How Great Are Your Works
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.
1 fIt is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, gO Most High;
2 to declare your hsteadfast love in ithe morning,
and your hfaithfulness by inight,
3 to the music of jthe lute and jthe harp,
to the melody of jthe lyre.
4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your kwork;
at lthe works of your hands I sing for joy.
5 How mgreat are your works, O Lord!
Your nthoughts are very odeep!
6 The stupid man cannot know;
the fool cannot understand this:
7 that though pthe wicked sprout like grass
and all qevildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever;
8 but you, O Lord, are ron high forever.
9 For behold, your enemies, O Lord,
for behold, your enemies shall perish;
all evildoers shall be sscattered.
10 But you have exalted my thorn like that of uthe wild ox;
you have vpoured over me1 fresh oil.
11 My weyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.
12 xThe righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in the house of the Lord;
they flourish in ythe courts of our God.
14 They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
15 zto declare that the Lord is upright;
Greeting
1 Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby command of cGod our Savior and of Christ Jesus dour hope,
2 To Timothy, emy true child in the faith:
fGrace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Warning Against False Teachers
3 gAs I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not hto teach any different doctrine, 4 nor ito devote themselves to myths and endless jgenealogies, which promote kspeculations rather than the stewardship1 from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love lthat issues from a pure heart and ma good conscience and na sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by oswerving from these, have wandered away into pvain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, qwithout understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
8 Now we know that rthe law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the slaw is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,2 liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to tsound3 doctrine, 11 in accordance with uthe gospel of the glory of vthe blessed God wwith which I have been entrusted.
Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners
12 I thank him xwho has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, yappointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, zpersecutor, and insolent opponent. But aI received mercy bbecause I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and cthe grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the dfaith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is etrustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus fcame into the world to save sinners, gof whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To hthe King of the ages, iimmortal, jinvisible, kthe only God, lbe honor and glory forever and ever.4 Amen.
18 This charge mI entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with nthe prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may owage the good warfare, 19 pholding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have qmade shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are rHymenaeus and sAlexander, whom I thave handed over to Satan that they may learn not to ublaspheme.
