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The Psalms

BOOK I

(Psalms 1-41)

Psalm 1

The Two Ways

¹ Happy are those
   who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
   or sit in the seat of scoffers;
² but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night.
³ They are like trees
   planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
   and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

⁴ The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
   nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 2

God’s Promise to His Anointed

¹ Why do the nations conspire,
   and the peoples plot in vain?
² The kings of the earth set themselves,
   and the rulers take counsel together,
   against the Lord and his anointed, saying,
³ ‘Let us burst their bonds asunder,
   and cast their cords from us.’

⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs;
   the Lord has them in derision.
⁵ Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
   and terrify them in his fury, saying,
⁶ ‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.’

⁷ I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, ‘You are my son;
   today I have begotten you.
⁸ Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
   and the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹ You shall break them with a rod of iron,
   and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’

¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
   be warned, O rulers of the earth.
¹¹ Serve the Lord with fear,
   with trembling ¹²kiss his feet,^*
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;
   for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Happy are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 3

Trust in God under Adversity

A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.
¹ O Lord, how many are my foes!
   Many are rising against me;
² many are saying to me,
   ‘There is no help for you^* in God.’
          Selah

³ But you, O Lord, are a shield around me,
   my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
⁴ I cry aloud to the Lord,
   and he answers me from his holy hill.
          Selah

⁵ I lie down and sleep;
   I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.
⁶ I am not afraid of tens of thousands of people
   who have set themselves against me all around.

⁷ Rise up, O Lord!
   Deliver me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
   you break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸ Deliverance belongs to the Lord;
   may your blessing be on your people!
          Selah

Eliphaz Speaks: Job Has Sinned

4Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

Job Is Corrected by God

5‘Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
² Surely vexation kills the fool,
   and jealousy slays the simple.
³ I have seen fools taking root,
   but suddenly I cursed their dwelling.
⁴ Their children are far from safety,
   they are crushed in the gate,
   and there is no one to deliver them.
⁵ The hungry eat their harvest,
   and they take it even out of the thorns;^*
   and the thirsty^* pant after their wealth.
⁶ For misery does not come from the earth,
   nor does trouble sprout from the ground;
⁷ but human beings are born to trouble
   just as sparks^* fly upward.

⁸ ‘As for me, I would seek God,
   and to God I would commit my cause.
⁹ He does great things and unsearchable,
   marvellous things without number.
¹⁰ He gives rain on the earth
   and sends waters on the fields;
¹¹ he sets on high those who are lowly,
   and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
¹² He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
   so that their hands achieve no success.
¹³ He takes the wise in their own craftiness;
   and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime,
   and grope at noonday as in the night.
¹⁵ But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth,
   from the hand of the mighty.
¹⁶ So the poor have hope,
   and injustice shuts its mouth.

¹⁷ ‘How happy is the one whom God reproves;
   therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.^*
18 For he wounds, but he binds up;
   he strikes, but his hands heal.
¹⁹ He will deliver you from six troubles;
   in seven no harm shall touch you.
²⁰ In famine he will redeem you from death,
   and in war from the power of the sword.
²¹ You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
   and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
²² At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
   and shall not fear the wild animals of the earth.
²³ For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
   and the wild animals shall be at peace with you.
²⁴ You shall know that your tent is safe,
   you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
²⁵ You shall know that your descendants will be many,
   and your offspring like the grass of the earth.
²⁶ You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,
   as a shock of grain comes up to the threshing-floor in its season.
²⁷ See, we have searched this out; it is true.
   Hear, and know it for yourself.’

¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul Preaches in Damascus

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, ²⁰and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ ²¹All who heard him were amazed and said, ‘Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?’ ²²Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus^* was the Messiah.^*

Saul Escapes from the Jews

23 After some time had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, ²⁴but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night so that they might kill him; ²⁵but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,^* lowering him in a basket.

Saul in Jerusalem

26 When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. ²⁷But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹He spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they were attempting to kill him. ³⁰When the believers^* learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31 Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ ⁵³So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; ⁵⁵for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’ ⁵⁹He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.