Old/New Testament
Prayer for Defense against Enemies.
For the music director; on stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is David not keeping himself hidden among us?”
54 Save me, God, by (A)Your name,
And [c]vindicate me by (B)Your power.
2 (C)Hear my prayer, God;
(D)Listen to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have (E)risen against me
And (F)violent men have (G)sought my [d]life;
They have (H)not set God before them. Selah
4 Behold, (I)God is my helper;
The Lord is [e]the (J)sustainer of my soul.
5 [f]He will (K)pay back the evil to my enemies;
[g](L)Destroy them (M)in Your [h]faithfulness.
6 [i](N)Willingly I will sacrifice to You;
I will (O)praise Your name, Lord, for it is good.
7 For [j]He has (P)saved me from all [k]trouble,
And my eye has (Q)looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.
Prayer for the Destruction of the Treacherous.
For the music director; on stringed instruments. A [l]Maskil of David.
55 (R)Listen to my prayer, God;
And (S)do not hide Yourself from my pleading.
2 Give Your (T)attention to me and answer me;
I am restless in my (U)complaint and [m](V)severely distracted,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the (W)pressure of the wicked;
For they (X)bring down [n]trouble upon me
And in anger they (Y)hold a grudge against me.
4 My (Z)heart is in anguish within me,
And the terrors of (AA)death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and (AB)trembling come upon me,
And [o](AC)horror has [p]overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and [q](AD)be at rest.
7 Behold, I would flee far away,
I would (AE)spend my nights in the wilderness. Selah
8 I would hurry to my place of refuge
From the (AF)stormy wind and heavy gale.”
9 Confuse them, Lord, (AG)divide their tongues,
For I have seen (AH)violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around her upon her walls,
And evil and harm are in her midst.
11 (AI)Destruction is in her midst;
(AJ)Oppression and deceit do not depart from her [r]streets.
12 For it is (AK)not an enemy who taunts me,
Then I could endure it;
Nor is it one who hates me who (AL)has exalted himself against me,
Then I could hide myself from him.
13 But it is you, a man [s]my equal,
My (AM)companion and my (AN)confidant;
14 We who had sweet [t]fellowship together,
(AO)Walked in the house of God among the commotion.
15 May [u]death come (AP)deceitfully upon them;
May they (AQ)go down alive to [v]Sheol,
For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.
16 As for me, I shall (AR)call upon God,
And the Lord will save me.
17 (AS)Evening and (AT)morning and at (AU)noon, I will complain and moan,
And He will hear my voice.
18 He will (AV)redeem my soul in peace [w]from the battle which is against me,
For they are (AW)many who are aggressive toward me.
19 God will (AX)hear and humiliate them—
Even the one (AY)who [x]sits enthroned from ancient times— Selah
With whom there [y]is no change,
And who (AZ)do not fear God.
20 He has put forth his hands against (BA)those who were at peace with him;
He has [z](BB)violated his covenant.
21 His [aa]speech was (BC)smoother than butter,
But his heart was war;
His words were (BD)softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn (BE)swords.
22 (BF)Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you;
(BG)He will never allow the righteous to [ab](BH)be shaken.
23 But You, God, will bring them down to the (BI)pit of destruction;
(BJ)Men of bloodshed and deceit will (BK)not live out half their days.
But I will (BL)trust in You.
Pleading for Help and Grateful Trust in God.
For the music director; according to [ac]Jonath elem rehokim. A [ad]Mikhtam of David, [ae]when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
56 Be gracious to me, God, for a man has [af](BM)trampled upon me;
[ag]Fighting all day long he (BN)oppresses me.
2 My enemies have (BO)trampled upon me all day long,
For [ah]they are many who (BP)fight proudly against me.
3 [ai]When I am (BQ)afraid,
[aj]I will (BR)put my trust in You.
4 (BS)In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid.
(BT)What can mere [ak]mortals do to me?
5 All day long they (BU)distort my words;
All their [al](BV)thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They [am](BW)attack, they lurk,
They (BX)watch my [an]steps,
As they have (BY)waited to take my [ao]life.
7 Because of their wickedness, will there be an (BZ)escape for them?
In anger (CA)make the peoples fall down, God!
8 You (CB)have taken account of my [ap]miseries;
Put my (CC)tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in (CD)Your book?
9 Then my enemies will (CE)turn back (CF)on the day when I call;
This I know, [aq]that (CG)God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
In the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 In God I have put my [ar]trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can mankind do to me?
12 Your (CH)vows are binding upon me, God;
I will render thanksgiving offerings to You.
13 For You have (CI)saved my soul from death,
[as]Indeed (CJ)my feet from stumbling,
So that I may (CK)walk before God
In the (CL)light of the [at]living.
All the World Guilty
3 Then what [a]advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect. First, that (A)they were entrusted with the (B)actual words of God. 3 What then? If (C)some [b]did not believe, their [c]unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? 4 [d](D)Far from it! Rather, God must prove to be true, though every person be found (E)a liar, as it is written:
5 But if our unrighteousness [f](G)demonstrates the righteousness of God, (H)what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? ((I)I am speaking from a human viewpoint.) 6 (J)Far from it! For otherwise, how will (K)God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie (L)the truth of God abounded to His glory, (M)why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say (just as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “(N)Let’s do evil that good may come of it”? [g]Their condemnation is deserved.
9 What then? [h](O)Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both (P)Jews and (Q)Greeks are (R)all under sin; 10 as it is written:
“(S)There is no righteous person, not even one;
11 There is no one who understands,
There is no one who seeks out God;
12 They have all turned aside, together they have become [i]corrupt;
There is no one who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 “(T)Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“(U)The venom of [j]asps is under their lips”;
14 “(V)Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “(W)Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And they have not known the way of peace.”
18 “(X)There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the (Y)Law says, it speaks to (Z)those who are [k]under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and (AA)all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because (AB)by the works [l]of the Law [m]none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for [n](AC)through the Law comes [o]knowledge of sin.
Justification by Faith
21 But now apart [p]from the Law (AD)the righteousness of God has been revealed, being (AE)witnessed by the [q]Law and the Prophets, 22 but it is the (AF)righteousness of God through (AG)faith (AH)in Jesus Christ for (AI)all those [r]who believe; for (AJ)there is no distinction, 23 for all [s](AK)have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift (AL)by His grace through (AM)the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God displayed publicly as (AN)a [t]propitiation [u](AO)in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, [v]because in God’s merciful (AP)restraint He (AQ)let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who [w]has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is (AR)boasting? It has been excluded. By (AS)what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 [x]For (AT)we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works [y]of the Law. 29 Or (AU)is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed (AV)God (AW)who will justify the [z]circumcised [aa]by faith and the [ab]uncircumcised through faith (AX)is one.
31 Do we then nullify [ac]the Law through faith? (AY)Far from it! On the contrary, we (AZ)establish the Law.
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