Psalm 38

New International Version

Psalm 38^[a]

A psalm of David. A petition.

¹Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
    or discipline me in your wrath.^(A)
²Your arrows^(B) have pierced me,
    and your hand has come down on me.
³Because of your wrath there is no health^(C) in my body;
    there is no soundness in my bones^(D) because of my sin.
⁴My guilt has overwhelmed^(E) me
    like a burden too heavy to bear.^(F)

⁵My wounds^(G) fester and are loathsome^(H)
    because of my sinful folly.^(I)
⁶I am bowed down^(J) and brought very low;
    all day long I go about mourning.^(K)
⁷My back is filled with searing pain;^(L)
    there is no health^(M) in my body.
⁸I am feeble and utterly crushed;^(N)
    I groan^(O) in anguish of heart.^(P)

⁹All my longings^(Q) lie open before you, Lord;
    my sighing^(R) is not hidden from you.
¹⁰My heart pounds,^(S) my strength fails^(T) me;
    even the light has gone from my eyes.^(U)
¹¹My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;^(V)
    my neighbors stay far away.
¹²Those who want to kill me set their traps,^(W)
    those who would harm me talk of my ruin;^(X)
    all day long they scheme and lie.^(Y)

¹³I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,^(Z)
    like the mute, who cannot speak;
¹⁴I have become like one who does not hear,
    whose mouth can offer no reply.
¹⁵Lord, I wait^(AA) for you;
    you will answer,^(AB) Lord my God.
¹⁶For I said, “Do not let them gloat^(AC)
    or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.”^(AD)

¹⁷For I am about to fall,^(AE)
    and my pain^(AF) is ever with me.
¹⁸I confess my iniquity;^(AG)
    I am troubled by my sin.
¹⁹Many have become my enemies^(AH) without cause^[b];
    those who hate me^(AI) without reason^(AJ) are numerous.
²⁰Those who repay my good with evil^(AK)
    lodge accusations^(AL) against me,
    though I seek only to do what is good.

²¹Lord, do not forsake me;^(AM)
do not be far^(AN) from me, my God.
²²Come quickly^(AO) to help me,^(AP)
my Lord and my Savior.^(AQ)

Footnotes

Psalm 38:1 In Hebrew texts 38:1-22 is numbered 38:2-23.
Psalm 38:19 One Dead Sea Scrolls manuscript; Masoretic Text my vigorous enemies

Colossians 2

New International Version

2 I want you to know how hard I am contending^(A) for you and for those at Laodicea,^(B) and for all who have not met me personally. ²My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart^(C) and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery^(D) of God, namely, Christ, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.^(E) ⁴I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.^(F) ⁵For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit^(G) and delight to see how disciplined^(H) you are and how firm^(I) your faith in Christ^(J) is.

Spiritual Fullness in Christ

⁶So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,^(K) continue to live your lives in him, ⁷rooted^(L) and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught,^(M) and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,^(N) which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces^[a] of this world^(O) rather than on Christ.

⁹For in Christ all the fullness^(P) of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head^(Q) over every power and authority.^(R) ¹¹In him you were also circumcised^(S) with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh^[b]^(T) was put off when you were circumcised by^[c] Christ, ¹²having been buried with him in baptism,^(U) in which you were also raised with him^(V) through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.^(W)

¹³When you were dead in your sins^(X) and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you^[d] alive^(Y) with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,^(Z) ¹⁴having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness,^(AA) which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.^(AB) ¹⁵And having disarmed the powers and authorities,^(AC) he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them^(AD) by the cross.^[e]

Freedom From Human Rules

¹⁶Therefore do not let anyone judge you^(AE) by what you eat or drink,^(AF) or with regard to a religious festival,^(AG) a New Moon celebration^(AH) or a Sabbath day.^(AI) ¹⁷These are a shadow of the things that were to come;^(AJ) the reality, however, is found in Christ. ¹⁸Do not let anyone who delights in false humility^(AK) and the worship of angels disqualify you.^(AL) Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. ¹⁹They have lost connection with the head,^(AM) from whom the whole body,^(AN) supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.^(AO)

²⁰Since you died with Christ^(AP) to the elemental spiritual forces of this world,^(AQ) why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:^(AR) ²¹“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? ²²These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish^(AS) with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.^(AT) ²³Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility^(AU) and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Footnotes

Colossians 2:8 Or the basic principles; also in verse 20
Colossians 2:11 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verse 13.
Colossians 2:11 Or put off in the circumcision of
Colossians 2:13 Some manuscripts us
Colossians 2:15 Or them in him