Bible Browser

Psalm 5

1  Give ear to my words, O Lord; ♦︎
   consider my lamentation.
2  Hearken to the voice of my crying, my King and my God, ♦︎
   for to you I make my prayer.
3  In the morning, Lord, you will hear my voice; ♦︎
   early in the morning I make my appeal to you, and look up.
4  For you are the God who takes no pleasure in wickedness; ♦︎
   no evil can dwell with you.
5  The boastful cannot stand in your sight; ♦︎
   you hate all those that work wickedness.
6  You destroy those who speak lies; ♦︎
   the bloodthirsty and deceitful the Lord will abhor.
7  But as for me, through the greatness of your mercy,
      I will come into your house; ♦︎
   I will bow down towards your holy temple in awe of you.
8  Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness,
      because of my enemies; ♦︎
   make your way straight before my face.
9  For there is no truth in their mouth,
      in their heart is destruction, ♦︎
   their throat is an open sepulchre,
      and they flatter with their tongue.
10  Punish them, O God; ♦︎
   let them fall through their own devices.
11  Because of their many transgressions cast them out, ♦︎
   for they have rebelled against you.
12  But let all who take refuge in you be glad; ♦︎
   let them sing out their joy for ever.
13  You will shelter them, ♦︎
   so that those who love your name may exult in you.
14  For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous; ♦︎
   and with your favour you will defend them as with a shield.

Israel and Judah Have Broken the Covenant

11The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed be anyone who does not heed the words of this covenant, ⁴which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron-smelter, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, ⁵that I may perform the oath that I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day. Then I answered, ‘So be it, Lord.’

6 And the Lord said to me: Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. ⁷For I solemnly warned your ancestors when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. ⁸Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of an evil will. So I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.

9 And the Lord said to me: Conspiracy exists among the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors of old, who refused to heed my words; they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant that I made with their ancestors. ¹¹Therefore, thus says the Lord, assuredly I am going to bring disaster upon them that they cannot escape; though they cry out to me, I will not listen to them. ¹²Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they will never save them in the time of their trouble. ¹³For your gods have become as many as your towns, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars to shame that you have set up, altars to make offerings to Baal.

14 As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. ¹⁵What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done vile deeds? Can vows^* and sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult? ¹⁶The Lord once called you, ‘A green olive tree, fair with goodly fruit’; but with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. ¹⁷The Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.

Rivers of Living Water

37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, ³⁸and let the one who believes in me drink. As^* the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart^* shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ ³⁹Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit,^* because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division among the People

40 When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, ‘This is really the prophet.’ ⁴¹Others said, ‘This is the Messiah.’^* But some asked, ‘Surely the Messiah^* does not come from Galilee, does he? ⁴²Has not the scripture said that the Messiah^* is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?’ ⁴³So there was a division in the crowd because of him. ⁴⁴Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

The Unbelief of Those in Authority

45 Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why did you not arrest him?’ ⁴⁶The police answered, ‘Never has anyone spoken like this!’ ⁴⁷Then the Pharisees replied, ‘Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? ⁴⁸Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.’ ⁵⁰Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus^* before, and who was one of them, asked, ⁵¹‘Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?’ ⁵²They replied, ‘Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.’