Old/New Testament
Psalm 63[a]
Thirst for God
1 A psalm of David. When he was in the wilderness of Judah.[b]
2 O God, you are my God,
for whom I have been searching earnestly.[c]
My soul yearns for you
and my body thirsts for you,
like the earth when it is parched,
arid and without water.
3 I have gazed upon you in the sanctuary
so that I may behold your power[d] and your glory.
4 Your kindness[e] is a greater joy than life itself;
thus my lips will speak your praise.
5 I will bless you all my life;
with uplifted hands[f] I will call on your name.
6 My soul[g] will be satisfied as at a banquet
and with rejoicing lips my mouth will praise you.
7 I think of you while I lie upon my bed,[h]
and I meditate on you during the watches of the night.
8 For you are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.[i]
9 My soul clings tightly to you;
your right hand holds me fast.
10 [j]Those who seek my life will incur ruin;
they will sink down into the depths of the earth.
11 They will be slain by the sword
and their flesh will become food for jackals.[k]
12 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by him[l] will exult,
for the mouths of liars will be silenced.
Psalm 64[m]
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness
1 For the director.[n] A psalm of David.
2 Listen, O God, to my cry of lament;
from the dreaded enemy preserve my life.
3 Protect me from the council of the wicked,
from the band of those who do evil.
4 They sharpen their tongues[o] like swords,
and they shoot forth their venomous words like arrows,
5 while they attack the innocent from ambush,
shooting suddenly and without fear.
6 [p]They agree on their evil plan,
and they resolve to lay snares,
saying, “Who will see us?”
7 They plot evil schemes
and devise shrewd plots;
the thoughts of their hearts[q] are hidden.
8 [r]However, God will shoot his arrows at them,[s]
and they will suddenly be struck down.
9 Their own tongues will bring them down,
and all who see them will wag their heads.[t]
10 [u]Then everyone will be in awe,
as they proclaim God’s mighty deeds
and contemplate what he has done.[v]
11 The righteous will rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will praise him.
Psalm 65[w]
Thanksgiving for Divine Blessings
1 For the director.[x] A psalm of David. A song.
2 It is fitting to offer praise to you,[y]
O God, in Zion.
To you our vows must be fulfilled,
3 for you answer our prayers.
To you all flesh must come,[z]
4 burdened by its sinful deeds.
Too heavy for us are our sins,
and only you can blot them out.[aa]
5 Blessed[ab] is the one whom you choose
and invite to dwell in your courts.
We will be filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.
6 Through your awesome deeds[ac] of righteousness,
you respond to us, O God, our Savior;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the far-off islands.
7 Clothed in your great power,
you hold the mountains in place.[ad]
8 You quiet the roaring of the seas,
the turbulence of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.[ae]
9 Those who dwell at the ends of the earth
are awestruck by your wonders.[af]
You call forth songs of joy
from sunrise and sunset.
10 You care for the earth and water it,
making it most fertile.
The streams of God[ag] are filled with water
to provide grain for its people.
Thus, you prepare the earth for growth:
11 you water its furrows
and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers
and bless its yield.[ah]
12 You crown the year with your bounty,[ai]
and your tracks dispense fertility.
13 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
and the hills are covered with rejoicing.
14 The meadows are clothed with flocks,
and the valleys are decked out with grain;
in their joy they shout and sing together.[aj]
Death and Life with Christ[a]
Chapter 6
Baptized in Christ Jesus.[b] 1 What then shall we say? Should we persist in sin in order that grace may abound? 2 Of course not! We have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Through that baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,[c] so we too might begin to live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 We know that our old[d] self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be destroyed and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For whoever has died has been freed from sin.
8 However, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.[e] 9 We know that Christ, once raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has power over him. 10 When he died, he died to sin once and for all. However, the life he lives, he lives for God. 11 In the same way, you must regard yourselves as being dead to sin and alive for God in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore, do not allow sin to reign over your mortal body and make you obey its desires. 13 Nor should you present any part of your body as an instrument for wickedness leading to sin. Rather, present yourselves to God as having been raised from death to life and the parts of your body to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin is no longer to have any power over you, since you are not under the Law but under grace.
15 A Slave of Righteousness. What then? Should we sin because we are not under the Law but under grace? Of course not! 16 Do you not know that if you offer yourself as an obedient slave, you are the slave of the one you obey—either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
17 Once you were slaves of sin, but, thanks be to God, you have become obedient in your heart to that pattern of teaching to which you have been delivered. 18 Now, having been set free from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.
19 I am speaking in human terms because you are still weak human beings. For just as you once offered your bodies as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to greater iniquity, so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.
20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free from the restraints of righteousness. 21 But what advantage did you get then from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 However, now that you have been freed from sin and bound to the service of God, the benefit you receive is sanctification, and the end is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift freely given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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