Psalm 140

English Standard Version

Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

140 ^(A)Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;
    preserve me from ^(B)violent men,
²who plan evil things in their heart
    and ^(C)stir up wars continually.
³They make ^(D)their tongue sharp as ^(E)a serpent's,
    and ^(F)under their lips is the ^(G)venom of asps. Selah

⁴Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
    preserve me from ^(H)violent men,
    who have planned to trip up my feet.
⁵The arrogant have ^(I)hidden a trap for me,
    and with cords they have spread ^(J)a net;^[a]
    beside the way they have set ^(K)snares for me. Selah

⁶^(L)I say to the Lord, You are my God;
    give ear to ^(M)the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!
⁷O Lord, my Lord, ^(N)the strength of my salvation,
    you have covered my head in the day of battle.
⁸^(O)Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
    do not further their^[b] evil plot, or ^(P)they will be exalted! Selah

⁹As for the head of those who surround me,
    let ^(Q)the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
¹⁰Let ^(R)burning coals fall upon them!
    Let them be cast into fire,
    into miry pits, no more to rise!
¹¹Let not the slanderer be established in the land;
    let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!

¹²I know that the Lord will ^(S)maintain the cause of the afflicted,
and ^(T)will execute justice for the needy.
¹³Surely ^(U)the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
^(V)the upright shall dwell in your presence.

Footnotes

Psalm 140:5 Or they have spread cords as a net
Psalm 140:8 Hebrew his

Numbers 25

English Standard Version

Baal Worship at Peor

25 While Israel lived in ^(A)Shittim, ^(B)the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. ²^(C)These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. ⁴And the Lord said to Moses, ^(D)“Take all the chiefs of the people and ^(E)hang^[a] them in the sun before the Lord, ^(F)that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” ⁵And Moses said to ^(G)the judges of Israel, ^(H)“Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

⁶And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were ^(I)weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁷^(J)When Phinehas ^(K)the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand ⁸and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. ⁹Nevertheless, ^(L)those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

The Zeal of Phinehas

¹⁰And the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he ^(M)was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in ^(N)my jealousy. ¹²Therefore say, ^(O)‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, ¹³and it shall be to him and to ^(P)his descendants after him the covenant of ^(Q)a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

¹⁴The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father's house belonging to the Simeonites. ¹⁵And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of ^(R)Zur, who was the tribal head of a father's house in Midian.

¹⁶And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷^(S)“Harass the Midianites and strike them down, ¹⁸for they have harassed you with their ^(T)wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of ^(U)Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”

Footnotes

Numbers 25:4 Or impale

Luke 1:57-80

English Standard Version

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord ^(A)had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹And ^(B)on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, ⁶⁰but his mother answered, “No; ^(C)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” ⁶²And ^(D)they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. ⁶³And he asked for ^(E)a writing tablet and wrote, ^(F)“His name is John.” And they all wondered. ⁶⁴^(G)And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue ^(H)loosed, and he spoke, ^(I)blessing God. ⁶⁵And ^(J)fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all ^(K)the hill country of Judea, ⁶⁶and all who heard them ^(L)laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For ^(M)the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah's Prophecy

⁶⁷And his father Zechariah ^(N)was filled with the Holy Spirit and ^(O)prophesied, saying,

⁶⁸^(P)“Blessed be the Lord ^(Q)God of Israel,
    for he has ^(R)visited and ^(S)redeemed his people
⁶⁹and ^(T)has raised up ^(U)a horn of salvation for us
    ^(V)in the house of his servant David,
⁷⁰^(W)as ^(X)he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
⁷¹^(Y)that we should be saved from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate us;
⁷²^(Z)to show the mercy promised to our fathers
    and ^(AA)to remember his holy ^(AB)covenant,
⁷³^(AC)the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
⁷⁴    that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him ^(AD)without fear,
⁷⁵    ^(AE)in holiness and righteousness before him ^(AF)all our days.
⁷⁶And you, child, will be called ^(AG)the prophet of ^(AH)the Most High;
    for ^(AI)you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    ^(AJ)in the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸because of the ^(AK)tender mercy of our God,
    whereby ^(AL)the sunrise shall ^(AM)visit us^[a] ^(AN)from on high
⁷⁹to ^(AO)give light to ^(AP)those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into ^(AQ)the way of ^(AR)peace.”