Psalm 14; Psalm 16; Job 14:1–14; Hebrews 4

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Psalm 14

The Fool Says, There Is No God

To the choirmaster. Of David.

gThe hfool says in his heart, iThere is no God.

They are jcorrupt, they do abominable deeds;

kthere is none who does good.

The Lord llooks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,1

who mseek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become ncorrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

Have they no oknowledge, all the evildoers

who peat up my people as they eat bread

and qdo not call upon the Lord?

There they are in great terror,

for God is with rthe generation of the righteous.

You would shame the plans of the poor,

but2 the Lord is his srefuge.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the Lord trestores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.


Psalm 16

You Will Not Abandon My Soul

A hMiktam1 of David.

Preserve me, O God, for in you I itake refuge.

I say to the Lord, You are my Lord;

jI have no good apart from you.

As for kthe saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,

in whom is all my delight.2

The sorrows of those who run after3 another god shall multiply;

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or ltake their names on my lips.

The Lord is mmy chosen portion and my ncup;

you hold my olot.

pThe lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I bless the Lord who qgives me counsel;

in rthe night also my sheart instructs me.4

tI have uset the Lord always before me;

because he is at my vright hand, I shall not be wshaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my xwhole being5 rejoices;

my flesh also dwells secure.

10  For you will not abandon my soul to ySheol,

zor let your aholy one see bcorruption.6

11  You make known to me cthe path of life;

in your presence there is dfullness of joy;

at your right hand are epleasures forevermore.


Job 14:1–14

Job Continues: Death Comes Soon to All

Man who is kborn of a woman

is lfew of days and mfull of trouble.

He comes out like na flower and owithers;

he flees like pa shadow and continues not.

And do you qopen your eyes on such a one

and rbring me into judgment with you?

Who can bring sa clean thing out of an unclean?

There is not one.

Since his tdays are determined,

and uthe number of his months is with you,

and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,

vlook away from him and leave him alone,1

that he may enjoy, like wa hired hand, his day.

For there is hope for a tree,

if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,

and that its shoots will not cease.

Though its root grow old in the earth,

and xits stump die in the soil,

yet at the scent of water it will bud

and put out ybranches like a young plant.

10  But a man dies and is laid low;

man breathes his last, and zwhere is he?

11  aAs waters fail from a lake

and a river wastes away and dries up,

12  so a man lies down and rises not again;

till bthe heavens are no more he will not awake

or be croused out of his sleep.

13  Oh that you would dhide me in eSheol,

that you would dconceal me funtil your wrath be past,

that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14  If a man dies, shall he live again?

All the days of my gservice I would hwait,

till my renewal2 should come.


Hebrews 4

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem nto have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because othey were not united by faith with those who listened.1 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

pAs I swore in my wrath,

They shall not enter my rest,

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: qAnd God rested on the seventh day from all his works. And again in this passage he said,

rThey shall not enter my rest.

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news sfailed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, Today, saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

tToday, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts.

For if Joshua had given them rest, God2 would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also urested from his works as God did from his.

11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so vthat no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For wthe word of God is living and xactive, ysharper than any ztwo-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and adiscerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And bno creature is hidden from his sight, but all are cnaked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

14 Since then we have da great high priest ewho has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, flet us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest gwho is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been dtempted as we are, hyet without sin. 16 iLet us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.