Psalm 41
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 41
Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 Happy are those who consider the poor;[a]
the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.(A)
2 The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;
they are called happy in the land.
You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.(B)
3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
in their illness you heal all their infirmities.[b](C)
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you.”(D)
5 My enemies wonder in malice
when I will die and my name perish.(E)
6 And when they come to see me, they utter empty words
while their hearts gather mischief;
when they go out, they tell it abroad.(F)
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.(G)
8 They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,
that I will not rise again from where I lie.(H)
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.(I)
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them.(J)
11 By this I know that you are pleased with me:
because my enemy has not triumphed over me.(K)
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity
and set me in your presence forever.(L)
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.(M)
Psalm 52
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 52
Judgment on the Deceitful
To the leader. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
1 Why do you boast, O mighty one,
of mischief done against the godly?[a]
All day long(A) 2 you are plotting destruction.
Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
you worker of treachery.(B)
3 You love evil more than good
and lying more than speaking the truth. Selah(C)
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.(D)
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah(E)
6 The righteous will see and fear
and will laugh at the evildoer,[b] saying,(F)
7 “See the one who would not take
refuge in God
but trusted in abundant riches
and sought refuge in wealth!”[c](G)
Psalm 44
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 44
National Lament and Prayer for Help
To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil.
1 We have heard with our ears, O God;
our ancestors have told us
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old:(A)
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;(B)
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm give them victory,
but your right hand, and your arm,
and the light of your countenance,
for you delighted in them.(C)
4 You are my King and my God;
you command[a] victories for Jacob.
5 Through you we push down our foes;
through your name we tread down our assailants.(D)
6 For not in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have put to confusion those who hate us.(E)
8 In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah(F)
9 Yet you have rejected us and shamed us
and have not gone out with our armies.(G)
10 You made us turn back from the foe,
and our enemies have gotten spoil.(H)
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter
and have scattered us among the nations.(I)
12 You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.(J)
13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and scorn of those around us.(K)
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock[b] among the peoples.(L)
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face
16 at the words of the taunters and revilers,
at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.(M)
17 All this has come upon us,
yet we have not forgotten you
or been false to your covenant.(N)
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps departed from your way,(O)
19 yet you have broken us in the haunt of jackals
and covered us with deep darkness.(P)
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a strange god,(Q)
21 would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.(R)
22 Because of you we are being killed all day long
and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.(S)
23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Awake, do not cast us off forever!(T)
24 Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?(U)
25 For we sink down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.(V)
26 Rise up, come to our help.
Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.(W)
Exodus 32:1-20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Golden Calf
32 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”(A) 2 Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.”(B) 3 So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took these from them, formed them in a mold,[a] and cast an image of a calf, and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”(C) 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” 6 They rose early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being, and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to revel.(D)
7 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely;(E) 8 they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ”(F) 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are.(G) 10 Now let me alone so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, and of you I will make a great nation.”(H)
11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?(I) 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people.(J) 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”(K) 14 And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.(L)
15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenant in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, written on the front and on the back.(M) 16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets.(N) 17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 18 But he said,
“It is not the sound made by victors
or the sound made by losers;
it is the sound of singing that I hear.”
19 As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’s anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.(O) 20 He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.(P)
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- 32.4 Or fashioned it with an engraving tool; meaning of Heb uncertain
Colossians 3:18-4:6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Rules for Christian Households
18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.(A) 19 Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.
20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord.(B) 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may lose heart. 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters[a] in everything, not with a slavery performed merely for looks, to please people, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.[b](C) 23 Whatever task you must do, work as if your soul depends on it, as for the Lord and not for humans, 24 since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.(D) 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong has been done, and there is no partiality.(E) 4 1
Further Instructions
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.(F) 3 At the same time, pray for us as well, that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison,(G) 4 so that I may reveal it clearly, as I should.
5 Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.[c](H) 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.(I)
Matthew 5:1-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Beatitudes
5 When Jesus[a] saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.(A) 2 And he began to speak and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(B)
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.(C)
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.(D)
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.(E)
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.(F)
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(G)
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- 5.1 Gk he
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.