8 Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.^(A)

² For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.

³ For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [^[a]the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [^[b]subdued, overcame, ^[c]deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],^(B)

⁴ So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit].

⁵ For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and ^[d]pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and ^[e]seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit.

⁶ Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that ^[f]comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever].

⁷ [That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God’s Law; indeed it cannot.

⁸ So then those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him.

⁹ But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God].^(C)

¹⁰ But if Christ lives in you, [then although] your [natural] body is dead by reason of sin and guilt, the spirit is alive because of [the] righteousness [that He imputes to you].

¹¹ And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.

¹² So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh [we are not obligated to our carnal nature], to live [a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates] of the flesh.

¹³ For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever.

¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

¹⁵ For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!

¹⁶ The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God.

¹⁷ And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.

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Psalm 68

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A song.

¹ God is [already] beginning to arise, and His enemies to scatter; let them also who hate Him flee before Him!

² As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before the presence of God.

³ But let the [uncompromisingly] righteous be glad; let them be in high spirits and glory before God, yes, let them [jubilantly] rejoice!

⁴ Sing to God, sing praises to His name, cast up a highway for Him Who rides through the deserts—His name is the Lord—be in high spirits and glory before Him!

⁵ A father of the fatherless and a judge and protector of the widows is God in His holy habitation.

⁶ God places the solitary in families and gives the desolate a home in which to dwell; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

⁷ O God, when You went forth before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness—Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!—

⁸ The earth trembled, the heavens also poured down [rain] at the presence of God; yonder Sinai quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

⁹ You, O God, did send a plentiful rain; You did restore and confirm Your heritage when it languished and was weary.

¹⁰ Your flock found a dwelling place in it; You, O God, in Your goodness did provide for the poor and needy.

¹¹ The Lord gives the word [of power]; the women who bear and publish [the news] are a great host.

¹² The kings of the enemies’ armies, they flee, they flee! She who tarries at home divides the spoil [left behind].

¹³ Though you [the slackers] may lie among the sheepfolds [in slothful ease, yet for Israel] the wings of a dove are covered with silver, its pinions excessively green with gold [are trophies taken from the enemy].

¹⁴ When the Almighty scattered kings in [the land], it was as when it snows on Zalmon [a wooded hill near Shechem].

¹⁵ Is Mount Bashan the high mountain of summits, Mount Bashan [east of the Jordan] the mount of God?

¹⁶ Why do you look with grudging and envy, you many-peaked mountains, at the mountain [of the city called Zion] which God has desired for His dwelling place? Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.

¹⁷ The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon thousands. The Lord is among them as He was in Sinai, [so also] in the Holy Place (the sanctuary in Jerusalem).

^18 [a]You have ascended on high. You have led away captive a train of vanquished foes; You have received gifts of men, yes, of the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell there with them.^(A)

¹⁹ Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even the God Who is our salvation! Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

²⁰ God is to us a God of deliverances and salvation; and to God the Lord belongs escape from death [setting us free].

²¹ But God will shatter the heads of His enemies, the hairy scalp of such a one as goes on still in his trespasses and guilty ways.

²² The Lord said, I will bring back [your enemies] from Bashan; I will bring them back from the depths of the [Red] Sea,

²³ That you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.

²⁴ They see Your goings, O God, even the [solemn processions] of my God, my King, into the sanctuary [in holiness].

²⁵ The singers go in front, the players on instruments last; between them the maidens are playing on tambourines.

²⁶ Bless, give thanks, and gratefully praise God in full congregations, even the Lord, O you who are from [Jacob] the fountain of Israel.

²⁷ There is little Benjamin in the lead [in the procession], the princes of Judah and their company, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

²⁸ Your God has commanded your strength [your might in His service and impenetrable hardness to temptation]; O God, display Your might and strengthen what You have wrought for us!

²⁹ [Out of respect] for Your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bring gifts to You.

³⁰ Rebuke the wild beasts dwelling among the reeds [in Egypt], the herd of bulls (the leaders) with the calves of the peoples; trample underfoot those who lust for tribute money; scatter the peoples who delight in war.

³¹ Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall hasten to stretch out her hands [with the offerings of submission] to God.

³² Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praises to the Lord! Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

³³ [Sing praises] to Him Who rides upon the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, He sends forth His voice, His mighty voice.

³⁴ Ascribe power and strength to God; His majesty is over Israel, and His strength and might are in the skies.

³⁵ O God, awe-inspiring, profoundly impressive, and terrible are You out of Your holy places; the God of Israel Himself gives strength and fullness of might to His people. Blessed be God!

Psalm 69

To the Chief Musician; [set to the tune of] “Lilies.” [A Psalm] of David.

¹ Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck [they threaten my life].

² I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overwhelm me.

³ I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail with waiting [hopefully] for my God.

⁴ Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head; those who would cut me off and destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully, are many and mighty. I am [forced] to restore what I did not steal.^(B)

⁵ O God, You know my folly and blundering; my sins and my guilt are not hidden from You.

⁶ Let not those who wait and hope and look for You, O Lord of hosts, be put to shame through me; let not those who seek and inquire for and require You [as their vital necessity] be brought to confusion and dishonor through me, O God of Israel.

⁷ Because for Your sake I have borne taunt and reproach; confusion and shame have covered my face.

⁸ I have become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to my mother’s children.^(C)

⁹ For zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches and insults of those who reproach and insult You have fallen upon me.^(D)

¹⁰ When I wept and humbled myself with fasting, I was jeered at and humiliated;

¹¹ When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword (an object of scorn) to them.

¹² They who sit in [the city’s] gate talk about me, and I am the song of the drunkards.

¹³ But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord. At an acceptable and opportune time, O God, in the multitude of Your mercy and the abundance of Your loving-kindness hear me, and in the truth and faithfulness of Your salvation answer me.

¹⁴ Rescue me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from those who hate me and from out of the deep waters.

¹⁵ Let not the floodwaters overflow and overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up nor the [dug] pit [with water perhaps in the bottom] close its mouth over me.

¹⁶ Hear and answer me, O Lord, for Your loving-kindness is sweet and comforting; according to Your plenteous tender mercy and steadfast love turn to me.

¹⁷ Hide not Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress; O answer me speedily!

¹⁸ Draw close to me and redeem me; ransom and set me free because of my enemies [lest they glory in my prolonged distress]!

¹⁹ You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor; my adversaries are all before You [fully known to You].

²⁰ Insults and reproach have broken my heart; I am full of heaviness and I am distressingly sick. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.

²¹ They gave me also gall [poisonous and bitter] for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar (a soured wine) to drink.^(E)

²² Let their own table [with all its abundance and luxury] become a snare to them; and when they are secure in peace [or at their sacrificial feasts, let it become] a trap to them.

²³ Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually [from terror, dismay, and feebleness].

²⁴ Pour out Your indignation upon them, and let the fierceness of Your burning anger catch up with them.

²⁵ Let their habitation and their encampment be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents.^(F)

²⁶ For they pursue and persecute him whom You have smitten, and they gossip about those whom You have wounded, [adding] to their grief and pain.

²⁷ Let one [unforgiven] perverseness and iniquity accumulate upon another for them [in Your book], and let them not come into Your righteousness or be justified and acquitted by You.

²⁸ Let them be blotted out of the book of the living and the book of life and not be enrolled among the [uncompromisingly] righteous (those upright and in right standing with God).^(G)

²⁹ But I am poor, sorrowful, and in pain; let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.

³⁰ I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify Him with thanksgiving,

³¹ And it will please the Lord better than an ox or a bullock that has horns and hoofs.

³² The humble shall see it and be glad; you who seek God, inquiring for and requiring Him [as your first need], let your hearts revive and live!^(H)

³³ For the Lord hears the poor and needy and despises not His prisoners (His miserable and wounded ones).

³⁴ Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them.

³⁵ For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; and [His servants] shall remain and dwell there and have it in their possession;

³⁶ The children of His servants shall inherit it, and those who love His name shall dwell in it.