Old/New Testament
Psalm 94[a]
God, Judge, and Avenger
1 O Lord, you are an avenging God;[b]
shine forth, O God of vengeance.
2 Rise up, O judge of the earth;
repay[c] the arrogant as they deserve.
3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,
how long will the wicked be triumphant?[d]
4 [e]Their mouths pour forth their arrogant words
as these evildoers never cease to boast.
5 They crush your people, O Lord,
and they oppress your heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the foreigner
and put the orphan to death.
7 They say, “The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob[f] pays no attention.”
8 [g]Try to comprehend, you senseless people.
You fools, when will you gain some wisdom?[h]
9 Does the one who made the ear not hear?
Does the one who fashioned the eye not see?[i]
10 Does the one who guides the nations[j] not punish?
Does the one who instructs people lack knowledge?
11 The Lord is well aware of our thoughts[k]
and how foolish they are.
12 [l]Blessed[m] is the man you admonish, O Lord,
the man you teach by means of your law,
13 giving him respite in times of misfortune
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not abandon his people
or forsake his heritage.[n]
15 Judgment will again be based on righteousness,
and all the upright in heart[o] will uphold it.
16 [p]Who will stand up for me against the wicked?
Who will defend me against evildoers?
17 If the Lord had not come to my aid,
I would long ago have been consigned to the kingdom of silence.[q]
18 When I realized that my foot was slipping,
your kindness,[r] O Lord, raised me up.
19 When my anxious thoughts multiplied,
your comfort filled my soul with joy.[s]
20 [t]Can evil rulers have you as an ally,
those who make use of the law to oppress the helpless?[u]
21 They conspire against the righteous[v]
and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has been my stronghold,[w]
my God, the rock in whom I find refuge.
23 He will repay the wicked for their iniquity
and destroy them for their evil deeds;
the Lord, our God, will destroy them.
Psalm 95[x]
A Call To Praise and Obey God
1 [y]Come, let us sing with jubilation to the Lord;
let us cry out to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with our songs.
3 [z]For the Lord is the great God,
the King who surpasses all other gods.[aa]
4 In his hands are the depths of the earth,
and the peaks of the mountains are his.
5 To him belongs the sea, for he created it,
and also the dry land[ab] that his hands have molded.
6 Come forth! Let us bow down to worship him;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.[ac]
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds,[ad]
the flock he protects.
If only you would listen to his voice today:
8 “Harden not your hearts as you did at Meribah,[ae]
as on the day of Massah in the wilderness.
9 It was there that your ancestors sought to tempt me;
they put me to the test
even though they had witnessed my works.[af]
10 “For forty years[ag] I loathed that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they do not know my ways.’
11 Therefore, in my anger I swore,
‘They will never enter my rest.’ ”[ah]
Psalm 96[ai]
God, Sovereign and Judge of the Universe
1 Sing to the Lord a new song;[aj]
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and bless his name;
proclaim his salvation[ak] day after day.
3 Declare his glory[al] among the nations,
his wondrous deeds to every people.
4 For great is the Lord and worthy of all praise;
he is more to be feared[am] than all other gods.
5 The gods of the nations are merely idols,
but it was the Lord who made the heavens.[an]
6 Majesty and splendor surround him;
power and beauty[ao] are in his sanctuary.
7 Render to the Lord, you families of nations,
render to the Lord glory and power.[ap]
8 Render to the Lord the glory due to his name;
bring an offering and enter his courts.[aq]
9 Worship[ar] the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord is King.[as]
The world is firmly established, never to be moved.
He will judge the peoples fairly.”
11 Let the heavens exult and the earth be glad;
let the sea resound and all that fills it.
12 Let the fields rejoice and all that is in them;
let all the trees[at] of the forest shout for joy
13 before the Lord, for he is coming,
coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice
and the nations with equity.[au]
Epilogue[a]
14 Apostle to the Gentiles.[b] Brethren, I myself am convinced that you yourselves are immersed in goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15 Nevertheless, I have written to you rather boldly to refresh your memory in some respects because of the grace given to me by God. 16 He has appointed me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, in order that the Gentiles might become an acceptable offering consecrated by the Holy Spirit.
17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to glory in my service of God. 18 I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to lead the Gentiles to obedience to God by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God.
So from Jerusalem[c] and the surrounding area, even as far as Illyricum, I have completed the preaching of the gospel of Christ. 20 Moreover, I have always striven to preach the gospel of Christ where the name of Christ is not known, not wanting to build on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written:
“Those who have never been told of him shall see,
and those who have never heard of him shall understand.”
22 Paul’s Plans for Traveling—Even to Spain.[d] That is why I have so often been prevented from coming to you. 23 But now, since there is nothing more to keep me in these regions, and since for a good many years I have desired to visit you, 24 I hope to see you when I am on my way to Spain. Then, after I have enjoyed your company for a while, you can send me on my way there.
25 Presently, however, I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia[e] have resolved to make a contribution for the benefit of the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do so, and indeed they are indebted to them, for if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they owe it to them to share their material blessings with them.
28 Therefore, when I have completed this task and have delivered the fruit of their generosity to them, I will set out for Spain and visit you along the way. 29 And I am sure that when I come, I shall do so with the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
30 Therefore, I exhort you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my labors by praying to God for me 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there. 32 In that way, I can come to you in joy, if God so wills, and be refreshed together with you. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
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