Old/New Testament
Psalm 148[a]
All Creation Summoned to Praise
1 Hallelujah!
I
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights.
2 Praise him, all you his angels;
give praise, all you his hosts.(A)
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all shining stars.
4 Praise him, highest heavens,[b]
you waters above the heavens.
5 Let them all praise the Lord’s name;
for he commanded and they were created,(B)
6 Assigned them their station forever,
set an order that will never change.
II
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all the deeps of the sea;(C)
8 Lightning and hail, snow and thick clouds,
storm wind that fulfills his command;
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars;(D)
10 Animals wild and tame,
creatures that crawl and birds that fly;(E)
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all who govern on earth;
12 Young men and women too,
old and young alike.
13 Let them all praise the Lord’s name,
for his name alone is exalted,
His majesty above earth and heaven.(F)
14 [c]He has lifted high the horn of his people;
to the praise of all his faithful,
the Israelites, the people near to him.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 149[d]
Praise God with Song and Sword
1 Hallelujah!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.(G)
2 Let Israel be glad in its maker,
the people of Zion rejoice in their king.
3 Let them praise his name in dance,
make music with tambourine and lyre.[e](H)
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people,
honors the poor with victory.
5 Let the faithful rejoice in their glory,
cry out for joy on their couches,[f]
6 With the praise of God in their mouths,
and a two-edged sword in their hands,(I)
7 To bring retribution on the nations,
punishment on the peoples,(J)
8 To bind their kings in shackles,
their nobles in chains of iron,
9 To execute the judgments decreed for them—
such is the glory[g] of all God’s faithful.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 150[h]
Final Doxology
1 Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy sanctuary;[i](K)
give praise in the mighty dome of heaven.
2 Give praise for his mighty deeds,(L)
praise him for his great majesty.
3 Give praise with blasts upon the horn,(M)
praise him with harp and lyre.
4 Give praise with tambourines and dance,
praise him with strings and pipes.(N)
5 Give praise with crashing cymbals,
praise him with sounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath
give praise to the Lord!(O)
Hallelujah!
29 Otherwise, what will people accomplish by having themselves baptized for the dead?[a] If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they having themselves baptized for them?
30 [b]Moreover, why are we endangering ourselves all the time?(A) 31 Every day I face death; I swear it by the pride in you [brothers] that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.(B) 32 If at Ephesus I fought with beasts, so to speak, what benefit was it to me? If the dead are not raised:
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”(C)
33 Do not be led astray:
“Bad company corrupts good morals.”
34 Become sober as you ought and stop sinning. For some have no knowledge of God; I say this to your shame.(D)
C. The Manner of the Resurrection[c]
35 [d]But someone may say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come back?”
The Resurrection Body. 36 [e]You fool! What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.(E) 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind; 38 (F)but God gives it a body as he chooses, and to each of the seeds its own body. 39 [f]Not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for human beings, another kind of flesh for animals, another kind of flesh for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the brightness of the heavenly is one kind and that of the earthly another. 41 The brightness of the sun is one kind, the brightness of the moon another, and the brightness of the stars another. For star differs from star in brightness.
42 [g]So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible. 43 It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.(G) 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.
45 So, too, it is written, “The first man, Adam,[h] became a living being,” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.(H) 46 But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven. 48 As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image[i] of the heavenly one.(I)
The Resurrection Event. 50 [j]This I declare, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption[k] inherit incorruption.(J) 51 [l]Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,(K) 52 in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.(L) 53 For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality.(M) 54 [m]And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about:(N)
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”(O)
56 The sting of death is sin,[n] and the power of sin is the law.(P) 57 But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.(Q)
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.