Taste and See That the Lord Is Good
1 Of David, when he nchanged his behavior before oAbimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
1 I will bless the Lord pat all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul qmakes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and rbe glad.
3 Oh, smagnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
4 I tsought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are uradiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 vThis poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and wsaved him out of all his troubles.
7 xThe angel of the Lord yencamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh, ztaste and see that athe Lord is good!
bBlessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
10 cThe young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who dseek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 eCome, O children, listen to me;
fI will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 gWhat man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may hsee good?
13 iKeep your tongue from evil
and your lips from jspeaking deceit.
14 kTurn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and lpursue it.
15 mThe eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
nand his ears toward their cry.
16 oThe face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to pcut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 nWhen the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to qthe brokenhearted
and saves rthe crushed in spirit.
19 sMany are the afflictions of the righteous,
tbut the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
unot one of them is broken.
21 vAffliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord wredeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be xcondemned.
Unity in the Body of Christ
1 I therefore, ma prisoner for the Lord, urge you to nwalk in a manner worthy of othe calling to which you have been called, 2 with all phumility and qgentleness, with rpatience, sbearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in tthe bond of peace. 4 There is uone body and vone Spirit—just as you were called to the one whope that belongs to your call— 5 xone Lord, yone faith, zone baptism, 6 aone God and Father of all, bwho is over all and through all and in all. 7 But cgrace was given dto each one of us eaccording to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,
f“When he ascended on high ghe led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”1
9 (hIn saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into ithe lower regions, the earth?2 10 He who descended is the one who also jascended kfar above all the heavens, that he might lfill all things.) 11 And mhe gave the napostles, the prophets, the oevangelists, the pshepherds3 and teachers,4 12 qto equip the saints for the work of ministry, for rbuilding up sthe body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to tthe unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, uto mature manhood,5 to the measure of the stature of vthe fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, wtossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in xdeceitful schemes. 15 Rather, yspeaking the truth in love, we are to zgrow up in every way into him who is athe head, into Christ, 16 bfrom whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, cwhen each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
The New Life
17 Now this I say and dtestify in the Lord, ethat you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, fin the futility of their minds. 18 They gare darkened in their understanding, halienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to itheir hardness of heart. 19 They jhave become callous and khave given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you llearned Christ!— 21 assuming that myou have heard about him and nwere taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to oput off pyour old self,6 which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through qdeceitful desires, 23 and rto be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on sthe new self, tcreated after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you uspeak the truth with his neighbor, for vwe are members one of another. 26 wBe angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and xgive no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather ylet him labor, zdoing honest work with his own hands, so athat he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 bLet no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give cgrace to those who hear. 30 And ddo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, eby whom you were sealed for the day of fredemption. 31 gLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 hBe kind to one another, tenderhearted, iforgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
