Psalm 146

Praise the Lord.[a]

Praise the Lord,(A) my soul.

I will praise the Lord all my life;(B)
    I will sing praise(C) to my God as long as I live.(D)
Do not put your trust in princes,(E)
    in human beings,(F) who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;(G)
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.(H)
Blessed are those(I) whose help(J) is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

He is the Maker of heaven(K) and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful(L) forever.
He upholds(M) the cause of the oppressed(N)
    and gives food to the hungry.(O)
The Lord sets prisoners free,(P)
    the Lord gives sight(Q) to the blind,(R)
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,(S)
    the Lord loves the righteous.(T)
The Lord watches over the foreigner(U)
    and sustains the fatherless(V) and the widow,(W)
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

10 The Lord reigns(X) forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 146:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 10

Rich and poor have this in common:
    The Lord is the Maker of them all.(A)

The prudent see danger and take refuge,(B)
    but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.(C)

Humility is the fear of the Lord;
    its wages are riches and honor(D) and life.(E)

In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls,(F)
    but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.

Start(G) children off on the way they should go,(H)
    and even when they are old they will not turn from it.(I)

The rich rule over the poor,
    and the borrower is slave to the lender.

Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity,(J)
    and the rod they wield in fury will be broken.(K)

The generous will themselves be blessed,(L)
    for they share their food with the poor.(M)

10 Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife;
    quarrels and insults are ended.(N)

11 One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace
    will have the king for a friend.(O)

12 The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
    but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

13 The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside!(P)
    I’ll be killed in the public square!”

14 The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit;(Q)
    a man who is under the Lord’s wrath falls into it.(R)

15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
    but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.(S)

16 One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth
    and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

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I am not commanding you,(A) but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace(B) of our Lord Jesus Christ,(C) that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor,(D) so that you through his poverty might become rich.(E)

10 And here is my judgment(F) about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.(G) 11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness(H) to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has,(I) not according to what one does not have.

13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need,(J) so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, 15 as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”[a](K)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 8:15 Exodus 16:18

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