Psalm 135-137

English Standard Version

Your Name, O Lord, Endures Forever

135 ^(A)Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord,
    give praise, O ^(B)servants of the Lord,
²who ^(C)stand in the house of the Lord,
    in ^(D)the courts of the house of our God!
³Praise the Lord, for ^(E)the Lord is good;
    sing to his name, ^(F)for it is pleasant!^[a]
⁴For the Lord has ^(G)chosen Jacob for himself,
    Israel as his ^(H)own possession.

⁵For I know that ^(I)the Lord is great,
    and that our Lord is above all gods.
⁶^(J)Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
    in heaven and on earth,
    in the seas and all deeps.
⁷^(K)He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
    who ^(L)makes lightnings for the rain
    and brings forth the wind from his ^(M)storehouses.

⁸He it was who ^(N)struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
    both of man and of beast;
⁹who in your midst, O Egypt,
    sent ^(O)signs and wonders
    against Pharaoh and all his servants;
¹⁰^(P)who struck down many nations
    and killed mighty kings,
¹¹^(Q)Sihon, king of the Amorites,
    and ^(R)Og, king of Bashan,
    and ^(S)all the kingdoms of Canaan,
¹²and ^(T)gave their land as a heritage,
    a heritage to his people Israel.

¹³^(U)Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
^(V)your renown,^[b] O Lord, throughout all ages.
¹⁴^(W)For the Lord will vindicate his people
and ^(X)have compassion on his servants.

¹⁵^(Y)The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
    the work of human hands.
¹⁶They have mouths, but do not speak;
    they have eyes, but do not see;
¹⁷they have ears, but do not hear,
    nor is there any breath in their mouths.
¹⁸Those who make them become like them,
    so do all who trust in them.

¹⁹^(Z)O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
    O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
²⁰O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
    You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
²¹Blessed be the Lord ^(AA)from Zion,
    he who ^(AB)dwells in Jerusalem!
^(AC)Praise the Lord!

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

136 ^(AD)Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    ^(AE)for his steadfast love endures forever.
²Give thanks to ^(AF)the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
³Give thanks to ^(AG)the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

⁴to him who alone ^(AH)does great wonders,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁵to him who ^(AI)by understanding ^(AJ)made the heavens,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁶to him who ^(AK)spread out the earth ^(AL)above the waters,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁷to him who ^(AM)made the great lights,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁸the sun to rule over the day,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁹the moon and stars to rule over the night,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁰to him who ^(AN)struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹¹and ^(AO)brought Israel out from among them,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹²with ^(AP)a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹³to him who ^(AQ)divided the Red Sea in two,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁴^(AR)and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁵but ^(AS)overthrew^[c] Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁶to him who ^(AT)led his people through the wilderness,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁷to him ^(AU)who struck down great kings,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁸and killed mighty kings,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁹Sihon, king of the Amorites,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁰and Og, king of Bashan,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
²¹and gave their land as a heritage,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
²²a heritage to Israel his ^(AV)servant,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

²³It is he who ^(AW)remembered us in our low estate,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁴and ^(AX)rescued us from our foes,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁵he who ^(AY)gives food to all flesh,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

²⁶Give thanks to ^(AZ)the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

How Shall We Sing the Lord's Song?

137 By the waters of Babylon,
    there we sat down and wept,
    when we remembered Zion.
²On the willows^[d] there
    we hung up our lyres.
³For there our captors
    required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴^(BA)How shall we sing the Lord's song
    in a foreign land?
⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    ^(BB)let my right hand forget its skill!
⁶Let my ^(BC)tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
    above my highest joy!

⁷Remember, O Lord, against the ^(BD)Edomites
    ^(BE)the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, ^(BF)“Lay it bare, lay it bare,
    down to its foundations!”
⁸O daughter of Babylon, ^(BG)doomed to be destroyed,
    blessed shall he be who ^(BH)repays you
    with what you have done to us!
⁹Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
    and ^(BI)dashes them against the rock!

Footnotes

Psalm 135:3 Or for he is beautiful
Psalm 135:13 Or remembrance
Psalm 136:15 Hebrew shook off
Psalm 137:2 Or poplars

2 Corinthians 11

English Standard Version

Paul and the False Apostles

11 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! ²For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since ^(A)I betrothed you to one husband, ^(B)to present you ^(C)as a pure virgin to Christ. ³But I am afraid that ^(D)as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts ^(E)will be led astray from a ^(F)sincere and ^(G)pure devotion to Christ. ⁴For if someone comes and ^(H)proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept ^(I)a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. ⁵Indeed, I consider that ^(J)I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. ⁶^(K)Even if I am unskilled in speaking, ^(L)I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way ^(M)we have made this plain to you in all things.

⁷Or ^(N)did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because ^(O)I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? ⁸I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. ⁹And when I was with you and was ^(P)in need, ^(Q)I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia ^(R)supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain ^(S)from burdening you in any way. ¹⁰^(T)As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine ^(U)will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹And why? ^(V)Because I do not love you? ^(W)God knows I do!

¹²And what I am doing I will continue to do, ^(X)in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. ¹³For such men are ^(Y)false apostles, ^(Z)deceitful workmen, ^(AA)disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as ^(AB)an angel of light. ¹⁵So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as ^(AC)servants of righteousness. ^(AD)Their end will correspond to their deeds.

Paul's Sufferings as an Apostle

¹⁶I repeat, ^(AE)let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. ¹⁷What I am saying ^(AF)with this boastful confidence, ^(AG)I say not as the Lord would^[a] but as a fool. ¹⁸Since ^(AH)many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. ¹⁹For you gladly bear with fools, ^(AI)being wise yourselves! ²⁰For you bear it if someone ^(AJ)makes slaves of you, or ^(AK)devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or ^(AL)strikes you in the face. ²¹To my shame, I must say, ^(AM)we were too weak for that!

But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. ²²Are they Hebrews? ^(AN)So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. ²³Are they ^(AO)servants of Christ? ^(AP)I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, ^(AQ)far more imprisonments, ^(AR)with countless beatings, and ^(AS)often near death. ²⁴Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the ^(AT)forty lashes less one. ²⁵Three times I was ^(AU)beaten with rods. ^(AV)Once I was stoned. Three times I ^(AW)was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, ^(AX)danger from my own people, ^(AY)danger from Gentiles, ^(AZ)danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ²⁷^(BA)in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, ^(BB)in hunger and thirst, often without food,^[b] in cold and exposure. ²⁸And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for ^(BC)all the churches. ²⁹^(BD)Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

³⁰^(BE)If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ³¹^(BF)The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, ^(BG)he who is blessed forever, ^(BH)knows that I am not lying. ³²At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas ^(BI)was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, ³³^(BJ)but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.