Psalm 116-118

English Standard Version

I Love the Lord

116 I ^(A)love the Lord, because he has ^(B)heard
    my voice and my pleas for mercy.
²Because he ^(C)inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
³^(D)The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
⁴Then ^(E)I called on the name of the Lord:
    “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”

⁵^(F)Gracious is the Lord, and ^(G)righteous;
    our God is ^(H)merciful.
⁶The Lord preserves ^(I)the simple;
    when ^(J)I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷Return, O my soul, to your ^(K)rest;
    for the Lord has ^(L)dealt bountifully with you.

⁸For ^(M)you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling;
⁹I will walk before the Lord
    ^(N)in the land of the living.

¹⁰^(O)I believed, ^(P)even when^[a] I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
¹¹^(Q)I said in my alarm,
^(R)“All mankind are liars.”

¹²What shall I ^(S)render to the Lord
    for all his benefits to me?
¹³I will lift up ^(T)the cup of salvation
    and ^(U)call on the name of the Lord,
¹⁴I will ^(V)pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people.

¹⁵^(W)Precious in the sight of the Lord
    is the death of his ^(X)saints.
¹⁶O Lord, I am your ^(Y)servant;
    I am your servant, ^(Z)the son of your maidservant.
    You have ^(AA)loosed my bonds.
¹⁷I will ^(AB)offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and ^(AC)call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸I will ^(AD)pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹in ^(AE)the courts of the house of the Lord,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
^(AF)Praise the Lord!

The Lord's Faithfulness Endures Forever

117 ^(AG)Praise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
²For ^(AH)great is his steadfast love toward us,
and ^(AI)the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
^(AJ)Praise the Lord!

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

118 ^(AK)Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!

²^(AL)Let Israel say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
³^(AM)Let the house of Aaron say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
⁴^(AN)Let those who fear the Lord say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”

⁵^(AO)Out of my distress I ^(AP)called on the Lord;
    the Lord answered me and set me ^(AQ)free.
⁶^(AR)The Lord is on my side; ^(AS)I will not fear.
    What can man do to me?
⁷^(AT)The Lord is on my side as my helper;
    I shall ^(AU)look in triumph on those who hate me.

⁸^(AV)It is better to take refuge in the Lord
^(AW)than to trust in man.
⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord
^(AX)than to trust in princes.

¹⁰^(AY)All nations surrounded me;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹¹They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹²^(AZ)They surrounded me like bees;
    they went out like ^(BA)a fire among thorns;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹³I was ^(BB)pushed hard,^[b] so that I was falling,
    but the Lord helped me.

¹⁴The Lord is my strength and my song;
    ^(BC)he has become my salvation.
¹⁵Glad songs of salvation
    are in the tents of the righteous:
^(BD)“The right hand of the Lord ^(BE)does valiantly,
¹⁶    the right hand of the Lord exalts,
    the right hand of the Lord ^(BF)does valiantly!”

¹⁷^(BG)I shall not die, but I shall live,
and ^(BH)recount the deeds of the Lord.
¹⁸The Lord has ^(BI)disciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.

¹⁹^(BJ)Open to me the gates of righteousness,
    that I may enter through them
    and give thanks to the Lord.
²⁰This is the gate of the Lord;
    ^(BK)the righteous shall enter through it.
²¹I thank you that ^(BL)you have answered me
    ^(BM)and have become my salvation.
²²^(BN)The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.^[c]
²³This is the Lord's doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.

²⁵Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!

²⁶^(BO)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
    We ^(BP)bless you from the house of the Lord.
²⁷The Lord is God,
    and he has made ^(BQ)his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
    up to ^(BR)the horns of the altar!

²⁸You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will ^(BS)extol you.
²⁹^(BT)Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!

Footnotes

Psalm 116:10 Or believed, indeed; Septuagint believed, therefore
Psalm 118:13 Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard
Psalm 118:22 Hebrew the head of the corner

2 Corinthians 3

English Standard Version

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. ³And 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, ⁶who 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.

⁷Now 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, ⁸will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? ⁹For if there was glory in ^(R)the ministry of condemnation, ^(S)the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. ¹⁰Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

¹²Since we have such a hope, ^(T)we are very bold, ¹³not 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. ¹⁴But ^(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. ¹⁵Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. ¹⁶But when ^(Z)one^[c] turns to the Lord, ^(AA)the veil is removed. ¹⁷Now the Lord^[d] is the Spirit, and where ^(AB)the Spirit of the Lord is, there is ^(AC)freedom. ¹⁸And 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.