I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.

The Lord Has Chosen Zion

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

¹⁴ And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until ^(A)she was satisfied, and she had some left over. ¹⁵ When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. ¹⁶ And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

¹⁷ So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah^[a] of barley. ¹⁸ And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over ^(B)after being satisfied. ¹⁹ And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man ^(C)who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” ²⁰ And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ^(D)“May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken ^(E)the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of ^(F)our redeemers.” ²¹ And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” ²² And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” ²³ So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ministers of the New Covenant

3 ^(A)Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, ^(B)as some do, ^(C)letters of recommendation to you, or from you? ^2 (D)You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our^[a] hearts, to be known and read by all. ³ And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of ^(E)the living God, not on ^(F)tablets of stone but on ^(G)tablets of ^(H)human hearts.^[b]

^4 (I)Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. ^5 (J)Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but ^(K)our sufficiency is from God, ⁶ who has made us sufficient to be ^(L)ministers of ^(M)a new covenant, not of ^(N)the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but ^(O)the Spirit gives life.

⁷ Now if ^(P)the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory ^(Q)that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, ⁸ will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? ⁹ For if there was glory in ^(R)the ministry of condemnation, ^(S)the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. ¹⁰ Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹ For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

¹² Since we have such a hope, ^(T)we are very bold, ¹³ not like Moses, ^(U)who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. ¹⁴ But ^(V)their minds were ^(W)hardened. For to this day, ^(X)when they read ^(Y)the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵ Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. ¹⁶ But when ^(Z)one^[c] turns to the Lord, ^(AA)the veil is removed. ¹⁷ Now the Lord^[d] is the Spirit, and where ^(AB)the Spirit of the Lord is, there is ^(AC)freedom. ¹⁸ And we all, with unveiled face, ^(AD)beholding ^(AE)the glory of the Lord,^{[e] (AF)}are being transformed into the same image ^(AG)from one degree of glory to another.^[f] For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Lust

^27 (A)“You have heard that it was said, ^(B)‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that ^(C)everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ^29 (D)If your right eye ^(E)causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into ^(F)hell. ^30 (G)And if your right hand ^(H)causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into ^(I)hell.

Divorce

^31 (J)“It was also said, ^(K)‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ^32 (L)But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and ^(M)whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Oaths

³³ “Again ^(N)you have heard that it was said to those of old, ^(O)‘You shall not swear falsely, but ^(P)shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, ^(Q)Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for ^(R)it is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is ^(S)the city of the great King. ³⁶ And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; ^(T)anything more than this comes from evil.^[a]