Psalm 39-41

English Standard Version

What Is the Measure of My Days?

To the choirmaster: to ^(A)Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

39 I said, “I will ^(B)guard my ways,
    that I ^(C)may not sin with my tongue;
I will ^(D)guard my mouth with a muzzle,
    so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
²I was ^(E)mute and silent;
    I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
³    My ^(F)heart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
    then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“O Lord, ^(G)make me know my end
    and what is the measure of my days;
    let me know how fleeting I am!
⁵Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
    and ^(H)my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely ^(I)all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
⁶    Surely a man ^(J)goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing^[a] they are in turmoil;
    man ^(K)heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

⁷“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
    ^(L)My hope is in you.
⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions.
    ^(M)Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
⁹^(N)I am mute; I do not open my mouth,
    ^(O)for it is you who have done it.
¹⁰^(P)Remove your stroke from me;
    I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
¹¹When you discipline a man
    with ^(Q)rebukes for sin,
you ^(R)consume like a ^(S)moth what is dear to him;
    ^(T)surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah

¹²^(U)“Hear my prayer, O Lord,
    and give ear to my cry;
    hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am ^(V)a sojourner with you,
    ^(W)a guest, like all my fathers.
¹³^(X)Look away from me, that I may smile again,
    ^(Y)before I depart and ^(Z)am no more!”

My Help and My Deliverer

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

40 I ^(AA)waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and ^(AB)heard my cry.
²He drew me up from ^(AC)the pit of destruction,
    out of ^(AD)the miry bog,
and ^(AE)set my feet upon a rock,
    ^(AF)making my steps secure.
³He put ^(AG)a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will ^(AH)see and fear,
    and put their trust in the Lord.

⁴Blessed is the man who ^(AI)makes
    the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
    to those who ^(AJ)go astray after a lie!
⁵You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
    your ^(AK)wondrous deeds and your ^(AL)thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
    yet they are ^(AM)more than can be told.

⁶^(AN)In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
    but you have given me an open ^(AO)ear.^[b]
Burnt offering and sin offering
    you have not required.
⁷Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
    in the scroll of the book it is written ^(AP)of me:
⁸^(AQ)I delight to do your will, O my God;
    your law is ^(AR)within my heart.”

⁹I have told the glad news of deliverance^[c]
    in ^(AS)the great congregation;
behold, I have not ^(AT)restrained my lips,
    ^(AU)as you know, O Lord.
¹⁰I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    from the great congregation.

¹¹As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
    your mercy from me;
your ^(AV)steadfast love and your faithfulness will
    ever preserve me!
¹²For evils have ^(AW)encompassed me
    beyond number;
my ^(AX)iniquities have overtaken me,
    and I cannot ^(AY)see;
they are ^(AZ)more than the hairs of my head;
    my heart ^(BA)fails me.

¹³^(BB)Be pleased, O Lord, to ^(BC)deliver me!
    O Lord, ^(BD)make haste to help me!
¹⁴^(BE)Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
    who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be ^(BF)turned back and brought to dishonor
    who delight in my hurt!
¹⁵Let those be appalled because of their shame
    who ^(BG)say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

¹⁶But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
    ^(BH)say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
¹⁷As for me, I am ^(BI)poor and needy,
    but ^(BJ)the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    do not delay, O my God!

O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

41 ^(BK)Blessed is the one who considers the poor!^[d]
    ^(BL)In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
²the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
    he is called blessed in the land;
    you ^(BM)do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
³The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
    in his illness you restore him to full health.^[e]

⁴As for me, I said, “O Lord, ^(BN)be gracious to me;
    ^(BO)heal me,^[f] for I have sinned against you!”
⁵My enemies say of me in malice,
    “When will he die, and his name perish?”
⁶And when one comes to see me, ^(BP)he utters empty words,
    while his heart gathers iniquity;
    when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
⁷All who hate me whisper together about me;
    they imagine the worst for me.^[g]

⁸They say, “A deadly thing is poured out^[h] on him;
    he will not rise again from where he lies.”
⁹Even my ^(BQ)close friend in whom I trusted,
    who ^(BR)ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
¹⁰But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
    and raise me up, that I may repay them!

¹¹By this I know that ^(BS)you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
¹²But ^(BT)you have upheld me because of ^(BU)my integrity,
and ^(BV)set me in your presence ^(BW)forever.

¹³^(BX)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

Footnotes

Psalm 39:6 Hebrew Surely as a breath
Psalm 40:6 Hebrew ears you have dug for me
Psalm 40:9 Hebrew righteousness; also verse 10
Psalm 41:1 Or weak
Psalm 41:3 Hebrew you turn all his bed
Psalm 41:4 Hebrew my soul
Psalm 41:7 Or they devise evil against me
Psalm 41:8 Or has fastened

John 12:27-50

English Standard Version

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

²⁷^(A)“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, ^(B)save me from ^(C)this hour’? But ^(D)for this purpose I have come to ^(E)this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then ^(F)a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ^(G)“An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered, ^(H)“This voice has come for your sake, not mine. ³¹^(I)Now is the judgment of this world; now will ^(J)the ruler of this world ^(K)be cast out. ³²And I, ^(L)when I am lifted up from the earth, ^(M)will draw ^(N)all people to myself.” ³³He said this ^(O)to show by what kind of death he was going to die. ³⁴So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that ^(P)the Christ remains forever. How can you say that ^(Q)the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵So Jesus said to them, ^(R)“The light is among you ^(S)for a little while longer. ^(T)Walk while you have the light, lest darkness ^(U)overtake you. ^(V)The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become ^(W)sons of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, ³⁸^(X)so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

^(Y)“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹Therefore they ^(Z)could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

⁴⁰^(AA)“He has blinded their eyes
    and ^(AB)hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
    and understand with their heart, and turn,
    and I would heal them.”

⁴¹Isaiah said these things because ^(AC)he saw his glory and ^(AD)spoke of him. ⁴²Nevertheless, ^(AE)many even of the authorities believed in him, but ^(AF)for fear of the Pharisees they did not ^(AG)confess it, so that they would not be ^(AH)put out of the synagogue; ⁴³^(AI)for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Jesus Came to Save the World

⁴⁴And Jesus cried out and said, ^(AJ)“Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but ^(AK)in him who sent me. ⁴⁵And ^(AL)whoever ^(AM)sees me sees him who sent me. ⁴⁶^(AN)I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷If anyone ^(AO)hears my words and does not keep them, ^(AP)I do not judge him; for ^(AQ)I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. ⁴⁸^(AR)The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; ^(AS)the word that I have spoken will judge him ^(AT)on the last day. ⁴⁹For ^(AU)I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father ^(AV)who sent me has himself given me ^(AW)a commandment—what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”