Bible Browser

Psalm 81

1  Sing merrily to God our strength, ♦︎
   shout for joy to the God of Jacob.
2  Take up the song and sound the timbrel, ♦︎
   the tuneful lyre with the harp.
3  Blow the trumpet at the new moon, ♦︎
   as at the full moon, upon our solemn feast day.
4  For this is a statute for Israel, ♦︎
   a law of the God of Jacob,
5  The charge he laid on the people of Joseph, ♦︎
   when they came out of the land of Egypt.
6  I heard a voice I did not know, that said: ♦︎
   ‘I eased their shoulder from the burden;
      their hands were set free from bearing the load.
7  ‘You called upon me in trouble and I delivered you; ♦︎
   I answered you from the secret place of thunder
      and proved you at the waters of Meribah.
8  ‘Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you: ♦︎
   O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9  ‘There shall be no strange god among you; ♦︎
   you shall not worship a foreign god.
10  ‘I am the Lord your God,
      who brought you up from the land of Egypt; ♦︎
   open your mouth wide and I shall fill it.’
11  But my people would not hear my voice ♦︎
   and Israel would not obey me.
12  So I sent them away in the stubbornness of their hearts, ♦︎
   and let them walk after their own counsels.
13  O that my people would listen to me, ♦︎
   that Israel would walk in my ways!
14  Then I should soon put down their enemies ♦︎
   and turn my hand against their adversaries.
15  Those who hate the Lord would be humbled before him, ♦︎
   and their punishment would last for ever.
16  But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat ♦︎
   and with honey from the rock would I satisfy them.

Psalm 82

1  God has taken his stand in the council of heaven; ♦︎
   in the midst of the gods he gives judgement:
2  ‘How long will you judge unjustly ♦︎
   and show such favour to the wicked?
3  ‘You were to judge the weak and the orphan; ♦︎
   defend the right of the humble and needy;
4  ‘Rescue the weak and the poor; ♦︎
   deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5  ‘They have no knowledge or wisdom;
      they walk on still in darkness: ♦︎
   all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6  ‘Therefore I say that though you are gods ♦︎
   and all of you children of the Most High,
7  ‘Nevertheless, you shall die like mortals ♦︎
   and fall like one of their princes.’
8  Arise, O God and judge the earth, ♦︎
   for it is you that shall take all nations for your possession.

The Faith of Other Israelite Heroes

29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. ³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. ³¹By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient,^* because she had received the spies in peace.

32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two,^* they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— ³⁸of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰since God had provided something better so that they would not, without us, be made perfect.

The Example of Jesus

12Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,^* and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, ²looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of^* the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.