Blessed Are the Forgiven
A Maskil1 of David.
1 jBlessed is the one whose ktransgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord lcounts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit mthere is no deceit.
3 For when I kept silent, my nbones wasted away
through my ogroaning all day long.
4 For day and night your phand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up2 as by the heat of summer. Selah
5 I qacknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I rwill confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let everyone who is sgodly
offer prayer to you at a time when you tmay be found;
surely in the rush of ugreat waters,
they shall not reach him.
7 You are a vhiding place for me;
you preserve me from wtrouble;
you surround me with xshouts of deliverance. Selah
8 I will yinstruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will zcounsel you with my eye upon you.
9 aBe not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bbit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.
10 cMany are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who dtrusts in the Lord.
11 eBe glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
The Steadfast Love of the Lord
1 hShout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
iPraise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the jlyre;
make melody to him with jthe harp of kten strings!
3 Sing to him la new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in mfaithfulness.
5 He nloves righteousness and justice;
othe earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 By pthe word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by qthe breath of his mouth all rtheir host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as sa heap;
he tputs the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For uhe spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The Lord vbrings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 wThe counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 xBlessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has ychosen as his heritage!
13 The Lord zlooks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
14 from awhere he sits enthroned he blooks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16 cThe king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 dThe war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
18 Behold, ethe eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
fon those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may gdeliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in hfamine.
20 Our soul iwaits for the Lord;
he is our jhelp and kour shield.
21 For our heart is lglad in him,
because we mtrust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Taste and See That the Lord Is Good
3 Of David, when he nchanged his behavior before oAbimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
1 I will bless the Lord pat all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul qmakes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and rbe glad.
3 Oh, smagnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
4 I tsought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are uradiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 vThis poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and wsaved him out of all his troubles.
7 xThe angel of the Lord yencamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh, ztaste and see that athe Lord is good!
bBlessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
10 cThe young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who dseek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 eCome, O children, listen to me;
fI will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 gWhat man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may hsee good?
13 iKeep your tongue from evil
and your lips from jspeaking deceit.
14 kTurn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and lpursue it.
15 mThe eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
nand his ears toward their cry.
16 oThe face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to pcut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 nWhen the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to qthe brokenhearted
and saves rthe crushed in spirit.
19 sMany are the afflictions of the righteous,
tbut the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
unot one of them is broken.
21 vAffliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord wredeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be xcondemned.
Warning Against Idolatry
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,1 that our fathers were all under bthe cloud, and all cpassed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and dall ate the same espiritual food, 4 and fall drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for gthey were overthrown2 in the wilderness.
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as hthey did. 7 iDo not be idolaters jas some of them were; as it is written, k“The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 lWe must not indulge in sexual immorality mas some of them did, and ntwenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ3 to the test, oas some of them did and pwere destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, qas some of them did and rwere destroyed by sthe Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but tthey were written down for our instruction, uon whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore vlet anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. wGod is faithful, and xhe will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
14 Therefore, my beloved, yflee from idolatry. 15 I speak zas to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 aThe cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? bThe bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are cone body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider dthe people of Israel:4 eare not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that fan idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice gthey offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 hYou cannot drink the cup of the Lord and ithe cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and jthe table of demons. 22 kShall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? lAre we stronger than he?
Do All to the Glory of God
23 m“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 nLet no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 oEat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For p“the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, qeat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean ryour conscience, but his. For swhy should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that tfor which I give thanks?
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or uwhatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 vGive no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to wthe church of God, 33 just as xI try to please everyone in everything I do, ynot seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
