Psalm 33:12-22

New International Version

¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,^(A)
    the people he chose^(B) for his inheritance.^(C)
¹³From heaven the Lord looks down^(D)
    and sees all mankind;^(E)
¹⁴from his dwelling place^(F) he watches
    all who live on earth—
¹⁵he who forms^(G) the hearts of all,
    who considers everything they do.^(H)

¹⁶No king is saved by the size of his army;^(I)
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
¹⁷A horse^(J) is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.
¹⁸But the eyes^(K) of the Lord are on those who fear him,
    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,^(L)
¹⁹to deliver them from death^(M)
    and keep them alive in famine.^(N)

²⁰We wait^(O) in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
²¹In him our hearts rejoice,^(P)
    for we trust in his holy name.^(Q)
²²May your unfailing love^(R) be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.

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Ecclesiastes 6:1-6

New International Version

6 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: ²God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them,^(A) and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.^(B)

³A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn^(C) child is better off than he.^(D) ⁴It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. ⁵Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— ⁶even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?^(E)

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Acts 7:1-8

New International Version

Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin

7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

²To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers,^(A) listen to me! The God of glory^(B) appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran.^(C) ³‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’^[a]^(D)

⁴“So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.^(E) ⁵He gave him no inheritance here,^(F) not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land,^(G) even though at that time Abraham had no child. ⁶God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated.^(H) ⁷But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’^[b]^(I) ⁸Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision.^(J) And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth.^(K) Later Isaac became the father of Jacob,^(L) and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.^(M)