Psalm 128
New Living Translation
Psalm 128
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.
1 How joyful are those who fear the Lord—
all who follow his ways!
2 You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
How joyful and prosperous you will be!
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine,
flourishing within your home.
Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees
as they sit around your table.
4 That is the Lord’s blessing
for those who fear him.
5 May the Lord continually bless you from Zion.
May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.
6 May you live to enjoy your grandchildren.
May Israel have peace!
Psalm 128
English Standard Version
Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord
A Song of (A)Ascents.
128 (B)Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who (C)walks in his ways!
2 You (D)shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
Isaiah 65:17-25
New Living Translation
17 “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
18 Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
Her people will be a source of joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and delight in my people.
And the sound of weeping and crying
will be heard in it no more.
20 “No longer will babies die when only a few days old.
No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.
No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!
Only the cursed will die that young!
21 In those days people will live in the houses they build
and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.
22 Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses
and confiscate their vineyards.
For my people will live as long as trees,
and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.
23 They will not work in vain,
and their children will not be doomed to misfortune.
For they are people blessed by the Lord,
and their children, too, will be blessed.
24 I will answer them before they even call to me.
While they are still talking about their needs,
I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
The lion will eat hay like a cow.
But the snakes will eat dust.
In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Isaiah 65:17-25
English Standard Version
New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “For behold, (A)I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, (B)I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
19 (C)I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
(D)no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for (E)the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and (F)the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 (G)They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 (H)They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
(I)for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy[a] the work of their hands.
23 (J)They shall not labor in vain
(K)or bear children for calamity,[b]
for (L)they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
24 (M)Before they call I will answer;
(N)while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 (O)The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and (P)dust shall be the serpent's food.
(Q)They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:22 Hebrew shall wear out
- Isaiah 65:23 Or for sudden terror
Romans 4:6-13
New Living Translation
6 David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it:
7 “Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sins are put out of sight.
8 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”[a]
9 Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles?[b] Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. 10 But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!
11 Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. 12 And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.
Read full chapter
Romans 4:6-13
English Standard Version
6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 (A)“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not (B)count his sin.”
9 Is this blessing then only for (C)the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? (D)For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 (E)He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was (F)to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
The Promise Realized Through Faith
13 For (G)the promise to Abraham and his offspring (H)that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
Read full chapterHoly Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
