There Is No Law Against These Things

A Family of Prayer

The Year of God's Divine Agenda

Always Near: 14 Days of Discovering God’s Presence Every Day

Praying Through Financial Stress

Don't Let Doubt Take You Out

Mandates for Men: Serve Others

Every Place

In Her Image: Character Study of the Proverbs 31 Woman

Sound of Heaven: A 6-Day Devotional by Danny Gokey

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkEXO">
      <div class="chapter ch23" data-usfm="EXO.23">
         <div class="label">23</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Laws of Justice and Mercy</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EXO.23.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">&#8220;Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EXO.23.1"></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EXO.23.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">&#8220;Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EXO.23.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EXO.23.3"></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EXO.23.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">&#8220;If you come across your enemy&#8217;s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EXO.23.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EXO.23.5"></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EXO.23.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">&#8220;Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EXO.23.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EXO.23.7"></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EXO.23.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">&#8220;Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EXO.23.8"></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EXO.23.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">&#8220;Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Sabbath Laws</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EXO.23.9"></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EXO.23.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">&#8220;For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EXO.23.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EXO.23.11"></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EXO.23.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">&#8220;Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EXO.23.12"></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EXO.23.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">&#8220;Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Three Annual Festivals</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EXO.23.13"></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EXO.23.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">&#8220;Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EXO.23.14"></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EXO.23.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">&#8220;Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EXO.23.15"><span class="content">&#8220;No one is to appear before me empty-handed.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EXO.23.15"></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EXO.23.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">&#8220;Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EXO.23.16"><span class="content">&#8220;Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EXO.23.16"></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EXO.23.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">&#8220;Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EXO.23.17"></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EXO.23.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">&#8220;Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EXO.23.18"><span class="content">&#8220;The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EXO.23.18"></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="EXO.23.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">&#8220;Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> your God.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="EXO.23.19"><span class="content">&#8220;Do not cook a young goat in its mother&#8217;s milk.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">God&#8217;s Angel to Prepare the Way</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="EXO.23.19"></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="EXO.23.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">&#8220;See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="EXO.23.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="EXO.23.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="EXO.23.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="EXO.23.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="EXO.23.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">Worship the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="EXO.23.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="EXO.23.26"></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="EXO.23.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">&#8220;I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="EXO.23.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="EXO.23.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="EXO.23.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="EXO.23.30"></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="EXO.23.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">&#8220;I will establish your borders from the Red Sea</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">23:31 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">the Sea of Reeds</span></span></span><span class="content"> to the Mediterranean Sea,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">23:31 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="fqa">to the Sea of the Philistines</span></span></span><span class="content"> and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. </span></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="EXO.23.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="content">Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. </span></span><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="EXO.23.33"><span class="label">33</span><span class="content">Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.&#8221;</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkPSA">
      <div class="chapter ch119" data-usfm="PSA.119.137+PSA.119.138+PSA.119.139+PSA.119.140+PSA.119.141+PSA.119.142+PSA.119.143+PSA.119.144+PSA.119.145+PSA.119.146+PSA.119.147+PSA.119.148+PSA.119.149+PSA.119.150+PSA.119.151+PSA.119.152+PSA.119.153+PSA.119.154+PSA.119.155+PSA.119.156+PSA.119.157+PSA.119.158+PSA.119.159+PSA.119.160+PSA.119.161+PSA.119.162+PSA.119.163+PSA.119.164+PSA.119.165+PSA.119.166+PSA.119.167+PSA.119.168+PSA.119.169+PSA.119.170+PSA.119.171+PSA.119.172+PSA.119.173+PSA.119.174+PSA.119.175+PSA.119.176">
         <div class="q1"><span class="verse v137" data-usfm="PSA.119.137"><span class="label">137</span><span class="content">You are righteous, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v137" data-usfm="PSA.119.137"><span class="content">and your laws are right.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v137" data-usfm="PSA.119.137"></span><span class="verse v138" data-usfm="PSA.119.138"><span class="label">138</span><span class="content">The statutes you have laid down are righteous;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v138" data-usfm="PSA.119.138"><span class="content">they are fully trustworthy.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v138" data-usfm="PSA.119.138"></span><span class="verse v139" data-usfm="PSA.119.139"><span class="label">139</span><span class="content">My zeal wears me out,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v139" data-usfm="PSA.119.139"><span class="content">for my enemies ignore your words.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v139" data-usfm="PSA.119.139"></span><span class="verse v140" data-usfm="PSA.119.140"><span class="label">140</span><span class="content">Your promises have been thoroughly tested,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v140" data-usfm="PSA.119.140"><span class="content">and your servant loves them.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v140" data-usfm="PSA.119.140"></span><span class="verse v141" data-usfm="PSA.119.141"><span class="label">141</span><span class="content">Though I am lowly and despised,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v141" data-usfm="PSA.119.141"><span class="content">I do not forget your precepts.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v141" data-usfm="PSA.119.141"></span><span class="verse v142" data-usfm="PSA.119.142"><span class="label">142</span><span class="content">Your righteousness is everlasting</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v142" data-usfm="PSA.119.142"><span class="content">and your law is true.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v142" data-usfm="PSA.119.142"></span><span class="verse v143" data-usfm="PSA.119.143"><span class="label">143</span><span class="content">Trouble and distress have come upon me,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v143" data-usfm="PSA.119.143"><span class="content">but your commands give me delight.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v143" data-usfm="PSA.119.143"></span><span class="verse v144" data-usfm="PSA.119.144"><span class="label">144</span><span class="content">Your statutes are always righteous;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v144" data-usfm="PSA.119.144"><span class="content">give me understanding that I may live.</span></span></div><div class="qa"><span class="heading">&#1511; Qoph</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v144" data-usfm="PSA.119.144"></span><span class="verse v145" data-usfm="PSA.119.145"><span class="label">145</span><span class="content">I call with all my heart; answer me, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v145" data-usfm="PSA.119.145"><span class="content">and I will obey your decrees.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v145" data-usfm="PSA.119.145"></span><span class="verse v146" data-usfm="PSA.119.146"><span class="label">146</span><span class="content">I call out to you; save me</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v146" data-usfm="PSA.119.146"><span class="content">and I will keep your statutes.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v146" data-usfm="PSA.119.146"></span><span class="verse v147" data-usfm="PSA.119.147"><span class="label">147</span><span class="content">I rise before dawn and cry for help;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v147" data-usfm="PSA.119.147"><span class="content">I have put my hope in your word.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v147" data-usfm="PSA.119.147"></span><span class="verse v148" data-usfm="PSA.119.148"><span class="label">148</span><span class="content">My eyes stay open through the watches of the night,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v148" data-usfm="PSA.119.148"><span class="content">that I may meditate on your promises.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v148" data-usfm="PSA.119.148"></span><span class="verse v149" data-usfm="PSA.119.149"><span class="label">149</span><span class="content">Hear my voice in accordance with your love;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v149" data-usfm="PSA.119.149"><span class="content">preserve my life, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, according to your laws.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v149" data-usfm="PSA.119.149"></span><span class="verse v150" data-usfm="PSA.119.150"><span class="label">150</span><span class="content">Those who devise wicked schemes are near,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v150" data-usfm="PSA.119.150"><span class="content">but they are far from your law.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v150" data-usfm="PSA.119.150"></span><span class="verse v151" data-usfm="PSA.119.151"><span class="label">151</span><span class="content">Yet you are near, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v151" data-usfm="PSA.119.151"><span class="content">and all your commands are true.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v151" data-usfm="PSA.119.151"></span><span class="verse v152" data-usfm="PSA.119.152"><span class="label">152</span><span class="content">Long ago I learned from your statutes</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v152" data-usfm="PSA.119.152"><span class="content">that you established them to last forever.</span></span></div><div class="qa"><span class="heading">&#1512; Resh</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v152" data-usfm="PSA.119.152"></span><span class="verse v153" data-usfm="PSA.119.153"><span class="label">153</span><span class="content">Look on my suffering and deliver me,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v153" data-usfm="PSA.119.153"><span class="content">for I have not forgotten your law.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v153" data-usfm="PSA.119.153"></span><span class="verse v154" data-usfm="PSA.119.154"><span class="label">154</span><span class="content">Defend my cause and redeem me;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v154" data-usfm="PSA.119.154"><span class="content">preserve my life according to your promise.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v154" data-usfm="PSA.119.154"></span><span class="verse v155" data-usfm="PSA.119.155"><span class="label">155</span><span class="content">Salvation is far from the wicked,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v155" data-usfm="PSA.119.155"><span class="content">for they do not seek out your decrees.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v155" data-usfm="PSA.119.155"></span><span class="verse v156" data-usfm="PSA.119.156"><span class="label">156</span><span class="content">Your compassion, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, is great;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v156" data-usfm="PSA.119.156"><span class="content">preserve my life according to your laws.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v156" data-usfm="PSA.119.156"></span><span class="verse v157" data-usfm="PSA.119.157"><span class="label">157</span><span class="content">Many are the foes who persecute me,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v157" data-usfm="PSA.119.157"><span class="content">but I have not turned from your statutes.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v157" data-usfm="PSA.119.157"></span><span class="verse v158" data-usfm="PSA.119.158"><span class="label">158</span><span class="content">I look on the faithless with loathing,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v158" data-usfm="PSA.119.158"><span class="content">for they do not obey your word.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v158" data-usfm="PSA.119.158"></span><span class="verse v159" data-usfm="PSA.119.159"><span class="label">159</span><span class="content">See how I love your precepts;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v159" data-usfm="PSA.119.159"><span class="content">preserve my life, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, in accordance with your love.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v159" data-usfm="PSA.119.159"></span><span class="verse v160" data-usfm="PSA.119.160"><span class="label">160</span><span class="content">All your words are true;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v160" data-usfm="PSA.119.160"><span class="content">all your righteous laws are eternal.</span></span></div><div class="qa"><span class="heading">&#1513; Sin and Shin</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v160" data-usfm="PSA.119.160"></span><span class="verse v161" data-usfm="PSA.119.161"><span class="label">161</span><span class="content">Rulers persecute me without cause,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v161" data-usfm="PSA.119.161"><span class="content">but my heart trembles at your word.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v161" data-usfm="PSA.119.161"></span><span class="verse v162" data-usfm="PSA.119.162"><span class="label">162</span><span class="content">I rejoice in your promise</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v162" data-usfm="PSA.119.162"><span class="content">like one who finds great spoil.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v162" data-usfm="PSA.119.162"></span><span class="verse v163" data-usfm="PSA.119.163"><span class="label">163</span><span class="content">I hate and detest falsehood</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v163" data-usfm="PSA.119.163"><span class="content">but I love your law.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v163" data-usfm="PSA.119.163"></span><span class="verse v164" data-usfm="PSA.119.164"><span class="label">164</span><span class="content">Seven times a day I praise you</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v164" data-usfm="PSA.119.164"><span class="content">for your righteous laws.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v164" data-usfm="PSA.119.164"></span><span class="verse v165" data-usfm="PSA.119.165"><span class="label">165</span><span class="content">Great peace have those who love your law,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v165" data-usfm="PSA.119.165"><span class="content">and nothing can make them stumble.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v165" data-usfm="PSA.119.165"></span><span class="verse v166" data-usfm="PSA.119.166"><span class="label">166</span><span class="content">I wait for your salvation, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v166" data-usfm="PSA.119.166"><span class="content">and I follow your commands.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v166" data-usfm="PSA.119.166"></span><span class="verse v167" data-usfm="PSA.119.167"><span class="label">167</span><span class="content">I obey your statutes,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v167" data-usfm="PSA.119.167"><span class="content">for I love them greatly.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v167" data-usfm="PSA.119.167"></span><span class="verse v168" data-usfm="PSA.119.168"><span class="label">168</span><span class="content">I obey your precepts and your statutes,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v168" data-usfm="PSA.119.168"><span class="content">for all my ways are known to you.</span></span></div><div class="qa"><span class="heading">&#1514; Taw</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v168" data-usfm="PSA.119.168"></span><span class="verse v169" data-usfm="PSA.119.169"><span class="label">169</span><span class="content">May my cry come before you, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v169" data-usfm="PSA.119.169"><span class="content">give me understanding according to your word.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v169" data-usfm="PSA.119.169"></span><span class="verse v170" data-usfm="PSA.119.170"><span class="label">170</span><span class="content">May my supplication come before you;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v170" data-usfm="PSA.119.170"><span class="content">deliver me according to your promise.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v170" data-usfm="PSA.119.170"></span><span class="verse v171" data-usfm="PSA.119.171"><span class="label">171</span><span class="content">May my lips overflow with praise,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v171" data-usfm="PSA.119.171"><span class="content">for you teach me your decrees.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v171" data-usfm="PSA.119.171"></span><span class="verse v172" data-usfm="PSA.119.172"><span class="label">172</span><span class="content">May my tongue sing of your word,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v172" data-usfm="PSA.119.172"><span class="content">for all your commands are righteous.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v172" data-usfm="PSA.119.172"></span><span class="verse v173" data-usfm="PSA.119.173"><span class="label">173</span><span class="content">May your hand be ready to help me,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v173" data-usfm="PSA.119.173"><span class="content">for I have chosen your precepts.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v173" data-usfm="PSA.119.173"></span><span class="verse v174" data-usfm="PSA.119.174"><span class="label">174</span><span class="content">I long for your salvation, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v174" data-usfm="PSA.119.174"><span class="content">and your law gives me delight.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v174" data-usfm="PSA.119.174"></span><span class="verse v175" data-usfm="PSA.119.175"><span class="label">175</span><span class="content">Let me live that I may praise you,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v175" data-usfm="PSA.119.175"><span class="content">and may your laws sustain me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v175" data-usfm="PSA.119.175"></span><span class="verse v176" data-usfm="PSA.119.176"><span class="label">176</span><span class="content">I have strayed like a lost sheep.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v176" data-usfm="PSA.119.176"><span class="content">Seek your servant,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v176" data-usfm="PSA.119.176"><span class="content">for I have not forgotten your commands.</span></span></div>
      </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkROM">
      <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="ROM.9">
         <div class="label">9</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Paul&#8217;s Anguish Over Israel</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ROM.9.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">I speak the truth in Christ&#8212;I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit&#8212; </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ROM.9.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ROM.9.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ROM.9.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ROM.9.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:5 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">Messiah, who is over all. God be forever praised! </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">Messiah. God who is over all be forever praised!</span></span></span><span class="content"> Amen.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">God&#8217;s Sovereign Choice</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ROM.9.5"></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ROM.9.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">It is not as though God&#8217;s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ROM.9.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham&#8217;s children. On the contrary, &#8220;It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:7 </span><span class="ft"><span class="ref" usfm="GEN.21.12">Gen. 21:12</span></span></span></span><span class="content"> </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ROM.9.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God&#8217;s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham&#8217;s offspring. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ROM.9.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">For this was how the promise was stated: &#8220;At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:9 </span><span class="ft"><span class="ref" usfm="GEN.18.10">Gen. 18:10</span>,<span class="ref" usfm="GEN.18.14">14</span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ROM.9.9"></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ROM.9.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Not only that, but Rebekah&#8217;s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ROM.9.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad&#8212;in order that God&#8217;s purpose in election might stand: </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ROM.9.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">not by works but by him who calls&#8212;she was told, &#8220;The older will serve the younger.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:12 </span><span class="ft"><span class="ref" usfm="GEN.25.23">Gen. 25:23</span></span></span></span><span class="content"> </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ROM.9.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Just as it is written: &#8220;Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:13 </span><span class="ft"><span class="ref" usfm="MAL.1.2">Mal. 1:2</span>,<span class="ref" usfm="MAL.1.3">3</span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ROM.9.13"></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ROM.9.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ROM.9.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">For he says to Moses,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ROM.9.15"><span class="content">&#8220;I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ROM.9.15"><span class="content">and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:15 </span><span class="ft"><span class="ref" usfm="EXO.33.19">Exodus 33:19</span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="m"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ROM.9.15"></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ROM.9.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God&#8217;s mercy. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ROM.9.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">For Scripture says to Pharaoh: &#8220;I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:17 </span><span class="ft"><span class="ref" usfm="EXO.9.16">Exodus 9:16</span></span></span></span><span class="content"> </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ROM.9.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ROM.9.18"></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ROM.9.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">One of you will say to me: &#8220;Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ROM.9.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? &#8220;Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, &#8216;Why did you make me like this?&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:20 </span><span class="ft"><span class="ref" usfm="ISA.29.16">Isaiah 29:16</span>; <span class="ref" usfm="ISA.45.9">45:9</span></span></span></span><span class="content"> </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ROM.9.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ROM.9.21"></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ROM.9.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath&#8212;prepared for destruction? </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ROM.9.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory&#8212; </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ROM.9.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ROM.9.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">As he says in Hosea:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ROM.9.25"><span class="content">&#8220;I will call them &#8216;my people&#8217; who are not my people;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ROM.9.25"><span class="content">and I will call her &#8216;my loved one&#8217; who is not my loved one,&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:25 </span><span class="ft"><span class="ref" usfm="HOS.2.23">Hosea 2:23</span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="m"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ROM.9.25"></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ROM.9.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">and,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ROM.9.26"><span class="content">&#8220;In the very place where it was said to them,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ROM.9.26"><span class="content">&#8216;You are not my people,&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ROM.9.26"><span class="content">there they will be called &#8216;children of the living God.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:26 </span><span class="ft"><span class="ref" usfm="HOS.1.10">Hosea 1:10</span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="m"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ROM.9.26"></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ROM.9.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ROM.9.27"><span class="content">&#8220;Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ROM.9.27"><span class="content">only the remnant will be saved.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ROM.9.27"></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ROM.9.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">For the Lord will carry out</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ROM.9.28"><span class="content">his sentence on earth with speed and finality.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:28 </span><span class="ft"><span class="ref" usfm="ISA.10.22">Isaiah 10:22</span>,<span class="ref" usfm="ISA.10.23">23</span> (see Septuagint)</span></span></span></span></div><div class="m"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ROM.9.28"></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ROM.9.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">It is just as Isaiah said previously:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ROM.9.29"><span class="content">&#8220;Unless the Lord Almighty</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ROM.9.29"><span class="content">had left us descendants,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ROM.9.29"><span class="content">we would have become like Sodom,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ROM.9.29"><span class="content">we would have been like Gomorrah.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:29 </span><span class="ft"><span class="ref" usfm="ISA.1.9">Isaiah 1:9</span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Israel&#8217;s Unbelief</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ROM.9.29"></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="ROM.9.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="ROM.9.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. </span></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="ROM.9.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="content">Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. </span></span><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="ROM.9.33"><span class="label">33</span><span class="content">As it is written:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="ROM.9.33"><span class="content">&#8220;See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="ROM.9.33"><span class="content">and a rock that makes them fall,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="ROM.9.33"><span class="content">and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">9:33 </span><span class="ft"><span class="ref" usfm="ISA.8.14">Isaiah 8:14</span>; <span class="ref" usfm="ISA.28.16">28:16</span></span></span></span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

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