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Psalm 25

1  To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
      O my God, in you I trust; ♦︎
   let me not be put to shame;
      let not my enemies triumph over me.
2  Let none who look to you be put to shame, ♦︎
   but let the treacherous be shamed and frustrated.
3  Make me to know your ways, O Lord, ♦︎
   and teach me your paths.
4  Lead me in your truth and teach me, ♦︎
   for you are the God of my salvation;
      for you have I hoped all the day long.
5  Remember, Lord, your compassion and love, ♦︎
   for they are from everlasting.
6  Remember not the sins of my youth
      or my transgressions, ♦︎
   but think on me in your goodness, O Lord,
      according to your steadfast love.
7  Gracious and upright is the Lord; ♦︎
   therefore shall he teach sinners in the way.
8  He will guide the humble in doing right ♦︎
   and teach his way to the lowly.
9  All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth ♦︎
   to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
10  For your name’s sake, O Lord, ♦︎
   be merciful to my sin, for it is great.
11  Who are those who fear the Lord? ♦︎
   Them will he teach in the way that they should choose.
12  Their soul shall dwell at ease ♦︎
   and their offspring shall inherit the land.
13  The hidden purpose of the Lord is for those who fear him ♦︎
   and he will show them his covenant.
14  My eyes are ever looking to the Lord, ♦︎
   for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
15  Turn to me and be gracious to me, ♦︎
   for I am alone and brought very low.
16  The sorrows of my heart have increased; ♦︎
   O bring me out of my distress.
17  Look upon my adversity and misery ♦︎
   and forgive me all my sin.
18  Look upon my enemies, for they are many ♦︎
   and they bear a violent hatred against me.
19  O keep my soul and deliver me; ♦︎
   let me not be put to shame, for I have put my trust in you.
20  Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, ♦︎
   for my hope has been in you.
21  Deliver Israel, O God, ♦︎
   out of all his troubles.

The Essence of the Law

12 So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God^* and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. ¹⁴Although heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth with all that is in it, ¹⁵yet the Lord set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendants after them, out of all the peoples, as it is today. ¹⁶Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer. ¹⁷For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, ¹⁸who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing. ¹⁹You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. ²⁰You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. ²¹He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen. ²²Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons; and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in heaven.

Jesus and John the Baptist

22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. ²³John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized— ²⁴John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison.

25 Now a discussion about purification arose between John’s disciples and a Jew.^{* 26}They came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him.’ ²⁷John answered, ‘No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, “I am not the Messiah,^* but I have been sent ahead of him.” ²⁹He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. ³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.’^*

The One Who Comes from Heaven

31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³²He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. ³³Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified^* this, that God is true. ³⁴He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. ³⁵The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. ³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath.