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Psalm 107

BOOK V : Psalms 107-150

 ² Let the redeemed of the LORD say this—
       those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

 ³ those he gathered from the lands,
       from east and west, from north and south. ^[a]

 ⁴ Some wandered in desert wastelands,
       finding no way to a city where they could settle.

 ⁵ They were hungry and thirsty,
       and their lives ebbed away.

 ⁶ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
       and he delivered them from their distress.

 ⁷ He led them by a straight way
       to a city where they could settle.

 ⁸ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
       and his wonderful deeds for men,

 ⁹ for he satisfies the thirsty
       and fills the hungry with good things.

 ¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom,
       prisoners suffering in iron chains,

 ¹¹ for they had rebelled against the words of God
       and despised the counsel of the Most High.

 ¹² So he subjected them to bitter labor;
       they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

 ¹³ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
       and he saved them from their distress.

 ¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom
       and broke away their chains.

 ¹⁵ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
       and his wonderful deeds for men,

 ¹⁶ for he breaks down gates of bronze
       and cuts through bars of iron.

 ¹⁷ Some became fools through their rebellious ways
       and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.

 ¹⁸ They loathed all food
       and drew near the gates of death.

 ¹⁹ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
       and he saved them from their distress.

 ²⁰ He sent forth his word and healed them;
       he rescued them from the grave.

 ²¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
       and his wonderful deeds for men.

 ²² Let them sacrifice thank offerings
       and tell of his works with songs of joy.

 ²³ Others went out on the sea in ships;
       they were merchants on the mighty waters.

 ²⁴ They saw the works of the LORD,
       his wonderful deeds in the deep.

 ²⁵ For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
       that lifted high the waves.

 ²⁶ They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
       in their peril their courage melted away.

 ²⁷ They reeled and staggered like drunken men;
       they were at their wits' end.

 ²⁸ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
       and he brought them out of their distress.

 ²⁹ He stilled the storm to a whisper;
       the waves of the sea were hushed.

 ³⁰ They were glad when it grew calm,
       and he guided them to their desired haven.

 ³¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
       and his wonderful deeds for men.

 ³² Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
       and praise him in the council of the elders.

 ³³ He turned rivers into a desert,
       flowing springs into thirsty ground,

 ³⁴ and fruitful land into a salt waste,
       because of the wickedness of those who lived there.

 ³⁵ He turned the desert into pools of water
       and the parched ground into flowing springs;

 ³⁶ there he brought the hungry to live,
       and they founded a city where they could settle.

 ³⁷ They sowed fields and planted vineyards
       that yielded a fruitful harvest;

 ³⁸ he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,
       and he did not let their herds diminish.

 ³⁹ Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled
       by oppression, calamity and sorrow;

 ⁴⁰ he who pours contempt on nobles
       made them wander in a trackless waste.

 ⁴¹ But he lifted the needy out of their affliction
       and increased their families like flocks.

 ⁴² The upright see and rejoice,
       but all the wicked shut their mouths.

 ⁴³ Whoever is wise, let him heed these things
       and consider the great love of the LORD.

Psalm 108

A song. A psalm of David.

 ² Awake, harp and lyre!
       I will awaken the dawn.

 ³ I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations;
       I will sing of you among the peoples.

 ⁴ For great is your love, higher than the heavens;
       your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

 ⁵ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
       and let your glory be over all the earth.

 ⁶ Save us and help us with your right hand,
       that those you love may be delivered.

 ⁷ God has spoken from his sanctuary:
       "In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
       and measure off the Valley of Succoth.

 ⁸ Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine;
       Ephraim is my helmet,
       Judah my scepter.

 ⁹ Moab is my washbasin,
       upon Edom I toss my sandal;
       over Philistia I shout in triumph."

 ¹⁰ Who will bring me to the fortified city?
       Who will lead me to Edom?

 ¹¹ Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us
       and no longer go out with our armies?

 ¹² Give us aid against the enemy,
       for the help of man is worthless.

 ¹³ With God we will gain the victory,
       and he will trample down our enemies.

Psalm 109

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

 ² for wicked and deceitful men
       have opened their mouths against me;
       they have spoken against me with lying tongues.

 ³ With words of hatred they surround me;
       they attack me without cause.

 ⁴ In return for my friendship they accuse me,
       but I am a man of prayer.

 ⁵ They repay me evil for good,
       and hatred for my friendship.

 ⁶ Appoint ^[b] an evil man ^[c] to oppose him;
       let an accuser ^[d] stand at his right hand.

 ⁷ When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
       and may his prayers condemn him.

 ⁸ May his days be few;
       may another take his place of leadership.

 ⁹ May his children be fatherless
       and his wife a widow.

 ¹⁰ May his children be wandering beggars;
       may they be driven ^[e] from their ruined homes.

 ¹¹ May a creditor seize all he has;
       may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.

 ¹² May no one extend kindness to him
       or take pity on his fatherless children.

 ¹³ May his descendants be cut off,
       their names blotted out from the next generation.

 ¹⁴ May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD;
       may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.

 ¹⁵ May their sins always remain before the LORD,
       that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

 ¹⁶ For he never thought of doing a kindness,
       but hounded to death the poor
       and the needy and the brokenhearted.

 ¹⁷ He loved to pronounce a curse—
       may it ^[f] come on him;
       he found no pleasure in blessing—
       may it be ^[g] far from him.

 ¹⁸ He wore cursing as his garment;
       it entered into his body like water,
       into his bones like oil.

 ¹⁹ May it be like a cloak wrapped about him,
       like a belt tied forever around him.

 ²⁰ May this be the LORD's payment to my accusers,
       to those who speak evil of me.

 ²¹ But you, O Sovereign LORD,
       deal well with me for your name's sake;
       out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.

 ²² For I am poor and needy,
       and my heart is wounded within me.

 ²³ I fade away like an evening shadow;
       I am shaken off like a locust.

 ²⁴ My knees give way from fasting;
       my body is thin and gaunt.

 ²⁵ I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
       when they see me, they shake their heads.

 ²⁶ Help me, O LORD my God;
       save me in accordance with your love.

 ²⁷ Let them know that it is your hand,
       that you, O LORD, have done it.

 ²⁸ They may curse, but you will bless;
       when they attack they will be put to shame,
       but your servant will rejoice.

 ²⁹ My accusers will be clothed with disgrace
       and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.

 ³⁰ With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD;
       in the great throng I will praise him.

 ³¹ For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
       to save his life from those who condemn him.

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1 Corinthians 4

Apostles of Christ

 ⁶Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. ⁷For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

 ⁸Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! ⁹For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. ¹⁰We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! ¹¹To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. ¹²We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; ¹³when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

 ¹⁴I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. ¹⁵Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. ¹⁶Therefore I urge you to imitate me. ¹⁷For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

 ¹⁸Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. ¹⁹But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. ²⁰For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. ²¹What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?