There Is None Who Does Good

To the choirmaster: according to (A)Mahalath. A Maskil[a] of David.

53 (B)The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
    there is none who does good.

God looks down from heaven
    on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,[b]
    who seek after God.

They have all fallen away;
    together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
    not even one.

Have those who work evil no knowledge,
    who eat up my people as they eat bread,
    and do not call upon God?

There they are, in great terror,
    (C)where there is no terror!
For God (D)scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
    you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When God restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

The Lord Upholds My Life

To the choirmaster: with (E)stringed instruments. A Maskil[c] of David, (F)when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

54 O God, save me by your (G)name,
    and vindicate me by your might.
O God, (H)hear my prayer;
    give ear to the words of my mouth.

(I)For (J)strangers[d] have risen against me;
    ruthless men (K)seek my life;
    they do not set God before themselves. Selah

Behold, (L)God is my helper;
    the Lord is the upholder of my life.
He will return the evil to my enemies;
    in your (M)faithfulness (N)put an end to them.

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, (O)for it is good.
For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has (P)looked in triumph on my enemies.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 53:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms
  2. Psalm 53:2 Or who act wisely
  3. Psalm 54:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
  4. Psalm 54:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Targum insolent men (compare Psalm 86:14)

Those Excluded from the Assembly

23 “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

(A)“No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord.

(B)“No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever, (C)because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they (D)hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of (E)Mesopotamia, to curse you. But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned (F)the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you. You (G)shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever.

“You shall not abhor an Edomite, for (H)he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because (I)you were a sojourner in his land. Children born to them in the third generation may enter the assembly of the Lord.

Uncleanness in the Camp

“When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.

10 “If any man among you becomes (J)unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he shall go outside the camp. He shall not come inside the camp, 11 but when evening comes, he shall (K)bathe himself in water, and as the sun sets, he may come inside the camp.

12 “You shall have a place outside the camp, and you shall go out to it. 13 And you shall have a trowel with your tools, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement. 14 Because (L)the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.

Miscellaneous Laws

15 (M)“You shall not give up to his master a slave[a] who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him.

17 “None of the (N)daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none (O)of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. 18 You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog[b] into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.

19 (P)“You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, (Q)interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. 20 (R)You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, (S)that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

21 (T)“If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. 23 You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.

24 “If you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. 25 If you go into your neighbor's standing grain, (U)you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 23:15 Or servant; the Hebrew term ‘ebed designates a range of social and economic roles (see Preface)
  2. Deuteronomy 23:18 Or male prostitute

I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the (A)true vine, and my Father is (B)the vinedresser. (C)Every branch in me that does not bear fruit (D)he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, (E)that it may bear more fruit. Already (F)you are clean (G)because of the word that I have spoken to you. (H)Abide (I)in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; (J)you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that (K)bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me (L)he is thrown away like a branch and withers; (M)and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If (N)you abide in me, and my words abide in you, (O)ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (P)By this my Father is glorified, that you (Q)bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (R)As the Father has loved me, (S)so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 (T)If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as (U)I have kept (V)my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, (W)that my joy may be in you, and that (X)your joy may be full.

12 (Y)“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 (Z)Greater love has no one than this, (AA)that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are (AB)my friends (AC)if you do what I command you. 15 (AD)No longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant (AE)does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for (AF)all that I have heard from my Father (AG)I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but (AH)I chose you and appointed you that you should go and (AI)bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that (AJ)whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, (AK)so that you will love one another.

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Footnotes

  1. John 15:15 Or bondservants, or slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface); likewise for servant later in this verse and in verse 20

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