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;1
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.
The Lord Reigns
1 The Lord ureigns, vlet the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
2 wClouds and thick darkness are all around him;
xrighteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 yFire goes before him
and burns up his adversaries all around.
4 His zlightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The amountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the bLord of all the earth.
6 The cheavens proclaim his righteousness,
and dall the peoples see his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are eput to shame,
who make their boast in worthless idols;
fworship him, all you gods!
8 Zion hears and is gglad,
and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgments, O Lord.
9 For you, O Lord, are hmost high over all the earth;
you are exalted far iabove all gods.
10 O you who love the Lord, jhate evil!
He kpreserves the lives of his saints;
he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown1 for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and lgive thanks to his holy name!
The Shining Face of Moses
29 When yMoses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face zshone because he had been talking with God.1 30 Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and ahe commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a bveil over his face.
34 Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35 the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Ministers of the New Covenant
1 vAre we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, wletters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 xYou yourselves yare our letter of recommendation, written on our1 hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on ztablets of stone but on atablets of bhuman hearts.2
4 Such is the cconfidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a dnew covenant, enot of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but fthe Spirit gives life.
7 Now if the gministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that hthe Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
12 Since we have such a hope, we are very ibold, 13 not like Moses, jwho would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their kminds were lhardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one3 turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord4 is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is mfreedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, nbeholding othe glory of the Lord,5 are being ptransformed qinto the same image from one degree of glory to another.6 For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
