Psalm 118

English Standard Version

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

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

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

⁵^(E)Out of my distress I ^(F)called on the Lord;
    the Lord answered me and set me ^(G)free.
⁶^(H)The Lord is on my side; ^(I)I will not fear.
    What can man do to me?
⁷^(J)The Lord is on my side as my helper;
    I shall ^(K)look in triumph on those who hate me.

⁸^(L)It is better to take refuge in the Lord
^(M)than to trust in man.
⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord
^(N)than to trust in princes.

¹⁰^(O)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^(P)They surrounded me like bees;
    they went out like ^(Q)a fire among thorns;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹³I was ^(R)pushed hard,^[a] so that I was falling,
    but the Lord helped me.

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

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

¹⁹^(Z)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;
    ^(AA)the righteous shall enter through it.
²¹I thank you that ^(AB)you have answered me
    ^(AC)and have become my salvation.
²²^(AD)The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.^[b]
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^(AE)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
    We ^(AF)bless you from the house of the Lord.
²⁷The Lord is God,
    and he has made ^(AG)his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
    up to ^(AH)the horns of the altar!

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

Footnotes

Psalm 118:13 Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard
Psalm 118:22 Hebrew the head of the corner

Judges 5

English Standard Version

The Song of Deborah and Barak

5 ^(A)Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:

²“That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
that ^(B)the people offered themselves willingly,
bless the Lord!

³“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;
to the Lord I will sing;
I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁴“Lord, ^(C)when you went out from Seir,
    when you marched from the region of Edom,
^(D)the earth trembled
    and the heavens dropped,
    yes, the clouds dropped water.
⁵The mountains ^(E)quaked before the Lord,
    ^(F)even Sinai before the Lord,^[a] the God of Israel.

⁶“In the days of ^(G)Shamgar, son of Anath,
    in the days of ^(H)Jael, ^(I)the highways were abandoned,
    and travelers kept to the byways.
⁷The villagers ceased in Israel;
    they ceased to be until I arose;
    I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.
⁸^(J)When new gods were chosen,
    then war was in the gates.
^(K)Was shield or spear to be seen
    among forty thousand in Israel?
⁹My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel
    who ^(L)offered themselves willingly among the people.
    Bless the Lord.

¹⁰“Tell of it, ^(M)you who ride on white donkeys,
    you who sit on rich carpets^[b]
    and you who walk by the way.
¹¹To the sound of musicians^[c] at the watering places,
    there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord,
    the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.

“Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.

¹²^(N)“Awake, awake, Deborah!
    Awake, awake, break out in a song!
Arise, Barak, ^(O)lead away your captives,
    O son of Abinoam.
¹³Then down marched the remnant of the noble;
    the people of the Lord marched down for me against the mighty.
¹⁴From ^(P)Ephraim their root ^(Q)they marched down into the valley,^[d]
    following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;
from ^(R)Machir marched down the commanders,
    and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant's^[e] staff;
¹⁵the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,
    and Issachar faithful to ^(S)Barak;
    into the valley they rushed at his heels.
Among the clans of Reuben
    there were great searchings of heart.
¹⁶Why did you sit still ^(T)among the sheepfolds,
    to hear the whistling for the flocks?
Among the clans of Reuben
    there were great searchings of heart.
¹⁷^(U)Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;
    ^(V)and Dan, why did he stay with the ships?
^(W)Asher sat still ^(X)at the coast of the sea,
    staying by his landings.
¹⁸^(Y)Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;
    ^(Z)Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field.

¹⁹“The kings came, they fought;
    then fought the kings of Canaan,
at ^(AA)Taanach, by the waters of ^(AB)Megiddo;
    ^(AC)they got no spoils of silver.
²⁰^(AD)From heaven the stars fought,
    from their courses they fought against Sisera.
²¹^(AE)The torrent Kishon swept them away,
    the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
    March on, my soul, with might!

²²“Then loud beat the horses' hoofs
with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.

²³“Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord,
curse its inhabitants thoroughly,
^(AF)because they did not come to the help of the Lord,
to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

²⁴“Most blessed of women be ^(AG)Jael,
    the wife of Heber the Kenite,
    of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
²⁵^(AH)He asked for water and she gave him milk;
    she brought him curds in a noble's bowl.
²⁶^(AI)She sent her hand to the tent peg
    and her right hand to the workmen's mallet;
she struck Sisera;
    she crushed his head;
    she shattered and pierced his temple.
²⁷Between her feet
    he sank, he fell, he lay still;
between her feet
    he sank, he fell;
where he sank,
    there he fell—dead.

²⁸^(AJ)“Out of the window she peered,
    the mother of Sisera wailed through ^(AK)the lattice:
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
    Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’
²⁹Her wisest princesses answer,
    indeed, she answers herself,
³⁰‘Have they not found and ^(AL)divided the spoil?—
    A womb or two for every man;
spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,
    spoil of dyed materials embroidered,
    two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’

³¹^(AM)“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!
But your friends be ^(AN)like the sun ^(AO)as he rises in his might.”

^(AP)And the land had rest for forty years.

Footnotes

Judges 5:5 Or before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord
Judges 5:10 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; it may connote saddle blankets
Judges 5:11 Or archers; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
Judges 5:14 Septuagint; Hebrew in Amalek
Judges 5:14 Hebrew commander's

1 Thessalonians 1

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the ^(B)Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

^(C)Grace to you and peace.

The Thessalonians' Faith and Example

²^(D)We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly^[a] ^(E)mentioning you in our prayers, ³remembering before ^(F)our God and Father ^(G)your work of faith and labor of ^(H)love and ^(I)steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴For we know, ^(J)brothers^[b] loved by God, ^(K)that he has chosen you, ⁵because ^(L)our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and ^(M)in the Holy Spirit and with full ^(N)conviction. You know ^(O)what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. ⁶And ^(P)you became imitators of us ^(Q)and of the Lord, for ^(R)you received the word in much affliction, ^(S)with the ^(T)joy of the Holy Spirit, ⁷so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. ⁸For not only has the word of the Lord ^(U)sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth ^(V)everywhere, so that we need not say anything. ⁹For they themselves report concerning us the kind of ^(W)reception we had among you, and how ^(X)you turned to God ^(Y)from idols to serve the living and ^(Z)true God, ¹⁰and ^(AA)to wait for his Son ^(AB)from heaven, ^(AC)whom he raised from the dead, Jesus ^(AD)who delivers us from ^(AE)the wrath to come.

Footnotes

1 Thessalonians 1:2 Or without ceasing
1 Thessalonians 1:4 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters