Old/New Testament
Praise for God’s Love
103 Praise the Lord, O my soul. And all that is within me, praise His holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, O my soul. And forget none of His acts of kindness. 3 He forgives all my sins. He heals all my diseases. 4 He saves my life from the grave. He crowns me with loving-kindness and pity. 5 He fills my years with good things and I am made young again like the eagle.
6 The Lord does what is right and fair for all who suffer under a bad power. 7 He made His ways known to Moses and His acts to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is full of loving-pity and kindness. He is slow to anger and has much loving-kindness. 9 He will not always keep after us. And He will not keep His anger back forever. 10 He has not punished us enough for all our sins. He has not paid us back for all our wrong-doings. 11 For His loving-kindness for those who fear Him is as great as the heavens are high above the earth. 12 He has taken our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. 13 The Lord has loving-pity on those who fear Him, as a father has loving-pity on his children. 14 For He knows what we are made of. He remembers that we are dust.
15 The days of man are like grass. He grows like a flower of the field. 16 When the wind blows over it, it is gone. Its place will remember it no more. 17 But the loving-kindness of the Lord is forever and forever on those who fear Him. And what is right with God is given forever to their children’s children, 18 to those who keep His agreement and remember to obey His Law.
19 The Lord has set up His throne in the heavens. And His holy nation rules over all. 20 Praise the Lord, you powerful angels of His who do what He says, obeying His voice as He speaks! 21 Praise the Lord, all you armies of His who work for Him and do what pleases Him. 22 Praise the Lord, all His works in all places under His rule. Praise the Lord, O my soul!
The Lord Watches Over All His Works
104 Praise the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great. You are dressed with great honor and wonderful power. 2 He covers Himself with light as with a coat. He spreads out the heavens like a tent. 3 He makes His home on the waters. He makes the clouds His wagon. He rides on the wings of the wind. 4 He makes the winds carry His news. He makes His helpers a burning fire.
5 He set the earth in its place so that it will stay that way forever. 6 You covered it with the sea as with a coat. The waters stood above the mountains. 7 The waters left at Your strong words. They went away in a hurry at the sound of Your thunder. 8 The mountains went up and the valleys went down to the place that You made for them. 9 You set a place that they may not pass over. The waters will never cover the earth again.
10 He sends rivers into the valleys. They flow between the mountains. 11 They give water to all the animals of the field. The wild donkeys drink until they are no longer thirsty. 12 The birds of the sky nest beside them. They sing among the branches. 13 He waters the mountains from His home above. The earth is filled with the fruit of His works.
14 He makes the grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to use. So He may bring food from the earth, 15 wine that makes man’s heart glad, oil to make his face shine, and food to make his heart strong. 16 The tall cedar trees that the Lord planted in Lebanon drink their fill. 17 The birds make their nests there. The stork has its nest in the green trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a safe place for the badgers. 19 He made the moon to mark the time of year. And the sun knows when to go down. 20 You make darkness and it becomes night. Then all the wild animals among the trees come out. 21 The young lions make a loud noise as they go after meat. And they get their food from God. 22 They go to their homes and lie down when the sun rises. 23 Then man goes out to his work and works until evening.
24 O Lord, how many are Your works! You made them all in wisdom. The earth is full of what You have made. 25 There is the wide sea full of both large and small animals. There are too many for us to number. 26 The ships sail there. And the very large sea animal You have made plays in it.
27 They all wait for You to give them their food at the right time. 28 You give it to them and they gather it up. You open Your hand and they are filled with good things. 29 They are troubled and afraid when You hide Your face. And when You take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. 30 They are made when You send Your Spirit. And You make the land of the earth new again.
31 May the shining-greatness of the Lord last forever. May the Lord be glad in His works. 32 He looks at the earth and it shakes with fear. He touches the mountains and they smoke. 33 I will sing to the Lord all my life. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 34 May the words of my heart be pleasing to Him. As for me, I will be glad in the Lord. 35 Let sinners be destroyed from the earth. And let the sinful be no more. Honor the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord!
Paul Received the Good News from God
2 Christian brothers, when I came to you, I did not preach the secrets of God with big sounding words or make it sound as if I were so wise. 2 I made up my mind that while I was with you I would speak of nothing except Jesus Christ and of His death on the cross. 3 When I was with you, I was weak. I was afraid and I shook. 4 What I had to say when I preached was not in big sounding words of man’s wisdom. But it was given in the power of the Holy Spirit. 5 In this way, you do not have faith in Christ because of the wisdom of men. You have faith in Christ because of the power of God.
True Wisdom Comes from God
6 We speak wisdom to full-grown Christians. This wisdom is not from this world or from the leaders of today. They die and their wisdom dies with them. 7 What we preach is God’s wisdom. It was a secret until now. God planned for us to have this honor before the world began. 8 None of the world leaders understood this wisdom. If they had, they would not have put Christ up on a cross to die. He is the Lord of shining-greatness. 9 The Holy Writings say, “No eye has ever seen or no ear has ever heard or no mind has ever thought of the wonderful things God has made ready for those who love Him.” (A) 10 God has shown these things to us through His Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit Who looks into all things, even the secrets of God, and shows them to us. 11 Who can know the things about a man, except a man’s own spirit that is in him? It is the same with God. Who can understand Him except the Holy Spirit? 12 We have not received the spirit of the world. God has given us His Holy Spirit that we may know about the things given to us by Him. 13 We speak about these things also. We do not use words of man’s wisdom. We use words given to us by the Holy Spirit. We use these words to tell what the Holy Spirit wants to say to those who put their trust in Him. 14 But the person who is not a Christian does not understand these words from the Holy Spirit. He thinks they are foolish. He cannot understand them because he does not have the Holy Spirit to help him understand. 15 The full-grown Christian understands all things, and yet he is not understood. 16 For who has the thoughts of the Lord? Who can tell Him what to do? But we have the thoughts of Christ.
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