Old/New Testament

Praises to God for Being Saved from Death

116 I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my prayers. ² I will call on Him as long as I live, because He has turned His ear to me. ³ The strings of death are all around me. And the fear of the grave came upon me. I suffered with trouble and sorrow. ⁴ Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I beg You, save my life!”

⁵ The Lord is loving and right. Yes, our God is full of loving-kindness. ⁶ The Lord takes care of the child-like. I was brought down, and He saved me. ⁷ Return to your rest, O my soul. For the Lord has been good to you. ⁸ For You, O Lord, have saved my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. ⁹ I will walk with the Lord in the land of the living. ¹⁰ I believed when I said, “I am very troubled.” ¹¹ I said in my fear, “All men are liars.”

¹² What should I give to the Lord for all the good things He has done for me? ¹³ I will show Him my thanks for saving me with a gift of wine and praise His name. ¹⁴ I will keep my promises to the Lord before all His people. ¹⁵ The death of His holy ones is of great worth in the eyes of the Lord. ¹⁶ For sure I am Your servant, O Lord. I am Your servant, the son of the woman who served You. You have set me free from my chains. ¹⁷ I will give a gift of thanks to You and call on the name of the Lord. ¹⁸ I will keep my promises to the Lord before all His people, ¹⁹ in the holy place of the Lord, and in the center of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!

A Psalm of Praise

117 Praise the Lord, all nations! Praise Him, all people! ² For His loving-kindness toward us is great. And the truth of the Lord lasts forever. Praise the Lord!

A Prayer of Thanks

118 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. ² Let Israel say, “His loving-kindness lasts forever.” ³ Let the house of Aaron say, “His loving-kindness lasts forever.” ⁴ Let those who fear the Lord say, “His loving-kindness lasts forever.”

⁵ I cried to the Lord in my trouble, and He answered me and put me in a good place. ⁶ The Lord is with me. I will not be afraid of what man can do to me. ⁷ The Lord is with me. He is my Helper. I will watch those lose who fight against me. ⁸ It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man. ⁹ It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in rulers.

¹⁰ All nations gathered around me. But I cut them off in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ They gathered around me. Yes, they were on every side. But I cut them off in the name of the Lord. ¹² They were all around me like bees and they died out fast like burning thorns. I will destroy them in the name of the Lord. ¹³ You pushed me back so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. ¹⁴ The Lord is my strength and my song. He is the One Who saves me.

¹⁵ The joy of being saved is being heard in the tents of those who are right and good. The right hand of the Lord does powerful things. ¹⁶ The Lord’s right hand is lifted high. The right hand of the Lord does powerful things. ¹⁷ I will not die but live. And I will tell of what the Lord has done. ¹⁸ The Lord has punished me but He has not given me over to death.

¹⁹ Open to me the gates of what is right and good. I will go through them and give thanks to the Lord. ²⁰ This is the gate of the Lord. Those who are right with God will pass through it. ²¹ I will give thanks to You, for You have answered me. And You are the One Who saves me.

²² The stone that was put aside by the workmen has become the most important stone in the building. ²³ The Lord has done this. We think it is great! ²⁴ This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be full of joy and be glad in it. ²⁵ O Lord, we beg You to save us! O Lord, we ask that You let everything go well for us! ²⁶ Great and honored is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We honor you from the house of the Lord. ²⁷ The Lord is God. He has given us light. Tie the gift with rope to the horns of the altar on this special day. ²⁸ You are my God and I will give You thanks. You are my God and I will praise You. ²⁹ Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever.

How a Husband and Wife Should Live

7 You asked me some questions in your letter. This is my answer. It is good if a man does not get married. ² But because of being tempted to sex sins, each man should get married and have his own wife. Each woman should get married and have her own husband. ³ The husband should please his wife as a husband. The wife should please her husband as a wife. ⁴ The wife is not the boss of her own body. It belongs to the husband. And in the same way, the husband is not the boss of his own body. It belongs to the wife.

⁵ Do not keep from each other that which belongs to each other in marriage unless you agree for awhile so you can use your time to pray. Then come together again or the devil will tempt you to do that which you know you should not do.

⁶ This is what I think. I am not saying you must do it. ⁷ I wish everyone were as I am, but each has his own gift from God. One has one gift. Another has another gift.

⁸ This is what I say to those who are not married and to women whose husbands have died. It is good if you do not get married. I am not married. ⁹ But if you are not able to keep from doing that which you know is wrong, get married. It is better to get married than to have such strong sex desires.

¹⁰ I have this to say to those who are married. These words are from the Lord. A wife should not leave her husband, ¹¹ but if she does leave him, she should not get married to another man. It would be better for her to go back to her husband. The husband should not divorce his wife. ¹² I have this to say. These words are not from the Lord. If a Christian husband has a wife who is not a Christian, and she wants to live with him, he must not divorce her. ¹³ If a Christian wife has a husband who is not a Christian, and he wants to live with her, she must not divorce him. ¹⁴ The husband who is not a Christian is set apart from the sin of the world because of his Christian wife. The wife who is not a Christian is set apart from the sin of the world because of her Christian husband. In this way, the lives of the children are not unclean because of sin, they are clean. ¹⁵ If the one who is not a Christian wants to leave, let that one go. The Christian husband or wife should not try to make the other one stay. God wants you to live in peace. ¹⁶ Christian wife, how do you know you will not help your husband to become a Christian? Or Christian husband, how do you know you will not help your wife to become a Christian?

Stay as You Were When God Chose You

¹⁷ Everyone should live the life the Lord gave to him. He should live as he was when he became a Christian. This is what I teach in all the churches. ¹⁸ If a man became a Christian after he had gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew, he should do nothing about it. If a man became a Christian before, he should not go through the religious act of becoming a Jew. ¹⁹ If it is done or not done, it means nothing. What is important is to obey God’s Word.