Old/New Testament
Praise to the Loving God
113 Hallelujah!
Give praise, you servants of the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord!
2 May the name of the Lord be blessed
from now to eternity.
3 From rising[a] to setting[b] sun,
may the name of the Lord be praised.
4 The Lord is exalted high above all the nations;
his glory beyond the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
enthroned on high,
6 yet stooping low to observe
the sky and the earth?
7 He lifts the poor person from the dust,
raising the needy from the trash pile
8 and giving him a seat among nobles—
with the nobles of his people.
9 He makes the barren woman among her household
a happy mother of joyful children.
Hallelujah!
Deliverance of Israel from Egypt
114 When Israel came out of Egypt—
the household of Jacob from a people of foreign speech—
2 Judah became his sanctuary
and Israel his place of dominion.
3 The sea saw this[c] and fled,
the Jordan River[d] ran backwards,
4 the mountains skipped like rams,
and the hills like lambs.
5 What happened to you, sea, that you fled?
Jordan, that you ran backwards?
6 Mountains, that you skipped like rams?
And you hills, that you skipped[e] like lambs?
7 Tremble then, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turned the rock into a pool of water,
the flinty rock into flowing springs.
The Impotence of Idols
115 Not to us, Lord, not to us,
but to your name be given glory
on account of your gracious love and faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations ask
“Where now is their God?”
3 when our God is in the heavens
and he does whatever he desires?
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
crafted by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak;
they have eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear;
they have noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot touch;
feet, but cannot walk;
they cannot even groan with their throats.
8 Those who craft them will become like them,
as will all those who trust in them.
9 Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their helper and shield.
10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their helper and shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their helper and shield.
12 The Lord remembers and blesses us.
He will indeed bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the Lord,
both the important and the insignificant together.
14 May the Lord add to your numbers—
to you and to your descendants.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made the heavens and the earth.
16 The highest heavens[f] belong to the Lord,
but he gave the earth to human beings.
17 Neither can the dead praise the Lord,
nor those who go down into the silence of death.[g]
18 But we will bless the Lord
from now to eternity.
Hallelujah!
Morality in Legal Matters
6 When one of you has a complaint against another, does he dare to take the matter before those who are unrighteous and not before the saints? 2 You know that the saints will rule the world, don’t you? And if the world is going to be ruled by you, can’t you handle insignificant cases? 3 You know that we will rule angels, not to mention things in this life, don’t you? 4 So if you have cases dealing with this life, why do you appoint as judges people who have no standing in the church? 5 I say this to make you feel ashamed. Has it come to this, that there is not one person among you who is wise enough to settle disagreements between brothers?[a] 6 Instead, one brother goes to court against another brother, and before unbelieving judges,[b] at that! 7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among yourselves is already a defeat for you. Why not rather just accept the wrong? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves practice doing wrong and cheating others, and brothers at that!
9 You know that wicked people will not inherit the kingdom of God, don’t you? Stop deceiving yourselves! Sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, 10 thieves, greedy people, drunks, slanderers, and robbers will not inherit the kingdom of God. 11 That is what some of you were! But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah[c] and by the Spirit of our God.
Morality in Sexual Matters
12 Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not allow anything to control me. 13 Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food, but God will make them both unnecessary. The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 God raised the Lord, and by his power he will also raise us.
15 You know that your bodies belong to the Messiah,[d] don’t you? Should I take what belongs to the Messiah[e] and unite them with a prostitute? Certainly not! 16 You know that the person who unites himself with a prostitute becomes one body with her, don’t you? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”[f] 17 But the person who unites himself with the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
18 Keep on running away from sexual immorality. Any other[g] sin that a person commits is outside his body, but the person who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 You know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God, don’t you? You do not belong to yourselves, 20 because you were bought for a price. Therefore, glorify God with your bodies.
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