Bible Browser

Psalm 146

1  Alleluia.
      Praise the Lord, O my soul:
      while I live will I praise the Lord; ♦︎
   as long as I have any being,
      I will sing praises to my God.
2  Put not your trust in princes,
      nor in any human power, ♦︎
   for there is no help in them.
3  When their breath goes forth, they return to the earth; ♦︎
   on that day all their thoughts perish.
4  Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help, ♦︎
   whose hope is in the Lord their God;
5  Who made heaven and earth,
      the sea and all that is in them; ♦︎
   who keeps his promise for ever;
6  Who gives justice to those that suffer wrong ♦︎
   and bread to those who hunger.
7  The Lord looses those that are bound; ♦︎
   the Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
8  The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; ♦︎
   the Lord loves the righteous;
9  The Lord watches over the stranger in the land;
      he upholds the orphan and widow; ♦︎
   but the way of the wicked he turns upside down.
10  The Lord shall reign for ever, ♦︎
   your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
      Alleluia.

Psalm 147

1  Alleluia.
      How good it is to make music for our God, ♦︎
   how joyful to honour him with praise.
2  The Lord builds up Jerusalem ♦︎
   and gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3  He heals the brokenhearted ♦︎
   and binds up all their wounds.
4  He counts the number of the stars ♦︎
   and calls them all by their names.
5  Great is our Lord and mighty in power; ♦︎
   his wisdom is beyond all telling.
6  The Lord lifts up the poor, ♦︎
   but casts down the wicked to the ground.
7  Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; ♦︎
   make music to our God upon the lyre;
8  Who covers the heavens with clouds ♦︎
   and prepares rain for the earth;
9  Who makes grass to grow upon the mountains ♦︎
   and green plants to serve our needs.
10  He gives the beasts their food ♦︎
   and the young ravens when they cry.
11  He takes no pleasure in the power of a horse, ♦︎
   no delight in human strength;
12  But the Lord delights in those who fear him, ♦︎
   who put their trust in his steadfast love.
13  Sing praise to the Lord, O Jerusalem; ♦︎
   praise your God, O Zion;
14  For he has strengthened the bars of your gates ♦︎
   and has blest your children within you.
15  He has established peace in your borders ♦︎
   and satisfies you with the finest wheat.
16  He sends forth his command to the earth ♦︎
   and his word runs very swiftly.
17  He gives snow like wool ♦︎
   and scatters the hoarfrost like ashes.
18  He casts down his hailstones like morsels of bread; ♦︎
   who can endure his frost?
19  He sends forth his word and melts them; ♦︎
   he blows with his wind and the waters flow.
20  He declares his word to Jacob, ♦︎
   his statutes and judgements to Israel.
21  He has not dealt so with any other nation; ♦︎
   they do not know his laws.
      Alleluia.

David’s Prayer

18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, ‘Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? ¹⁹And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God; you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come. May this be instruction for the people,^* O Lord God! ²⁰And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! ²¹Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have wrought all this greatness, so that your servant may know it. ²²Therefore you are great, O Lord God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²³Who is like your people, like Israel? Is there another^* nation on earth whose God went to redeem it as a people, and to make a name for himself, doing great and awesome things for them,^* by driving out^* before his people nations and their gods?^{* 24}And you established your people Israel for yourself to be your people for ever; and you, O Lord, became their God. ²⁵And now, O Lord God, as for the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, confirm it for ever; do as you have promised. ²⁶Thus your name will be magnified for ever in the saying, “The Lord of hosts is God over Israel”; and the house of your servant David will be established before you. ²⁷For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, “I will build you a house”; therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. ²⁸And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant; ²⁹now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue for ever before you; for you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed for ever.’

Law or Faith

3You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! ²The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? ³Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? ⁴Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing. ⁵Well then, does God^* supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

6 Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, ⁷so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. ⁸And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.’ ⁹For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed.

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.’ ¹¹Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’^{* 12}But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, ‘Whoever does the works of the law^* will live by them.’ ¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’— ¹⁴in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.