Psalm 145

New Living Translation

Psalm 145^[a]

A psalm of praise of David.

¹I will exalt you, my God and King,
    and praise your name forever and ever.
²I will praise you every day;
    yes, I will praise you forever.
³Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
    No one can measure his greatness.

⁴Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;
    let them proclaim your power.
⁵I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor
    and your wonderful miracles.
⁶Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;
    I will proclaim your greatness.
⁷Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;
    they will sing with joy about your righteousness.

⁸The Lord is merciful and compassionate,
    slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
⁹The Lord is good to everyone.
    He showers compassion on all his creation.
¹⁰All of your works will thank you, Lord,
    and your faithful followers will praise you.
¹¹They will speak of the glory of your kingdom;
    they will give examples of your power.
¹²They will tell about your mighty deeds
    and about the majesty and glory of your reign.
¹³For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
    You rule throughout all generations.

The Lord always keeps his promises;
    he is gracious in all he does.^[b]
¹⁴The Lord helps the fallen
    and lifts those bent beneath their loads.
¹⁵The eyes of all look to you in hope;
    you give them their food as they need it.
¹⁶When you open your hand,
    you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.
¹⁷The Lord is righteous in everything he does;
    he is filled with kindness.
¹⁸The Lord is close to all who call on him,
    yes, to all who call on him in truth.
¹⁹He grants the desires of those who fear him;
    he hears their cries for help and rescues them.
²⁰The Lord protects all those who love him,
    but he destroys the wicked.

²¹I will praise the Lord,
and may everyone on earth bless his holy name
forever and ever.

Footnotes

145 This psalm is a Hebrew acrostic poem; each verse (including 13b) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
145:13 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek and Syriac versions; the Masoretic Text lacks the final two lines of this verse.

John 16:16-33

New Living Translation

Sadness Will Be Turned to Joy

¹⁶“In a little while you won’t see me anymore. But a little while after that, you will see me again.”

¹⁷Some of the disciples asked each other, “What does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, but then you will see me,’ and ‘I am going to the Father’? ¹⁸And what does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.”

¹⁹Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it, so he said, “Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won’t see me, but a little while after that you will see me again. ²⁰I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. ²¹It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. ²²So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy. ²³At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. ²⁴You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.

²⁵“I have spoken of these matters in figures of speech, but soon I will stop speaking figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father. ²⁶Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf, ²⁷for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God.^[a] ²⁸Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.”

²⁹Then his disciples said, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively. ³⁰Now we understand that you know everything, and there’s no need to question you. From this we believe that you came from God.”

³¹Jesus asked, “Do you finally believe? ³²But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. ³³I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

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