Psalms 55–60; Romans 16

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Psalms 55–60

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

To the choirmaster: with fstringed instruments. A Maskil1 of David.

gGive ear to my prayer, O God,

and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!

Attend to me, and answer me;

I am restless hin my complaint and I imoan,

because of the noise of the enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they jdrop trouble upon me,

and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

My heart is in anguish within me;

kthe terrors of death have fallen upon me.

Fear and trembling come upon me,

and lhorror moverwhelms me.

And I say, Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest;

nyes, I would wander far away;

I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah

I would hurry to find a shelter

from othe raging wind and tempest.

Destroy, O Lord, pdivide their tongues;

for I see qviolence and strife in the city.

10  Day and night they go around it

on its walls,

and riniquity and trouble are within it;

11  ruin is in its midst;

soppression and fraud

do not depart from its marketplace.

12  For it is not an enemy who taunts me

then I could bear it;

it is not an adversary who tdeals insolently with me

then I could hide from him.

13  uBut it is you, a man, my equal,

my companion, my familiar friend.

14  We used to take sweet counsel together;

within God’s house we walked in vthe throng.

15  Let death steal over them;

let them go down to Sheol walive;

for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

16  But I call to God,

and the Lord will save me.

17  xEvening and ymorning and at znoon

I autter my complaint and moan,

and he hears my voice.

18  He redeems my soul in safety

from the battle that I wage,

for bmany are arrayed against me.

19  God will give ear and humble them,

he who is centhroned from of old, Selah

because they do not dchange

and do not fear God.

20  My companion2 estretched out his hand against his friends;

he violated his covenant.

21  His fspeech was gsmooth as butter,

yet war was in his heart;

his words were softer than oil,

yet they were hdrawn swords.

22  iCast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

jhe will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

23  But you, O God, kwill cast them down

into lthe pit of destruction;

men of mblood and treachery

shall not nlive out half their days.

But I will otrust in you.

In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A pMiktam3 of David, when the qPhilistines seized him in Gath.

rBe gracious to me, O God, for man stramples on me;

all day long an attacker oppresses me;

my enemies trample on me all day long,

for many attack me proudly.

When I am afraid,

I tput my trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.

What can flesh do to me?

All day long they injure my cause;4

all their thoughts are against me for evil.

They vstir up strife, they wlurk;

they xwatch my steps,

as they have waited for my life.

For their crime will they escape?

yIn wrath zcast down the peoples, O God!

You have kept count of my tossings;5

aput my tears in your bottle.

bAre they not in your book?

Then my enemies will turn back

cin the day when I call.

This I know, that6 dGod is for me.

10  In God, whose word I praise,

in the Lord, whose word I praise,

11  in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

12  I must perform my evows to you, O God;

I will erender thank offerings to you.

13  fFor you have delivered my soul from death,

yes, my feet from falling,

gthat I may walk before God

hin the light of life.

Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to iDo Not Destroy. A jMiktam7 of David, when he fled from Saul, in kthe cave.

lBe merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

for in you my soul mtakes refuge;

in nthe shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

otill the storms of destruction pass by.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who pfulfills his purpose for me.

qHe will send from heaven and save me;

he will put to shame rhim who tramples on me. Selah

sGod will send out this steadfast love and his faithfulness!

My soul is in the midst of ulions;

I lie down amid fiery beasts

the children of man, whose vteeth are spears and arrows,

whose wtongues are sharp swords.

xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

They set ya net for my steps;

my soul was zbowed down.

They adug a pit in my way,

but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah

bMy heart is csteadfast, O God,

my heart is steadfast!

I will sing and make melody!

dAwake, emy glory!8

Awake, fO harp and lyre!

I will awake the dawn!

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to you among the nations.

10  For your gsteadfast love is great to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds.

11  xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to hDo Not Destroy. A iMiktam9 of David.

Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?10

Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands jdeal out violence on earth.

The wicked are kestranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

lThey have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

so that it mdoes not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

O God, nbreak the teeth in their mouths;

tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!

Let them ovanish like water that runs away;

when he paims his arrows, let them be blunted.

Let them be like the snail othat dissolves into slime,

like qthe stillborn child who never sees the sun.

Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of rthorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he ssweep them away!11

10  tThe righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will ubathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11  Mankind will say, Surely there is va reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who wjudges on earth.

Deliver Me from My Enemies

To the choirmaster: according to xDo Not Destroy. A yMiktam12 of David, zwhen Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

aDeliver me from my enemies, O my God;

bprotect me from those who crise up against me;

deliver me from dthose who work evil,

and save me from ebloodthirsty men.

For behold, they flie in wait for my life;

fierce men gstir up strife against me.

hFor no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.

iAwake, come to meet me, and see!

You, jLord God of hosts, are God of Israel.

Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;

spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

Each evening they kcome back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

There they are, lbellowing with their mouths

with mswords in their lips

for nWho, they think,13 will hear us?

But you, O Lord, olaugh at them;

you hold all the nations in derision.

O my Strength, I will watch for you,

for you, O God, are pmy fortress.

10  qMy God in his steadfast love14 rwill meet me;

God will let me slook in triumph on my enemies.

11  Kill them not, lest my people forget;

make them totter15 by your power and tbring them down,

O Lord, our ushield!

12  For vthe sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,

let them be trapped in their pride.

For the cursing and lies that they utter,

13  wconsume them in wrath;

consume them till they are no more,

that they may xknow that God rules over Jacob

to ythe ends of the earth. Selah

14  zEach evening they come back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

15  They awander about for food

and growl if they do not get their fill.

16  But I will sing of your strength;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.

For you have been to me ba fortress

and ca refuge in dthe day of my distress.

17  O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,

for you, O God, bare my fortress,

ethe God who shows me steadfast love.

He Will Tread Down Our Foes

To the choirmaster: according to fShushan Eduth. A gMiktam16 of David; hfor instruction; when he istrove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

O God, jyou have rejected us, kbroken our defenses;

you have been angry; loh, restore us.

You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;

mrepair its breaches, for it totters.

nYou have made your people see hard things;

oyou have given us pwine to drink that made us stagger.

You have set up qa banner for those who fear you,

that they may flee to it rfrom the bow.17 Selah

sThat your tbeloved ones may be delivered,

give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

God has spoken uin his holiness:18

With exultation vI will divide up wShechem

and portion out the Vale of xSuccoth.

yGilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;

zEphraim is amy helmet;

Judah is my bscepter.

cMoab is my washbasin;

upon Edom I dcast my shoe;

over ePhilistia I shout in triumph.19

Who will bring me to the fortified city?

fWho will lead me to Edom?

10  Have you not grejected us, O God?

You hdo not go forth, O God, with our armies.

11  Oh, grant us help against the foe,

for ivain is the salvation of man!

12  With God we shall jdo valiantly;

it is he who will ktread down our foes.


Romans 16

Personal Greetings

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant1 of the church at pCenchreae, that you qmay welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

Greet rPrisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. Greet also sthe church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was tthe first convert2 to Christ in Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia,3 my kinsmen and my ufellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,4 and they were in Christ before me. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those vwho belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers5 who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 wGreet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

Final Instructions and Greetings

17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles xcontrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; yavoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but ztheir own appetites,6 and aby smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For byour obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you cto be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 dThe God of peace ewill soon crush Satan under your feet. fThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

21 gTimothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

22 I Tertius, hwho wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

23 iGaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.7

Doxology

25 jNow to him who is able to strengthen you kaccording to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, laccording to the revelation of the mystery mthat was kept secret for nlong ages 26 but ohas now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, pto bring about the obedience of faith 27 to qthe only wise God rbe glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.