The Lord is gracious and compassionate,(A)
    slow to anger and rich in love.(B)

The Lord is good(C) to all;
    he has compassion(D) on all he has made.
10 All your works praise you,(E) Lord;
    your faithful people extol(F) you.(G)
11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom(H)
    and speak of your might,(I)
12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts(J)
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.(K)
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,(L)
    and your dominion endures through all generations.

The Lord is trustworthy(M) in all he promises(N)
    and faithful in all he does.[a]
14 The Lord upholds(O) all who fall
    and lifts up all(P) who are bowed down.(Q)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 145:13 One manuscript of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac (see also Septuagint); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text do not have the last two lines of verse 13.

A Call to Return to the Lord

In the eighth month of the second year of Darius,(A) the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah(B) son of Berekiah,(C) the son of Iddo:(D)

“The Lord was very angry(E) with your ancestors. Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return(F) to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’(G) says the Lord Almighty. Do not be like your ancestors,(H) to whom the earlier prophets(I) proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways(J) and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me,(K) declares the Lord.(L) Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? But did not my words(M) and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?(N)

“Then they repented and said, ‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve,(O) just as he determined to do.’”(P)

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Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

Do you not know, brothers and sisters(A)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.(B) So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.(C) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law(D) through the body of Christ,(E) that you might belong to another,(F) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a](G) the sinful passions aroused by the law(H) were at work in us,(I) so that we bore fruit for death.(J) But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(K) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(L)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.

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