Psalm 113

Praise the Lord.[a](A)

Praise the Lord, you his servants;(B)
    praise the name of the Lord.
Let the name of the Lord be praised,(C)
    both now and forevermore.(D)
From the rising of the sun(E) to the place where it sets,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised.

The Lord is exalted(F) over all the nations,
    his glory above the heavens.(G)
Who is like the Lord our God,(H)
    the One who sits enthroned(I) on high,(J)
who stoops down to look(K)
    on the heavens and the earth?

He raises the poor(L) from the dust
    and lifts the needy(M) from the ash heap;
he seats them(N) with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
He settles the childless(O) woman in her home
    as a happy mother of children.

Praise the Lord.

Psalm 114

When Israel came out of Egypt,(P)
    Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
Judah(Q) became God’s sanctuary,(R)
    Israel his dominion.

The sea looked and fled,(S)
    the Jordan turned back;(T)
the mountains leaped(U) like rams,
    the hills like lambs.

Why was it, sea, that you fled?(V)
    Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
    you hills, like lambs?

Tremble, earth,(W) at the presence of the Lord,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turned the rock into a pool,
    the hard rock into springs of water.(X)

Psalm 115(Y)

Not to us, Lord, not to us
    but to your name be the glory,(Z)
    because of your love and faithfulness.(AA)

Why do the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”(AB)
Our God is in heaven;(AC)
    he does whatever pleases him.(AD)
But their idols are silver and gold,(AE)
    made by human hands.(AF)
They have mouths, but cannot speak,(AG)
    eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear,
    noses, but cannot smell.
They have hands, but cannot feel,
    feet, but cannot walk,
    nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will be like them,
    and so will all who trust in them.

All you Israelites, trust(AH) in the Lord
    he is their help and shield.
10 House of Aaron,(AI) trust in the Lord
    he is their help and shield.
11 You who fear him,(AJ) trust in the Lord
    he is their help and shield.

12 The Lord remembers(AK) us and will bless us:(AL)
    He will bless his people Israel,
    he will bless the house of Aaron,
13 he will bless those who fear(AM) the Lord
    small and great alike.

14 May the Lord cause you to flourish,(AN)
    both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven(AO) and earth.

16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord,(AP)
    but the earth he has given(AQ) to mankind.
17 It is not the dead(AR) who praise the Lord,
    those who go down to the place of silence;
18 it is we who extol the Lord,(AS)
    both now and forevermore.(AT)

Praise the Lord.[b](AU)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 113:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 9
  2. Psalm 115:18 Hebrew Hallelu Yah

113 Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.

Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore.

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised.

The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.

Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high,

Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;

That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord.

114 When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;

Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.

The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.

The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.

What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?

Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?

Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;

Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.

115 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.

Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?

But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:

They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:

They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.

They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

O Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.

10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.

11 Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.

12 The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.

13 He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.

14 The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children.

15 Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth.

16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

17 The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.

18 But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the Lord.

So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you.(A) For if I grieve you,(B) who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? I wrote as I did,(C) so that when I came I would not be distressed(D) by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidence(E) in all of you, that you would all share my joy. For I wrote you(F) out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.

Forgiveness for the Offender

If anyone has caused grief,(G) he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment(H) inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him,(I) so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. Another reason I wrote you(J) was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.(K) 10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan(L) might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.(M)

Ministers of the New Covenant

12 Now when I went to Troas(N) to preach the gospel of Christ(O) and found that the Lord had opened a door(P) for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind,(Q) because I did not find my brother Titus(R) there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.(S)

14 But thanks be to God,(T) who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma(U) of the knowledge(V) of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma(W) of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.(X) 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death;(Y) to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?(Z) 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit.(AA) On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity,(AB) as those sent from God.(AC)

But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness.

For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me?

And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.

For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.

But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all.

Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.

So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.

Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.

For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.

10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;

11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,

13 I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.

14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:

16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.