Psalm 40
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 40
Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for Help
To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.(A)
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit,[a]
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.(B)
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.(C)
4 Happy are those who make
the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after false gods.(D)
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
they would be more than can be counted.(E)
6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
but you have given me an open ear.[b]
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.(F)
7 Then I said, “Here I am;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me.[c]
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”(G)
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.(H)
10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.(I)
11 Do not, O Lord, withhold
your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
keep me safe forever.(J)
12 For evils have encompassed me
without number;
my iniquities have overtaken me
until I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails me.(K)
13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
O Lord, make haste to help me.(L)
14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who desire my hurt.(M)
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”(N)
Psalm 54
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 54
Prayer for Vindication
To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “David is in hiding among us.”
1 Save me, O God, by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.(A)
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.(B)
3 For the insolent have risen against me;
the ruthless seek my life;
they do not set God before them. Selah(C)
4 But surely, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of[a] my life.(D)
5 He will repay my enemies for their evil.
In your faithfulness, put an end to them.(E)
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.(F)
7 For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.(G)
Footnotes
- 54.4 Gk Syr Jerome: Heb is of those who uphold or is with those who uphold
Exodus 34:18-35
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
18 “You shall keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.(A)
19 “All that first opens the womb is mine, all your male[a] livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep.(B) 20 The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem.
“No one shall appear before me empty-handed.(C)
21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in plowing time and in harvest time you shall rest.(D) 22 You shall observe the Festival of Weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the year.(E) 23 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.(F) 24 For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
25 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven, and the sacrifice of the festival of the Passover shall not be left until the morning.(G)
26 “The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.”(H)
27 The Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”(I) 28 He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.[b](J)
The Shining Face of Moses
29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.(K) 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.(L) 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face,(M) 34 but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off until he came out, and when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded,(N) 35 the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining, and Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with him.
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Matthew 5:27-37
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Concerning Adultery
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’(A) 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.(B) 29 If your right eye causes you to sin,[a] tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.[b](C) 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin,[c] cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.[d]
Concerning Divorce
31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’(D) 32 But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Concerning Oaths
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’(E) 34 But I say to you: Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,(F) 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.[e]
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Psalm 51
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 51
Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon
To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy,
blot out my transgressions.(A)
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.(B)
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.(C)
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.(D)
5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.(E)
6 You desire truth in the inward being;[a]
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.(F)
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.(G)
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.(H)
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.(I)
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right[b] spirit within me.(J)
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.(K)
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing[c] spirit.(L)
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.(M)
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.(N)
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.(O)
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.(P)
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God[d] is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.(Q)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.