Who Is like the Lord Our God?
1 bPraise the Lord!
cPraise, O dservants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
2 eBlessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore!
3 fFrom the rising of the sun to its setting,
4 The Lord is ihigh above all nations,
and his jglory above the heavens!
5 kWho is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
6 who llooks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He mraises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them nsit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He ogives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
bPraise the Lord!
Tremble at the Presence of the Lord
1 When pIsrael went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from qa people of strange language,
2 Judah became his rsanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3 sThe sea looked and fled;
tJordan turned back.
4 uThe mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5 What vails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7 wTremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns xthe rock into ya pool of water,
zthe flint into a spring of water.
To Your Name Give Glory
1 aNot to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
bfor the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
2 Why should the nations say,
c“Where is their God?”
3 dOur God is in the heavens;
ehe does all that he pleases.
4 fTheir idols are silver and gold,
gthe work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, hbut do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
8 iThose who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
9 O jIsrael,1 ktrust in the Lord!
He is their lhelp and their shield.
10 O jhouse of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and mtheir shield.
11 You nwho fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us;
he will bless othe house of Israel;
he will bless othe house of Aaron;
13 he will pbless those who fear the Lord,
qboth the small and the great.
14 May the Lord rgive you increase,
you and your children!
15 May syou be blessed by the Lord,
twho made heaven and earth!
16 The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to the children of man.
17 uThe dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any who go down into vsilence.
18 But wwe will bless the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.
xPraise the Lord!
I Love the Lord
1 I ylove the Lord, because he has zheard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2 Because he ainclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 bThe snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then cI called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
5 dGracious is the Lord, and erighteous;
our God is fmerciful.
6 The Lord preserves gthe simple;
when hI was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your irest;
for the Lord has jdealt bountifully with you.
8 For kyou have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
9 I will walk before the Lord
lin the land of the living.
10 mI believed, neven when2 I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11 oI said in my alarm,
p“All mankind are liars.”
12 What shall I qrender to the Lord
for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up rthe cup of salvation
and scall on the name of the Lord,
14 I will tpay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 uPrecious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his vsaints.
16 O Lord, I am your wservant;
I am your servant, xthe son of your maidservant.
You have yloosed my bonds.
17 I will zoffer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and scall on the name of the Lord.
18 I will tpay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in athe courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
bPraise the Lord!
The Lord’s Faithfulness Endures Forever
1 cPraise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
2 For dgreat is his steadfast love toward us,
and ethe faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
bPraise the Lord!
His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
1 fOh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 gLet Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
3 gLet the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
4 gLet those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
5 hOut of my distress I icalled on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me jfree.
6 kThe Lord is on my side; lI will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 mThe Lord is on my side as my helper;
I shall nlook in triumph on those who hate me.
8 oIt is better to take refuge in the Lord
pthan to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
pthan to trust in princes.
10 qAll nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
12 rThey surrounded me like bees;
they went out like sa fire among thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
13 I was tpushed hard,3 so that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
uhe has become my salvation.
15 Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous:
v“The right hand of the Lord wdoes valiantly,
16 the right hand of the Lord exalts,
the right hand of the Lord wdoes valiantly!”
17 xI shall not die, but I shall live,
and yrecount the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord has zdisciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 aOpen to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
bthe righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that cyou have answered me
uand have become my salvation.
22 dThe stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.4
23 This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26 eBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We fbless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made ghis light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to hthe horns of the altar!
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will iextol you.
29 jOh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Paul Surrenders His Rights
1 jAm I not free? kAm I not an apostle? lHave I not seen Jesus our Lord? mAre not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are nthe seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 This is my defense to those who would examine me. 4 oDo we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 pDo we not have the right to take along a believing wife,1 as do the other apostles and qthe brothers of the Lord and rCephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7 sWho serves as a soldier at his own expense? tWho plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
8 Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, u“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written vfor our sake, because wthe plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 xIf we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, ywe have not made use of this right, but we endure anything zrather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
13 Do you not know that athose who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that bthose who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
15 But cI have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone ddeprive me of my ground for boasting. 16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For enecessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with fa stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching gI may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
19 For hthough I am free from all, iI have made myself a servant to all, that I might jwin more of them. 20 kTo the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To lthose outside the law I became mas one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but nunder the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 oTo the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. pI have become all things to all people, that qby all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, rthat I may share with them in its blessings.
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives sthe prize? So trun that you may obtain it. 25 Every uathlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we van imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I wdo not box as one xbeating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and ykeep it under control,2 lest after preaching to others zI myself should be adisqualified.
