Psalms 50 Cross References - MSB

¹ A Psalm of Asaph. The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from where the sun rises to where it sets. ² From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. ³ Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him. ⁴ He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge His people: ⁵ “Gather to Me My saints, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” ⁶ And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah ⁷ “Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God. ⁸ I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are ever before Me. ⁹ I have no need for a bull from your stall or goats from your pens, ¹⁰ for every beast of the forest is Mine—the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are Mine. ¹² If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof. ¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? ¹⁴ Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High. ¹⁵ Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.” ¹⁶ To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips? ¹⁷ For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you. ¹⁸ When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers. ¹⁹ You unleash your mouth for evil and unharness your tongue for deceit. ²⁰ You sit and malign your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. ²¹ You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face. ²² Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you: ²³ He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”

¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

²² “The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today.

²¹ Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did not answer a word.

³⁶ At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command. ³⁷ Answer me, O LORD! Answer me, so that this people will know that You, the LORD, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back again.”

¹⁷ So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah;

³⁷ So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to minister there regularly according to the daily requirements,

² From the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. These sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king.

⁶ All these were under the direction of their fathers for the music of the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the direction of the king.

³⁰ Then King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the LORD in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped.

⁶ You alone are the LORD. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all things, and the host of heaven worships You.

³² So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world, ² both low and high, rich and poor alike.

¹ A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

¹ A song. A Psalm of Asaph. O God, be not silent; be not speechless; be not still, O God.

³ From where the sun rises to where it sets, the name of the LORD is praised.

³ Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable. ⁴ One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts— ⁵ the glorious splendor of Your majesty. And I will meditate on Your wondrous works. ⁶ They will proclaim the power of Your awesome deeds, and I will declare Your greatness.

² Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.

⁶ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

²⁰ And now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”

⁵ For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.

⁶ There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.

¹⁸ You show loving devotion to thousands but lay the iniquity of the fathers into the laps of their children after them, O great and mighty God whose name is the LORD of Hosts, ¹⁹ the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

⁸ The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?

¹¹ For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of Hosts.

³² All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

² He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.

² Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.

²⁴ They have seen Your procession, O God—the march of my God and King into the sanctuary.

¹ For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

¹⁷ Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand, on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.

² The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. ³ Glorious things are ascribed to you, O city of God. Selah

¹ O LORD, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth.

¹⁶ His mouth is most sweet; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

⁶ Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”

²¹ For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.

¹⁵ All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”

¹⁵ Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

²⁰ But the LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.

³ God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth. ⁴ His radiance was like the sunlight; rays flashed from His hand, where His power is hidden.

¹⁷ How lovely they will be, and how beautiful! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the young women.

²² Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels ²³ in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. ²⁵ See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven? ²⁶ At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.”

¹⁶ He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.

²³ And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.

¹⁸ Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.

² So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the LORD.

³⁵ And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

³ But understand that today the LORD your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them swiftly, as the LORD has promised you.

¹¹ Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice.

⁷ Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger. ⁸ Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals blazed forth. ⁹ He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet. ¹⁰ He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind. ¹¹ He made darkness His hiding place, and storm clouds a canopy around Him. ¹² From the brightness of His presence His clouds advanced—hailstones and coals of fire. ¹³ The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded—hailstones and coals of fire. ¹⁴ He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them. ¹⁵ The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

¹⁴ For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even till death.

²¹ You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.

²⁰ Our God is a God of deliverance; the Lord GOD is our rescuer from death.

¹³ before the LORD, for He is coming—He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.

³ Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side. ⁴ His lightning illuminates the world; the earth sees and trembles. ⁵ The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.

¹³ The LORD goes forth like a mighty one; He stirs up His zeal like a warrior. He shouts; yes, He roars in triumph over His enemies: ¹⁴ “I have kept silent from ages past; I have remained quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant.

⁶ Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps, ⁷ both for your iniquities and for those of your fathers,” says the LORD. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.”

¹⁰ A river of fire was flowing, coming out from His presence. Thousands upon thousands attended Him, and myriads upon myriads stood before Him. The court was convened, and the books were opened.

⁵ The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers. ⁶ Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him. ⁷ The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of distress; He cares for those who trust in Him.

⁵ Plague went before Him, and fever followed in His steps.

² But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap. ³ And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.

¹ “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

¹² His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

⁸ in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might,

³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

¹⁸ For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to blackness, darkness, and storm; ¹⁹ to a trumpet blast or to a voice that made its hearers beg that no further word be spoken. ²⁰ For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” ²¹ The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

²⁹ “For our God is a consuming fire.”

²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Yes, come, Lord Jesus!

²⁶ I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.

³⁶ He let you hear His voice from heaven to discipline you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the fire.

¹⁹ I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live,

²⁸ Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officers so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.

¹ Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

⁶ And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah

⁹ before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.

³ And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear, ⁴ but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.

¹ Hear now what the LORD says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. ² Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:

²² Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

³ When Moses came and told the people all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all responded with one voice: “All the words that the LORD has spoken, we will do.” ⁴ And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ Then he sent out some young men of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD. ⁶ Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷ Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, who replied, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” ⁸ So Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

² He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand. ³ Surely You love the people; all the holy ones are in Your hand, and they sit down at Your feet; each receives Your words—

⁴ Sing to the LORD, O you His saints, and praise His holy name.

¹⁰ Hate evil, O you who love the LORD! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

⁸ to guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His saints.

³ I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.

⁵ You will flee by My mountain valley, for it will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him.

³¹ And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

²⁸ This is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

² Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? ³ Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

¹³ so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. ¹⁷ After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

¹ Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers,

¹⁰ They consist only in food and drink and special washings—external regulations imposed until the time of reform. ¹¹ But when Christ came as high priest of the good things to come, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made by hands and is not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify your consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God! ¹⁵ Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. ¹⁶ In the case of a will, it is necessary to establish the death of the one who made it, ¹⁷ because a will does not take effect until the one who made it has died; it cannot be executed while he is still alive. ¹⁸ That is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. ¹⁹ For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people, ²⁰ saying, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” ²¹ In the same way, he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle and all the vessels used in worship. ²² According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. ²³ So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁰ Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,

¹⁴ Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them: “Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones

²⁵ Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

³ O LORD my God, if I have done this, if injustice is on my hands, ⁴ if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause, ⁵ then may my enemy pursue me and overtake me; may he trample me to the ground and leave my honor in the dust. Selah

¹⁶ The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah

⁷ but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.

⁵ The heavens praise Your wonders, O LORD—Your faithfulness as well—in the assembly of the holy ones.

⁶ The heavens proclaim His righteousness; all the peoples see His glory.

⁵ But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

⁹ For this reason Christ died and rose and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. ¹⁰ Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ¹¹ It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.” ¹² So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.

⁵ And I heard the angel of the waters say: “Righteous are You, O Holy One, who is and was, because You have brought these judgments. ⁶ For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.” ⁷ And I heard the altar reply: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Your judgments.”

² For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand.”

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.

⁵ Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine. ⁶ And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”

² “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

¹⁷ Today you have proclaimed that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in His ways, keep His statutes and commandments and ordinances, and listen to His voice. ¹⁸ And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments,

¹⁹ Now therefore, write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites; have them recite it, so that it may be a witness for Me against them. ²⁰ When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to other gods and worship them, and they will reject Me and break My covenant. ²¹ And when many troubles and afflictions have come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants. For I know their inclination, even before I bring them into the land that I swore to give them.”

²² Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own. ²³ As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way. ²⁴ Above all, fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. ²⁵ But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”

¹³ Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”

⁵ So the LORD his God delivered Ahaz into the hand of the king of Aram, who attacked him and took many captives to Damascus. Ahaz was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force.

²⁹ You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They stubbornly shrugged their shoulders; they stiffened their necks and would not obey. ³⁰ You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world,

⁸ Hear, O My people, and I will warn you: O Israel, if only you would listen to Me!

¹⁰ I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it. ¹¹ But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me. ¹² So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

¹⁸ “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.

⁴ Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all you families of the house of Israel. ⁵ This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me, and followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves?

⁹ Therefore, I will contend with you again, declares the LORD, and I will bring a case against your children’s children.

⁵ and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. With an uplifted hand I said to them, ‘I am the LORD your God.’

⁷ And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’

¹⁹ I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. ²⁰ Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’

¹ Hear now what the LORD says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. ² Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel: ³ ‘My people, what have I done to you? Testify against Me how I have wearied you! ⁴ For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses before you, as well as Aaron and Miriam. ⁵ My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’” ⁶ With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? ⁷ Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? ⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

⁹ This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”

⁵ “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

⁶ Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require. ⁷ Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll: ⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”

¹⁶ For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.

¹¹ “What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. ¹² When you come to appear before Me, who has required this of you—this trampling of My courts? ¹³ Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me—your New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations. I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly. ¹⁴ I hate your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. ¹⁶ Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil! ¹⁷ Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.” ¹⁸ “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool. ¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land. ²⁰ But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. ²¹ See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers! ²² Your silver has become dross; your fine wine is diluted with water. ²³ Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them. ²⁴ Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah, I will be relieved of My foes and avenge Myself on My enemies. ²⁵ I will turn My hand against you; I will thoroughly purge your dross; I will remove all your impurities. ²⁶ I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning. After that you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.” ²⁷ Zion will be redeemed with justice, her repentant ones with righteousness. ²⁸ But rebels and sinners will together be shattered, and those who forsake the LORD will perish. ²⁹ Surely you will be ashamed of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be embarrassed by the gardens that you have chosen. ³⁰ For you will become like an oak whose leaves are withered, like a garden without water. ³¹ The strong man will become tinder and his work will be a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the flames.

²¹ This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! ²² For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices, ²³ but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.

⁶ For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁴ because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵ Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. ⁶ In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight. ⁷ Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll: I have come to do Your will, O God.’” ⁸ In the passage above He says, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor did You delight in them” (although they are offered according to the law). ⁹ Then He adds, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

³¹ And this will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with horns and hooves.

²³ You have not brought Me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, nor wearied you with frankincense. ²⁴ You have not bought Me sweet cane with your silver, nor satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened Me with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities.

²⁵ Nor is He served by the hands of men, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

⁴ because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵ Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. ⁶ In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight.

²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. ²⁵ God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

¹⁹ And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

¹⁷ Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”

² The fear and dread of you will fall on every living creature on the earth, every bird of the air, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are delivered into your hand. ³ Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things.

⁹ Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.

¹⁴ But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You. ¹⁵ For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. ¹⁶ O LORD our God, from Your hand comes all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy Name, and all of it belongs to You.

¹⁵ Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you. He feeds on grass like an ox. ¹⁶ See the strength of his loins and the power in the muscles of his belly. ¹⁷ His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. ¹⁸ His bones are tubes of bronze; his limbs are rods of iron. ¹⁹ He is the foremost of God’s works; only his Maker can draw the sword against him. ²⁰ The hills yield him their produce, while all the beasts of the field play nearby. ²¹ He lies under the lotus plants, hidden among the reeds of the marsh. ²² The lotus plants conceal him in their shade; the willows of the brook surround him. ²³ Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid; he remains secure, though the Jordan surges to his mouth. ²⁴ Can anyone capture him as he looks on, or pierce his nose with a snare?

⁶ You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; You have placed everything under his feet: ⁷ all sheep and oxen, and even the beasts of the field, ⁸ the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

¹⁴ He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:

²⁴ How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures. ²⁵ Here is the sea, vast and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both great and small.

⁵ By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please. ⁶ So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.

³⁸ Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

¹¹ So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”

²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every bird of flight after its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

⁴¹ Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?

¹³ The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but cannot match the pinions and feathers of the stork. ¹⁴ For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand. ¹⁵ She forgets that a foot may crush them, or a wild animal may trample them. ¹⁶ She treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain. ¹⁷ For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding. ¹⁸ Yet when she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.

²⁶ Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south? ²⁷ Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high? ²⁸ He dwells on a cliff and lodges there; his stronghold is on a rocky crag. ²⁹ From there he spies out food; his eyes see it from afar. ³⁰ His young ones feast on blood; and where the slain are, there he is.”

¹² The birds of the air nest beside the springs; they sing among the branches.

⁹ He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.

⁹ Come, all you beasts of the field; eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.

¹⁵ Or if I send wild beasts through the land to leave it childless and desolate, with no man passing through it for fear of the beasts, ¹⁶ then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if these three men were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.

²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. ³⁰ And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

²⁴ Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds!

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so. ¹² The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.” ²⁹ Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth—everything that has the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

⁵ Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.

¹⁴ Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.

¹¹ Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.

¹ A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein. ² For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

²⁴ How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.

¹⁵ May you be blessed by the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. ¹⁶ The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind.

¹⁵ The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season. ¹⁶ You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

²⁶ for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” ²⁷ If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat anything set before you without raising questions of conscience. ²⁸ But if someone tells you, “This food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience—for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof—

² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When someone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the value of persons, ³ if the valuation concerns a male from twenty to sixty years of age, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. ⁴ Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. ⁵ And if the person is from five to twenty years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. ⁶ Now if the person is from one month to five years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be five shekels of silver, and for the female three shekels of silver. ⁷ And if the person is sixty years of age or older, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels for the male and ten shekels for the female. ⁸ But if the one making the vow is too poor to pay the valuation, he is to present the person before the priest, who shall set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford. ⁹ If he vows an animal that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any such animal given to the LORD shall be holy. ¹⁰ He must not replace it or exchange it, either good for bad or bad for good. But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy. ¹¹ But if the vow involves any of the unclean animals that may not be brought as an offering to the LORD, the animal must be presented before the priest. ¹² The priest shall set its value, whether high or low; as the priest values it, the price will be set. ¹³ If, however, the owner decides to redeem the animal, he must add a fifth to its value. ¹⁴ Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, then the priest shall value it either as good or bad. The price will stand just as the priest values it. ¹⁵ But if he who consecrated his house redeems it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it will belong to him. ¹⁶ If a man consecrates to the LORD a parcel of his land, then your valuation shall be proportional to the seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed. ¹⁷ If he consecrates his field during the Year of Jubilee, the price will stand according to your valuation. ¹⁸ But if he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, the priest is to calculate the price in proportion to the years left until the next Year of Jubilee, so that your valuation will be reduced. ¹⁹ And if the one who consecrated the field decides to redeem it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it shall belong to him. ²⁰ If, however, he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold it to another man, it may no longer be redeemed. ²¹ When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the LORD; it becomes the property of the priests. ²² Now if a man consecrates to the LORD a field he has purchased, which is not a part of his own property, ²³ then the priest shall calculate for him the value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the man shall pay the assessed value on that day as a sacred offering to the LORD. ²⁴ In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom it was bought—the original owner of the land. ²⁵ Every valuation will be according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel. ²⁶ But no one may consecrate a firstborn of the livestock, because a firstborn belongs to the LORD. Whether it is an ox or a sheep, it is the LORD’s. ²⁷ But if it is among the unclean animals, then he may redeem it according to your valuation and add a fifth of its value. If it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation. ²⁸ Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD. ²⁹ No person set apart for destruction may be ransomed; he must surely be put to death. ³⁰ Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. ³¹ If a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he must add a fifth to its value. ³² Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD. ³³ He must not inspect whether it is good or bad, and he shall not make any substitution. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute shall become holy; they cannot be redeemed.’” ³⁴ These are the commandments that the LORD gave to Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.

² If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised. ³ And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge, ⁴ and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁵ But if her father prohibits her on the day he hears about it, then none of the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. The LORD will absolve her because her father has prohibited her. ⁶ If a woman marries while under a vow or rash promise by which she has bound herself, ⁷ and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her on that day, then the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁸ But if her husband prohibits her when he hears of it, he nullifies the vow that binds her or the rash promise she has made, and the LORD will absolve her. ⁹ Every vow a widow or divorced woman pledges to fulfill is binding on her. ¹⁰ If a woman in her husband’s house has made a vow or put herself under an obligation with an oath, ¹¹ and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her and does not prohibit her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ¹² But if her husband nullifies them on the day he hears of them, then nothing that came from her lips, whether her vows or pledges, shall stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will absolve her. ¹³ Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow or any sworn pledge to deny herself. ¹⁴ But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all the vows and pledges that bind her. He has confirmed them, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard about them. ¹⁵ But if he nullifies them after he hears of them, then he will bear her iniquity.” ¹⁶ These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the relationship between a man and his wife, and between a father and a young daughter still in his home.

²¹ If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

²⁵ My praise for You resounds in the great assembly; I will fulfill my vows before those who fear You.

⁶ Then my head will be held high above my enemies around me. At His tabernacle I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.

²³ He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”

¹² Your vows are upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You.

⁸ Then I will ever sing praise to Your name and fulfill my vows day by day.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A song. Praise awaits You, O God, in Zion; to You our vows will be fulfilled.

³⁰ I will praise God’s name in song and exalt Him with thanksgiving. ³¹ And this will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with horns and hooves.

¹¹ Make and fulfill your vows to the LORD your God; let all the neighboring lands bring tribute to Him who is to be feared.

²¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. ²² Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing.

¹² How can I repay the LORD for all His goodness to me? ¹³ I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD. ¹⁴ I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people.

¹⁷ I will offer to You a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD. ¹⁸ I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people,

¹ Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and lovely to praise Him!

⁴ When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow. ⁵ It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.

² Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.

¹⁵ Look to the mountains—the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked will never again march through you; they will be utterly cut off.

¹ Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

¹⁸ Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.

⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

¹² And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers. ¹³ And when he prayed to Him, the LORD received his plea and heard his petition; so He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

²⁷ You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.

²³ You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All descendants of Jacob, honor Him! All offspring of Israel, revere Him!

³ Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together. ⁴ I sought the LORD, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.

¹³ I will enter Your house with burnt offerings; I will fulfill my vows to You— ¹⁴ the vows that my lips promised and my mouth spoke in my distress. ¹⁵ I will offer You fatlings as burnt offerings, with the fragrant smoke of rams; I will offer bulls and goats. Selah ¹⁶ Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for me. ¹⁷ I cried out to Him with my mouth and praised Him with my tongue. ¹⁸ If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. ¹⁹ But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer. ²⁰ Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld from me His loving devotion!

² In the day of trouble I sought the Lord; through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary; my soul refused to be comforted.

⁷ You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

¹⁵ When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.

⁶ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. ⁷ He led them on a straight path to reach a city where they could live. ⁸ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. ⁹ For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. ¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and chains, ¹¹ because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. ¹² He humbled their hearts with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. ¹³ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.

¹⁹ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.

²⁸ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress.

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

¹⁵ When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He fell facedown at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving to Him—and he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ “Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”

⁴⁴ And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.

⁸ This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples.

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

¹³ Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

¹¹ If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁴ If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Indeed, on their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.

¹⁴ The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

³⁶ But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues. ³⁷ Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant. ³⁸ And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.

⁷ Like lame legs hanging limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

¹¹ “What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. ¹² When you come to appear before Me, who has required this of you—this trampling of My courts? ¹³ Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me—your New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations. I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly. ¹⁴ I hate your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

¹³ Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.

¹ “Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, who invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness— ² who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the LORD of Hosts is His name.

²² “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

⁶ Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. ⁷ Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

¹ “Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins. ² For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.” ³ “Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers. ⁴ You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice be heard on high. ⁵ Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD? ⁶ Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke? ⁷ Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

⁴ Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ ⁵ For if you really correct your ways and deeds, if you act justly toward one another, ⁶ if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm, ⁷ then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

²⁷ But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.

³⁷ I will make you pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant. ³⁸ And I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land in which they dwell, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

³ Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’

²⁴ God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

¹³ Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I bind you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ Eventually, one of the evil spirits answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them. The attack was so violent that they ran out of the house naked and wounded.

¹⁷ Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; ¹⁸ if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; ¹⁹ if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— ²¹ you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? ²² You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³ You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? ²⁴ As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

²⁷ No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

⁹ It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide by My covenant, and I disregarded them, declares the Lord.

¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

⁹ You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me, and you have flung Me behind your back.

²⁶ But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

²⁸ Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me. ²⁹ For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD.

¹² and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! ¹³ I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.

³⁶ But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”

¹ Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

²³ who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.

⁹ The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?

¹² But they will reply, ‘It is hopeless. We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”

²³ And as soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut them off with a scribe’s knife and throw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll had been consumed by the fire. ²⁴ Yet in hearing all these words, the king and his servants did not become frightened or tear their garments. ²⁵ Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. ²⁶ Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, as well as Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them. ²⁷ After the king had burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁸ “Take another scroll and rewrite on it the very words that were on the original scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah has burned. ²⁹ You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll and said, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?’ ³⁰ Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his body will be thrown out and exposed to heat by day and frost by night. ³¹ I will punish him and his descendants and servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the calamity about which I warned them but they did not listen.” ³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and at Jeremiah’s dictation he wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.

²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

²¹ you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? ²² You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³ You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

¹⁰ and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. ¹¹ For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, ¹² in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

³ For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. ⁴ So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

¹⁰ If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.

⁹ If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door, ¹⁰ then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her. ¹¹ For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged.

¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them. ¹¹ If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause, ¹² let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit. ¹³ We will find all manner of precious goods; we will fill our houses with plunder. ¹⁴ Throw in your lot with us; let us all share one purse”— ¹⁵ my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path. ¹⁶ For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood. ¹⁷ How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it! ¹⁸ But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives. ¹⁹ Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

¹⁶ It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words ¹⁷ who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. ¹⁸ For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits. ¹⁹ None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.

¹⁹ For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. ²⁰ He took with him a bag of money and will not return till the moon is full.” ²¹ With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him. ²² He follows her on impulse, like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding into a trap, ²³ until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare—not knowing it will cost him his life.

⁸ They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife. ⁹ Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

³ Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.

³⁰ And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.

¹¹ Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³ But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself.

²² Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

⁴ Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled; but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

⁹ For not a word they speak can be trusted; destruction lies within them. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.

⁷ His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.

² They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart. ³ May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue.

³ The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and well-doing. ⁴ Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.

² Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit. ³ You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah ⁴ You love every word that devours, O deceitful tongue.

¹² For it is not an enemy who insults me; that I could endure. It is not a foe who rises against me; from him I could hide.

²¹ His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.

³ who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows, ⁴ ambushing the innocent in seclusion, shooting suddenly, without fear. ⁵ They hold fast to their evil purpose; they speak of hiding their snares. “Who will see them?” they say.

³ For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters injustice. ⁴ No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

⁵ Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.

² Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.

¹³ “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.” ¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

⁵ In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸ but no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With the tongue we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.

⁸ But to the cowardly and unbelieving and sinful and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”

¹⁶ You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.

¹⁸ May lying lips be silenced—lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous, full of pride and contempt.

¹⁸ The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

¹¹ Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say every evil thing against you because of Me.

²¹ Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.

⁶⁵ And they said many other blasphemous things against Him.

¹¹ In the same way, the women must be dignified, not slanderers, but temperate and faithful in all things.

³ Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers or addicted to much wine, but teachers of good.

¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God.

¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

¹⁹ God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

³ Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.

⁸ I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.

¹¹ The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”

⁸ You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

⁷ They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.” ⁸ Take notice, O senseless among the people! O fools, when will you be wise? ⁹ He who affixed the ear, can He not hear? He who formed the eye, can He not see? ¹⁰ He who admonishes the nations, does He not discipline? He who teaches man, does He lack knowledge? ¹¹ The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O God of my praise, be not silent. ² For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues. ³ They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.

¹ A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.

¹¹ When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil. ¹² Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.

¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

¹⁰ Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.

¹⁵ Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust. ¹⁶ Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering. ¹⁷ All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness. ¹⁸ To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?

¹⁴ “I have kept silent from ages past; I have remained quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant.

¹¹ Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lied and failed to remember Me or take this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear Me?

⁷ The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their deeds.

⁴ Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? ⁵ But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

¹⁹ Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.

¹⁸ You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

⁴² They looked, but there was no one to save them—to the LORD, but He did not answer.

¹³ Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.

² or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

¹⁷ The wicked will return to Sheol—all the nations who forget God.

⁴ In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.

¹⁴ In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

¹³ But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?

³² Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.

²⁸ Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.

⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

¹⁴ For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them off where no one can rescue them.

⁸ Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast would tear them apart.

¹⁴ Escape will fail the swift, the strong will not prevail by his strength, and the mighty will not save his life.

⁸ Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which tramples and tears as it passes through, with no one to rescue them.

⁵ Now this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.

¹⁷ Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death!

¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. ¹⁷ For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”

⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully. ⁵ He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from the God of his salvation.

¹⁴ Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High. ¹⁵ Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

⁹ Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land.

¹³ Righteousness will go before Him to prepare the way for His steps.

⁹ All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, O Lord, and they will glorify Your name.

¹² I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever.

¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”

² Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”

¹⁷ But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated, to ages everlasting.

⁶ He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

⁵ My righteousness draws near, My salvation is on the way, and My arms will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look for Me and wait in hope for My arm. ⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like gnats. But My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never fail.

³⁰ For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

¹⁷ If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own.

³¹ So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

² He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly. ³ One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” ⁴ Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God.

¹⁴ He will convey to you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.’

²⁶ Brothers, children of Abraham, and you Gentiles who fear God, it is to you that this message of salvation has been sent.

⁶ so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹ so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to Your name.”

²⁴ And they glorified God because of me.

¹⁶ Peace and mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of God.

²⁷ Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending side by side for the faith of the gospel,

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

¹⁵ But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,