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 when1 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!
Submission to the Authorities
1 Let every person pbe subject to the governing authorities. For qthere is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you rwill receive his approval, 4 for she is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, tan avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also ufor the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 vPay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
8 wOwe no one anything, except to love each other, for xthe one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, y“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: z“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore alove is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you bto wake from sleep. cFor salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 dThe night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us ecast off fthe works of darkness and gput on the armor of light. 13 hLet us walk properly as in the daytime, inot in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, jnot in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But kput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, lto gratify its desires.
