Psalm 116-118

English Standard Version

I Love the Lord

116 I ^(A)love the Lord, because he has ^(B)heard
    my voice and my pleas for mercy.
²Because he ^(C)inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
³^(D)The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
⁴Then ^(E)I called on the name of the Lord:
    “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”

⁵^(F)Gracious is the Lord, and ^(G)righteous;
    our God is ^(H)merciful.
⁶The Lord preserves ^(I)the simple;
    when ^(J)I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷Return, O my soul, to your ^(K)rest;
    for the Lord has ^(L)dealt bountifully with you.

⁸For ^(M)you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling;
⁹I will walk before the Lord
    ^(N)in the land of the living.

¹⁰^(O)I believed, ^(P)even when^[a] I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
¹¹^(Q)I said in my alarm,
^(R)“All mankind are liars.”

¹²What shall I ^(S)render to the Lord
    for all his benefits to me?
¹³I will lift up ^(T)the cup of salvation
    and ^(U)call on the name of the Lord,
¹⁴I will ^(V)pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people.

¹⁵^(W)Precious in the sight of the Lord
    is the death of his ^(X)saints.
¹⁶O Lord, I am your ^(Y)servant;
    I am your servant, ^(Z)the son of your maidservant.
    You have ^(AA)loosed my bonds.
¹⁷I will ^(AB)offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and ^(AC)call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸I will ^(AD)pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹in ^(AE)the courts of the house of the Lord,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
^(AF)Praise the Lord!

The Lord's Faithfulness Endures Forever

117 ^(AG)Praise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
²For ^(AH)great is his steadfast love toward us,
and ^(AI)the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
^(AJ)Praise the Lord!

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

118 ^(AK)Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!

²^(AL)Let Israel say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
³^(AM)Let the house of Aaron say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
⁴^(AN)Let those who fear the Lord say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”

⁵^(AO)Out of my distress I ^(AP)called on the Lord;
    the Lord answered me and set me ^(AQ)free.
⁶^(AR)The Lord is on my side; ^(AS)I will not fear.
    What can man do to me?
⁷^(AT)The Lord is on my side as my helper;
    I shall ^(AU)look in triumph on those who hate me.

⁸^(AV)It is better to take refuge in the Lord
^(AW)than to trust in man.
⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord
^(AX)than to trust in princes.

¹⁰^(AY)All nations surrounded me;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹¹They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹²^(AZ)They surrounded me like bees;
    they went out like ^(BA)a fire among thorns;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹³I was ^(BB)pushed hard,^[b] so that I was falling,
    but the Lord helped me.

¹⁴The Lord is my strength and my song;
    ^(BC)he has become my salvation.
¹⁵Glad songs of salvation
    are in the tents of the righteous:
^(BD)“The right hand of the Lord ^(BE)does valiantly,
¹⁶    the right hand of the Lord exalts,
    the right hand of the Lord ^(BF)does valiantly!”

¹⁷^(BG)I shall not die, but I shall live,
and ^(BH)recount the deeds of the Lord.
¹⁸The Lord has ^(BI)disciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.

¹⁹^(BJ)Open to me the gates of righteousness,
    that I may enter through them
    and give thanks to the Lord.
²⁰This is the gate of the Lord;
    ^(BK)the righteous shall enter through it.
²¹I thank you that ^(BL)you have answered me
    ^(BM)and have become my salvation.
²²^(BN)The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.^[c]
²³This is the Lord's doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.

²⁵Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!

²⁶^(BO)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
    We ^(BP)bless you from the house of the Lord.
²⁷The Lord is God,
    and he has made ^(BQ)his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
    up to ^(BR)the horns of the altar!

²⁸You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will ^(BS)extol you.
²⁹^(BT)Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!

Footnotes

Psalm 116:10 Or believed, indeed; Septuagint believed, therefore
Psalm 118:13 Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard
Psalm 118:22 Hebrew the head of the corner

Romans 3

English Standard Version

God's Righteousness Upheld

3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? ²Much in every way. To begin with, ^(A)the Jews were entrusted with ^(B)the oracles of God. ³^(C)What if some were unfaithful? ^(D)Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? ⁴By no means! ^(E)Let God be true though ^(F)every one were a liar, as it is written,

^(G)“That you may be justified in your words,
and prevail when you ^(H)are judged.”

⁵But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict ^(I)wrath on us? (^(J)I speak in a human way.) ⁶By no means! For then how could ^(K)God judge the world? ⁷But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, ^(L)why am I still being condemned as a sinner? ⁸And why not ^(M)do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

No One Is Righteous

⁹What then? Are we Jews^[a] any better off?^[b] No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both ^(N)Jews and ^(O)Greeks, are ^(P)under sin, ¹⁰as it is written:

^(Q)“None is righteous, no, not one;
¹¹    no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
¹²All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
¹³^(R)“Their throat is ^(S)an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”
^(T)“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
¹⁴    ^(U)“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
¹⁵^(V)“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶    in their paths are ruin and misery,
¹⁷and ^(W)the way of peace they have not known.”
¹⁸    ^(X)“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever ^(Y)the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, ^(Z)so that every mouth may be stopped, and ^(AA)the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰For ^(AB)by works of the law no human being^[c] will be justified in his sight, since ^(AC)through the law comes knowledge of sin.

The Righteousness of God Through Faith

²¹But now ^(AD)the righteousness of God ^(AE)has been manifested apart from the law, although ^(AF)the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²²the righteousness of God ^(AG)through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. ^(AH)For there is no distinction: ²³for ^(AI)all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴^(AJ)and are justified ^(AK)by his grace as a gift, ^(AL)through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God ^(AM)put forward as ^(AN)a propitiation ^(AO)by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in ^(AP)his divine forbearance he had passed over ^(AQ)former sins. ²⁶It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷^(AR)Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸For we hold that one is justified by faith ^(AS)apart from works of the law. ²⁹Or ^(AT)is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰since ^(AU)God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and ^(AV)the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.