Psalm 68

God’s Majestic Power

For the choir director. A psalm of David. A song.

God arises. His enemies scatter,
and those who hate him flee from his presence.(A)
As smoke is blown away,
so you blow them away.
As wax melts before the fire,
so the wicked are destroyed before God.(B)
But the righteous are glad;
they rejoice before God and celebrate with joy.(C)

Sing to God! Sing praises to his name.
Exalt him who rides on the clouds[a]
his name is the Lord[b]—and celebrate before him.(D)
God in his holy dwelling is
a father of the fatherless
and a champion of widows.(E)
God provides homes for those who are deserted.
He leads out the prisoners to prosperity,[c]
but the rebellious live in a scorched land.(F)

God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the desert,Selah
the earth trembled and the skies poured rain
before God, the God of Sinai,[d]
before God, the God of Israel.(G)
You, God, showered abundant rain;
you revived your inheritance when it languished.(H)
10 Your people settled in it;
God, you provided for the poor by your goodness.(I)

11 The Lord gave the command;
a great company of women brought the good news:(J)
12 “The kings of the armies flee—they flee!”
She who stays at home divides the spoil.(K)
13 While[e] you lie among the sheep pens,[f]
the wings of a dove are covered with silver,
and its feathers with glistening gold.(L)
14 When the Almighty scattered kings in the land,
it snowed on Zalmon.[g](M)

15 Mount Bashan is God’s towering mountain;
Mount Bashan is a mountain of many peaks.(N)
16 Why gaze with envy, you mountain peaks,
at the mountain God desired for his abode?
The Lord will dwell there forever!(O)
17 God’s chariots are tens of thousands,
thousands and thousands;(P)
the Lord is among them in the sanctuary[h]
as he was at Sinai.(Q)
18 You ascended to the heights, taking away captives;
you received gifts from[i] people,
even from the rebellious,
so that the Lord God might dwell there.[j](R)

19 Blessed be the Lord!
Day after day he bears our burdens;
God is our salvation.(S)Selah
20 Our God is a God of salvation,
and escape from death belongs to the Lord my Lord.(T)
21 Surely God crushes the heads of his enemies,
the hairy brow of one who goes on in his guilty acts.(U)
22 The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea(V)
23 so that your foot may wade[k] in blood
and your dogs’ tongues may have their share
from the enemies.”(W)
24 People have seen your procession, God,
the procession of my God,
my King, in the sanctuary.(X)
25 Singers lead the way,
with musicians following;
among them are young women
playing tambourines.(Y)
26 Bless God in the assemblies;
bless the Lord from the fountain of Israel.(Z)
27 There is Benjamin, the youngest, leading them,
the rulers of Judah in their assembly,[l]
the rulers of Zebulun, the rulers of Naphtali.(AA)

28 Your God has decreed your strength.
Show your strength, God,
you who have acted on our behalf.(AB)
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem,
kings will bring tribute to you.(AC)
30 Rebuke the beast in the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.(AD)
Trample underfoot those with bars of silver.[m]
Scatter the peoples who take pleasure in war.(AE)
31 Ambassadors will come[n] from Egypt;
Cush will stretch out its hands to God.(AF)

32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth;
sing praise to the Lord,(AG)Selah
33 to him who rides in the ancient, highest heavens.(AH)
Look, he thunders with his powerful voice!(AI)
34 Ascribe power to God.
His majesty is over Israel;
his power is among the clouds.(AJ)
35 God, you are awe-inspiring in your sanctuaries.
The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!(AK)

Footnotes

  1. 68:4 Or rides through the desert
  2. 68:4 Hb Yah
  3. 68:6 Or prisoners with joyous music; Hb uncertain
  4. 68:8 Or God, this one of Sinai
  5. 68:13 Or If
  6. 68:13 Or the campfires, or the saddlebags; Hb obscure
  7. 68:14 Or Black Mountain
  8. 68:17 Or in holiness, also in v. 24
  9. 68:18 Lit among
  10. 68:18 Or even those rebelling against the Lord God’s living there; Hb obscure
  11. 68:23 LXX, Syr read dip
  12. 68:27 Hb obscure
  13. 68:30 Or peoples, trampling on those who take pleasure in silver, or peoples, trampling on the bars of silver, or peoples, who trample each other for bars of silver
  14. 68:31 Or They bring red cloth, or They bring bronze

Warning against Adultery

20 My son, keep your father’s command,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching.(A)
21 Always bind them to your heart;
tie them around your neck.(B)
22 When you walk here and there, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.
23 For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,(C)
and corrective discipline is the way to life.(D)
24 They will protect you from an evil woman,[a]
from the flattering tongue of a wayward woman.(E)
25 Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty(F)
or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.(G)
26 For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,[b]
but the wife of another man[c] goes after a precious life.(H)
27 Can a man embrace fire
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can a man walk on burning coals
without scorching his feet?
29 So it is with the one who sleeps with
another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.(I)
30 People don’t despise the thief if he steals
to satisfy himself when he is hungry.(J)
31 Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much;(K)
he must give up all the wealth in his house.
32 The one who commits adultery[d] lacks sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.(L)
33 He will get a beating[e] and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be removed.
34 For jealousy enrages a husband,(M)
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not be appeased by anything
or be persuaded by lavish bribes.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:24 LXX reads from a married woman
  2. 6:26 Or On account of a prostitute, one is left with only a loaf of bread
  3. 6:26 Lit but a wife of a man
  4. 6:32 Lit commits adultery with a woman
  5. 6:33 Or plague

Paul’s Example as an Apostle

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, because you are the seal(A) of my apostleship in the Lord.

My defense to those who examine me is this: Don’t we have the right to eat and drink?(B) Don’t we have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife[a] like the other apostles,(C) the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas?(D) Or do only Barnabas(E) and I have no right to refrain from working? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?(F) Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock?

Am I saying this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the law also say the same thing? For it is written in the law of Moses, Do not muzzle an ox(G) while it treads out grain.[b](H) Is God really concerned about oxen? 10 Isn’t he really saying it for our sake? Yes, this is written for our sake,(I) because he who plows ought to plow in hope,(J) and he who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing the crop.(K) 11 If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? 12 If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don’t we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right; instead, we endure everything(L) so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ.

13 Don’t you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar(M) share in the offerings of the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.(N)

15 For my part I have used none of these rights, nor have I written these things that they may be applied in my case. For it would be better for me to die than for anyone to deprive me of my boast! 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am compelled to preach[c]—and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, I am entrusted(O) with a commission. 18 What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my rights in the gospel.(P)

19 Although I am free from all and not anyone’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win(Q) more people. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law[d]—to win those under the law.(R) 21 To those who are without the law,(S) like one without the law—though I am not without God’s law but under the law of Christ—to win those without the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.(T) 23 Now I do all this because of the gospel, so that I may share in the blessings.

24 Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race,(U) but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize.(V) 25 Now everyone who competes exercises self-control(W) in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown,(X) but we an imperishable crown. 26 So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. 27 Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.(Y)

Footnotes

  1. 9:5 Lit a sister as a wife
  2. 9:9 Dt 25:4
  3. 9:16 Lit because necessity is laid upon me
  4. 9:20 Other mss omit though I myself am not under the law

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