Old/New Testament
God Helps Men in Trouble
107 Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His loving-kindness lasts forever! 2 Let the people who have been saved say so. He has bought them and set them free from the hand of those who hated them. 3 He gathered them from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
4 Some traveled through the desert wastes. They did not find a way to a city where they could live. 5 They were hungry and thirsty. Their souls became weak within them. 6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And He took them out of their suffering. 7 He led them by a straight path to a city where they could live. 8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving-kindness and His great works to the children of men! 9 For He fills the thirsty soul. And He fills the hungry soul with good things.
10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death. They suffered in prison in iron chains. 11 Because they had turned against the Words of God. They hated what the Most High told them to do. 12 So He loaded them down with hard work. They fell and there was no one to help. 13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And He saved them from their suffering. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death. And He broke their chains. 15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving-kindness and His great works to the children of men! 16 For He has broken gates of brass and cut through walls of iron.
17 Some were fools because of their wrong-doing. They had troubles because of their sins. 18 They hated all kinds of food. And they came near the gates of death. 19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And He saved them from their suffering. 20 He sent His Word and healed them. And He saved them from the grave. 21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving-kindness and His great works to the children of men! 22 Let them give Him gifts of thanks and tell of His works with songs of joy.
23 Some went out to sea in ships to buy and sell on the great waters. 24 They have seen what the Lord can do and His great works on the sea. 25 For He spoke and raised up a storm that lifted up the waves of the sea. 26 They went up to the heavens and down to the deep. Their strength of heart left them in their danger. 27 They could not walk straight but went from side to side like a drunk man. They did not know what to do. 28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And He took them out of all their problems. 29 He stopped the storm, and the waves of the sea became quiet. 30 Then they were glad because the sea became quiet. And He led them to the safe place they wanted. 31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving-kindness and His great works to the children of men! 32 Let them honor Him in the meeting of the people and praise Him in the meeting of the leaders.
33 He changes rivers into a desert and wells of water into a thirsty ground. 34 He changes a land of much fruit into a salt waste because of the sin of those who live in it. 35 He changes a desert into a pool of water and makes water flow out of dry ground. 36 And He makes the hungry go there so they may build a city to live in. 37 They plant seeds in the fields and plant grape-vines and gather much fruit. 38 He lets good come to them and they become many in number. And He does not let the number of their cattle become less.
39 When the number of people becomes less and they are put to shame under a bad power and trouble and sorrow, 40 He pours anger on rulers. He makes them walk in the waste places where there is no path. 41 But He lifts those in need out of their troubles. He makes their families grow like flocks. 42 Those who are right see it and are glad. But all the sinful shut their mouths. 43 Let the wise man think about these things. And may he think about the loving-kindness of the Lord.
A Song of Praise
108 My heart will not be moved, O God. I will sing. Yes, I will sing praises with my soul. 2 Wake up, different kinds of harps. I will wake up the new day. 3 I will give thanks to You among the people, O Lord. I will sing praises to You among the nations. 4 For Your loving-kindness is great above the heavens. And Your truth can touch the sky. 5 Be lifted up high above the heavens, O God. Let Your shining-greatness be over all the earth. 6 Save us with Your right hand and answer me. Let Your loved ones be set free.
7 God has said in His holy place: “I will be full of joy. I will divide Shechem and the valley of Succoth. 8 Gilead is Mine. Manasseh is Mine. Ephraim is the covering for My head. Judah is My law giver. 9 Moab is where I wash My hands. I will throw My shoe over Edom. I will call out over Philistia that I have won.”
10 Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me into Edom? 11 Have You not turned away from us, O God? And will You not go out with our armies, O God? 12 O give us help against those who hate us. For the help of man is worth nothing. 13 With God’s help we will do great things. And He will break under His feet those who fight against us.
A Man in Trouble
109 I give praise to You, O God. Do not be quiet. 2 For sinners and liars have opened their mouths against me. They have spoken against me with lying tongues. 3 They have gathered around me with words of hate. They fought against me for no reason. 4 I give them my love but they speak against me in return. But I am in prayer. 5 They pay me what is bad for what is good. They give me hate for my love.
6 Let a sinful man have power over him. Let one who speaks against him stand at his right hand. 7 When he is tried, let him be found guilty. And may his prayer become sin. 8 Let his days be few. Let another person take over his work. 9 Let his children be without a father. And let his wife be without a husband. 10 May his children go around begging. And may they look for food far from their destroyed homes. 11 Let the one to whom he owes money take all that he has. May strangers take away all he has worked for. 12 May no one show him kindness. Let no one pity his children who have no father. 13 Let his children be cut off. Do not let their family name be remembered by the people-to-come.
14 Let the sins of his fathers be remembered by the Lord, and do not let the sins of his mother be forgotten. 15 May these sins always be before the Lord. So He may not let them be remembered on the earth. 16 Because he did not remember to show loving-kindness. Instead he made it hard for the poor and those in need and those with a broken heart. He even put them to death. 17 He loved to curse others, so may it come to him. He did not like to have good come to others, so good was far from him. 18 He dressed himself with cursing as with a coat. They came into his body like water and into his bones like oil. 19 May they be like clothing that covers him and like a belt that he always wears. 20 Let this be what the Lord pays to those who speak against me and wish bad things would happen to me.
21 But You, O God, the Lord, be kind to me because of Your name. Take me out of trouble because Your loving-kindness is good. 22 For I am in trouble and in need. And my heart is hurt within me. 23 I am passing like an evening shadow. I am shaken off like a locust. 24 My knees are weak from going without food. And my body has lost all its fat. 25 Others laugh at me. They look at me and shake their heads.
26 Help me, O Lord my God! Save me by Your loving-kindness. 27 Let them know that this is Your hand and that You, O Lord, have done it. 28 Let them hope that bad things will happen. But You make good things happen. Let them be ashamed when they rise up against me. But let Your servant be full of joy. 29 Let those who speak against me be dressed with shame. Let them cover themselves with shame as with a coat. 30 I will give thanks to the Lord in a loud voice. I will praise Him among many people. 31 For He stands at the right hand of the one in need to save him from those who judge his soul.
Servants of Christ
4 Think of us as servants who are owned by Christ. It is our job to share the secrets of God. 2 A servant must be faithful to his owner. This is expected of him. 3 It is not the most important thing to me what you or any other people think of me. Even what I think of myself does not mean much. 4 As for me, my heart tells me I am not guilty of anything. But that does not prove I am free from guilt. It is the Lord Who looks into my life and says what is wrong. 5 Do not be quick to say who is right or wrong. Wait until the Lord comes. He will bring into the light the things that are hidden in men’s hearts. He will show why men have done these things. Every man will receive from God the thanks he should have.
6 Christian brothers, I have used Apollos and myself to show you what I am talking about. This is to help you so you will not think more of men than what God’s Word will allow. Never think more of one of God’s servants than another. 7 Who made you better than your brother? Or what do you have that has not been given to you? If God has given you everything, why do you have pride? Why do you act as if He did not give it to you? 8 You are full. You are rich. You live like kings and we do not. I wish you were kings and we could be leaders with you. 9 I think that God has made a show of us missionaries. We are the last and the least among men. We are like men waiting to be put to death. The whole world, men and angels alike, are watching us. 10 We are thought of as fools because of Christ. But you are thought of as wise Christians! We are weak. You are strong. People respect you. They have no respect for us. 11 To this hour we are hungry and thirsty, and our clothes are worn out. People hurt us. We have no homes.
12 We work with our hands to make a living. We speak kind words to those who speak against us. When people hurt us, we say nothing. 13 When people say bad things about us, we answer with kind words. People think of us as dirt that is worth nothing and as the worst thing on earth to this day.
Follow Paul’s Way of Life
14 I do not write these things to shame you. I am doing this to help you know what you should do. You are my much-loved children. 15 You may have 10,000 Christian teachers. But remember, I am the only father you have. You became Christians when I preached the Good News to you. 16 So I ask you with all my heart to follow the way I live. 17 For this reason I have sent Timothy to you. He is my much-loved child and a faithful Christian. He will tell you how I act as a Christian. This is the kind of life I teach in the churches wherever I go.
18 Some of you are full of pride. You think that I am not coming to visit you. 19 If the Lord wants me to, I will come soon. I will find out when I come if these proud people have God’s power, or if they just use a lot of big words. 20 The holy nation of God is not made up of words. It is made up of power. 21 What do you want? Do you want me to come with a stick to whip you? Or do you want me to come with love and a gentle spirit?
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