Cyrus, God’s Instrument
1 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
and to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
that gates may not be closed:
2 “I will go before you
and qlevel the exalted places,1
I will rbreak in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my schosen,
I call you by your name,
I name you, though you do not know me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,
6 that people may know, tfrom the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and create calamity;
I am the Lord, who does all these things.
Worship in the Splendor of Holiness
1 cOh dsing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord, ebless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 fDeclare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
4 For ggreat is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is hto be feared iabove all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 jAscribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the Lord the kglory due his name;
bring an offering, and lcome into his courts!
9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;1
mtremble before him, all the earth!
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord nreigns!
oYes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.”
11 pLet the heavens be glad, and qlet the earth rejoice;
rlet the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest ssing for joy
13 tbefore the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Greeting
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
The Thessalonians’ Faith and Example
2 aWe give thanks to God always for all of you, bconstantly1 mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your cwork of dfaith and labor of elove and steadfastness of fhope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, gbrothers2 loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also hin power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. iYou know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you jbecame imitators of us and of the Lord, for kyou received the word in much affliction, with the ljoy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has mthe word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but nyour ofaith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of preception we had among you, and how you qturned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to rwait for his Son sfrom heaven, whom the raised from the dead, Jesus who udelivers us from the vwrath to come.
Paying Taxes to Caesar
15 zThen the Pharisees went and plotted how ato entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, bwe know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for cyou are not swayed by dappearances.1 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay etaxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you fhypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.2 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore grender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.
