Old/New Testament
Book 5 (Psalms 107-150)
Psalm 107[a]
107 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.[b]
2 Let those delivered by the Lord speak out,[c]
those whom he delivered[d] from the power[e] of the enemy,
3 and gathered from foreign lands,[f]
from east and west,
from north and south.
4 They wandered through the wilderness, in a wasteland;[g]
they found no road to a city in which to live.
5 They were hungry and thirsty;
they fainted from exhaustion.[h]
6 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
7 He led them on a level road,[i]
that they might find a city in which to live.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.[j]
9 For he has satisfied those who thirst,[k]
and those who hunger he has filled with food.[l]
10 They sat in utter darkness,[m]
bound in painful iron chains,[n]
11 because they had rebelled against God’s commands,[o]
and rejected the instructions of the Most High.[p]
12 So he used suffering to humble them;[q]
they stumbled and no one helped them up.
13 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of the utter darkness,[r]
and tore off their shackles.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.[s]
16 For he shattered the bronze gates,
and hacked through the iron bars.[t]
17 They acted like fools in their rebellious ways,[u]
and suffered because of their sins.
18 They lost their appetite for all food,[v]
and they drew near the gates of death.
19 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
20 He sent them an assuring word[w] and healed them;
he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped.[x]
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.[y]
22 Let them present thank offerings,
and loudly proclaim what he has done.[z]
23 [aa] Some traveled on[ab] the sea in ships,
and carried cargo over the vast waters.[ac]
24 They witnessed the acts of the Lord,
his amazing feats on the deep water.
25 He gave the order for a windstorm,[ad]
and it stirred up the waves of the sea.[ae]
26 They[af] reached up to the sky,
then dropped into the depths.
The sailors’ strength[ag] left them[ah] because the danger was so great.[ai]
27 They swayed[aj] and staggered like drunks,
and all their skill proved ineffective.[ak]
28 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
29 He calmed the storm,[al]
and the waves[am] grew silent.
30 The sailors[an] rejoiced because the waves[ao] grew quiet,
and he led them to the harbor[ap] they desired.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.[aq]
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people.
Let them praise him in the place where the leaders preside.[ar]
33 He turned[as] streams into a desert,
springs of water into arid land,
34 and a fruitful land into a barren place,[at]
because of the sin of its inhabitants.
35 As for his people,[au] he turned[av] a desert into a pool of water,
and a dry land into springs of water.
36 He allowed the hungry to settle there,
and they established a city in which to live.
37 They cultivated[aw] fields,
and planted vineyards,
which yielded a harvest of fruit.[ax]
38 He blessed[ay] them so that they became very numerous.
He would not allow their cattle to decrease in number.[az]
39 As for their enemies,[ba] they decreased in number and were beaten down,
because of painful distress[bb] and suffering.
40 He would pour[bc] contempt upon princes,
and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road.
41 Yet he protected[bd] the needy from oppression,
and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.
42 When the godly see this, they rejoice,
and every sinner[be] shuts his mouth.
43 Whoever is wise, let him take note of these things.
Let them consider the Lord’s acts of loyal love.
Psalm 108[bf]
A song, a psalm of David.
108 I am determined,[bg] O God.
I will sing and praise you with my whole heart.[bh]
2 Awake, O stringed instrument and harp.
I will wake up at dawn.[bi]
3 I will give you thanks before the nations, O Lord.
I will sing praises to you before foreigners.[bj]
4 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky,[bk]
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
5 Rise up[bl] above the sky, O God.
May your splendor cover the whole earth.[bm]
6 Deliver by your power[bn] and answer me,
so that the ones you love may be safe.[bo]
7 God has spoken in his sanctuary:[bp]
“I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem;
the Valley of Sukkoth I will measure off.[bq]
8 Gilead belongs to me,
as does Manasseh.[br]
Ephraim is my helmet,[bs]
Judah my royal scepter.[bt]
9 Moab is my washbasin.[bu]
I will make Edom serve me.[bv]
I will shout in triumph over Philistia.”
10 Who will lead me into the fortified city?
Who will bring me to Edom?[bw]
11 Have you not rejected us, O God?
O God, you do not go into battle with our armies.
12 Give us help against the enemy,
for any help men might offer is futile.[bx]
13 By God’s power we will conquer;[by]
he will trample down[bz] our enemies.
Psalm 109[ca]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
109 O God whom I praise, do not ignore me.[cb]
2 For they say cruel and deceptive things to me;
they lie to me.[cc]
3 They surround me and say hateful things;[cd]
they attack me for no reason.
4 They repay my love with accusations,[ce]
but I continue to pray.[cf]
5 They repay me evil for good,[cg]
and hate for love.
6 [ch] Appoint an evil man to testify against him.[ci]
May an accuser stand[cj] at his right side.
7 When he is judged, he will be found[ck] guilty.[cl]
Then his prayer will be regarded as sinful.
8 May his days be few.[cm]
May another take his job.[cn]
9 May his children[co] be fatherless,
and his wife a widow.
10 May his children[cp] roam around begging,
asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home.[cq]
11 May the creditor seize[cr] all he owns.
May strangers loot his property.[cs]
12 May no one show him kindness.[ct]
May no one have compassion[cu] on his fatherless children.
13 May his descendants[cv] be cut off.[cw]
May the memory of them be wiped out by the time the next generation arrives.[cx]
14 May his ancestors’[cy] sins be remembered by the Lord.
May his mother’s sin not be forgotten.[cz]
15 May the Lord be constantly aware of them,[da]
and cut off the memory of his children[db] from the earth.
16 For he never bothered to show kindness;[dc]
he harassed the oppressed and needy,
and killed the disheartened.[dd]
17 He loved to curse[de] others, so those curses have come upon him.[df]
He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings.[dg]
18 He made cursing a way of life,[dh]
so curses poured into his stomach like water
and seeped into his bones like oil.[di]
19 May a curse attach itself to him, like a garment one puts on,[dj]
or a belt[dk] one wears continually.
20 May the Lord repay my accusers in this way,[dl]
those who say evil things about[dm] me.[dn]
21 O Sovereign Lord,
intervene on my behalf for the sake of your reputation.[do]
Because your loyal love is good, deliver me.
22 For I am oppressed and needy,
and my heart beats violently within me.[dp]
23 I am fading away like a shadow at the end of the day;[dq]
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 I am so starved my knees shake;[dr]
I have turned into skin and bones.[ds]
25 I am disdained by them.[dt]
When they see me, they shake their heads.[du]
26 Help me, O Lord my God.
Because you are faithful to me, deliver me.[dv]
27 Then they will realize[dw] this is your work,[dx]
and that you, Lord, have accomplished it.
28 They curse, but you will bless.[dy]
When they attack, they will be humiliated,[dz]
but your servant will rejoice.
29 My accusers will be covered[ea] with shame,
and draped in humiliation as if it were a robe.
30 I will thank the Lord profusely.[eb]
In the middle of a crowd[ec] I will praise him,
31 because he stands at the right hand of the needy,
to deliver him from those who threaten[ed] his life.
The Apostles’ Ministry
4 One[a] should think about us this way—as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Now what is sought in stewards is that one be found faithful. 3 So for me, it is a minor matter that I am judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted because of this. The one who judges me is the Lord. 5 So then, do not judge anything before the time. Wait until the Lord comes. He will[b] bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the motives of hearts. Then each will receive recognition[c] from God.
6 I have applied these things to myself and Apollos because of you, brothers and sisters,[d] so that through us you may learn “not to go beyond what is written,” so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of the one against the other. 7 For who concedes you any superiority? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as though you did not? 8 Already you are satisfied! Already you are rich! You have become kings without us! I wish you had become kings so that we could reign with you! 9 For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to die, because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to people. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, we are dishonored! 11 To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed, brutally treated, and without a roof over our heads. 12 We do hard work, toiling with our own hands. When we are verbally abused, we respond with a blessing, when persecuted, we endure, 13 when people lie about us, we answer in a friendly manner. We are the world’s dirt and scum, even now.
A Father’s Warning
14 I am not writing these things to shame you, but to correct you as my dear children. 15 For though you may have 10,000 guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, because I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 I encourage you, then, be imitators of me. 17 For this reason, I have sent Timothy to you, who is my dear and faithful son in the Lord. He will remind you of my ways in Christ,[e] as I teach them everywhere in every church. 18 Some have become arrogant,[f] as if I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord is willing, and I will find out not only the talk of these arrogant people, but also their power. 20 For the kingdom of God is demonstrated not in idle talk but with power. 21 What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline[g] or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
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