Old/New Testament
Give the King Your Justice
Of (A)Solomon.
72 Give the king your (B)justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
2 May he (C)judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
3 Let the mountains bear (D)prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!
5 May they fear you[a] while (E)the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, (F)throughout all generations!
6 May he be like (G)rain that falls on (H)the mown grass,
like (I)showers that water the earth!
7 In his days may (J)the righteous flourish,
and (K)peace abound, till the moon be no more!
8 May he have dominion from (L)sea to sea,
and from (M)the River[b] to the (N)ends of the earth!
9 May desert tribes (O)bow down before him,
and his enemies (P)lick the dust!
10 May the kings of (Q)Tarshish and of (R)the coastlands
render him (S)tribute;
may the kings of (T)Sheba and (U)Seba
bring gifts!
11 May all kings (V)fall down before him,
all nations serve him!
12 For he delivers (W)the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper.
13 He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and (X)precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live;
may (Y)gold of Sheba be given to him!
May prayer be made (Z)for him continually,
and blessings invoked for him all the day!
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people (AA)blossom in the cities
like the (AB)grass of the field!
17 (AC)May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
(AD)May people be blessed in him,
(AE)all nations call him blessed!
18 (AF)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does (AG)wondrous things.
19 Blessed be his (AH)glorious name forever;
may (AI)the whole earth be filled with his glory!
(AJ)Amen and Amen!
Book Three
God Is My Strength and Portion Forever
A Psalm of (AM)Asaph.
73 Truly God is good to (AN)Israel,
to those who are (AO)pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 (AP)For I was (AQ)envious of the arrogant
when I saw the (AR)prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not (AS)stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is (AT)their necklace;
violence covers them as (AU)a garment.
7 Their (AV)eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and (AW)speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find (AX)no fault in them.[c]
11 And they say, (AY)“How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they (AZ)increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I (BA)kept my heart clean
and (BB)washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been (BC)stricken
and (BD)rebuked (BE)every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed (BF)the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me (BG)a wearisome task,
17 until I went into (BH)the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their (BI)end.
18 Truly you set them in (BJ)slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed (BK)in a moment,
swept away utterly by (BL)terrors!
20 Like (BM)a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when (BN)you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was (BO)brutish and ignorant;
I was like (BP)a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you (BQ)hold my right hand.
24 You (BR)guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will (BS)receive me to glory.
25 (BT)Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 (BU)My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is (BV)the strength[d] of my heart and my (BW)portion (BX)forever.
God's Sovereign Choice
9 (A)I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For (B)I could wish that I myself were (C)accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,[a] my kinsmen (D)according to the flesh. 4 They are (E)Israelites, and to them belong (F)the adoption, (G)the glory, (H)the covenants, (I)the giving of the law, (J)the worship, and (K)the promises. 5 To them belong (L)the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, (M)who is God over all, (N)blessed forever. Amen.
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham (O)because they are his offspring, but (P)“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but (Q)the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: (R)“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but (S)also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of (T)him who calls— 12 she was told, (U)“The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, (V)“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14 What shall we say then? (W)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, (X)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.