Psalm 74

English Standard Version

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)Asaph.

74 O God, why do you ^(B)cast us off forever?
    Why does your anger ^(C)smoke against ^(D)the sheep of your pasture?
²^(E)Remember your congregation, which you have ^(F)purchased of old,
    which you have ^(G)redeemed to be ^(H)the tribe of your heritage!
    Remember Mount Zion, ^(I)where you have dwelt.
³Direct your steps to ^(J)the perpetual ruins;
    the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

⁴Your foes have ^(K)roared in the midst of your meeting place;
    ^(L)they set up their ^(M)own signs for ^(N)signs.
⁵They were like those who swing ^(O)axes
    in a forest of trees.^[b]
⁶And all its ^(P)carved wood
    they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
⁷They ^(Q)set your sanctuary on fire;
    they ^(R)profaned ^(S)the dwelling place of your name,
    bringing it down to the ground.
⁸They ^(T)said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
    they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our ^(U)signs;
    ^(V)there is no longer any prophet,
    and there is none among us who knows how long.
¹⁰How long, O God, ^(W)is the foe to scoff?
    Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
¹¹Why ^(X)do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
    Take it from the fold of your garment^[c] and destroy them!

¹²Yet ^(Y)God my King is from of old,
    working salvation in the midst of the earth.
¹³You ^(Z)divided the sea by your might;
    you ^(AA)broke the heads of ^(AB)the sea monsters^[d] on the waters.
¹⁴You crushed the heads of ^(AC)Leviathan;
    you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
¹⁵You ^(AD)split open springs and brooks;
    you ^(AE)dried up ever-flowing streams.
¹⁶Yours is the day, yours also the night;
    you have established ^(AF)the heavenly lights and the sun.
¹⁷You have ^(AG)fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
    you have made ^(AH)summer and winter.

¹⁸^(AI)Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and ^(AJ)a foolish people reviles your name.
¹⁹Do not deliver the soul of your ^(AK)dove to the wild beasts;
^(AL)do not forget the life of your poor forever.

²⁰Have regard for ^(AM)the covenant,
for ^(AN)the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
²¹Let not ^(AO)the downtrodden ^(AP)turn back in shame;
let ^(AQ)the poor and needy praise your name.

²²Arise, O God, ^(AR)defend your cause;
^(AS)remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
²³Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
^(AT)the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

Footnotes

Psalm 74:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
Psalm 74:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Psalm 74:11 Hebrew from your bosom
Psalm 74:13 Or the great sea creatures

Ezekiel 17

English Standard Version

Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine

17 The word of the Lord came to me: ²^(A)“Son of man, ^(B)propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel; ³say, Thus says the Lord God: ^(C)A great eagle ^(D)with great wings and long pinions, ^(E)rich in plumage of many colors, came ^(F)to Lebanon ^(G)and took the top of the cedar. ⁴He broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to a land of trade and set it in a city of merchants. ⁵Then he took of the seed of the land ^(H)and planted it in fertile soil.^[a] He placed it beside abundant waters. ^(I)He set it like a willow twig, ⁶and it sprouted and became a ^(J)low ^(K)spreading vine, and its branches turned toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out boughs.

⁷^(L)“And there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage, ^(M)and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and shot forth its branches toward him from ^(N)the bed where it was planted, that he might water it. ⁸^(O)It had been planted on good soil by abundant waters, that it might produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble vine.

⁹“Say, Thus says the Lord God: ^(P)Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers, so that all its fresh sprouting leaves wither? It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it from its roots. ¹⁰Behold, it is planted; will it thrive? ^(Q)Will it not utterly wither when the east wind strikes it—wither away on the bed where it sprouted?”

¹¹Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹²“Say now to ^(R)the rebellious house, ^(S)Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them, behold, ^(T)the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took her king and her princes and brought them to him to Babylon. ¹³^(U)And he took one of the royal offspring^[b] ^(V)and made a covenant with him, ^(W)putting him under oath (^(X)the chief men of the land he had taken away), ¹⁴that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up, and keep his covenant that it might stand. ¹⁵^(Y)But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors ^(Z)to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. ^(AA)Will he thrive? Can one escape who does such things? Can he ^(AB)break the covenant and yet escape?

¹⁶^(AC)“As I live, declares the Lord God, surely ^(AD)in the place where the king dwells ^(AE)who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die. ¹⁷^(AF)Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, ^(AG)when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives. ¹⁸He despised the oath in breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand and did all these things; he shall not escape. ¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely it is my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his head. ²⁰^(AH)I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon ^(AI)and enter into judgment with him there ^(AJ)for the treachery he has committed against me. ²¹And all the pick^[c] of his troops shall fall by the sword, ^(AK)and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind, and you shall know that ^(AL)I am the Lord; I have spoken.”

²²Thus says the Lord God: ^(AM)“I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. ^(AN)I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and ^(AO)I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. ²³^(AP)On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. ^(AQ)And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. ²⁴And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; ^(AR)I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up ^(AS)the green tree, and make ^(AT)the dry tree flourish. ^(AU)I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

Footnotes

Ezekiel 17:5 Hebrew in a field of seed
Ezekiel 17:13 Hebrew seed
Ezekiel 17:21 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts all the fugitives

Philippians 1

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 Paul and Timothy, servants^[a] of Christ Jesus,

To all the ^(A)saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the ^(B)overseers^[b] and ^(C)deacons:^[c]

²^(D)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³^(E)I thank my God ^(F)in all my remembrance of you, ⁴always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ⁵^(G)because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶And I am sure of this, that he who began ^(H)a good work in you ^(I)will bring it to completion at ^(J)the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you ^(K)in my heart, for you are all ^(L)partakers with me of grace,^[d] both ^(M)in my imprisonment and in ^(N)the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸For ^(O)God is my witness, ^(P)how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹And it is my prayer that ^(Q)your love may abound more and more, ^(R)with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰so that you may approve what is excellent, ^(S)and so be pure and blameless ^(T)for the day of Christ, ¹¹filled ^(U)with the fruit of righteousness that comes ^(V)through Jesus Christ, ^(W)to the glory and praise of God.

The Advance of the Gospel

¹²I want you to know, brothers,^[e] that what has happened to me has really ^(X)served to advance the gospel, ¹³so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard^[f] and ^(Y)to all the rest that ^(Z)my imprisonment is for Christ. ¹⁴And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold ^(AA)to speak the word^[g] without fear.

¹⁵^(AB)Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. ¹⁶The latter do it out of love, ^(AC)knowing that I am put here for ^(AD)the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷The former proclaim Christ ^(AE)out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. ¹⁸What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

To Live Is Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice, ¹⁹for I know that ^(AF)through your prayers and ^(AG)the help of ^(AH)the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, ²⁰as it is my eager expectation and hope ^(AI)that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full ^(AJ)courage now as always Christ ^(AK)will be honored in my body, ^(AL)whether by life or by death. ²¹For to me ^(AM)to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. ²³^(AN)I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is ^(AO)to depart and ^(AP)be with Christ, for that is far better. ²⁴But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. ²⁵^(AQ)Convinced of this, ^(AR)I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your ^(AS)progress and ^(AT)joy in the faith, ²⁶so that in me ^(AU)you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

²⁷Only ^(AV)let your manner of life be ^(AW)worthy^[h] of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you ^(AX)that you are standing firm in one spirit, with ^(AY)one mind ^(AZ)striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is ^(BA)a clear sign to them of their destruction, but ^(BB)of your salvation, and that from God. ²⁹For ^(BC)it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also ^(BD)suffer for his sake, ³⁰engaged in the same ^(BE)conflict that ^(BF)you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Footnotes

Philippians 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
Philippians 1:1 Or bishops; Greek episkopoi
Philippians 1:1 Or servants, or ministers; Greek diakonoi
Philippians 1:7 Or you all have fellowship with me in grace
Philippians 1:12 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verse 14
Philippians 1:13 Greek in the whole praetorium
Philippians 1:14 Some manuscripts add of God
Philippians 1:27 Greek Only behave as citizens worthy