Great Is Your Steadfast Love
iA Prayer of David.
1 jIncline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am kpoor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am lgodly;
save your servant, who mtrusts in you—you are my God.
3 nBe gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
for oto you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and pforgiving,
qabounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
6 rGive ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
7 In sthe day of my trouble I call upon you,
tfor you answer me.
8 There is unone like you among the gods, O Lord,
vnor are there any works like yours.
9 wAll the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
10 For xyou are great and ydo wondrous things;
zyou alone are God.
11 aTeach me your way, O Lord,
that I may bwalk in your truth;
cunite my heart to fear your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
13 dFor great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have edelivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
14 O God, insolent men have frisen up against me;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God gmerciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 hTurn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to iyour servant,
and save ithe son of your maidservant.
17 jShow me a sign of your kfavor,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Dead to Sin, Alive to God
1 What shall we say then? mAre we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can nwe who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us owho have been baptized pinto Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were qburied therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as rChrist was raised from the dead by sthe glory of the Father, we too might walk in tnewness of life.
5 For uif we have been united with him in va death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that wour old self1 xwas crucified with him in order that ythe body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For zone who has died ahas been set free2 from sin. 8 Now bif we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that cChrist, being raised from the dead, will never die again; ddeath no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, eonce for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves fdead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not gsin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 hDo not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but ipresent yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For jsin kwill have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Slaves to Righteousness
15 What then? lAre we to sin mbecause we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves nto anyone as obedient slaves,3 you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But othanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the pstandard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, qhaving been set free from sin, rhave become slaves of righteousness. 19 sI am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For tjust as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members uas slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
20 vFor when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 wBut what fruit were you getting at that time from the things xof which you are now ashamed? yFor the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you zhave been set free from sin and ahave become slaves of God, bthe fruit you get leads to sanctification and cits end, eternal life. 23 dFor the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
