Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good
1 iPraise the Lord!
jOh give thanks to the Lord, kfor he is good,
lfor his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
3 Blessed are they who observe justice,
who mdo righteousness at all times!
4 nRemember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you save them,1
5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your ochosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory with your inheritance.
6 pBoth we and qour fathers have sinned;
we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they rdid not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but srebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them tfor his name’s sake,
uthat he might make known his mighty power.
9 He vrebuked the Red Sea, and it wbecame dry,
and he xled them through the deep as through a desert.
10 So he ysaved them from the hand of the foe
and zredeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11 And athe waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
12 Then bthey believed his words;
they csang his praise.
13 But they soon dforgot his works;
they did not wait for ehis counsel.
14 But they had fa wanton craving in the wilderness,
and gput God to the test in the desert;
15 he hgave them what they asked,
but sent ia wasting disease among them.
16 When men in the camp jwere jealous of Moses
and Aaron, kthe holy one of the Lord,
17 lthe earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and covered the company of Abiram.
18 mFire also broke out in their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.
19 They nmade a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
20 They oexchanged the glory of God2
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They pforgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in qthe land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore rhe said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his schosen one,
tstood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they udespised vthe pleasant land,
having wno faith in his promise.
25 They xmurmured in their tents,
and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore he yraised his hand and swore to them
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 and would make their offspring fall among the nations,
zscattering them among the lands.
28 Then they ayoked themselves to the aBaal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to bthe dead;
29 they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then cPhinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stayed.
31 And that was dcounted to him as righteousness
from generation to generation forever.
32 They eangered him at the waters of Meribah,
and it went ill with Moses on their account,
33 for they fmade his spirit bitter,3
and he gspoke rashly with his lips.
34 They did not hdestroy the peoples,
ias the Lord commanded them,
35 but they jmixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
36 They served their idols,
which became ka snare to them.
37 They lsacrificed their sons
and their daughters to mthe demons;
38 they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was npolluted with blood.
39 Thus they obecame unclean by their acts,
and pplayed the whore in their deeds.
40 Then qthe anger of the Lord was kindled against rhis people,
and he abhorred his rheritage;
41 he sgave them into the hand of the nations,
so that those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies toppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection under their power.
43 uMany times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their vpurposes
and were wbrought low through their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he xheard their cry.
45 For their sake he yremembered his covenant,
and zrelented according to athe abundance of his steadfast love.
46 He caused them to be bpitied
by all those who held them captive.
47 cSave us, O Lord our God,
and dgather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
48 eBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
eAnd let all the people say, “Amen!”
fPraise the Lord!
Personal Greetings
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant1 of the church at pCenchreae, 2 that you qmay welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
3 Greet rPrisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also sthe church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was tthe first convert2 to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,3 my kinsmen and my ufellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,4 and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those vwho belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers5 who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 wGreet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
Final Instructions and Greetings
17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles xcontrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; yavoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but ztheir own appetites,6 and aby smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For byour obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you cto be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 dThe God of peace ewill soon crush Satan under your feet. fThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
21 gTimothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
22 I Tertius, hwho wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.
23 iGaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.7
Doxology
25 jNow to him who is able to strengthen you kaccording to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, laccording to the revelation of the mystery mthat was kept secret for nlong ages 26 but ohas now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, pto bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to qthe only wise God rbe glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.