Old/New Testament
A Song of Ascents[a]
A Prayer for Deliverance
120 I cried to the Lord in my distress,
and he responded to me.
2 “Lord, deliver me[b] from lips that lie
and tongues that deceive.”
3 What will be given to you,
and what will be done to you,
you treacherous tongue?
4 Like a[c] sharp arrow from a warrior,
along with fiery coals from juniper trees!
5 How terrible for me,
that I am an alien in Meshech,
that I reside among the tents of Kedar!
6 I have resided too long
with those who hate peace.
7 I am in favor of peace;
but when I speak,
they are in favor of war.
A Song of Ascents
The Guardian of God’s People
121 I lift up my eyes toward the mountains—
from where will my help come?
2 My help is from the Lord,
maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will never let[d] your foot slip,
nor[e] will[f] your guardian become drowsy.
4 Look! The one who is guarding Israel
never sleeps and does not take naps.
5 The Lord is your guardian;
the Lord is your shade at your right side.
6 The sun will not ravage you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will guard you from all evil,
preserving[g] your life.
8 The Lord will guard your goings and comings,[h]
from this time on and forever.
A Davidic Song of Ascents
Up to Jerusalem
122 I rejoiced when they kept on asking me,
“Let us go to the Lord’s Temple.”
2 Our feet are standing
inside your gates, Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem stands built up,
a city knitted together.
4 To it the tribes ascend—
the tribes of the Lord—
as decreed to Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For thrones are established there for judgment,
thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for peace for Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be at peace![i]
7 May peace be within your ramparts,
and[j] prosperity[k] within your fortresses.”
8 For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will now say, “May there be peace within you.”
9 For the sake of the Temple of the Lord our God,
I will seek your welfare.
The Rights of an Apostle
9 I am free, am I not? I am an apostle, am I not? I have seen Jesus our Lord, haven’t I? You are the result of[a] my work in the Lord, aren’t you? 2 If I am not an apostle to other people, surely I am one to you, for you are the evidence of my apostolic authority from the Lord.
3 This is my defense to those who would examine me: 4 We have the right to earn our food,[b] don’t we? 5 We have the right to take a believing wife with us like the other apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas,[c] don’t we? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to keep on working for a living? 7 Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its grapes? Or who takes care of a flock and does not drink any of its milk? 8 I am not saying this on human authority, am I? The Law says the same thing, doesn’t it? 9 For in the Law of Moses it is written, “You must not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”[d] God is not only concerned about oxen, is he? 10 Isn’t he really speaking for our benefit? Yes, this was written for our benefit, because the one who plows should plow in hope, and the one who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? 12 If others enjoy this right over you, don’t we have a stronger claim? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we tolerate everything in order not to put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of the Messiah.[e]
13 You know that those who work in the Temple get their food from the Temple and that those who serve at the altar get their share of its offerings, don’t you? 14 In the same way, the Lord has ordered that those who proclaim the gospel should make their living from the gospel.
15 But I have not used any of these rights, and I’m not writing this so that they may be applied in my case. I would rather die than let anyone deprive me of my reason for[f] boasting. 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for this obligation has been entrusted to me. How terrible it would be for me if I didn’t preach the gospel! 17 For if I preach voluntarily, I get a reward, but if I am unwilling to do it, I am still entrusted with that obligation. 18 What, then, is my reward? It is[g] to be able to preach the gospel free of charge, and so I never resort to demanding my rights when I’m preaching[h] the gospel.
19 Although I am free from everyone’s expectations, I have made myself a servant to all of them to win more people. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the Law I became like a man under the Law, in order to win those under the Law (although I myself am not under the Law). 21 To those who do not have the Law, I became like a man who does not have the Law in order to win those who do not have the Law. However, I am not free from God’s Law, but I’m subject to the Messiah’s[i] law. 22 To the weak I became weak in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some of them. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel in order to have a share in its blessings.
24 You know that in a race all the runners run but only one wins the prize, don’t you? You must run in such a way that you may be victorious. 25 Everyone who enters an athletic contest practices self-control in everything. They do it to win a wreath that withers away, but we run to win a prize that[j] never fades. 26 That is the way I run, with a clear goal in mind. That is the way I fight, not like someone shadow boxing. 27 No, I keep on disciplining my body, making it serve me so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified.
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