Psalm 1-3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Book I
(Psalms 1–41)
Psalm 1
The Two Ways
1 Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path that sinners tread
or sit in the seat of scoffers,(A)
2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.(B)
3 They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.(C)
4 The wicked are not so
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.(D)
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous,(E)
6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.(F)
Psalm 2
God’s Promise to His Anointed
1 Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?(G)
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and his anointed, saying,(H)
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord has them in derision.(I)
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath
and terrify them in his fury, saying,(J)
6 “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”(K)
7 I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have begotten you.(L)
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage
and the ends of the earth your possession.(M)
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”(N)
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear;
with trembling(O) 12 kiss his feet,[a]
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Happy are all who take refuge in him.(P)
Psalm 3
Trust in God under Adversity
A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.
1 O Lord, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
2 many are saying to me,
“There is no help for you[b] in God.” Selah
3 But you, O Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.(Q)
4 I cry aloud to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah(R)
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.(S)
6 I am not afraid of ten thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.
7 Rise up, O Lord!
Deliver me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.
8 Deliverance belongs to the Lord;
may your blessing be on your people! Selah(T)
Psalm 4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 4
Confident Plea for Deliverance from Enemies
To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
1 Answer me when I call, O God of my right!
You gave me room when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.(A)
2 How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah(B)
3 But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.(C)
4 When you are disturbed,[a] do not sin;
ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah(D)
5 Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.(E)
6 There are many who say, “O that we might see some good!
Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!”(F)
7 You have put gladness in my heart
more than when their grain and wine abound.(G)
8 I will both lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.(H)
Footnotes
- 4.4 Or are angry
Psalm 7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 7
Plea for Help against Persecutors
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.
1 O Lord my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,(A)
2 or like a lion they will tear me apart;
they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.(B)
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,(C)
4 if I have repaid my ally with harm
or plundered my foe without cause,(D)
5 then let the enemy pursue and overtake me,
trample my life to the ground,
and lay my soul in the dust. Selah
6 Rise up, O Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake, O my God;[a] you have appointed a judgment.(E)
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you,
and over it take your seat[b] on high.(F)
8 The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.(G)
9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous,
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God.(H)
10 God is my shield,
who saves the upright in heart.(I)
11 God is a righteous judge
and a God who has indignation every day.(J)
12 If one does not repent, God[c] will whet his sword;
he has bent and strung his bow;(K)
13 he has prepared his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.(L)
14 See how they conceive evil
and are pregnant with mischief
and bring forth lies.(M)
15 They make a pit, digging it out,
and fall into the hole that they have made.(N)
16 Their mischief returns upon their own heads,
and on their own heads their violence descends.(O)
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness
and sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.(P)
Micah 7:1-7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Total Corruption of the People
7 Woe is me! For I have become like one who,
after the summer fruit has been gathered,
after the vintage has been gleaned,
finds no cluster to eat;
there is no first-ripe fig for which I hunger.(A)
2 The faithful have disappeared from the land,
and there is no one left who is upright;
they all lie in wait for blood,
and they hunt each other with nets.(B)
3 Their hands are skilled to do evil;
the official and the judge ask for a bribe,
and the powerful dictate what they desire;
thus they pervert justice.[a](C)
4 The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of their[b] sentinels, of their[c] punishment, has come;
now their confusion is at hand.(D)
5 Put no trust in a friend;
have no confidence in a loved one;
guard the doors of your mouth
from her who lies in your embrace,
6 for the son treats the father with contempt,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
your enemies are members of your own household.(E)
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.(F)
Acts 26:1-23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Paul Defends Himself before Agrippa
26 Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began to defend himself:(A)
2 “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore I beg of you to listen to me patiently.(B)
4 “All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.(C) 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I have belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as a Pharisee.(D) 6 And now I stand here on trial on account of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors,(E) 7 a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship day and night. It is for this hope, Your Excellency,[a] that I am accused by Jews!(F) 8 Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?(G)
9 “Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.[b](H) 10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death.(I) 11 By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme, and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.(J)
Paul Tells of His Conversion
12 “With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,(K) 13 when at midday along the road, Your Excellency,[c] I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. 14 When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew[d] language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’(L) 15 I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me[e] and to those in which I will appear to you.(M) 17 I will rescue you from your people and from the gentiles—to whom I am sending you(N) 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’(O)
Paul Tells of His Preaching
19 “After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance.(P) 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.(Q) 22 To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place:(R) 23 that the Messiah[f] must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the gentiles.”(S)
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Luke 8:26-39
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac
26 Then they arrived at the region of the Gerasenes,[a] which is opposite Galilee. 27 As he stepped out on shore, a man from the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had not worn[b] any clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me,”(A) 29 for Jesus[c] had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.(B)
32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demons[d] begged Jesus[e] to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.(C)
34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they became frightened.(D) 36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.(E) 37 Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes[f] asked Jesus[g] to leave them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.(F) 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him, but Jesus[h] sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.
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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.