Psalm 136

New King James Version

Thanksgiving to God for His Enduring Mercy

136 Oh, ^(A)give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
^(B)For His mercy endures forever.
²Oh, give thanks to ^(C)the God of gods!
For His mercy endures forever.
³Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!
For His mercy endures forever:

⁴To Him ^(D)who alone does great wonders,
For His mercy endures forever;
⁵^(E)To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,
For His mercy endures forever;
⁶^(F)To Him who laid out the earth above the waters,
For His mercy endures forever;
⁷^(G)To Him who made great lights,
For His mercy endures forever—
⁸^(H)The sun to rule by day,
For His mercy endures forever;
⁹The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His mercy endures forever.

¹⁰^(I)To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹¹^(J)And brought out Israel from among them,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹²^(K)With a strong hand, and with ^[a]an outstretched arm,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹³^(L)To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹⁴And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹⁵^(M)But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹⁶^(N)To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹⁷^(O)To Him who struck down great kings,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹⁸^(P)And slew famous kings,
For His mercy endures forever—
¹⁹^(Q)Sihon king of the Amorites,
For His mercy endures forever;
²⁰^(R)And Og king of Bashan,
For His mercy endures forever—
²¹^(S)And gave their land as a ^[b]heritage,
For His mercy endures forever;
²²A heritage to Israel His servant,
For His mercy endures forever.

²³Who ^(T)remembered us in our lowly state,
For His mercy endures forever;
²⁴And ^(U)rescued us from our enemies,
For His mercy endures forever;
²⁵^(V)Who gives food to all flesh,
For His mercy endures forever.

²⁶Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!
For His mercy endures forever.

Footnotes

Psalm 136:12 Mighty power
Psalm 136:21 inheritance

Psalm 137

New King James Version

Longing for Zion in a Foreign Land

137 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept
When we remembered Zion.
²We hung our harps
Upon the willows in the midst of it.
³For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who ^(A)plundered us requested mirth,
Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴How shall we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?
⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget its skill!
⁶If I do not remember you,
Let my ^(B)tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

⁷Remember, O Lord, against ^(C)the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, ^[a]“Raze it, raze it,
To its very foundation!”

⁸O daughter of Babylon, ^(D)who are to be destroyed,
Happy the one ^(E)who repays you as you have served us!
⁹Happy the one who takes and ^(F)dashes
Your little ones against the rock!

Footnotes

Psalm 137:7 Lit. Make bare

Psalm 138

New King James Version

The Lord’s Goodness to the Faithful

A Psalm of David.

138 I will praise You with my whole heart;
^(A)Before the gods I will sing praises to You.
²^(B)I will worship ^(C)toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name
For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have ^(D)magnified Your word above all Your name.
³In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul.

⁴^(E)All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord,
When they hear the words of Your mouth.
⁵Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
For great is the glory of the Lord.
⁶^(F)Though the Lord is on high,
Yet ^(G)He regards the lowly;
But the proud He knows from afar.

⁷^(H)Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
⁸^(I)The Lord will ^[a]perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
^(J)Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Footnotes

Psalm 138:8 complete

1 Corinthians 9

New King James Version

A Pattern of Self-Denial

9 Am ^(A)I not an apostle? Am I not free? ^(B)Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? ^(C)Are you not my work in the Lord? ²If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are ^(D)the ^[a]seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³My defense to those who examine me is this: ⁴^(E)Do we have no ^[b]right to eat and drink? ⁵Do we have no right to take along ^[c]a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, ^(F)the brothers of the Lord, and ^(G)Cephas? ⁶Or is it only Barnabas and I ^(H)who have no right to refrain from working? ⁷Who ever ^(I)goes to war at his own expense? Who ^(J)plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who ^(K)tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?

⁸Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? ⁹For it is written in the law of Moses, ^(L)“You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? ¹⁰Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that ^(M)he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. ¹¹^(N)If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? ¹²If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more?

^(O)Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things ^(P)lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. ¹³^(Q)Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the ^(R)temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? ¹⁴Even so ^(S)the Lord has commanded ^(T)that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.

¹⁵But ^(U)I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for ^(V)it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void. ¹⁶For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for ^(W)necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷For if I do this willingly, ^(X)I have a reward; but if against my will, ^(Y)I have been entrusted with a stewardship. ¹⁸What is my reward then? That ^(Z)when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel ^[d]of Christ without charge, that I ^(AA)may not abuse my authority in the gospel.

Serving All Men

¹⁹For though I am ^(AB)free from all men, ^(AC)I have made myself a servant to all, ^(AD)that I might win the more; ²⁰and ^(AE)to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the ^[e]law, that I might win those who are under the law; ²¹^(AF)to ^(AG)those who are without law, as without law ^(AH)(not being without ^[f]law toward God, but under ^[g]law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; ²²^(AI)to the weak I became ^[h]as weak, that I might win the weak. ^(AJ)I have become all things to all men, ^(AK)that I might by all means save some. ²³Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

Striving for a Crown

²⁴Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? ^(AL)Run in such a way that you may ^[i]obtain it. ²⁵And everyone who competes for the prize ^[j]is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for ^(AM)an imperishable crown. ²⁶Therefore I run thus: ^(AN)not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. ²⁷^(AO)But I discipline my body and ^(AP)bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become ^(AQ)disqualified.