⁵ Now may the God Who gives the power of patient endurance (steadfastness) and Who supplies encouragement, grant you to live in such mutual harmony and such full sympathy with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,

⁶ That together you may [unanimously] with united hearts and one voice, praise and glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

⁷ Welcome and receive [to your hearts] one another, then, even as Christ has welcomed and received you, for the glory of God.

⁸ For I tell you that Christ (the Messiah) became a servant and a minister to the circumcised (the Jews) in order to show God’s truthfulness and honesty by confirming (verifying) the promises [given] to our fathers,

⁹ And [also in order] that the Gentiles (nations) might glorify God for His mercy [not covenanted] to them. As it is written, Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles and sing praises to Your name.^(A)

¹⁰ Again it is said, Rejoice (exult), O Gentiles, along with His [own] people;^(B)

¹¹ And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise Him!^(C)

¹² And further Isaiah says, There shall be a ^[a]Sprout from the Root of Jesse, He Who rises to rule over the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles hope.^(D)

¹³ May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.

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Psalm 94

¹ O Lord God, You to Whom vengeance belongs, O God, You to Whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!

² Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render to the proud a fit compensation!

³ Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph and exult?

⁴ They pour out arrogant words, speaking hard things; all the evildoers boast loftily.^(A)

⁵ They crush Your people, O Lord, and afflict Your heritage.

⁶ They slay the widow and the transient stranger and murder the unprotected orphan.

⁷ Yet they say, The Lord does not see, neither does the God of Jacob notice it.

⁸ Consider and understand, you stupid ones among the people! And you [self-confident] fools, when will you become wise?

⁹ He Who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He Who formed the eye, shall He not see?

¹⁰ He Who disciplines and instructs the nations, shall He not punish, He Who teaches man knowledge?

¹¹ The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vain (empty and futile—only a breath).^(B)

¹² Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whom You discipline and instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law,

¹³ That You may give him power to keep himself calm in the days of adversity, until the [inevitable] pit of corruption is dug for the wicked.

¹⁴ For the Lord will not cast off nor spurn His people, neither will He abandon His heritage.

¹⁵ For justice will return to the [uncompromisingly] righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

¹⁷ Unless the Lord had been my help, I would soon have dwelt in [the land where there is] silence.

¹⁸ When I said, My foot is slipping, Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, held me up.

¹⁹ In the multitude of my [anxious] thoughts within me, Your comforts cheer and delight my soul!

²⁰ Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with You—they who frame and hide their unrighteous doings under [the sacred name of] law?

²¹ They band themselves together against the life of the [consistently] righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

²² But the Lord has become my High Tower and Defense, and my God the Rock of my refuge.

²³ And He will turn back upon them their own iniquity and will wipe them out by means of their own wickedness; the Lord our God will wipe them out.

Psalm 95

¹ O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation!

² Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!

³ For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

⁴ In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights and strength of the hills are His also.

⁵ The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.

⁶ O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and supplication].

⁷ For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice,^(C)

⁸ Harden not your hearts as at Meribah and as at Massah in the day of temptation in the wilderness,^(D)

⁹ When your fathers tried My patience and tested Me, proved Me, and saw My work [of judgment].

¹⁰ Forty years long was I grieved and disgusted with that generation, and I said, It is a people that do err in their hearts, and they do not approve, acknowledge, or regard My ways.

¹¹ Wherefore I swore in My wrath that they would not enter My rest [the land of promise].^(E)

Psalm 96

¹ O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!

² Sing to the Lord, bless (affectionately praise) His name; show forth His salvation from day to day.

³ Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples.

⁴ For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be reverently feared and worshiped above all [so-called] gods.^(F)

⁵ For all the gods of the nations are [lifeless] idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

⁶ Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

⁷ Ascribe to the Lord, O you families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

⁸ Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering and come [before Him] into His courts.

⁹ O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; tremble before and reverently fear Him, all the earth.

¹⁰ Say among the nations that the Lord reigns; the world also is established, so that it cannot be moved; He shall judge and rule the people righteously and with justice.^(G)

¹¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all the things which fill it;

¹² Let the field be exultant, and all that is in it! Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy

¹³ Before the Lord, for He comes, for He comes to judge and govern the earth! He shall judge the world with righteousness and justice and the peoples with His faithfulness and truth.^(H)

Psalm 97

¹ The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles and coastlands be glad!

² Clouds and darkness are round about Him [as at Sinai]; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.^(I)

³ Fire goes before Him and burns up His adversaries round about.

⁴ His lightnings illumine the world; the earth sees and trembles.

⁵ The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

⁶ The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory.

⁷ Let all those be put to shame who serve graven images, who boast in idols. Fall prostrate before Him, all you gods.^(J)

⁸ Zion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced [in relief] because of Your judgments, O Lord.

⁹ For You, Lord, are high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰ O you who love the Lord, hate evil; He preserves the lives of His saints (the children of God), He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.^(K)

¹¹ Light is sown for the [uncompromisingly] righteous and strewn along their pathway, and joy for the upright in heart [the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection].

¹² Rejoice in the Lord, you [consistently] righteous (upright and in right standing with God), and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.

Psalm 98

A Psalm.

¹ O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have wrought salvation for Him.

² The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness has He openly shown in the sight of the nations.^(L)

³ He has [earnestly] remembered His mercy and loving-kindness, His truth and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have witnessed the salvation of our God.^(M)

⁴ Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth and sing for joy, yes, sing praises!

⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the voice of melody.

⁶ With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!

⁷ Let the sea roar, and all that fills it, the world, and those who dwell in it!

⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands; together let the hills sing for joy

⁹ Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge [and rule] the earth; with righteousness will He judge [and rule] the world, and the peoples with equity.