Bible Browser

Psalm 39

1  I said, ‘I will keep watch over my ways, ♦︎
   so that I offend not with my tongue.
2  ‘I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, ♦︎
   while the wicked are in my sight.’
3  So I held my tongue and said nothing; ♦︎
   I kept silent but to no avail.
4  My distress increased, my heart grew hot within me; ♦︎
   while I mused, the fire was kindled
      and I spoke out with my tongue:
5  ‘Lord, let me know my end and the number of my days, ♦︎
   that I may know how short my time is.
6  ‘You have made my days but a handsbreadth,
      and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight; ♦︎
   truly, even those who stand upright are but a breath.
7  ‘We walk about like a shadow
      and in vain we are in turmoil; ♦︎
   we heap up riches and cannot tell who will gather them.
8  ‘And now, what is my hope? ♦︎
   Truly my hope is even in you.
9  ‘Deliver me from all my transgressions ♦︎
   and do not make me the taunt of the fool.’
10  I fell silent and did not open my mouth, ♦︎
   for surely it was your doing.
11  Take away your plague from me; ♦︎
   I am consumed by the blows of your hand.
12  With rebukes for sin you punish us;
      like a moth you consume our beauty; ♦︎
   truly, everyone is but a breath.
13  Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; ♦︎
   hold not your peace at my tears.
14  For I am but a stranger with you, ♦︎
   a wayfarer, as all my forebears were.
15  Turn your gaze from me, that I may be glad again, ♦︎
   before I go my way and am no more.

²The Lord said to Moses:

Tell your brother Aaron not to come just at any time into the sanctuary inside the curtain before the mercy-seat^* that is upon the ark, or he will die; for I appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat.^{* 3}Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bull for a sin-offering and a ram for a burnt-offering. ⁴He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and shall have the linen undergarments next to his body, fasten the linen sash, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy vestments. He shall bathe his body in water, and then put them on. ⁵He shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin-offering, and one ram for a burnt-offering.

6 Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin-offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷He shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting; ⁸and Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel.^{* 9}Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin-offering; ¹⁰but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel^* shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, so that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.^*

11 Aaron shall present the bull as a sin-offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house; he shall slaughter the bull as a sin-offering for himself. ¹²He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of crushed sweet incense, and he shall bring it inside the curtain ¹³and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat^* that is upon the covenant,^* or he will die. ¹⁴He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy-seat,^* and before the mercy-seat^* he shall sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times.

15 He shall slaughter the goat of the sin-offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the curtain, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it upon the mercy-seat^* and before the mercy-seat.^{* 16}Thus he shall make atonement for the sanctuary, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel, and because of their transgressions, all their sins; and so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which remains with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. ¹⁷No one shall be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. ¹⁸Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement on its behalf, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on each of the horns of the altar. ¹⁹He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and hallow it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.

20 When he has finished atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ²¹Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task.^{* 22}The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness.

23 Then Aaron shall enter the tent of meeting, and shall take off the linen vestments that he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there. ²⁴He shall bathe his body in water in a holy place, and put on his vestments; then he shall come out and offer his burnt-offering and the burnt-offering of the people, making atonement for himself and for the people.

Jesus before Pilate

23Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus^* before Pilate. ²They began to accuse him, saying, ‘We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.’^{* 3}Then Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ He answered, ‘You say so.’ ⁴Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, ‘I find no basis for an accusation against this man.’ ⁵But they were insistent and said, ‘He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.’

Jesus before Herod

6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷And when he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign. ⁹He questioned him at some length, but Jesus^* gave him no answer. ¹⁰The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him, and sent him back to Pilate. ¹²That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies.

Jesus Sentenced to Death

13 Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, ¹⁴and said to them, ‘You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. ¹⁵Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶I will therefore have him flogged and release him.’^*

18 Then they all shouted out together, ‘Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!’ ¹⁹(This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) ²⁰Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; ²¹but they kept shouting, ‘Crucify, crucify him!’ ²²A third time he said to them, ‘Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.’ ²³But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. ²⁴So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. ²⁵He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished.