In the Shadow of Your Wings
A Prayer of David.
1 Hear a just cause, O Lord; vattend to my cry!
Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
2 From your presence let my wvindication come!
Let your eyes behold the right!
3 You have tried my heart, you have xvisited me by night,
you have tested me, and you will find nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
4 With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.
5 yMy steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not zslipped.
6 aI call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my words.
7 bWondrously show1 your steadfast love,
O Savior of those who seek refuge
from their adversaries at your right hand.
8 Keep me as cthe apple of your eye;
dhide me in the shadow of your wings,
9 from the wicked who do me violence,
my deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They close their hearts to pity;
with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
11 They have now surrounded our steps;
they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.
12 He is elike a lion eager to tear,
as a young lion lurking in ambush.
13 Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!
Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
14 from men by your hand, O Lord,
from men of the world whose portion is in this life.2
You fill their womb with treasure;3
they are satisfied with children,
and they leave their abundance to their infants.
15 As for me, I shall fbehold your face in righteousness;
when I gawake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.
The Last Words of David
1 Now these are the last words of David:
The oracle of David, the son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man who was raised on high,
the lanointed of the mGod of Jacob,
the sweet psalmist of Israel:1
2 “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me;
his word is on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel has spoken;
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
When one rules njustly over men,
ruling in the fear of God,
4 he dawns on them like the morning light,
like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
like rain2 that makes grass to sprout from the earth.
5 “For does not my house stand so with God?
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and secure.
For will he not cause to prosper
all my help and my desire?
6 But worthless men3 are all like thorns that are thrown away,
for they cannot be taken with the hand;
7 but the man who touches them
arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear,
and they are utterly consumed with fire.”4
David’s Mighty Men
8 oThese are the names of the mighty men whom David had: pJosheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three.5 He wielded his spear6 against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.
9 And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. 10 He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord qbrought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.
11 And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at rLehi,7 where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. 12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory.
13 And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped sin the Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then in the tstronghold, and the ugarrison of the Philistines was then at vBethlehem. 15 And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” 16 Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He wpoured it out to the Lord 17 and said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.
18 Now xAbishai, the brother of yJoab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty.8 And he wielded his spear against three hundred men9 and killed them and won a name beside the three. 19 He was the most renowned of the thirty10 and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three.
20 And zBenaiah the son of aJehoiada was a valiant man11 of bKabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels12 of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. 21 And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 22 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. 23 He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.
Unity in the Body of Christ
1 mI therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to nwalk oin a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with ppatience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the qbond of peace. 4 There is rone body and sone Spirit—just as you were called to tthe one hope that belongs to your call— 5 uone Lord, vone faith, wone baptism, 6 xone God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to yeach one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,
z“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”1
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?2 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended afar above all the heavens, that he might bfill all things.) 11 And he gave cthe apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds3 and teachers,4 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the dbody of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to emature manhood,5 to the measure of the stature of the ffullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be gchildren, htossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, iby human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the jhead, into Christ, 16 kfrom whom the whole body, ljoined and mheld together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
