Psalm 18

English Standard Version

The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, ^(A)the servant of the Lord, ^(B)who addressed the words of this ^(C)song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

18 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
²The Lord is my ^(D)rock and my ^(E)fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my ^(F)rock, in ^(G)whom I take refuge,
    my ^(H)shield, and ^(I)the horn of my salvation, my ^(J)stronghold.
³I call upon the Lord, who is ^(K)worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

⁴^(L)The cords of death encompassed me;
^(M)the torrents of destruction assailed me;^[a]
⁵^(N)the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.

⁶^(O)In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his ^(P)temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷Then the earth ^(Q)reeled and rocked;
    the foundations also of the mountains trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
⁸Smoke went up from his nostrils,^[b]
    and devouring ^(R)fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
⁹He ^(S)bowed the heavens and ^(T)came down;
    ^(U)thick darkness was under his feet.
¹⁰He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he came swiftly on ^(V)the wings of the wind.
¹¹He made darkness his covering, his ^(W)canopy around him,
    thick clouds ^(X)dark with water.
¹²Out of the brightness before him
    ^(Y)hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

¹³The Lord also ^(Z)thundered in the heavens,
    and the Most High uttered his ^(AA)voice,
    hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴And he sent out his ^(AB)arrows and scattered them;
    he flashed forth lightnings and ^(AC)routed them.
¹⁵Then ^(AD)the channels of the sea were seen,
    and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your ^(AE)rebuke, O Lord,
    at the blast of ^(AF)the breath of your nostrils.

¹⁶He ^(AG)sent from on high, he took me;
    he ^(AH)drew me out of ^(AI)many waters.
¹⁷He rescued me from my strong enemy
    and from those who hated me,
    for they were ^(AJ)too mighty for me.
¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
    but the Lord was my support.
¹⁹He brought me out into ^(AK)a broad place;
    he rescued me, because he ^(AL)delighted in me.

²⁰The Lord dealt with me ^(AM)according to my righteousness;
    according to ^(AN)the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
²¹For I have ^(AO)kept the ways of the Lord,
    and have not wickedly departed from my God.
²²For ^(AP)all his rules^[c] were before me,
    and his statutes I did not put away from me.
²³I was ^(AQ)blameless before him,
    and I kept myself from my guilt.
²⁴So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵With ^(AR)the merciful you show yourself merciful;
    with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
²⁶with the purified you show yourself pure;
    and with ^(AS)the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
²⁷For you save ^(AT)a humble people,
    but ^(AU)the haughty eyes you bring down.
²⁸For it is you who light my ^(AV)lamp;
    the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
²⁹For by you I can run against a troop,
    and by my God I can ^(AW)leap over ^(AX)a wall.
³⁰This God—his way is ^(AY)perfect;^[d]
    the word of the Lord ^(AZ)proves true;
    he is ^(BA)a shield for all those who ^(BB)take refuge in him.

³¹For ^(BC)who is God, but the Lord?
    And who is ^(BD)a rock, except our God?—
³²the God who ^(BE)equipped me with strength
    and made my way ^(BF)blameless.
³³He made my feet like the feet of a ^(BG)deer
    and set me secure on ^(BH)the heights.
³⁴He ^(BI)trains my hands for war,
    so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵You have given me the shield of your salvation,
    and your right hand ^(BJ)supported me,
    and your ^(BK)gentleness made me great.
³⁶You ^(BL)gave a wide place for my steps under me,
    and my feet did not slip.
³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
    and did not turn back till they were consumed.
³⁸I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
    they fell under my feet.
³⁹For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
    you made those who rise against me sink under me.
⁴⁰You made my enemies ^(BM)turn their backs to me,^[e]
    and those who hated me I destroyed.
⁴¹^(BN)They cried for help, but there was none to save;
    they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
⁴²I beat them fine as ^(BO)dust before the wind;
    I cast them out like ^(BP)the mire of the streets.

⁴³You delivered me from ^(BQ)strife with the people;
    you made me ^(BR)the head of the nations;
    ^(BS)people whom I had not known served me.
⁴⁴As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
    ^(BT)foreigners ^(BU)came cringing to me.
⁴⁵^(BV)Foreigners lost heart
    and ^(BW)came trembling out of their fortresses.

⁴⁶The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
    and exalted be the God of my salvation—
⁴⁷the God who gave me vengeance
    and ^(BX)subdued peoples under me,
⁴⁸who rescued me from my enemies;
    yes, you ^(BY)exalted me above those who rose against me;
    you delivered me from ^(BZ)the man of violence.

⁴⁹^(CA)For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
    and ^(CB)sing to your name.
⁵⁰Great ^(CC)salvation he brings to his king,
    and shows steadfast love to his ^(CD)anointed,
    to ^(CE)David and his offspring forever.

Footnotes

Psalm 18:4 Or terrified me
Psalm 18:8 Or in his wrath
Psalm 18:22 Or just decrees
Psalm 18:30 Or blameless
Psalm 18:40 Or You gave me my enemies' necks

Isaiah 2:12-22

English Standard Version

¹²^(A)For the Lord of hosts has a day
    against all that is proud and lofty,
    against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
¹³against all the ^(B)cedars of Lebanon,
    lofty and lifted up;
    and against all the ^(C)oaks of Bashan;
¹⁴against all ^(D)the lofty mountains,
    and against all the uplifted hills;
¹⁵against every high tower,
    and against every fortified wall;
¹⁶against all ^(E)the ships of Tarshish,
    and against all the beautiful craft.
¹⁷^(F)And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
    and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
    and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
¹⁸^(G)And the idols shall utterly pass away.
¹⁹^(H)And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
    and the holes of the ground,^[a]
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty,
    ^(I)when he rises to terrify the earth.

²⁰In that day ^(J)mankind will cast away
    their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
    to the moles and to the ^(K)bats,
²¹^(L)to enter the caverns of the rocks
    and the clefts of the cliffs,
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty,
    ^(M)when he rises to terrify the earth.
²²^(N)Stop regarding man
    ^(O)in whose nostrils is breath,
    for of what account is he?

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Footnotes

Isaiah 2:19 Hebrew dust

1 Thessalonians 3

English Standard Version

3 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing ^(A)to be left behind at Athens alone, ²and we ^(B)sent Timothy, ^(C)our brother and God's coworker^[a] in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, ³that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that ^(D)we are destined for this. ⁴For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, ^(E)just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. ⁵For this reason, ^(F)when I could bear it no longer, ^(G)I sent to learn about your faith, ^(H)for fear that somehow ^(I)the tempter had tempted you and ^(J)our labor would be in vain.

Timothy's Encouraging Report

⁶But ^(K)now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of ^(L)your faith and love and reported ^(M)that you always remember us kindly and ^(N)long to see us, as we long to see you— ⁷for this reason, brothers,^[b] in all our distress and affliction ^(O)we have been comforted about you through your faith. ⁸For now we live, if you ^(P)are standing fast in the Lord. ⁹For ^(Q)what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, ¹⁰as we pray most earnestly ^(R)night and day ^(S)that we may see you face to face and ^(T)supply what is lacking in your faith?

¹¹Now may ^(U)our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, ^(V)direct our way to you, ¹²and may the Lord ^(W)make you increase and abound in love ^(X)for one another and for all, as we do for you, ¹³so that he may ^(Y)establish your hearts blameless in holiness before ^(Z)our God and Father, at ^(AA)the coming of our Lord Jesus ^(AB)with all his saints.

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Footnotes

1 Thessalonians 3:2 Some manuscripts servant
1 Thessalonians 3:7 Or brothers and sisters

Luke 20:27-40

English Standard Version

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

²⁷There came to him ^(A)some Sadducees, ^(B)those who deny that there is a resurrection, ²⁸and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us ^(C)that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man^[a] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. ³⁰And the second ³¹and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. ³²Afterward the woman also died. ³³In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

³⁴And Jesus said to them, ^(D)“The sons of this age ^(E)marry and ^(F)are given in marriage, ³⁵but those who are ^(G)considered worthy to attain to ^(H)that age and to the resurrection from the dead ^(I)neither marry ^(J)nor are given in marriage, ³⁶for ^(K)they cannot die anymore, because they are ^(L)equal to angels and ^(M)are ^(N)sons of God, being ^(O)sons^[b] of the resurrection. ³⁷But that the dead are raised, ^(P)even Moses showed, in ^(Q)the passage about the bush, where he calls ^(R)the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. ³⁸Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all ^(S)live to him.” ³⁹Then some of the scribes ^(T)answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” ⁴⁰For ^(U)they no longer dared to ask him any question.