2 Samuel 22
1 David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord rescued him from the power of all his enemies, including Saul. 2 He said:
“The Lord is my high ridge, my stronghold, my deliverer.
3 My God is my rocky summit where I take shelter,
my shield, the horn that saves me, my stronghold,
my refuge, my savior. You save me from violence!
4 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I was delivered from my enemies.
5 The waves of death engulfed me;
the currents of chaos overwhelmed me.
6 The ropes of Sheol tightened around me;
the snares of death trapped me.
7 In my distress I called to the Lord;
I called to my God.
From his heavenly temple he heard my voice;
he listened to my cry for help.
8 The earth heaved and shook;
the foundations of the sky trembled.
They heaved because he was angry.
9 Smoke ascended from his nose;
fire devoured as it came from his mouth;
he hurled down fiery coals.
10 He made the sky sink as he descended;
a thick cloud was under his feet.
11 He mounted a winged angel and flew;
he glided on the wings of the wind.
12 He shrouded himself in darkness,
in thick rain clouds.
13 From the brightness in front of him
came coals of fire.
14 The Lord thundered from the sky;
the Most High shouted loudly.
15 He shot arrows and scattered them,
lightning and routed them.
16 The depths of the sea were exposed;
the inner regions of the world were uncovered
by the Lord’s battle cry,
by the powerful breath from his nose.
17 He reached down from above and grabbed me;
he pulled me from the surging water.
18 He rescued me from my strong enemy,
from those who hate me,
for they were too strong for me.
19 They confronted me in my day of calamity,
but the Lord helped me.
20 He brought me out into a wide open place;
he delivered me because he was pleased with me.
21 The Lord repaid me for my godly deeds;
he rewarded my blameless behavior.
22 For I have obeyed the Lord’s commands;
I have not rebelled against my God.
23 For I am aware of all his regulations,
and I do not reject his rules.
24 I was blameless before him;
I kept myself from sinning.
25 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds;
he took notice of my blameless behavior.
26 You prove to be loyal to one who is faithful;
you prove to be trustworthy to one who is innocent.
27 You prove to be reliable to one who is blameless,
but you prove to be deceptive to one who is perverse.
28 You deliver oppressed people,
but you watch the proud and bring them down.
29 Indeed, you are my lamp, Lord.
The Lord illumines the darkness around me.
30 Indeed, with your help I can charge against an army;
by my God’s power I can jump over a wall.
31 The one true God acts in a faithful manner;
the Lord’s promise is reliable;
he is a shield to all who take shelter in him.
32 Indeed, who is God besides the Lord?
Who is a protector besides our God?
33 The one true God is my mighty refuge;
he removes the obstacles in my way.
34 He gives me the agility of a deer;
he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain.
35 He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend even the strongest bow.
36 You give me your protective shield;
your willingness to help enables me to prevail.
37 You widen my path;
my feet do not slip.
38 I chase my enemies and destroy them;
I do not turn back until I wipe them out.
39 I wipe them out and beat them to death;
they cannot get up;
they fall at my feet.
40 You give me strength for battle;
you make my foes kneel before me.
41 You make my enemies retreat;
I destroy those who hate me.
42 They cry out, but there is no one to help them;
they cry out to the Lord, but he does not answer them.
43 I grind them as fine as the dust of the ground;
I crush them and stomp them like clay in the streets.
44 You rescue me from a hostile army;
you preserve me as a leader of nations;
people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects.
45 Foreigners are powerless before me;
when they hear of my exploits, they submit to me.
46 Foreigners lose their courage;
they shake with fear as they leave their strongholds.
47 The Lord is alive!
My Protector is praiseworthy!
The God who delivers me is exalted as king!
48 The one true God completely vindicates me;
he makes nations submit to me.
49 He delivers me from my enemies;
you snatch me away from those who attack me;
you rescue me from violent men.
50 So I will give you thanks, O Lord, before the nations!
I will sing praises to you.
51 He gives his king magnificent victories;
he is faithful to his chosen ruler,
to David and to his descendants forever!”
Galatians 2
1 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too. 2 I went there because of a revelation and presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so only in a private meeting with the influential people, to make sure that I was not running—or had not run—in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 4 Now this matter arose because of the false brothers with false pretenses who slipped in unnoticed to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. 5 But we did not surrender to them even for a moment, in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
6 But from those who were influential (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people)—those influential leaders added nothing to my message. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised just as Peter was entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who empowered Peter for his apostleship to the circumcised also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) 9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who had a reputation as pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They requested only that we remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do.
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he had clearly done wrong. 12 Until certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this and separated himself because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also joined with him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray with them by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
15 We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, 16 yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. 17 But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages sin? Absolutely not! 18 But if I build up again those things I once destroyed, I demonstrate that I am one who breaks God’s law. 19 For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!
Ezekiel 29
1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, turn toward Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘Look, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great monster lying in the midst of its waterways,
who has said, “My Nile is my own, I made it for myself.”
4 I will put hooks in your jaws
and stick the fish of your waterways to your scales.
I will haul you up from the midst of your waterways,
and all the fish of your waterways will stick to your scales.
5 I will leave you in the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your waterways;
you will fall in the open field and will not be gathered up or collected.
I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the skies.
6 Then all those living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord
because they were a reed staff for the house of Israel;
7 when they grasped you with their hand, you broke and tore their shoulders,
and when they leaned on you, you splintered and caused their legs to be unsteady.
8 “‘Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will kill every person and every animal. 9 The land of Egypt will become a desolate ruin. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
“‘Because he said, “The Nile is mine and I made it,” 10 I am against you and your waterways. I will turn the land of Egypt into an utter desolate ruin from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border with Ethiopia. 11 No human foot will pass through it, and no animal’s foot will pass through it; it will be uninhabited for forty years. 12 I will turn the land of Egypt into a desolation in the midst of desolate lands; for forty years her cities will lie desolate in the midst of ruined cities. I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them among foreign countries.
13 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: At the end of forty years I will gather Egypt from the peoples where they were scattered. 14 I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and will bring them back to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin; there they will be an insignificant kingdom. 15 It will be the most insignificant of the kingdoms; it will never again exalt itself over the nations. I will make them so small that they will not rule over the nations. 16 It will never again be Israel’s source of confidence, but a reminder of how they sinned by turning to Egypt for help. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.’”
17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the Lord’s message came to me: 18 “Son of man, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he carried out against it. 19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. He will carry off her wealth, capture her loot, and seize her plunder; it will be his army’s wages. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his compensation for attacking Tyre, because they did it for me, declares the Sovereign Lord. 21 On that day I will make Israel powerful, and I will give you the right to be heard among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Psalms 78:1-37
1 Pay attention, my people, to my instruction.
Listen to the words I speak.
2 I will sing a song that imparts wisdom;
I will make insightful observations about the past.
3 What we have heard and learned—
that which our ancestors have told us—
4 we will not hide from their descendants.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts,
about his strength and the amazing things he has done.
5 He established a rule in Jacob;
he set up a law in Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to make his deeds known to their descendants,
6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born,
might know about them.
They will grow up and tell their descendants about them.
7 Then they will place their confidence in God.
They will not forget the works of God,
and they will obey his commands.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,
who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation that was not committed
and faithful to God.
9 The Ephraimites were armed with bows,
but they retreated in the day of battle.
10 They did not keep their covenant with God,
and they refused to obey his law.
11 They forgot what he had done,
the amazing things he had shown them.
12 He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors,
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and led them across it;
he made the water stand in a heap.
14 He led them with a cloud by day,
and with the light of a fire all night long.
15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea.
16 He caused streams to flow from the rock,
and made the water flow like rivers.
17 Yet they continued to sin against him,
and rebelled against the Most High in the desert.
18 They willfully challenged God
by asking for food to satisfy their appetite.
19 They insulted God, saying,
“Is God really able to give us food in the wilderness?
20 Yes, he struck a rock and water flowed out;
streams gushed forth.
But can he also give us food?
Will he provide meat for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard this, he was furious.
A fire broke out against Jacob,
and his anger flared up against Israel,
22 because they did not have faith in God,
and did not trust his ability to deliver them.
23 He gave a command to the clouds above,
and opened the doors in the sky.
24 He rained down manna for them to eat;
he gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Man ate the food of the mighty ones.
He sent them more than enough to eat.
26 He brought the east wind through the sky,
and by his strength led forth the south wind.
27 He rained down meat on them like dust,
birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores.
28 He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp,
all around their homes.
29 They ate until they were beyond full;
he gave them what they desired.
30 They were not yet filled up;
their food was still in their mouths,
31 when the anger of God flared up against them.
He killed some of the strongest of them;
he brought the young men of Israel to their knees.
32 Despite all this, they continued to sin,
and did not trust him to do amazing things.
33 So he caused them to die unsatisfied
and filled with terror.
34 When he struck them down, they sought his favor;
they turned back and longed for God.
35 They remembered that God was their protector,
and that God Most High was their deliverer.
36 But they deceived him with their words,
and lied to him.
37 They were not really committed to him,
and they were unfaithful to his covenant.
