Old/New Testament
To the Director: A song. A Psalm.
A Song of Praise
66 Shout praise to God all the earth!
2 Sing praise about the glory of his name.[a]
Make his praise glorious.
3 Say to God: “How awesome are your works!
Because of your great strength
your enemies cringe before you.”
4 The whole earth worships you.
They sing praise to you.
They sing praise to your name.
5 Come and see the awesome works of God
on behalf of human beings:
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
Israel[b] crossed the river on foot;
let us rejoice in him.
7 He rules by his power forever,
his eyes watching over the nations.
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.
8 Bless our God, people,
and let the sound of his praise be heard.
9 He gives us life
and does not permit our feet to slip.
10 For you, God, tested us,
to purify us like fine silver.
11 You have led us into a trap[c]
and set burdens on our backs.
12 You caused men to ride over us.[d]
You brought us through fire and water,
but you led us to abundance.
13 I will come to your house with burnt offerings.
I will fulfill my vows to you
14 that my lips uttered and that my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat,
along with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams.
I will offer bulls along with goats.
16 Come and listen, all of you who fear God,
and I will tell you what he did for me.
17 I called aloud to him
and praised him with my tongue.
18 Were I to cherish iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not listen to me.
19 Surely God has heard,
and he paid attention to my[e] prayers.
20 Blessed be God, who did not turn away my prayers
nor his gracious love from me.
To the Director of music: Accompanied by stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song.
A Call to Thanksgiving
67 May God show us favor and bless us;
may he truly show us his favor.[f]
2 Let your ways be known by all the nations of the earth,
along with your deliverance.
3 Let the people thank you, God.
Let all the people thank you.
4 Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy,
because you judge people with fairness
and you govern the people of the earth.
5 Let the people thank you, God;
let all the people thank you.
6 May the earth yield its produce.
May God, our God, bless us.
7 May God truly bless us
so that all the peoples[g] of the earth will fear him.
Now We are Released from the Law
7 Don’t you realize, brothers—for I am speaking to people who know the Law—that the Law can press its claims over a person only as long as he is alive? 2 For a married woman is bound by the Law to her husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the Law concerning her husband. 3 So while her husband is living, she will be called an adulterer if she lives with another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from this Law, so that she is not an adulterer if she marries another man.
4 In the same way, my brothers, through the Messiah’s[a] body you also died as far as the Law is concerned, so that you may belong to another person, the one who was raised from the dead, and may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living according to our human nature,[b] sinful passions were at work in our bodies[c] by means of the Law, to bear fruit resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the Law by dying to what enslaved us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit, not under the old writings.
The Law Shows Us What Sin Is
7 What should we say, then? Is the Law sinful? Of course not! In fact, I wouldn’t have become aware of sin if it had not been for the Law. I wouldn’t have known what it means to covet if the Law had not said, “You must not covet.”[d] 8 But sin seized the opportunity provided by this commandment and produced in me all kinds of sinful desires, since apart from the Law, sin is dead. 9 At one time I was alive without any connection to[e] the Law.[f] But when the rule was revealed, sin sprang to life, 10 and I died. I found that the very rule that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity provided by the rule, deceived me and used it to kill me. 12 So then, the Law[g] itself is holy, and the rule is holy, just, and good.
The Problem of the Sin that Lives in Us
13 Now, did something good bring me death? Of course not! But in order that sin might be recognized as being sin, it used something good to cause my death, so that through the rule, sin might become more exposed as being[h] sinful than ever before. 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am merely human,[i] sold as a slave to sin.[j] 15 I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I want to do, but instead do what I hate. 16 Now if I practice what I don’t want to do, I am admitting that the Law is good. 17 As it is, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me.
18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I don’t do the good I want to do, but instead do the evil that I don’t want to do. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me.
21 So I find this to be a principle:[k] when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me. 22 For I delight in the Law of God in my inner being, 23 but I see in my body[l] a different principle[m] waging war with the Law in my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin that exists in my body.[n] 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is infected by[o] death? 25 Thank God through Jesus the Messiah,[p] our Lord, because with my mind I myself can serve the Law of God, even while with my human nature[q] I serve the law of sin.
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