Psalm 125

A song of ascents.

¹⁶ You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. ¹⁷ You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold.^{(A) 18} Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns^(B) away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.^(C)

¹⁹ When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing^(D) on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,”^(E) they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. ²⁰ The Lord will never be willing to forgive^(F) them; his wrath and zeal^(G) will burn^(H) against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the Lord will blot^(I) out their names from under heaven. ²¹ The Lord will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster,^(J) according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.^(K)

²² Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it.^{(L) 23} The whole land will be a burning waste^(M) of salt^(N) and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,^(O) Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger.^{(P) 24} All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land?^(Q) Why this fierce, burning anger?”

²⁵ And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.^{(R) 26} They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. ²⁷ Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book.^{(S) 28} In furious anger and in great wrath^(T) the Lord uprooted^(U) them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

²⁹ The secret things belong to the Lord our God,^(V) but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.^(W)

Titus Sent to Receive the Collection

¹⁶ Thanks be to God,^(A) who put into the heart^(B) of Titus^(C) the same concern I have for you. ¹⁷ For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative.^{(D) 18} And we are sending along with him the brother^(E) who is praised by all the churches^(F) for his service to the gospel.^{(G) 19} What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us^(H) as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help.^{(I) 20} We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. ²¹ For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man.^(J)

²² In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. ²³ As for Titus,^(K) he is my partner^(L) and co-worker^(M) among you; as for our brothers,^(N) they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ. ²⁴ Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you,^(O) so that the churches can see it.