Old/New Testament
97 The Lord rules, and the earth is happy.
All the faraway lands are happy.
2 Thick, dark clouds surround him.
Goodness and justice make his kingdom strong.
3 Fire goes before him
and destroys his enemies.
4 His lightning flashes in the sky.
The earth sees it and trembles with fear.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The skies tell about his goodness,
and the nations see his glory.
7 People worship their idols.
They brag about their “gods.”
But they will be embarrassed.
And all their “gods” will bow down before the Lord.
8 Zion, listen and be happy!
Cities of Judah, be glad!
Rejoice because the Lord’s decisions are fair.
9 Lord Most High, you really are the ruler of the earth.
You are much better than the “gods.”
10 Hate evil, you who love the Lord.
He protects his followers and saves them from evil people.
11 Light and happiness shine on those
who want to do right.
12 Good people, be happy in the Lord!
Praise his holy name!
A song of praise.
98 Sing a new song[a] to the Lord,
because he has done amazing things!
His powerful and holy right arm[b]
has brought him another victory.
2 The Lord showed the nations his power to save.
He showed them his goodness.
3 He has kept his promise of love and loyalty to the people of Israel.
People everywhere have seen our God’s power to save.
4 Everyone on earth, shout with joy to the Lord.
Start singing happy songs of praise!
5 Praise the Lord with harps.
Yes, praise him with music from the harps.
6 Blow the pipes and horns,
and shout for joy to the Lord our King!
7 Let the sea and everything in it,
the earth and all who live in it shout his praise!
8 Rivers, clap your hands!
All together now, mountains sing out!
9 Sing before the Lord
because he is coming to judge the world.
He will rule the world fairly.
He will rule the people with goodness.
99 The Lord is King,
so let the nations shake with fear.
He sits as King above the Cherub angels,
so let the whole earth shake.
2 The Lord in Zion is great!
He is the great leader over all people.
3 Let all the nations praise your name.
Your name is great and awesome.
Your name is holy.
4 You are the powerful King who loves justice.
You have made things right.
You have brought goodness and fairness to Jacob.
5 Praise the Lord our God,
and bow down before his footstool,[c] for he is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were some of his priests,
and Samuel was one of the men who called on his name.
They prayed to the Lord,
and he answered them.
7 God spoke from the tall cloud,
and they obeyed his commands
and the law he gave them.
8 Lord our God, you answered their prayers.
You showed them that you are a forgiving God
and that you punish people for the evil they do.
9 Praise the Lord our God.
Bow down toward his holy mountain and worship him.
The Lord our God is holy!
Paul Has Some Final Things to Say
16 I want you to know that you can trust our sister in Christ, Phoebe. She is a special servant of the church in Cenchrea. 2 I ask you to accept her in the Lord. Accept her the way God’s people should. Help her with anything she needs from you. She has helped me very much, and she has helped many others too.
3 Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, who have worked together with me for Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their own lives to save mine. I am thankful to them, and all the non-Jewish churches are thankful to them.
5 Also, give greetings to the church that meets in their house.
Give greetings to my dear friend Epaenetus. He was the first person to follow Christ in Asia.
6 Greetings also to Mary. She worked very hard for you.
7 And greet Andronicus and Junia. They are my relatives, and they were in prison with me. They were followers of Christ before I was. And they are some of the most important of the ones Christ sent out to do his work.[a]
8 Give my greetings to Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord, 9 and to Urbanus. He has worked together with me for Christ.
Give greetings also to my dear friend Stachys 10 and to Apelles, who has proved himself to be a true follower of Christ.
Give greetings to everyone in the family of Aristobulus 11 and to Herodion, my relative.
Greetings to all those in the family of Narcissus who belong to the Lord 12 and to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, women who work very hard for the Lord.
Greetings to my dear friend Persis. She has also worked very hard for the Lord.
13 Greetings also to Rufus, one of the Lord’s chosen people, and to his mother, who has been a mother to me too.
14 Give my greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and all the brothers in Christ who are with them.
15 Give greetings to Philologus and Julia, to Nereus and his sister, to Olympas, and to all of God’s people with them.
16 Give each other the special greeting of God’s people.[b]
All the churches that belong to Christ send their greetings to you.
17 Brothers and sisters, I want you to be very careful of those who cause arguments and hurt people’s faith by teaching things that are against what you learned. Stay away from them. 18 People like that are not serving our Lord Christ. They are only pleasing themselves. They use fancy talk and say nice things to fool those who don’t know about evil. 19 Everyone has heard that you do what you were taught, and I am very happy about that. But I want you to be wise about what is good and to know nothing about what is evil.
20 The God who brings peace will soon defeat Satan and give you power over him.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
21 Timothy, a worker together with me, sends you his greetings. Also Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater (these are my relatives) send their greetings.
22 I am Tertius, the one writing this letter for Paul. I send you my own greetings as one who belongs to the Lord.
23 Gaius is letting me and the whole church here use his home. He sends his greetings to you. Erastus and our brother Quartus also send their greetings. Erastus is the city treasurer here. 24 [c]
25 Praise God! He is the one who can make you strong in faith. He can use the Good News that I teach to make you strong. It is the message about Jesus Christ that I tell people. That message is the secret truth that was hidden for ages and ages but has been made known. 26 It has now been shown to us. It was made known by what the prophets wrote, as God commanded. And it has now been made known to all people so that they can believe and obey God, who lives forever. 27 Glory forever to the only wise God through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International