Old/New Testament
Psalm 66[a]
Thanksgiving for God’s Deliverance
1 For the director.[b] A song. A psalm.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;[c]
2 sing to the glory of his name;[d]
offer to him glorious praise.
3 Say to God: “How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power,
your enemies grovel before you.
4 The whole earth bows down in worship before you,
singing praises to you,
singing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Come and behold[e] the works of God,
the awesome deeds he has done for people.
6 He changed the sea into dry land;
they crossed the river[f] on foot.
There we rejoiced in him,
7 for he rules forever by his power.
His eyes keep watch over the nations
so that the rebellious not exalt themselves. Selah
8 [g]Bless our God, all you peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard.
9 For he has preserved our lives[h]
and has kept our feet from stumbling.
10 For you, O God, have put us to the test;
you have purified us as silver is refined.
11 [i]You allowed us to be snared in the net
and placed heavy burdens on our backs.
12 You let our captors ride over our heads,[j]
and we went through fire and water,
but now you have afforded us relief.
13 [k]I will enter your house with burnt offerings
and carry out my vows to you,
14 the vows that my lips pronounced
and my mouth promised when I was in distress.
15 I will offer burnt offerings of fat animals
with the smoke of burning rams;
I will sacrifice to you bulls and goats. Selah
16 Come and listen, all you who fear God,
while I relate what he has done for me.
17 [l]I lifted up my voice in prayer to him;
his praise[m] was on my tongue.
18 [n]If I had harbored evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 But God truly did listen,
and he was attentive to the words of my prayer.
20 Blessed[o] be God,
because he did not reject my prayer
or withhold his kindness from me.
Psalm 67[p]
Prayer That All May Worship God
1 For the director.[q] With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.
2 O God, be gracious to us and bless us
and let your face shine upon us.[r] Selah
3 [s]Then your ways will be known on earth
and your salvation among all nations.
4 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
5 Let the nations rejoice and exult,
for you judge the peoples fairly
and guide the nations upon the earth.[t] Selah
6 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
7 The earth has yielded its harvest;
God, our God, has blessed us.
8 May God continue to bless us
and be revered to the ends of the earth.
Christ Has Freed Us from the Law[a]
Chapter 7
The Time of the Law Has Passed.[b] 1 Are you aware, brethren (for I am certain that you are people who have knowledge of the Law), that a person is bound by the Law only during that person’s lifetime? 2 For example, a woman is bound by the Law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from her husband in regard to the Law. 3 Therefore, she will be judged to be an adulteress if she has relations with another man while her husband is still alive. However, if her husband dies, she is free from that provision of the Law, and if she then has relations with another man, she is not an adulteress.
4 In the same way, brethren, through the body of Christ you have died to the Law and have been set free to belong to another, that is, to the one who rose from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, our sinful passions were aroused by the Law and at work in our bodies, and they bore fruit for death. 6 But now, we are released from the Law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit in contrast to the old written code.[c]
The Function of the Law.[d] 7 What then should we say? That the Law is sinful? Absolutely not! Yet if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin was. I would not have known what covet is if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin seized the opportunity offered by the commandment and produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the Law, sin is dead.
9 I lived apart from the Law, but when the commandment came, sin came to life, 10 and I died. The commandment that was for life proved to be death for me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity offered by the commandment, deceived me,[e] and through it killed me. 12 And so the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.
13 Did what is good, then, cause my death? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as such, it brought about my death through what is good, and therefore through the commandment sin became completely sinful.
14 Sin and Death. We clearly understand that the Law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want; rather, I do what I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, then I agree that the Law is good.[f] 17 This indicates that it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot do what is good. 19 For I do not do the good I desire; rather, it is the evil I do not desire that I end up doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not desire, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I have thus discovered this principle: when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 In my innermost self, I delight in the Law of God, 23 but I perceive in the members of my body another law at war with the Law that I cherish in my mind. Thus, I am made captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body destined for death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with my mind I am a slave to the Law of God, but with my flesh to the law of sin.
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