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Psalm 138

Thanksgiving and Praise

Of David.

I give you thanks, O Lord,[a] with my whole heart;
    before the gods I sing your praise;(A)
I bow down toward your holy temple
    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
    for you have exalted your name and your word
    above everything.[b](B)
On the day I called, you answered me;
    you increased my strength of soul.[c](C)

All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
    for they have heard the words of your mouth.(D)
They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
    for great is the glory of the Lord.
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
    but the haughty he perceives from far away.(E)

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
    and your right hand delivers me.(F)
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Do not forsake the work of your hands.(G)

Footnotes

  1. 138.1 Q mss Gk: MT lacks O Lord
  2. 138.2 Cn: Heb you have exalted your word above all your name
  3. 138.3 Syr Compare Gk Tg: Heb you made me arrogant in my soul with strength

Psalm 138

Thanksgiving and Praise

Of David.

I give you thanks, O Lord,[a] with my whole heart;
    before the gods I sing your praise;(A)
I bow down toward your holy temple
    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
    for you have exalted your name and your word
    above everything.[b](B)
On the day I called, you answered me;
    you increased my strength of soul.[c](C)

All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
    for they have heard the words of your mouth.(D)
They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
    for great is the glory of the Lord.
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
    but the haughty he perceives from far away.(E)

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
    and your right hand delivers me.(F)
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Do not forsake the work of your hands.(G)

Footnotes

  1. 138.1 Q mss Gk: MT lacks O Lord
  2. 138.2 Cn: Heb you have exalted your word above all your name
  3. 138.3 Syr Compare Gk Tg: Heb you made me arrogant in my soul with strength

The Righteousness of God’s Judgment

65 I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
    to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
    to a nation that did not call on my name.(A)
I held out my hands all day long
    to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
    following their own devices;(B)
a people who provoke me
    to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
    and offering incense on bricks;(C)
who sit inside tombs
    and spend the night in secret places;
who eat the flesh of pigs,
    with broth of abominable things in their vessels;(D)
who say, “Keep to yourself;
    do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
    a fire that burns all day long.(E)
See, it is written before me:
    I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their laps(F)
    their[a] iniquities and their[b] ancestors’ iniquities together,
            says the Lord;
because they offered incense on the mountains
    and reviled me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
    full payment for their actions.(G)
Thus says the Lord:
As the wine is found in the cluster,
    and they say, “Do not destroy it,
    for there is a blessing in it,”
so I will do for my servants’ sake
    and not destroy them all.
I will bring forth descendants from Jacob
    and from Judah inheritors of my mountains;
my chosen shall inherit it,
    and my servants shall settle there.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. 65.7 Gk Syr: Heb your
  2. 65.7 Gk Syr: Heb your

The Message to Sardis

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars:

“I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead.(A) Wake up and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard; obey it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.(B) Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.(C) If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not erase your name from the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels.(D) Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

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Feeding the Five Thousand

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.[a] A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”(A) He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they[b] sat down, about five thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.(B) 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 6.1 Gk of Galilee of Tiberias
  2. 6.10 Gk the men

Psalm 147

Praise for God’s Care for Jerusalem

Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
    for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.(A)
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.(B)
He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.(C)
He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.(D)
Great is our Lord and abundant in power;
    his understanding is beyond measure.(E)
The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
    he casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
    make melody to our God on the lyre.
He covers the heavens with clouds,
    prepares rain for the earth,
    makes grass grow on the hills.(F)
He gives to the animals their food
    and to the young ravens when they cry.(G)
10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse
    nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner,[a](H)
11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.

12 Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem!
    Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
    he blesses your children within you.
14 He grants peace[b] within your borders;
    he fills you with the finest of wheat.(I)
15 He sends out his command to the earth;
    his word runs swiftly.(J)
16 He gives snow like wool;
    he scatters frost like ashes.(K)
17 He hurls down hail like crumbs—
    who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word and melts them;
    he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.(L)
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
    his statutes and ordinances to Israel.(M)
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
    they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the Lord!(N)

Footnotes

  1. 147.10 Heb legs of a person
  2. 147.14 Or prosperity