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Psalm 116-118
The Message
Psalm 116-118
The Message
116 1-6 I love God because he listened to me,
listened as I begged for mercy.
He listened so intently
as I laid out my case before him.
Death stared me in the face,
hell was hard on my heels.
Up against it, I didn’t know which way to turn;
then I called out to God for help:
“Please, God!” I cried out.
“Save my life!”
God is gracious—it is he who makes things right,
our most compassionate God.
God takes the side of the helpless;
when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me.
7-8 I said to myself, “Relax and rest.
God has showered you with blessings.
Soul, you’ve been rescued from death;
Eye, you’ve been rescued from tears;
And you, Foot, were kept from stumbling.”
9-11 I’m striding in the presence of God,
alive in the land of the living!
I stayed faithful, though overwhelmed,
and despite a ton of bad luck,
Despite giving up on the human race,
saying, “They’re all liars and cheats.”
12-19 What can I give back to God
for the blessings he’s poured out on me?
I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God!
I’ll pray in the name of God;
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
and I’ll do it together with his people.
When they arrive at the gates of death,
God welcomes those who love him.
Oh, God, here I am, your servant,
your faithful servant: set me free for your service!
I’m ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice
and pray in the name of God.
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
and I’ll do it in company with his people,
In the place of worship, in God’s house,
in Jerusalem, God’s city.
Hallelujah!
117 1-2 Praise God, everybody!
Applaud God, all people!
His love has taken over our lives;
God’s faithful ways are eternal.
Hallelujah!
118 1-4 Thank God because he’s good,
because his love never quits.
Tell the world, Israel,
“His love never quits.”
And you, clan of Aaron, tell the world,
“His love never quits.”
And you who fear God, join in,
“His love never quits.”
5-16 Pushed to the wall, I called to God;
from the wide open spaces, he answered.
God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid;
who would dare lay a hand on me?
God’s my strong champion;
I flick off my enemies like flies.
Far better to take refuge in God
than trust in people;
Far better to take refuge in God
than trust in celebrities.
Hemmed in by barbarians,
in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;
Hemmed in and with no way out,
in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;
Like swarming bees, like wild prairie fire, they hemmed me in;
in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt.
I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall,
when God grabbed and held me.
God’s my strength, he’s also my song,
and now he’s my salvation.
Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs
in the camp of the saved?
“The hand of God has turned the tide!
The hand of God is raised in victory!
The hand of God has turned the tide!”
17-20 I didn’t die. I lived!
And now I’m telling the world what God did.
God tested me, he pushed me hard,
but he didn’t hand me over to Death.
Swing wide the city gates—the righteous gates!
I’ll walk right through and thank God!
This Temple Gate belongs to God,
so the victors can enter and praise.
21-25 Thank you for responding to me;
you’ve truly become my salvation!
The stone the masons discarded as flawed
is now the capstone!
This is God’s work.
We rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it!
This is the very day God acted—
let’s celebrate and be festive!
Salvation now, God. Salvation now!
Oh yes, God—a free and full life!
26-29 Blessed are you who enter in God’s name—
from God’s house we bless you!
God is God,
he has bathed us in light.
Adorn the shrine with garlands,
hang colored banners above the altar!
You’re my God, and I thank you.
O my God, I lift high your praise.
Thank God—he’s so good.
His love never quits!
Psalm 116-118
New International Version
Psalm 116-118
New International Version
Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord,(A) for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry(B) for mercy.(C)
2 Because he turned his ear(D) to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death(E) entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name(F) of the Lord:
“Lord, save me!(G)”
5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;(H)
our God is full of compassion.(I)
6 The Lord protects the unwary;
when I was brought low,(J) he saved me.(K)
8 For you, Lord, have delivered me(N) from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
9 that I may walk before the Lord(O)
in the land of the living.(P)
10 I trusted(Q) in the Lord when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;(R)
11 in my alarm I said,
“Everyone is a liar.”(S)
12 What shall I return to the Lord
for all his goodness(T) to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name(U) of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vows(V) to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight(W) of the Lord
is the death of his faithful servants.(X)
16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;(Y)
I serve you just as my mother did;(Z)
you have freed me from my chains.(AA)
17 I will sacrifice a thank offering(AB) to you
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vows(AC) to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts(AD) of the house of the Lord—
in your midst, Jerusalem.(AE)
Praise the Lord.[a]
Psalm 117
1 Praise the Lord,(AF) all you nations;(AG)
extol him, all you peoples.
2 For great is his love(AH) toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord(AI) endures forever.
Praise the Lord.[b]
Psalm 118
2 Let Israel say:(AM)
“His love endures forever.”(AN)
3 Let the house of Aaron say:(AO)
“His love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord(AP) say:
“His love endures forever.”
5 When hard pressed,(AQ) I cried to the Lord;
he brought me into a spacious place.(AR)
6 The Lord is with me;(AS) I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?(AT)
7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper.(AU)
I look in triumph on my enemies.(AV)
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord(AW)
than to trust in humans.(AX)
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.(AY)
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.(AZ)
11 They surrounded me(BA) on every side,(BB)
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,(BC)
but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;(BD)
in the name of the Lord I cut them down.(BE)
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the Lord helped me.(BF)
14 The Lord is my strength(BG) and my defense[c];
he has become my salvation.(BH)
15 Shouts of joy(BI) and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand(BJ) has done mighty things!(BK)
16 The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”
17 I will not die(BL) but live,
and will proclaim(BM) what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has chastened(BN) me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.(BO)
19 Open for me the gates(BP) of the righteous;
I will enter(BQ) and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord(BR)
through which the righteous may enter.(BS)
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;(BT)
you have become my salvation.(BU)
22 The stone(BV) the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;(BW)
23 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous(BX) in our eyes.
24 The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.(BY)
25 Lord, save us!(BZ)
Lord, grant us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes(CA) in the name of the Lord.
From the house of the Lord we bless you.[d](CB)
27 The Lord is God,(CC)
and he has made his light shine(CD) on us.
With boughs in hand,(CE) join in the festal procession
up[e] to the horns of the altar.(CF)
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Footnotes
- Psalm 116:19 Hebrew Hallelu Yah
- Psalm 117:2 Hebrew Hallelu Yah
- Psalm 118:14 Or song
- Psalm 118:26 The Hebrew is plural.
- Psalm 118:27 Or Bind the festal sacrifice with ropes / and take it
1 Corinthians 7:1-19
The Message
1 Corinthians 7:1-19
The Message
To Be Married, to Be Single . . .
7 Now, getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. First, Is it a good thing to have sexual relations?
2-6 Certainly—but only within a certain context. It’s good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder. The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality—the husband seeking to satisfy his wife, the wife seeking to satisfy her husband. Marriage is not a place to “stand up for your rights.” Marriage is a decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out. Abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it’s for the purposes of prayer and fasting—but only for such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it. I’m not, understand, commanding these periods of abstinence—only providing my best counsel if you should choose them.
7 Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.
8-9 I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well be the best thing for them, as it has been for me. But if they can’t manage their desires and emotions, they should by all means go ahead and get married. The difficulties of marriage are preferable by far to a sexually tortured life as a single.
10-11 And if you are married, stay married. This is the Master’s command, not mine. If a wife should leave her husband, she must either remain single or else come back and make things right with him. And a husband has no right to get rid of his wife.
12-14 For the rest of you who are in mixed marriages—Christian married to non-Christian—we have no explicit command from the Master. So this is what you must do. If you are a man with a wife who is not a believer but who still wants to live with you, hold on to her. If you are a woman with a husband who is not a believer but he wants to live with you, hold on to him. The unbelieving husband shares to an extent in the holiness of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is likewise touched by the holiness of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be left out; as it is, they also are included in the spiritual purposes of God.
15-16 On the other hand, if the unbelieving spouse walks out, you’ve got to let him or her go. You don’t have to hold on desperately. God has called us to make the best of it, as peacefully as we can. You never know, wife: The way you handle this might bring your husband not only back to you but to God. You never know, husband: The way you handle this might bring your wife not only back to you but to God.
17 And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life. Don’t think I’m being harder on you than on the others. I give this same counsel in all the churches.
18-19 Were you Jewish at the time God called you? Don’t try to remove the evidence. Were you non-Jewish at the time of your call? Don’t become a Jew. Being Jewish isn’t the point. The really important thing is obeying God’s call, following his commands.
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1 Corinthians 7:1-19
New International Version
1 Corinthians 7:1-19
New International Version
Concerning Married Life
7 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”(A) 2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife,(B) and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time,(C) so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan(D) will not tempt you(E) because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command.(F) 7 I wish that all of you were as I am.(G) But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.(H)
8 Now to the unmarried[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.(I) 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry,(J) for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.(K) 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband.(L) And a husband must not divorce his wife.
12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord):(M) If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.(N)
15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.(O) 16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save(P) your husband?(Q) Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
Concerning Change of Status
17 Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.(R) This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.(S) 18 Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.(T) 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing.(U) Keeping God’s commands is what counts.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 7:8 Or widowers
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.