Psalm 27

New King James Version

An Exuberant Declaration of Faith

A Psalm of David.

27 The Lord is my ^(A)light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The ^(B)Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
²When the wicked came against me
To ^(C)eat^[a] up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
³^(D)Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

⁴^(E)One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may ^(F)dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the ^[b]beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
⁵For ^(G)in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall ^(H)set me high upon a rock.

⁶And now ^(I)my head shall be ^[c]lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of ^[d]joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

⁷Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
⁸When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
⁹^(J)Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
¹⁰^(K)When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me.

¹¹^(L)Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
¹²Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For ^(M)false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
¹³I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
^(N)In the land of the living.

¹⁴^(O)Wait^[e] on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!

Footnotes

Psalm 27:2 devour
Psalm 27:4 delightfulness
Psalm 27:6 Lifted up in honor
Psalm 27:6 joyous shouts
Psalm 27:14 Wait in faith

Malachi 2:10-3:1

New King James Version

Treachery of Infidelity

¹⁰^(A)Have we not all one Father?
^(B)Has not one God created us?
Why do we deal treacherously with one another
By profaning the covenant of the fathers?
¹¹Judah has dealt treacherously,
And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem,
For Judah has ^(C)profaned
The Lord’s holy institution which He loves:
He has married the daughter of a foreign god.
¹²May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob
The man who does this, being ^[a]awake and aware,
Yet ^(D)who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

¹³And this is the second thing you do:
You cover the altar of the Lord with tears,
With weeping and crying;
So He does not regard the offering anymore,
Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.
¹⁴Yet you say, “For what reason?”
Because the Lord has been witness
Between you and ^(E)the wife of your youth,
With whom you have dealt treacherously;
^(F)Yet she is your companion
And your wife by covenant.
¹⁵But ^(G)did He not make them one,
Having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one?
He seeks ^(H)godly offspring.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.

¹⁶“For ^(I)the Lord God of Israel says
That He hates divorce,
For it covers one’s garment with violence,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“Therefore take heed to your spirit,
That you do not deal treacherously.”

¹⁷^(J)You have wearied the Lord with your words;
Yet you say,
“In what way have we wearied Him?”
In that you say,
^(K)“Everyone who does evil
Is good in the sight of the Lord,
And He delights in them,”
Or, “Where is the God of justice?”

The Coming Messenger

3 “Behold, ^(L)I send My messenger,
And he will ^(M)prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
^(N)Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, ^(O)He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

Footnotes

Malachi 2:12 Talmud, Vg. teacher and student

Luke 1:5-17

New King James Version

John’s Birth Announced to Zacharias

⁵There was ^(A)in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, ^(B)of the division of ^(C)Abijah. His ^(D)wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. ⁷But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.

⁸So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, ⁹according to the custom of the priesthood, ^[a]his lot fell ^(E)to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰^(F)And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of ^(G)the altar of incense. ¹²And when Zacharias saw him, ^(H)he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

¹³But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(I)you shall call his name John. ¹⁴And you will have joy and gladness, and ^(J)many will rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵For he will be ^(K)great in the sight of the Lord, and ^(L)shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, ^(M)even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷^(N)He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”