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Psalm 141

Prayer for Preservation from Evil

A Psalm of David.
¹ I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;
   give ear to my voice when I call to you.
² Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
   and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.

³ Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
   keep watch over the door of my lips.
⁴ Do not turn my heart to any evil,
   to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with those who work iniquity;
   do not let me eat of their delicacies.

⁵ Let the righteous strike me;
   let the faithful correct me.
Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,^*
   for my prayer is continually^* against their wicked deeds.
⁶ When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,
   then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.
⁷ Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land,
   so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.^*

⁸ But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenceless.
⁹ Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me,
   and from the snares of evildoers.
¹⁰ Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
   while I alone escape.

12 Thus says the Lord: As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who live in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part^* of a bed.

¹³ Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,
   says the Lord God, the God of hosts:
¹⁴ On the day I punish Israel for its transgressions,
   I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
   and fall to the ground.
¹⁵ I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house;
   and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses^* shall come to an end,

says the Lord.

4Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
   who are on Mount Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
   who say to their husbands, ‘Bring something to drink!’
² The Lord God has sworn by his holiness:
   The time is surely coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
   even the last of you with fish-hooks.
³ Through breaches in the wall you shall leave,
   each one straight ahead;
   and you shall be flung out into Harmon,^*

says the Lord.

Love for Enemies

27 ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 ‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. ³⁵But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.^* Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. ³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Paul Rebukes Peter at Antioch

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; ¹²for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. ¹³And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, ‘If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?’^*