Reading the Bible Together

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD.

1 I have a message from God in my heart
concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:
There is no fear of God
before their eyes.

2 In their own eyes they flatter themselves
too much to detect or hate their sin.

3 The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;
they have ceased to be wise and to do good.

4 Even on their beds they plot evil;
they commit themselves to a sinful course
and do not reject what is wrong.

5 Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.

6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
You, LORD, preserve both people and animals.

7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

8 They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.

9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.

10 Continue your love to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.

11 May the foot of the proud not come against me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

12 See how the evildoers lie fallen—
thrown down, not able to rise!

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

1 “Call if you will, but who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?

2 Resentment kills a fool,
and envy slays the simple.

3 I myself have seen a fool taking root,
but suddenly his house was cursed.

4 His children are far from safety,
crushed in court without a defender.

5 The hungry consume his harvest,
taking it even from among thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

6 For hardship does not spring from the soil,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground.

7 Yet human beings are born to trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.

8 “But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
I would lay my cause before him.

9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.

10 He bestows rain on the earth;
he sends water on the countryside.

11 The lowly he sets on high,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

17 “Blessed are those whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

18 For he wounds, but he also binds up;
he injures, but his hands also heal.

19 From six calamities he will rescue you;
in seven no harm will touch you.

20 In famine he will deliver you from death,
and in battle from the stroke of the sword.

21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,
and need not fear when destruction comes.

26 You will come to the grave in full vigor,
like sheaves gathered in season.

27 “We have examined this, and it is true.
So hear it and apply it to yourself.”

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Of David.

1 Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me.

2 Take up shield and armor;
arise and come to my aid.

3 Brandish spear and javelin
against those who pursue me.
Say to me,
“I am your salvation.”

4 May those who seek my life
be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plot my ruin
be turned back in dismay.

5 May they be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the LORD driving them away;

6 may their path be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.

7 Since they hid their net for me without cause
and without cause dug a pit for me,

8 may ruin overtake them by surprise—
may the net they hid entangle them,
may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.

9 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD
and delight in his salvation.

10 My whole being will exclaim,
“Who is like you, LORD?
You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
the poor and needy from those who rob them.”

11 Ruthless witnesses come forward;
they question me on things I know nothing about.

12 They repay me evil for good
and leave me like one bereaved.

13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth
and humbled myself with fasting.
When my prayers returned to me unanswered,

14 I went about mourning
as though for my friend or brother.
I bowed my head in grief
as though weeping for my mother.

15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
assailants gathered against me without my knowledge.
They slandered me without ceasing.

16 Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked;
they gnashed their teeth at me.

17 How long, Lord, will you look on?
Rescue me from their ravages,
my precious life from these lions.

18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly;
among the throngs I will praise you.

19 Do not let those gloat over me
who are my enemies without cause;
do not let those who hate me without reason
maliciously wink the eye.

20 They do not speak peaceably,
but devise false accusations
against those who live quietly in the land.

21 They sneer at me and say, “Aha! Aha!
With our own eyes we have seen it.”

22 LORD, you have seen this; do not be silent.
Do not be far from me, Lord.

23 Awake, and rise to my defense!
Contend for me, my God and Lord.

24 Vindicate me in your righteousness, LORD my God;
do not let them gloat over me.

25 Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”
or say, “We have swallowed him up.”

26 May all who gloat over my distress
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and disgrace.

27 May those who delight in my vindication
shout for joy and gladness;
may they always say, “The LORD be exalted,
who delights in the well-being of his servant.”

28 My tongue will proclaim your righteousness,
your praises all day long.

Eliphaz

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can keep from speaking?

3 Think how you have instructed many,
how you have strengthened feeble hands.

4 Your words have supported those who stumbled;
you have strengthened faltering knees.

5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;
it strikes you, and you are dismayed.

6 Should not your piety be your confidence
and your blameless ways your hope?

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.

1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.

2 I will glory in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

3 Glorify 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.

5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.

6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.

8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed are those who take refuge in him.

9 Fear the LORD, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.

10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,

13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.

14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry.

16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.

17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.

18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 The righteous may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers them from them all;

20 he protects all their bones,
not one of them will be broken.

21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

22 The LORD redeems his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Job Speaks

1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said:

3 “May the day of my birth perish,
and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’

4 That day—may it turn to darkness;
may God above not care about it;
may no light shine on it.

5 May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more;
may a cloud settle over it;
may blackness overwhelm it.

6 That night—may thick darkness seize it;
may it not be included among the days of the year
nor be entered in any of the months.

7 May that night be barren;
may no shout of joy be heard in it.

8 May those who curse days curse that day,
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

9 May its morning stars become dark;
may it wait for daylight in vain
and not see the first rays of dawn,

10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
to hide trouble from my eyes.

11 “Why did I not perish at birth,
and die as I came from the womb?

12 Why were there knees to receive me
and breasts that I might be nursed?

13 For now I would be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep and at rest

14 with kings and rulers of the earth,
who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,

15 with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.

16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,
like an infant who never saw the light of day?

17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,
and there the weary are at rest.

18 Captives also enjoy their ease;
they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.

19 The small and the great are there,
and the slaves are freed from their owners.

20 “Why is light given to those in misery,
and life to the bitter of soul,

21 to those who long for death that does not come,
who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

22 who are filled with gladness
and rejoice when they reach the grave?

23 Why is life given to a man
whose way is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?

24 For sighing has become my daily food;
my groans pour out like water.

25 What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.

26 I have no peace, no quietness;
I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

2 Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

4 For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.

5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.

9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.

11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.

13 From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all humankind;

14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—

15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.

16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.

17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.

18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.

21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.

22 May your unfailing love be with us, LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.