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169  Let my cry come before you, O Lord; ♦︎
   give me understanding, according to your word.
170  Let my supplication come before you; ♦︎
   deliver me, according to your promise.
171  My lips shall pour forth your praise, ♦︎
   when you have taught me your statutes.
172  My tongue shall sing of your word, ♦︎
   for all your commandments are righteous.
173  Let your hand reach out to help me, ♦︎
   for I have chosen your commandments.
174  I have longed for your salvation, O Lord, ♦︎
   and your law is my delight.
175  Let my soul live and it shall praise you, ♦︎
   and let your judgements be my help.
176  I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost; ♦︎
   O seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

A Man of God from Judah

13While Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer incense, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel ²and proclaimed against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, ‘O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: “A son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.” ’ ³He gave a sign the same day, saying, ‘This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: “The altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.” ’ ⁴When the king heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, ‘Seize him!’ But the hand that he stretched out against him withered so that he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. ⁶The king said to the man of God, ‘Entreat now the favour of the Lord your God, and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me.’ So the man of God entreated the Lord; and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as it was before. ⁷Then the king said to the man of God, ‘Come home with me and dine, and I will give you a gift.’ ⁸But the man of God said to the king, ‘If you give me half your kingdom, I will not go in with you; nor will I eat food or drink water in this place. ⁹For thus I was commanded by the word of the Lord: You shall not eat food, or drink water, or return by the way that you came.’ ¹⁰So he went another way, and did not return by the way that he had come to Bethel.

None Is Righteous

9 What then? Are we any better off?^* No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, ¹⁰as it is written:
‘There is no one who is righteous, not even one;
¹¹   there is no one who has understanding,
     there is no one who seeks God.
¹² All have turned aside, together they have become worthless;
   there is no one who shows kindness,
     there is not even one.’
¹³ ‘Their throats are opened graves;
   they use their tongues to deceive.’
‘The venom of vipers is under their lips.’
¹⁴   ‘Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’
¹⁵ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶   ruin and misery are in their paths,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.’
¹⁸   ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.