The Lord Will Not Forsake His People
1 O Lord, God of zvengeance,
O God of vengeance, ashine forth!
2 bRise up, O cjudge of the earth;
repay to the proud what they deserve!
3 O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked exult?
4 They pour out their arrogant words;
all the evildoers boast.
5 They crush your people, O Lord,
and afflict your heritage.
6 They kill the dwidow and the esojourner,
and murder the fatherless;
7 and they say, f“The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
8 Understand, O dullest of the people!
Fools, when will you be wise?
9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who teaches man knowledge—
11 gthe Lord—knows the thoughts of man,
that they are but a breath.1
12 hBlessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord,
and whom you teach out of your law,
13 to give him rest from days of trouble,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 iFor the Lord will not forsake his people;
he will not abandon his heritage;
15 for justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who jrises up for me against the wicked?
Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17 kIf the Lord had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
18 When I thought, “My foot lslips,”
your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
those who frame2 injustice by statute?
21 They band together against the life of the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.3
22 But the Lord has become my mstronghold,
and my God the nrock of my refuge.
23 oHe will bring back on them their iniquity
and wipe them out for their wickedness;
the Lord our God will wipe them out.
Let Us Sing Songs of Praise
1 Oh come, let us psing to the Lord;
let us qmake a joyful noise to the rrock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence swith thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For tthe Lord is a great God,
and a great uKing vabove all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for whe made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
xToday, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts, yas at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers zput me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”
11 aTherefore I bswore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter my rest.”
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;4
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.
Paul the Minister to the Gentiles
14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,1 that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to hinstruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of ithe grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus jto the Gentiles in the priestly service of the kgospel of God, so that lthe offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what mChrist has accomplished through me to nbring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 oby the power of signs and wonders, pby the power of the Spirit of God—so that qfrom Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, rnot where Christ has already been named, lest I sbuild on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written,
t“Those who have never been told of him will see,
and those who have never heard will understand.”
Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome
22 This is the reason why uI have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 vI hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem wbringing aid to the saints. 26 xFor Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For yif the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,2 I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing3 of Christ.
30 zI appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the alove of the Spirit, bto cstrive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be ddelivered from the eunbelievers in Judea, and that my service ffor Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and gbe hrefreshed in your company. 33 May the iGod of peace be with you all. Amen.
