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Psalm 146

Praise the Lord!

Let all that I am praise the Lord.
    I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
    I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
    there is no help for you there.
When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
    and all their plans die with them.
But joyful are those who have the God of Israel[a] as their helper,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.
He made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them.
    He keeps every promise forever.
He gives justice to the oppressed
    and food to the hungry.
The Lord frees the prisoners.
    The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.
    The Lord loves the godly.
The Lord protects the foreigners among us.
    He cares for the orphans and widows,
    but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.

10 The Lord will reign forever.
    He will be your God, O Jerusalem,[b] throughout the generations.

Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

  1. 146:5 Hebrew of Jacob. See note on 44:4.
  2. 146:10 Hebrew Zion.

Put Not Your Trust in Princes

146 (A)Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord (B)as long as I live;
    (C)I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

(D)Put not your trust in princes,
    (E)in a son of man, in whom there is (F)no salvation.
When (G)his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
    on that very day his plans perish.

(H)Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose (I)hope is in the Lord his God,
(J)who made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
(K)who keeps faith forever;
    (L)who executes justice for the oppressed,
    (M)who gives food to the hungry.

(N)The Lord sets the prisoners free;
    (O)the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
(P)The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    (Q)the Lord loves the righteous.
(R)The Lord watches over the sojourners;
    (S)he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    but (T)the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 (U)The Lord will reign forever,
    your God, O Zion, to all generations.
(V)Praise the Lord!

14 He will say, “I have long been silent;
    yes, I have restrained myself.
But now, like a woman in labor,
    I will cry and groan and pant.
15 I will level the mountains and hills
    and blight all their greenery.
I will turn the rivers into dry land
    and will dry up all the pools.
16 I will lead blind Israel down a new path,
    guiding them along an unfamiliar way.
I will brighten the darkness before them
    and smooth out the road ahead of them.
Yes, I will indeed do these things;
    I will not forsake them.
17 But those who trust in idols,
    who say, ‘You are our gods,’
    will be turned away in shame.

Israel’s Failure to Listen and See

18 “Listen, you who are deaf!
    Look and see, you blind!
19 Who is as blind as my own people, my servant?
    Who is as deaf as my messenger?
Who is as blind as my chosen people,
    the servant of the Lord?
20 You see and recognize what is right
    but refuse to act on it.
You hear with your ears,
    but you don’t really listen.”

21 Because he is righteous,
    the Lord has exalted his glorious law.

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14 For a long time I have held my peace;
    I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out (A)like a woman in labor;
    I will gasp and pant.
15 (B)I will lay waste mountains and hills,
    and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into islands,[a]
    and dry up the pools.
16 (C)And I will lead the blind
    in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
    I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
    (D)the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
    and I do not forsake them.
17 (E)They are turned back and utterly put to shame,
    who trust in carved idols,
who say to metal images,
    “You are our gods.”

Israel's Failure to Hear and See

18 Hear, you deaf,
    and look, you blind, that you may see!
19 Who is blind but my servant,
    or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,[b]
    or blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 (F)He sees many things, but does not observe them;
    (G)his ears are open, but he does not hear.
21 The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness' sake,
    to magnify his law and make it glorious.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 42:15 Or into coastlands
  2. Isaiah 42:19 Or as the one at peace with me

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,[a] 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom[b] and forgave our sins.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:11 Or all the patience and endurance you need with joy.
  2. 1:14 Some manuscripts add with his blood.

And so, (A)from the day we heard, (B)we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that (C)you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all (D)spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as (E)to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, (F)fully pleasing to him: (G)bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 (H)being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for (I)all endurance and patience (J)with joy; 12 (K)giving thanks[a] to the Father, who has qualified you[b] to share in (L)the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He (M)has delivered us from (N)the domain of darkness and transferred us to (O)the kingdom of (P)his beloved Son, 14 (Q)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

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Footnotes

  1. Colossians 1:12 Or patience, with joy giving thanks
  2. Colossians 1:12 Some manuscripts us