Bible Browser

Psalm 33

1  Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, ♦︎
   for it is good for the just to sing praises.
2  Praise the Lord with the lyre; ♦︎
   on the ten-stringed harp sing his praise.
3  Sing for him a new song; ♦︎
   play skilfully, with shouts of praise.
4  For the word of the Lord is true ♦︎
   and all his works are sure.
5  He loves righteousness and justice; ♦︎
   the earth is full of the loving-kindness of the Lord.
6  By the word of the Lord were the heavens made ♦︎
   and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7  He gathers up the waters of the sea as in a waterskin ♦︎
   and lays up the deep in his treasury.
8  Let all the earth fear the Lord; ♦︎
   stand in awe of him, all who dwell in the world.
9  For he spoke, and it was done; ♦︎
   he commanded, and it stood fast.
10  The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to naught; ♦︎
   he frustrates the designs of the peoples.
11  But the counsel of the Lord shall endure for ever ♦︎
   and the designs of his heart from generation to generation.
12  Happy the nation whose God is the Lord ♦︎
   and the people he has chosen for his own.
13  The Lord looks down from heaven ♦︎
   and beholds all the children of earth.
14  From where he sits enthroned he turns his gaze ♦︎
   on all who dwell on the earth.
15  He fashions all the hearts of them ♦︎
   and understands all their works.
16  No king is saved by the might of his host; ♦︎
   no warrior delivered by his great strength.
17  A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; ♦︎
   for all its strength it cannot save.
18  Behold, the eye of the Lord
      is upon those who fear him, ♦︎
   on those who wait in hope for his steadfast love,
19  To deliver their soul from death ♦︎
   and to feed them in time of famine.
20  Our soul waits longingly for the Lord; ♦︎
   he is our help and our shield.
21  Indeed, our heart rejoices in him; ♦︎
   in his holy name have we put our trust.
22  Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, ♦︎
   as we have set our hope on you.

31 ‘You were looking, O king, and lo! there was a great statue. This statue was huge, its brilliance extraordinary; it was standing before you, and its appearance was frightening. ³²The head of that statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, ³³its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴As you looked on, a stone was cut out, not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. ³⁵Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, were all broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

36 ‘This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷You, O king, the king of kings—to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the might, and the glory, ³⁸into whose hand he has given human beings, wherever they live, the wild animals of the field, and the birds of the air, and whom he has established as ruler over them all—you are the head of gold. ³⁹After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth. ⁴⁰And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; just as iron crushes and smashes everything,^* it shall crush and shatter all these. ⁴¹As you saw the feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the strength of iron shall be in it, as you saw the iron mixed with the clay. ⁴²As the toes of the feet were part iron and part clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so will they mix with one another in marriage,^* but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; ⁴⁵just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has informed the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation trustworthy.’

Daniel and His Friends Promoted

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, worshipped Daniel, and commanded that a grain-offering and incense be offered to him. ⁴⁷The king said to Daniel, ‘Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery!’ ⁴⁸Then the king promoted Daniel, gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

3In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler^* of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler^* of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler^* of Abilene, ²during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
   make his paths straight.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled,
   and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
   and the rough ways made smooth;
⁶ and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” ’

7 John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’

10 And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ ¹¹In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ ¹²Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ ¹³He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ ¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’