was now in prison] word of all these things.

¹⁹ And John summoned to him a certain two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord, saying, Are You He Who is to come, or shall we [continue to] look for another?

²⁰ So the men came to Jesus and said, John the Baptist sent us to You to ask, Are You the One Who is to come, or shall we [continue to] look for another?

²¹ In that very hour Jesus was healing many [people] of sicknesses and distressing bodily plagues and evil spirits, and to many who were blind He gave [^[g]a free, gracious, joy-giving gift of] sight.

²² So He replied to them, Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news (the Gospel) preached to them.^(B)

²³ And blessed (happy—^[h]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, apart from outward conditions—and ^[i]to be envied) is he who takes no offense in Me and who is not hurt or resentful or annoyed or repelled or made to stumble [^[j]whatever may occur].

²⁴ And the messengers of John having departed, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: What did you go out into the desert to gaze on? A reed shaken and swayed by the wind?

²⁵ Then what did you go out to see? A man dressed up in soft garments? Behold, those who wear fine apparel and live in luxury are in the courts or palaces of kings.

²⁶ What then did you go out to see? A prophet (a forthteller)? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet.

²⁷ This is the one of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who shall make ready Your way before You.^(C)

²⁸ I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; but ^[k]he that is inferior [to the other citizens] in the kingdom of God is greater [in incomparable privilege] than he.

²⁹ And all the people who heard Him, even the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God [in ^[l]calling them to repentance and in pronouncing future wrath on the impenitent], being baptized with the baptism of John.

³⁰ But the Pharisees and the lawyers [of the Mosaic Law] annulled and rejected and brought to nothing God’s purpose concerning themselves, by [refusing and] not being baptized by him [John].

³¹ So to what shall I compare the men of this generation? And what are they like?

³² They are like little children sitting in the marketplace, calling to one another and saying, We piped to you [playing wedding], and you did not dance; we sang dirges and wailed [playing funeral], and you did not weep.

³³ For John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, He has a demon.

³⁴ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, Behold, a Man Who is a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and notorious sinners.

³⁵ Yet wisdom is vindicated (^[m]shown to be true and divine) by all her children [^[n]by their life, character, and deeds].

³⁶ One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to dine with him, and He went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table.

³⁷ And behold, a woman of the town who was ^[o]an especially wicked sinner, when she learned that He was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment (perfume).

³⁸ And standing behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with [her] tears; and she wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed His feet [affectionately] and anointed them with the ointment (perfume).

³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw it, he said to himself, If this Man were a prophet, He would surely know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching Him—for she is a notorious sinner (a social outcast, devoted to sin).

⁴⁰ And Jesus, replying, said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he answered, Teacher, say it.

⁴¹ A certain lender of money [at interest] had two debtors: one owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

⁴² When they had no means of paying, he freely forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?

⁴³ Simon answered, The one, I take it, for whom he forgave and cancelled more. And Jesus said to him, You have decided correctly.

⁴⁴ Then turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

⁴⁵ You gave Me no kiss, but she from the moment I came in has not ceased [^[p]intermittently] to kiss My feet tenderly and caressingly.

⁴⁶ You did not anoint My head with ^[q][cheap, ordinary] oil, but she has anointed My feet with ^[r][costly, rare] perfume.

⁴⁷ Therefore I tell you, her sins, many [as they are], are forgiven her—because she has loved much. But he who is forgiven little loves little.

⁴⁸ And He said to her, Your sins are forgiven!

⁴⁹ Then those who were at table with Him began to say among themselves, Who is this Who even forgives sins?

⁵⁰ But Jesus said to the woman, Your faith has saved you; go (enter) ^[s]into peace [^[t]in freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin].