Old/New Testament
94 1-2 Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs, let your glory shine out. Arise and judge the earth; sentence the proud to the penalties they deserve. 3 Lord, how long shall the wicked be allowed to triumph and exult? 4 Hear their insolence! See their arrogance! How these men of evil boast! 5 See them oppressing your people, O Lord, afflicting those you love. 6-7 They murder widows, immigrants, and orphans, for “The Lord isn’t looking,” they say, “and besides, he[a] doesn’t care.”
8 Fools! 9 Is God deaf and blind—he who makes ears and eyes? 10 He punishes the nations—won’t he also punish you? He knows everything—doesn’t he also know what you are doing?
11 The Lord is fully aware of how limited and futile the thoughts of mankind are, 12-13 so he helps us by punishing us. This makes us follow his paths and gives us respite from our enemies while God traps them and destroys them. 14 The Lord will not forsake his people, for they are his prize. 15 Judgment will again be just, and all the upright will rejoice.
16 Who will protect me from the wicked? Who will be my shield? 17 I would have died unless the Lord had helped me. 18 I screamed, “I’m slipping, Lord!” and he was kind and saved me.
19 Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer. 20 Will you permit a corrupt government to rule under your protection—a government permitting wrong to defeat right? 21-22 Do you approve of those who condemn the innocent to death? No! The Lord my God is my fortress—the mighty Rock where I can hide. 23 God has made the sins of evil men to boomerang upon them! He will destroy them by their own plans. Jehovah our God will cut them off.
95 Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord! Give a joyous shout in honor of the Rock of our salvation!
2 Come before him with thankful hearts. Let us sing him psalms of praise. 3 For the Lord is a great God, the great King of[b] all gods. 4 He controls the formation of the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains; all are his. 5 He made the sea and formed the land; they too are his. 6 Come, kneel before the Lord our Maker, 7 for he is our God. We are his sheep, and he is our Shepherd. Oh, that you would hear him calling you today and come to him!
8 Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness[c] at Meribah and Massah. 9 For there your fathers doubted me, though they had seen so many of my miracles before. My patience was severely tried by their complaints. 10 “For forty years I watched them in disgust,” the Lord God says. “They were a nation whose thoughts and heart were far away from me. They refused to accept my laws. 11 Therefore, in mighty wrath I swore that they would never enter the Promised Land, the place of rest I planned for them.”
96 Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing it everywhere around the world! 2 Sing out his praises! Bless his name. Each day tell someone that he saves.
3 Publish his glorious acts throughout the earth. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. 4 For the Lord is great beyond description and greatly to be praised. Worship only him among the gods! 5 For the gods of other nations are merely idols, but our God made the heavens! 6 Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty are in his Temple.
7 O nations of the world, confess that God alone is glorious and strong. 8 Give him the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come to worship him.[d] 9 Worship the Lord with the beauty of holy lives.[e] Let the earth tremble before him. 10 Tell the nations that Jehovah reigns! He rules the world. His power can never be overthrown. He will judge all nations fairly.
11 Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; let the vastness of the roaring seas demonstrate his glory. 12 Praise him for the growing fields, for they display his greatness. Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise. 13 For the Lord is coming to judge the earth; he will judge the nations fairly and with truth!
14 I know that you are wise and good, my brothers, and that you know these things so well that you are able to teach others all about them. 15-16 But even so I have been bold enough to emphasize some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder from me; for I am, by God’s grace, a special messenger from Jesus Christ to you Gentiles, bringing you the Gospel and offering you up as a fragrant sacrifice to God; for you have been made pure and pleasing to him by the Holy Spirit. 17 So it is right for me to be a little proud of all Christ Jesus has done through me. 18 I dare not judge how effectively he has used others, but I know this: he has used me to win the Gentiles to God. 19 I have won them by my message and by the good way I have lived before them and by the miracles done through me as signs from God—all by the Holy Spirit’s power. In this way I have preached the full Gospel[a] of Christ all the way from Jerusalem clear over into Illyricum.
20 But all the while my ambition has been to go still farther, preaching where the name of Christ has never yet been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else. 21 I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures where Isaiah says that those who have never heard the name of Christ before will see and understand. 22 In fact, that is the very reason I have been so long in coming to visit you.
23 But now at last I am through with my work here, and I am ready to come after all these long years of waiting. 24 For I am planning to take a trip to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off there in Rome; and after we have had a good time together for a little while, you can send me on my way again.
25 But before I come, I must go down to Jerusalem to take a gift to the Jewish Christians there. 26 For you see, the Christians in Macedonia and Achaia have taken up an offering for those in Jerusalem who are going through such hard times. 27 They were very glad to do this, for they feel that they owe a real debt to the Jerusalem Christians. Why? Because the news about Christ came to these Gentiles from the church in Jerusalem. And since they received this wonderful spiritual gift of the Gospel from there, they feel that the least they can do in return is to give some material aid.[b] 28 As soon as I have delivered this money and completed this good deed of theirs, I will come to see you on my way to Spain. 29 And I am sure that when I come the Lord will give me a great blessing for you.
30 Will you be my prayer partners? For the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake and because of your love for me—given to you by the Holy Spirit—pray much with me for my work. 31 Pray that I will be protected in Jerusalem from those who are not Christians. Pray also that the Christians there will be willing to accept the money I am bringing them. 32 Then I will be able to come to you with a happy heart by the will of God, and we can refresh each other.
33 And now may our God, who gives peace, be with you all. Amen.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.