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Psalm 138

1  I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart; ♦︎
   before the gods will I sing praise to you.
2  I will bow down towards your holy temple and praise your name,
      because of your love and faithfulness; ♦︎
   for you have glorified your name
      and your word above all things.
3  In the day that I called to you, you answered me; ♦︎
   you put new strength in my soul.
4  All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, ♦︎
   for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5  They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, ♦︎
   that great is the glory of the Lord.
6  Though the Lord be high, he watches over the lowly; ♦︎
   as for the proud, he regards them from afar.
7  Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
      you will preserve me; ♦︎
   you will stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies;
      your right hand will save me.
8  The Lord shall make good his purpose for me; ♦︎
   your loving-kindness, O Lord, endures for ever;
      forsake not the work of your hands.

Lamentation over the King of Tyre

11 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹²Mortal, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God:
You were the signet of perfection,^*
   full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
¹³ You were in Eden, the garden of God;
   every precious stone was your covering,
carnelian, chrysolite, and moonstone,
   beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire,^* turquoise, and emerald;
   and worked in gold were your settings
   and your engravings.^*
On the day that you were created
   they were prepared.
¹⁴ With an anointed cherub as guardian I placed you;^*
   you were on the holy mountain of God;
   you walked among the stones of fire.
¹⁵ You were blameless in your ways
   from the day that you were created,
   until iniquity was found in you.
¹⁶ In the abundance of your trade
   you were filled with violence, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
   and the guardian cherub drove you out
   from among the stones of fire.
¹⁷ Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
   you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendour.
I cast you to the ground;
   I exposed you before kings,
   to feast their eyes on you.
¹⁸ By the multitude of your iniquities,
   in the unrighteousness of your trade,
   you profaned your sanctuaries.
So I brought out fire from within you;
   it consumed you,
and I turned you to ashes on the earth
   in the sight of all who saw you.
¹⁹ All who know you among the peoples
   are appalled at you;
you have come to a dreadful end
   and shall be no more for ever.

Lawsuits among Believers

6When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints? ²Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? ³Do you not know that we are to judge angels—to say nothing of ordinary matters? ⁴If you have ordinary cases, then, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? ⁵I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to decide between one believer^* and another, ⁶but a believer^* goes to court against a believer^*—and before unbelievers at that?

7 In fact, to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? ⁸But you yourselves wrong and defraud—and believers^* at that.

9 Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, ¹⁰thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.