Come, Bless the Lord

A Song of (A)Ascents.

134 Come, bless the Lord, all you (B)servants of the Lord,
    who (C)stand (D)by night in the house of the Lord!
(E)Lift up your hands to (F)the holy place
    and bless the Lord!

May the Lord (G)bless you (H)from Zion,
    he who (I)made heaven and earth!

Your Name, O Lord, Endures Forever

135 (A)Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord,
    give praise, O (B)servants of the Lord,
who (C)stand in the house of the Lord,
    in (D)the courts of the house of our God!
Praise the Lord, for (E)the Lord is good;
    sing to his name, (F)for it is pleasant![a]
For the Lord has (G)chosen Jacob for himself,
    Israel as his (H)own possession.

For I know that (I)the Lord is great,
    and that our Lord is above all gods.
(J)Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
    in heaven and on earth,
    in the seas and all deeps.
(K)He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
    who (L)makes lightnings for the rain
    and brings forth the wind from his (M)storehouses.

He it was who (N)struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
    both of man and of beast;
who in your midst, O Egypt,
    sent (O)signs and wonders
    against Pharaoh and all his servants;
10 (P)who struck down many nations
    and killed mighty kings,
11 (Q)Sihon, king of the Amorites,
    and (R)Og, king of Bashan,
    and (S)all the kingdoms of Canaan,
12 and (T)gave their land as a heritage,
    a heritage to his people Israel.

13 (U)Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
    (V)your renown,[b] O Lord, throughout all ages.
14 (W)For the Lord will vindicate his people
    and (X)have compassion on his servants.

15 (Y)The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
    the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but do not speak;
    they have eyes, but do not see;
17 they have ears, but do not hear,
    nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them become like them,
    so do all who trust in them.

19 (Z)O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
    O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
    You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord (AA)from Zion,
    he who (AB)dwells in Jerusalem!
(AC)Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 135:3 Or for he is beautiful
  2. Psalm 135:13 Or remembrance

The Value of Wisdom

(A)My son, (B)if you receive my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom
    and inclining your heart to understanding;
yes, if you call out for insight
    and raise your voice (C)for understanding,
if you seek it like (D)silver
    and search for it as for (E)hidden treasures,
then (F)you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
For (G)the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is (H)a shield to those who (I)walk in integrity,
guarding the paths of justice
    and (J)watching over the way of his (K)saints.
(L)Then you will understand (M)righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 (N)discretion will (O)watch over you,
    understanding will guard you,
12 delivering you from the way of evil,
    from men of perverted speech,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness
    to (P)walk in the ways of darkness,
14 who (Q)rejoice in doing evil
    and (R)delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 men whose (S)paths are crooked,
    (T)and who are (U)devious in their ways.

16 So (V)you will be delivered from the forbidden[a] woman,
    from (W)the adulteress[b] with (X)her smooth words,
17 who forsakes (Y)the companion of her youth
    and forgets (Z)the covenant of her God;
18 (AA)for her house sinks down to death,
    and her paths to the departed;[c]
19 none who go to her come back,
    nor do they regain the paths of life.

20 So you will walk in the way of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright (AB)will inhabit the land,
    and those with integrity will remain in it,
22 but the wicked will be (AC)cut off from the land,
    and the treacherous will be (AD)rooted out of it.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew strange
  2. Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew foreign woman
  3. Proverbs 2:18 Hebrew to the Rephaim

The Example of Christ

15 (A)We who are strong (B)have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. (C)Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For (D)Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, (E)“The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For (F)whatever was written in former days was written for our (G)instruction, that through endurance and through (H)the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you (I)to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify (J)the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

For I tell you that Christ (K)became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order (L)to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order (M)that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

(N)“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
    and sing to your name.”

10 And again it is said,

(O)“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

11 And again,

(P)“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
    and let all the peoples extol him.”

12 And again Isaiah says,

(Q)(R)“The root of Jesse will come,
    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
(S)in him will the Gentiles hope.”

13 May the God of hope fill you with all (T)joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

14 (U)I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,[a] that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with (V)all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, (W)because of the grace given me by God 16 to be (X)a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles (Y)in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that (Z)the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have (AA)reason to be proud of (AB)my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except (AC)what Christ has accomplished through me (AD)to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 (AE)by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that (AF)from Jerusalem and all the way around (AG)to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, (AH)lest I build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written,

(AI)“Those who have never been told of him will see,
    and those who have never heard will understand.”

Paul's Plan to Visit Rome

22 This is the reason why (AJ)I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and (AK)since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go (AL)to Spain, and (AM)to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, (AN)I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For (AO)Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed (AP)they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,[b] I will leave (AQ)for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing[c] of Christ.

30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by (AR)the love of the Spirit, (AS)to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 (AT)that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that (AU)my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and (AV)be refreshed in your company. 33 May (AW)the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 15:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 30
  2. Romans 15:28 Greek sealed to them this fruit
  3. Romans 15:29 Some manuscripts insert of the gospel

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