My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord
To the choirmaster: according to The vGittith.1 A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
1 How lovely is your wdwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 xMy soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
ymy King and my God.
4 zBlessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.2
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one aappears before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your banointed!
10 cFor a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a dsun and eshield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
fNo good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who gtrusts in you!
When Brothers Dwell in Unity
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers odwell in unity!1
2 It is like the precious poil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his qrobes!
3 It is rlike the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there sthe Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.
Jacob’s Dream
10 xJacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, ybecause the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he zdreamed, and behold, there was a ladder1 set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, athe angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, bthe Lord stood above it2 and said, c“I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. dThe land on which you lie I will give to you and eto your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the fdust of the earth, and you shall gspread abroad hto the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and iin you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, jI am with you and will kkeep you wherever you go, and lwill bring you back to this land. For I will not mleave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
18 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and nset it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 oHe called the name of that place Bethel,3 but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20 Then Jacob pmade a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then qthe Lord shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will rgive a full stenth to you.”
4 Now there are gvarieties of gifts, but hthe same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the isame Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who jempowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another kfaith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of lmiracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to mdistinguish between spirits, to another nvarious kinds of tongues, to another the ointerpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually pas he wills.
One Body with Many Members
12 qFor just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, rslaves1 or free—and sall were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, tthere are many parts,2 yet one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no udivision in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 vIf one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
27 Now wyou are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church xfirst apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But yearnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
