Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Thanksgiving for the King
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
21 Lord, the king rejoices because of your strength;
he is so happy when you ·save him [give him victory/help]!
2 You gave the king ·what he wanted [L the desire of his heart]
and did not ·refuse [withhold] ·what he asked for [L the request of his lips]. ·
3 You put ·good things [rich blessings] before him
and placed a gold crown on his head.
4 He asked you for life,
and you gave it to him,
·so his years go on and on [L length of days forever and ever].
5 He has great glory because you gave him ·victories [help];
you gave him ·honor [splendor] and ·praise [majesty].
6 You ·always [forever] gave him blessings;
you made him glad because ·you were with him [L of the joy of your presence].
7 The king truly ·trusts [has confidence in] the Lord.
Because God Most High always ·loves [is loyal toward] him,
he will not be ·overwhelmed [moved].
8 Your hand ·is against [L will find out] all your enemies;
·those who hate you will feel your power [L your right hand will find out those who hate you].
9 When ·you [L the Lord] appear,
you will burn them as in a furnace.
In your anger you will swallow them up,
and fire will burn them up.
10 You will destroy their ·families [offspring] from the earth;
their ·children [L seed] will not live.
11 They made evil plans against you,
but ·their traps [L the schemes they devise] won’t ·work [succeed].
12 You will make them turn their backs
when you aim your arrows at ·them [L their faces].
13 Be ·supreme [exalted], Lord, in your power.
We sing and praise your ·greatness [strength].
14 Do not be afraid ·even though you are weak as a worm [L you worm, Jacob],
you ·few people of Israel who are left [or people of Israel; or maggot, Israel].
I myself will help you,” says the Lord.
“·The one who saves you [Your redeemer/protector] is the Holy One of Israel [1:4].
15 Look, I ·have made [or will make] you like a new threshing ·board [sledge]
with many sharp teeth.
So you will ·walk on [thresh the] mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like ·chaff [straw].
16 You will ·throw them into the air [winnow them], and the wind will carry them away;
a ·windstorm [gale; tempest] will scatter them.
Then you will ·be happy [rejoice] in the Lord;
you will ·be proud of [boast in] the Holy One of Israel [1:4].
17 “The poor and needy people look for water,
but ·they can’t find any [there is none].
Their tongues are ·dry [parched] with thirst.
But I, the Lord, will answer ·their prayers [L them];
I, the God of Israel, will not ·leave them to die [L abandon/forsake them].
18 I will ·make rivers flow [L open rivers] on the ·dry hills [barren heights]
and springs flow through the valleys.
I will change the ·desert [wilderness] into ·a lake [pools] of water
and the ·dry [arid; parched] land into ·fountains [springs] of water.
19 I will ·make trees grow [plant; put] in the ·desert [wilderness]—
cedars, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees.
I will put pine, fir, and cypress trees
growing together in the desert.
20 [L …so that] People will see these things and ·understand [know];
they will ·think carefully about these things [consider] and ·learn [comprehend]
that the Lord’s ·power [L hand] did this,
that the Holy One of Israel [1:4] ·made these things [created it].”
Paul Talks About His Work
14 My brothers and sisters, I am ·sure [fully convinced] that you are [indeed] full of goodness. I know that you ·have all the knowledge you need [L are filled with all knowledge] and that you are able to ·teach [instruct; admonish; warn] each other. 15 But I have written to you very ·openly [boldly] about some ·things [points; L parts] I wanted you to remember. I did this because ·God gave me this special gift [or of the grace God gave me]: 16 to be a ·minister [servant] of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I ·served God [or perform priestly service] ·by teaching his Good News [for the Good News/Gospel of/about God], so that the Gentiles could be an offering that God would accept—an offering ·made holy [sanctified; purified] by the Holy Spirit.
17 So I ·am proud [have a reason to boast] of what I have done for God in Christ Jesus. 18 I will not [dare] talk about anything except what Christ has done through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God. They have obeyed God because of what I have said and done, 19 because of the power of ·miracles [signs] and ·the great things they saw [wonders; marvels], ·and because of [or acccomplished through] the power of the Spirit of God. I have ·finished my work of preaching [fulfilled my commission to preach; or fully preached] the ·Good News [Gospel] from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum [C a Roman province northwest of Macedonia; modern Albania, Serbia and Montenegro]. 20 [So; In this way] I always ·want [or try; make it my ambition] to preach the ·Good News [Gospel] in places where ·people have never heard of Christ [L Christ has not been named], ·because I do not want [or in order not] to build on the ·work someone else has already started [L foundation of others]. 21 But [L as; just as] it is written in the Scriptures:
“Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard about him will understand [Is. 52:15].”
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.