28 Let him tsit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
29 ulet him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
30 vlet him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
31 wFor the Lord will not
cast off forever,
32 for, though he xcause grief, yhe will have compassion
zaccording to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 afor he does not afflict from his heart
or bgrieve the children of men.
34 To crush underfoot
all cthe prisoners of the earth,
35 dto deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
dthe Lord does not approve.
37 eWho has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 fIs it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
39 gWhy should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways,
hand return to the Lord!
41 iLet us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
42 j“We have transgressed and krebelled,
and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
lkilling without pity;
44 myou have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 nYou have made us scum and garbage
among the peoples.
46 o“All our enemies
open their mouths against us;
47 ppanic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and qdestruction;
48 rmy eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 r“My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
50 suntil the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees;
51 my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
52 t“I have been hunted ulike a bird
by those who were my enemies vwithout cause;
53 wthey flung me alive into the pit1
xand cast stones on me;
54 ywater closed over my head;
I said, z‘I am lost.’
55 a“I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
56 byou heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
57 cYou came near when I called on you;
you said, d‘Do not fear!’
58 “You have etaken up my cause, fO Lord;
you have eredeemed my life.
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, gO Lord;
judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all htheir plots against me.
61 i“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all htheir plots against me.
62 The lips and thoughts jof my assailants
are against me all the day long.
63 kBehold their sitting and their rising;
lI am the object of their taunts.
64 m“You will repay them,2 O Lord,
naccording to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them3 dullness of heart;
your curse will be4 on them.
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when vNathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
according to your steadfast love;
according to your xabundant mercy
yblot out my transgressions.
2 zWash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and acleanse me from my sin!
3 bFor I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 cAgainst you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil din your sight,
eso that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, fI was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in gthe inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
The Ministry of Apostles
1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and nstewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 oFor I am not aware of anything against myself, pbut I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore qdo not pronounce judgment before the time, rbefore the Lord comes, swho will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. tThen each one will receive his commendation from God.
6 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers,1 that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may ube puffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you? vWhat do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, wlike men sentenced to death, because we xhave become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 yWe are fools for Christ’s sake, but zyou are wise in Christ. aWe are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour bwe hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and cbuffeted and dhomeless, 12 and we elabor, working with our own hands. fWhen reviled, we bless; gwhen persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. hWe have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, ithe refuse of all things.
14 I do not write these things jto make you ashamed, but to admonish you kas my beloved children. 15 For lthough you have countless2 guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For mI became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 I urge you, then, nbe imitators of me. 17 That is why oI sent3 you Timothy, pmy beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ,4 qas I teach them everywhere in every church. 18 Some are rarrogant, sas though I were not coming to you. 19 But tI will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. 20 For uthe kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. 21 What do you wish? vShall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?
Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church
1 It is actually reported that there is wsexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, xfor a man has his father’s wife. 2 And yyou are arrogant! Ought you znot rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
3 For though aabsent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled bin the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are cto deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so dthat his spirit may be saved ein the day of the Lord.5
6 fYour boasting is not good. Do you not know that ga little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, hnot with the old leaven, ithe leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my letter jnot to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 knot at all meaning lthe sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, msince then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone nwho bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging ooutsiders? pIs it not those inside the church6 whom you are to judge? 13 God judges7 those outside. q“Purge the evil person from among you.”
Lawsuits Against Believers
1 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous rinstead of the saints? 2 Or do you not know that sthe saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! 4 So if you have such cases, twhy do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? 5 uI say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, 6 but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. vWhy not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even wyour own brothers!8
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous9 will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: xneither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,10 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And ysuch were some of you. But zyou were washed, ayou were sanctified, byou were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Flee Sexual Immorality
12 c“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 d“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one eand the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but ffor the Lord, and gthe Lord for the body. 14 And hGod raised the Lord and iwill also raise us up jby his power. 15 Do you not know that kyour bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined11 to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, l“The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord mbecomes one spirit with him. 18 nFlee from sexual immorality. Every other sin12 a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person osins against his own body. 19 Or pdo you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? qYou are not your own, 20 rfor you were bought with a price. sSo glorify God in your body.
