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Psalm 25

Prayer for Guidance and for Deliverance

Of David.
¹ To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
² O my God, in you I trust;
   do not let me be put to shame;
   do not let my enemies exult over me.
³ Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
   let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

⁴ Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
   teach me your paths.
⁵ Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
   for you are the God of my salvation;
   for you I wait all day long.

⁶ Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
   for they have been from of old.
⁷ Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
   according to your steadfast love remember me,
   for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

⁸ Good and upright is the Lord;
   therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
⁹ He leads the humble in what is right,
   and teaches the humble his way.
¹⁰ All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
   for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

¹¹ For your name’s sake, O Lord,
   pardon my guilt, for it is great.
¹² Who are they that fear the Lord?
   He will teach them the way that they should choose.

¹³ They will abide in prosperity,
   and their children shall possess the land.
¹⁴ The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
   and he makes his covenant known to them.
¹⁵ My eyes are ever towards the Lord,
   for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

¹⁶ Turn to me and be gracious to me,
   for I am lonely and afflicted.
¹⁷ Relieve the troubles of my heart,
   and bring me^* out of my distress.
¹⁸ Consider my affliction and my trouble,
   and forgive all my sins.

¹⁹ Consider how many are my foes,
   and with what violent hatred they hate me.
²⁰ O guard my life, and deliver me;
   do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
²¹ May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
   for I wait for you.

²² Redeem Israel, O God,
   out of all its troubles.

Spies Sent to Jericho

2Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, ‘Go, view the land, especially Jericho.’ So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there. ²The king of Jericho was told, ‘Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.’ ³Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, ‘Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come only to search out the whole land.’ ⁴But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, ‘True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. ⁵And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them.’ ⁶She had, however, brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof. ⁷So the men pursued them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

8 Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof ⁹and said to the men: ‘I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you. ¹⁰For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea^* before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. ¹¹As soon as we heard it, our hearts failed, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below. ¹²Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family. Give me a sign of good faith ¹³that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.’ ¹⁴The men said to her, ‘Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land.’

Israel’s Rejection Is Not Final

11I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. ²God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? ³‘Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.’ ⁴But what is the divine reply to him? ‘I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ ⁵So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ⁶But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.^*

7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, ⁸as it is written,
‘God gave them a sluggish spirit,
   eyes that would not see
   and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.’
⁹And David says,
‘Let their table become a snare and a trap,
   a stumbling-block and a retribution for them;
¹⁰ let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
   and keep their backs for ever bent.’

The Salvation of the Gentiles

11 So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling^* salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel^* jealous. ¹²Now if their stumbling^* means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids

25‘Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids^* took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.^{* 2}Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; ⁴but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. ⁶But at midnight there was a shout, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” ⁷Then all those bridesmaids^* got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸The foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” ⁹But the wise replied, “No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.” ¹⁰And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. ¹¹Later the other bridesmaids^* came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” ¹²But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” ¹³Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.^*