Old/New Testament
An Experience of the Captivity.
137 By the (A)rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and (B)wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2 Upon the [a](C)willows in the midst of it
We (D)hung our [b]harps.
3 For there our captors [c](E)demanded of us [d]songs,
And (F)our tormentors mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 How can we sing (G)the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?
5 If I (H)forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand [e]forget her skill.
6 May my (I)tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not [f](J)exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Lord, against the sons of (K)Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Raze it, raze it
(L)To its very foundation.”
8 O daughter of Babylon, you [g](M)devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who (N)repays you
With [h]the recompense with which you have repaid us.
9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and (O)dashes your little ones
Against the rock.
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 (P)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the (Q)gods.
2 I will bow down (R)toward Your holy temple
And (S)give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your [i]truth;
For You have (T)magnified Your [j]word [k]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (U)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (V)strength in my soul.
4 (W)All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (X)sing of the ways of the Lord,
For (Y)great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For (Z)though the Lord is exalted,
Yet He (AA)regards the lowly,
But the (AB)haughty He knows from afar.
7 Though I (AC)walk in the midst of trouble, You will [l](AD)revive me;
You will (AE)stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (AF)save me.
8 The Lord will (AG)accomplish what concerns me;
Your (AH)lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;
(AI)Do not forsake the (AJ)works of Your hands.
God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
139 O Lord, You have (AK)searched me and known me.
2 You (AL)know [m]when I sit down and [n]when I rise up;
You (AM)understand my thought from afar.
3 You [o](AN)scrutinize my [p]path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 [q]Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You (AO)know it all.
5 You have (AP)enclosed me behind and before,
And (AQ)laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such (AR)knowledge is (AS)too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 (AT)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 (AU)If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in [r]Sheol, behold, (AV)You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will (AW)lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the (AX)darkness will [s]overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the (AY)darkness is not dark [t]to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
(AZ)Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You (BA)formed my [u]inward parts;
You (BB)wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for [v]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
(BC)Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My [w](BD)frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the (BE)depths of the earth;
16 Your (BF)eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in (BG)Your book were all written
The (BH)days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Your (BI)thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would (BJ)outnumber the sand.
When (BK)I awake, I am still with You.
19 O that You would (BL)slay the wicked, O God;
(BM)Depart from me, therefore, (BN)men of bloodshed.
20 For they (BO)speak [x]against You wickedly,
And Your enemies [y](BP)take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not (BQ)hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not (BR)loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
The Excellence of Love
13 If I speak with the (A)tongues of men and of (B)angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a (C)clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of (D)prophecy, and know all (E)mysteries and all (F)knowledge; and if I have (G)all faith, so as to (H)remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I (I)give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I (J)surrender my body [a]to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love (K)is patient, love is kind and (L)is not jealous; love does not brag and is not (M)arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it (N)does not seek its own, is not provoked, (O)does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 (P)does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but (Q)rejoices with the truth; 7 [b](R)bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of [c](S)prophecy, they will be done away; if there are (T)tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we (U)know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I [d]became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we (V)see in a mirror [e]dimly, but then (W)face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also (X)have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the [f]greatest of these is (Y)love.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.