Book Five
Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So
1 Oh kgive thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let lthe redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has mredeemed from trouble1
3 and ngathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 Some owandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to a city to dwell in;
5 hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
6 pThen they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
till they reached a city to dwell in.
8 qLet them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
9 For he rsatisfies the longing soul,
and sthe hungry soul he fills with good things.
10 Some tsat in udarkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the vcounsel of the Most High.
12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
they fell down, with wnone to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.
15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
16 For he xshatters the doors of bronze
and cuts in two the bars of iron.
17 Some were fools through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
18 they yloathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
22 And let them offer zsacrifices of thanksgiving,
and atell of his deeds in songs of joy!
23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the great waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For bhe commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
ctheir courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits’ end.2
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
29 dHe made the estorm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad that the waters3 were quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry dwell,
and they establish a city to live in;
37 they sow fields and plant vineyards
and get a fruitful yield.
38 By his fblessing they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their livestock diminish.
39 When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
40 ghe pours contempt on princes
and hmakes them wander in trackless wastes;
41 but he raises up the needy out of affliction
and makes their families like flocks.
42 iThe upright see it and are glad,
and jall wickedness shuts its mouth.
43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
With God We Shall Do Valiantly
A Song. A Psalm of David.
1 kMy heart is steadfast, O God!
lI will sing and make melody with all my being!4
2 Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
3 mI will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
4 For your steadfast love is great nabove the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5 oBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 pThat your beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer me!
7 God has promised in his holiness:5
“With exultation I will divide up Shechem
and portion out the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet,
Judah my qscepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I cast my shoe;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
10 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Have you not rrejected us, O God?
sYou do not go out, O God, with our armies.
12 Oh grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the salvation of man!
13 With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.
Help Me, O Lord My God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 Be not tsilent, O God uof my praise!
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
vbut I give myself to prayer.6
5 So they wreward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
6 Appoint a wicked man against him;
let an accuser stand xat his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
let his yprayer be counted as sin!
8 May his days be few;
zmay another take his office!
9 aMay his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow!
10 May his children bwander about and beg,
seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11 May the creditor seize all that he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
nor any to pity his fatherless children!
13 May his posterity be cut off;
may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
14 cMay the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
and let not the sin of his mother be dblotted out!
15 Let them be before the Lord continually,
that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
16 For he did not remember to show kindness,
but pursued the poor and needy
and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17 He loved to curse; let curses come7 upon him!
He did not delight in blessing; may it be far8 from him!
18 He clothed himself with cursing eas his coat;
may it soak9 into his body like water,
like oil into his bones!
19 May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
like a belt that he puts on every day!
20 May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,
of those who speak evil against my life!
21 But you, O God my Lord,
deal on my behalf ffor your name’s sake;
gbecause your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 hFor I am poor and needy,
and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like a ishadow at evening;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through jfasting;
my body has become kgaunt, with no fat.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they lwag their heads.
26 mHelp me, O Lord my God!
Save me according to your steadfast love!
27 Let them know that this is your hand;
you, O Lord, have done it!
28 Let them curse, but you will bless!
They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
29 May my accusers be nclothed with dishonor;
may they be owrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
30 With my mouth pI will give great thanks to the Lord;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
31 For he stands qat the right hand of the needy one,
rto save him from those who condemn his soul to death.
The Ministry of Apostles
1 This is how one should regard us, as qservants of Christ and rstewards of the smysteries 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 For tI am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore udo not pronounce vjudgment before the time, before the Lord wcomes, who will xbring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will ydisclose the purposes of the heart. Then 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 be zpuffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you? aWhat 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 brich! 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, clike men sentenced to death, because we have dbecome a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are efools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. fWe are gweak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour hwe hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we ilabor, working with our own hands. jWhen reviled, kwe bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless2 guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. lFor I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 mI urge you, then, nbe imitators of me. 17 That is why oI sent3 you Timothy, my beloved and faithful pchild in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ,4 as I teach them qeverywhere in every church. 18 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But rI 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 the kingdom of God sdoes not consist in ttalk but uin power. 21 What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love vin a spirit of gentleness?
