Psalm 37:1-18

English Standard Version

He Will Not Forsake His Saints

^[a] Of David.

37 ^(A)Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not ^(B)envious of wrongdoers!
²For they will soon ^(C)fade like ^(D)the grass
and wither ^(E)like the green herb.

³^(F)Trust in the Lord, and do good;
^(G)dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.^[b]
⁴^(H)Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will ^(I)give you the desires of your heart.

⁵^(J)Commit your way to the Lord;
^(K)trust in him, and he will act.
⁶^(L)He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as ^(M)the noonday.

⁷^(N)Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
^(O)fret not yourself over the one who ^(P)prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!

⁸^(Q)Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
^(R)Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
⁹^(S)For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall ^(T)inherit the land.

¹⁰In ^(U)just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at ^(V)his place, he will not be there.
¹¹But ^(W)the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in ^(X)abundant peace.

¹²The wicked ^(Y)plots against the righteous
and ^(Z)gnashes his teeth at him,
¹³but the Lord ^(AA)laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his ^(AB)day is coming.

¹⁴The wicked draw the sword and ^(AC)bend their bows
    to bring down the poor and needy,
    to slay those whose ^(AD)way is upright;
¹⁵their sword shall enter their own heart,
    and their ^(AE)bows shall be broken.

¹⁶^(AF)Better is the little that the righteous has
than the abundance of many wicked.
¹⁷For ^(AG)the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the Lord ^(AH)upholds the righteous.

¹⁸The Lord ^(AI)knows the days of the blameless,
and their ^(AJ)heritage will remain forever;

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Footnotes

Psalm 37:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each stanza beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
Psalm 37:3 Or and feed on faithfulness, or and find safe pasture

Isaiah 45:5-17

English Standard Version

⁵^(A)I am the Lord, and there is no other,
    besides me there is no God;
    ^(B)I equip you, though you do not know me,
⁶^(C)that people may know, from the rising of the sun
    and from the west, that there is none besides me;
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷I form light and create darkness;
    I make well-being and ^(D)create calamity;
    I am the Lord, who does all these things.

⁸^(E)“Shower, O heavens, from above,
    and ^(F)let the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
    let the earth cause them both to sprout;
    I the Lord have created it.

⁹^(G)“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
    a pot among earthen pots!
^(H)Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
    or ‘Your work has no handles’?
¹⁰Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
    or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”

¹¹Thus says ^(I)the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
^(J)“Ask me of things to come;
    will you command me ^(K)concerning my children and ^(L)the work of my hands?^[a]
¹²^(M)I made the earth
    and created man on it;
it was my hands ^(N)that stretched out the heavens,
    and ^(O)I commanded all their host.
¹³^(P)I have stirred him up in righteousness,
    ^(Q)and I will make all his ways level;
^(R)he shall build my city
    ^(S)and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,”
    says the Lord of hosts.

The Lord, the Only Savior

¹⁴Thus says the Lord:
^(T)“The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,
    and the Sabeans, men of stature,
shall come over to you ^(U)and be yours;
    they shall follow you;
    they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will plead with you, saying:
    ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
    no god besides him.’”

¹⁵^(V)Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
    O God of Israel, the Savior.
¹⁶^(W)All of them are put to shame and confounded;
    the makers of idols go in confusion together.
¹⁷But Israel is saved by the Lord
    with everlasting salvation;
^(X)you shall not be put to shame or confounded
    to all eternity.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 45:11 A slight emendation yields will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands?

Ephesians 5:15-33

English Standard Version

¹⁵^(A)Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶^(B)making the best use of the time, because ^(C)the days are evil. ¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what ^(D)the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And ^(E)do not get drunk with wine, for that is ^(F)debauchery, but ^(G)be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹addressing one another in ^(H)psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰^(I)giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father ^(J)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹^(K)submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives and Husbands

²²^(L)Wives, ^(M)submit to your own husbands, ^(N)as to the Lord. ²³For ^(O)the husband is the head of the wife even as ^(P)Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is ^(Q)himself its Savior. ²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit ^(R)in everything to their husbands.

²⁵^(S)Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and ^(T)gave himself up for her, ²⁶that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ^(U)the washing of water ^(V)with the word, ²⁷so ^(W)that he might present the church to himself in splendor, ^(X)without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.^[a] ²⁸In the same way ^(Y)husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰because ^(Z)we are members of his body. ³¹^(AA)“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^(AB)the two shall become one flesh.” ³²This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ³³However, ^(AC)let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she ^(AD)respects her husband.

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Footnotes

Ephesians 5:27 Or holy and blameless

Mark 4:21-34

English Standard Version

A Lamp Under a Basket

²¹^(A)And he said to them, ^(B)“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? ²²^(C)For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. ²³^(D)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: ^(E)with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. ²⁵^(F)For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The Parable of the Seed Growing

²⁶And he said, ^(G)“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. ²⁷He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; ^(H)he knows not how. ²⁸The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once ^(I)he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰^(J)And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? ³¹It is like ^(K)a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

³³^(L)With many such parables he spoke ^(M)the word to them, ^(N)as they were able to hear it. ³⁴He did not speak to them ^(O)without a parable, but ^(P)privately to his own disciples he ^(Q)explained everything.