Psalm 97

Common English Bible

Psalm 97

97 The Lord rules! Let the earth rejoice!
    Let all the islands celebrate!
²Clouds and thick darkness surround God.
    His throne is built on righteousness and justice.
³Fire proceeds before him,
    burning up his enemies on every side.
⁴His lightning lights up the world;
    the earth sees it and trembles!
⁵The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
    before the Lord of the whole world!

⁶Heaven has proclaimed God’s righteousness,
    and all nations have seen his glory.
⁷All those who worship images,
    those who are proud of idols,
    are put to shame.
    All gods bow down to the Lord!
⁸Zion has heard and celebrates,
    the towns^[a] of Judah rejoice,
    because of your acts of justice, Lord,
⁹    because you, Lord, are the Most High
        over all the earth,
    because you are so superior to all other gods.

¹⁰Those of you who love the Lord, hate evil!
    God guards the lives of his faithful ones,
    delivering them from the power of the wicked.
¹¹Light is planted like seed for the righteous person;
    joy too for those whose heart is right.
¹²Rejoice in the Lord, righteous ones!
    Give thanks to his holy name!

Footnotes

Psalm 97:8 Or daughters

Matthew 6:7-15

Common English Bible

Proper prayer

⁷“When you pray, don’t pour out a flood of empty words, as the Gentiles do. They think that by saying many words they’ll be heard. ⁸Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask. ⁹Pray like this:

Our Father who is in heaven,

uphold the holiness of your name.

¹⁰Bring in your kingdom

so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven.

¹¹Give us the bread we need for today.

¹²Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you,

just as we also forgive those who have wronged us.

¹³And don’t lead us into temptation,

but rescue us from the evil one.

¹⁴“If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you don’t forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your sins.

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