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Psalm 31

1  In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge;
      let me never be put to shame; ♦︎
   deliver me in your righteousness.
2  Incline your ear to me; ♦︎
   make haste to deliver me.
3  Be my strong rock, a fortress to save me,
      for you are my rock and my stronghold; ♦︎
   guide me, and lead me for your name’s sake.
4  Take me out of the net
      that they have laid secretly for me, ♦︎
   for you are my strength.
5  Into your hands I commend my spirit, ♦︎
   for you have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.
6  I hate those who cling to worthless idols; ♦︎
   I put my trust in the Lord.
7  I will be glad and rejoice in your mercy, ♦︎
   for you have seen my affliction
      and known my soul in adversity.
8  You have not shut me up in the hand of the enemy; ♦︎
   you have set my feet in an open place.
9  Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in trouble; ♦︎
   my eye is consumed with sorrow,
      my soul and my body also.
10  For my life is wasted with grief,
      and my years with sighing; ♦︎
   my strength fails me because of my affliction,
      and my bones are consumed.
11  I have become a reproach to all my enemies
      and even to my neighbours,
      an object of dread to my acquaintances; ♦︎
   when they see me in the street they flee from me.
12  I am forgotten like one that is dead, out of mind; ♦︎
   I have become like a broken vessel.
13  For I have heard the whispering of the crowd;
      fear is on every side; ♦︎
   they scheme together against me,
      and plot to take my life.
14  But my trust is in you, O Lord. ♦︎
   I have said, ‘You are my God.
15  ‘My times are in your hand; ♦︎
   deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
      and from those who persecute me.
16  ‘Make your face to shine upon your servant, ♦︎
   and save me for your mercy’s sake.’

Psalm 31

Prayer and Praise for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.
¹ In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
   do not let me ever be put to shame;
   in your righteousness deliver me.
² Incline your ear to me;
   rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
   a strong fortress to save me.

³ You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
⁴ take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
   for you are my refuge.
⁵ Into your hand I commit my spirit;
   you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

⁶ You hate^* those who pay regard to worthless idols,
   but I trust in the Lord.
⁷ I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,
   because you have seen my affliction;
   you have taken heed of my adversities,
⁸ and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
   you have set my feet in a broad place.

⁵ The Lord, God of hosts,
he who touches the earth and it melts,
   and all who live in it mourn,
and all of it rises like the Nile,
   and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
⁶ who builds his upper chambers in the heavens,
   and founds his vault upon the earth;
who calls for the waters of the sea,
   and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
the Lord is his name.

⁷ Are you not like the Ethiopians^* to me,
   O people of Israel? says the Lord.
Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt,
   and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?
⁸ The eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
   and I will destroy it from the face of the earth
   —except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,

says the Lord.

⁹ For lo, I will command,
   and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
   but no pebble shall fall to the ground.
¹⁰ All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
   who say, ‘Evil shall not overtake or meet us.’

The Restoration of David’s Kingdom

¹¹ On that day I will raise up
   the booth of David that is fallen,
and repair its^* breaches,
   and raise up its^* ruins,
   and rebuild it as in the days of old;
¹² in order that they may possess the remnant of Edom
   and all the nations who are called by my name,
   says the Lord who does this.

¹³ The time is surely coming, says the Lord,
   when the one who ploughs shall overtake the one who reaps,
   and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
   and all the hills shall flow with it.
¹⁴ I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
   and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
   and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
¹⁵ I will plant them upon their land,
   and they shall never again be plucked up
   out of the land that I have given them,

says the Lord your God.

Children and Parents

6Children, obey your parents in the Lord,^* for this is right. ²‘Honour your father and mother’—this is the first commandment with a promise: ³‘so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’

4 And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Slaves and Masters

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ; ⁶not only while being watched, and in order to please them, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. ⁷Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women, ⁸knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord, whether we are slaves or free.

9 And, masters, do the same to them. Stop threatening them, for you know that both of you have the same Master in heaven, and with him there is no partiality.

The Whole Armour of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. ¹¹Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For our^* struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. ¹⁵As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. ¹⁶With all of these,^* take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. ¹⁹Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,^{* 20}for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Pronouncement about the Sabbath

23 One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ ²⁵And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? ²⁶He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ ²⁷Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; ²⁸so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’

The Man with a Withered Hand

3Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ²They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ ⁴Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. ⁵He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.