2 Therefore you have no excuse or defense or justification, O man, whoever you are who judges and condemns another. For in posing as judge and passing sentence on another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge are habitually practicing the very same things [that you censure and denounce].

² [But] we know that the judgment (adverse verdict, sentence) of God falls justly and in accordance with truth upon those who practice such things.

³ And do you think or imagine, O man, when you judge and condemn those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment and elude His sentence and adverse verdict?

⁴ Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repent (^[a]to change your mind and inner man to accept God’s will)?

⁵ But by your callous stubbornness and impenitence of heart you are storing up wrath and indignation for yourself on the day of wrath and indignation, when God’s righteous judgment (just doom) will be revealed.

⁶ For He will render to every man according to his works [justly, as his deeds deserve]:^(A)

⁷ To those who by patient persistence in well-doing [^[b]springing from piety] seek [unseen but sure] glory and honor and [^[c]the eternal blessedness of] immortality, He will give eternal life.

⁸ But for those who are self-seeking and self-willed and disobedient to the Truth but responsive to wickedness, there will be indignation and wrath.

⁹ [And] there will be tribulation and anguish and calamity and constraint for every soul of man who [habitually] does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile).

¹⁰ But glory and honor and [heart] peace shall be awarded to everyone who [habitually] does good, the Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile).

¹¹ For God shows no partiality [^[d]undue favor or unfairness; with Him one man is not different from another].^(B)

¹² All who have sinned without the Law will also perish without [regard to] the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged and condemned by the Law.

¹³ For it is not merely hearing the Law [read] that makes one righteous before God, but it is the doers of the Law who will be held guiltless and acquitted and justified.

¹⁴ When Gentiles who have not the [divine] Law do instinctively what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, since they do not have the Law.

¹⁵ They show that the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts and are operating there, with which their consciences (sense of right and wrong) also bear witness; and their [moral] ^[e]decisions (their arguments of reason, their condemning or approving ^[f]thoughts) will accuse or perhaps defend and excuse [them]

¹⁶ On that day when, as my Gospel proclaims, God by Jesus Christ will judge men in regard to ^[g]the things which they conceal (their hidden thoughts).^(C)

¹⁷ But if you bear the name of Jew and rely upon the Law and pride yourselves in God and your relationship to Him,

¹⁸ And know and understand His will and discerningly approve the better things and have a sense of what is vital, because you are instructed by the Law;

¹⁹ And if you are confident that you [yourself] are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, and [that

²⁰ You are] a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the childish, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—

²¹ Well then, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you teach against stealing, do you steal (take what does not really belong to you)?

²² You who say not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery [are you unchaste in action or in thought]? You who abhor and loathe idols, do you rob temples [do you appropriate to your own use what is consecrated to God, thus robbing the sanctuary and ^[h]doing sacrilege]?

²³ You who boast in the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law [by stealthily infringing upon or carelessly neglecting or openly breaking it]?

²⁴ For, as it is written, The name of God is maligned and blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you! [The words to this effect are from your own Scriptures.]^(D)

²⁵ Circumcision does indeed profit if you keep the Law; but if you habitually transgress the Law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision.

²⁶ So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be credited to him as [equivalent to] circumcision?

²⁷ Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the Law will condemn you who, although you have the code in writing and have circumcision, break the Law.

²⁸ For he is not a [real] Jew who is only one outwardly and publicly, nor is [true] circumcision something external and physical.

²⁹ But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and [true] circumcision is of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal [matter]. His praise is not from men but from God.

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Psalm 38

A Psalm of David; to bring to remembrance and make memorial.

¹ O Lord, rebuke me not in Your wrath, neither chasten me in Your hot displeasure.

² For Your arrows have sunk into me and stick fast, and Your hand has come down upon me and pressed me sorely.

³ There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; neither is there any health or rest in my bones because of my sin.

⁴ For my iniquities have gone over my head [like waves of a flood]; as a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

⁵ My wounds are loathsome and corrupt because of my foolishness.

⁶ I am bent and bowed down greatly; I go about mourning all the day long.

⁷ For my loins are filled with burning; and there is no soundness in my flesh.

⁸ I am faint and sorely bruised [deadly cold and quite worn out]; I groan by reason of the disquiet and moaning of my heart.

⁹ Lord, all my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You.

¹⁰ My heart throbs, my strength fails me; as for the light of my eyes, it also is gone from me.

¹¹ My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague; and my neighbors and my near ones stand afar off.^(A)

¹² They also that seek and demand my life lay snares for me, and they that seek and require my hurt speak crafty and mischievous things; they meditate treachery and deceit all the day long.

¹³ But I, like a deaf man, hear not; and I am like a dumb man who opens not his mouth.

¹⁴ Yes, I have become like a man who hears not, in whose mouth are no arguments or replies.

¹⁵ For in You, O Lord, do I hope; You will answer, O Lord my God.

¹⁶ For I pray, Let them not rejoice over me, who when my foot slips boast against me.

¹⁷ For I am ready to halt and fall; my pain and sorrow are continually before me.

¹⁸ For I do confess my guilt and iniquity; I am filled with sorrow for my sin.^(B)

¹⁹ But my enemies are vigorous and strong, and those who hate me wrongfully are multiplied.

²⁰ They also that render evil for good are adversaries to me, because I follow the thing that is good.

²¹ Forsake me not, O Lord; O my God, be not far from me.

²² Make haste to help me, O Lord, my Salvation.

Psalm 39

To the Chief Musician; for Jeduthun [founder of an official musical family]. A Psalm of David.

¹ I said, I will take heed and guard my ways, that I may sin not with my tongue; I will muzzle my mouth as with a bridle while the wicked are before me.

² I was dumb with silence, I held my peace without profit and had no comfort away from good, while my distress was renewed.

³ My heart was hot within me. While I was musing, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴ Lord, make me to know my end and [to appreciate] the measure of my days—what it is; let me know and realize how frail I am [how transient is my stay here].

⁵ Behold, You have made my days as [short as] handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight. Truly every man at his best is merely a breath! Selah [pause, and think calmly of that]!

⁶ Surely every man walks to and fro—like a shadow in a pantomime; surely for futility and emptiness he is in turmoil; each one heaps up riches, not knowing who will gather them.^(C)

⁷ And now, Lord, what do I wait for and expect? My hope and expectation are in You.

⁸ Deliver me from all my transgressions; make me not the scorn and reproach of the [self-confident] fool!

⁹ I am dumb, I open not my mouth, for it is You Who has done it.

¹⁰ Remove Your stroke away from me; I am consumed by the conflict and the blow of Your hand.

¹¹ When with rebukes You correct and chasten man for sin, You waste his beauty like a moth and what is dear to him consumes away; surely every man is a mere breath. Selah [pause, and think calmly of that]!

¹² Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not Your peace at my tears! For I am Your passing guest, a temporary resident, as all my fathers were.

¹³ O look away from me and spare me, that I may recover cheerfulness and encouraging strength and know gladness before I go and am no more!

Psalm 40

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.

² He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings.

³ And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear (revere and worship) and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord.^(D)

⁴ Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who makes the Lord his refuge and trust, and turns not to the proud or to followers of false gods.

⁵ Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; no one can compare with You! If I should declare and speak of them, they are too many to be numbered.

⁶ Sacrifice and offering You do not desire, nor have You delight in them; You have given me the capacity to hear and obey [Your law, a more valuable service than] burnt offerings and sin offerings [which] You do not require.

⁷ Then said I, Behold, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me;

⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God; yes, Your law is within my heart.^(E)

⁹ I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great assembly [tidings of uprightness and right standing with God]. Behold, I have not restrained my lips, as You know, O Lord.

¹⁰ I have not concealed Your righteousness within my heart; I have proclaimed Your faithfulness and Your salvation. I have not hid away Your steadfast love and Your truth from the great assembly.^(F)

¹¹ Withhold not Your tender mercy from me, O Lord; let Your loving-kindness and Your truth continually preserve me!

¹² For innumerable evils have compassed me about; my iniquities have taken such hold on me that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed me and forsaken me.

¹³ Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me!

¹⁴ Let them be put to shame and confounded together who seek and require my life to destroy it; let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor who wish me evil and delight in my hurt!

¹⁵ Let them be desolate by reason of their shame who say to me, Aha, aha!

¹⁶ Let all those that seek and require You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified!

¹⁷ [As for me] I am poor and needy, yet the Lord takes thought and plans for me. You are my Help and my Deliverer. O my God, do not tarry!^(G)

Psalm 41

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is he who considers the weak and the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the time of evil and trouble.

² The Lord will protect him and keep him alive; he shall be called blessed in the land; and You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

³ The Lord will sustain, refresh, and strengthen him on his bed of languishing; all his bed You [O Lord] will turn, change, and transform in his illness.

⁴ I said, Lord, be merciful and gracious to me; heal my inner self, for I have sinned against You.

⁵ My enemies speak evil of me, [saying], When will he die and his name perish?

⁶ And when one comes to see me, he speaks falsehood and empty words, while his heart gathers mischievous gossip [against me]; when he goes away, he tells it abroad.

⁷ All who hate me whisper together about me; against me do they devise my hurt [imagining the worst for me].

⁸ An evil disease, say they, is poured out upon him and cleaves fast to him; and now that he is bedfast, he will not rise up again.

⁹ Even my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted (relied on and was confident), who ate of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.^(H)

¹⁰ But You, O Lord, be merciful and gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

¹¹ By this I know that You favor and delight in me, because my enemy does not triumph over me.

¹² And as for me, You have upheld me in my integrity and set me in Your presence forever.

¹³ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting [from this age to the next, and forever]! Amen and Amen (so be it).