Old/New Testament
Psalm 123[a]
A song of ascents.[b]
123 I look up[c] toward you,
the one enthroned[d] in heaven.
2 Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress,[e]
so our eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.
3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!
For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some.[f]
4 We have had our fill[g]
of the taunts of the self-assured,
of the contempt of the proud.
Psalm 124[h]
A song of ascents;[i] by David.
124 “If the Lord had not been on our side”—
let Israel say this.—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side,
when men attacked us,[j]
3 they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger raged against us.
4 The water would have overpowered us;
the current[k] would have overwhelmed[l] us.[m]
5 The raging water
would have overwhelmed us.[n]
6 The Lord deserves praise,[o]
for[p] he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth.
7 We escaped with our lives,[q] like a bird from a hunter’s snare.
The snare broke, and we escaped.
8 Our deliverer is the Lord,[r]
the Creator[s] of heaven and earth.
Psalm 125[t]
A song of ascents.[u]
125 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved and will endure forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people,
now and forevermore.
3 Indeed,[v] the scepter of a wicked king[w] will not settle[x]
upon the allotted land of the godly.
Otherwise the godly
might do what is wrong.[y]
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
to the morally upright.[z]
5 As for those who are bent on traveling a sinful path,[aa]
may the Lord remove them,[ab] along with those who behave wickedly.[ac]
May Israel experience peace.[ad]
Learning from Israel’s Failures
10 For I do not want you to be unaware,[a] brothers and sisters,[b] that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized[c] into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 5 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness. 6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. 7 So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”[d] 8 And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and 23,000 died in a single day.[e] 9 And let us not put Christ[f] to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes.[g] 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.[h] 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall. 13 No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others.[i] And God is faithful: He[j] will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear,[k] but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.
Avoid Idol Feasts
14 So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I am speaking to thoughtful people. Consider what I say. 16 Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread that we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread. 18 Look at the people of Israel.[l] Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar?
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