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Psalm 21

1  The king shall rejoice in your strength, O Lord; ♦︎
   how greatly shall he rejoice in your salvation!
2  You have given him his heart’s desire ♦︎
   and have not denied the request of his lips.
3  For you come to meet him with blessings of goodness ♦︎
   and set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
4  He asked of you life and you gave it him, ♦︎
   length of days, for ever and ever.
5  His honour is great because of your salvation; ♦︎
   glory and majesty have you laid upon him.
6  You have granted him everlasting felicity ♦︎
   and will make him glad with joy in your presence.
7  For the king puts his trust in the Lord; ♦︎
   because of the loving-kindness of the Most High,
      he shall not be overthrown.
8  Your hand shall mark down all your enemies; ♦︎
   your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9  You will make them like a fiery oven
      in the time of your wrath; ♦︎
   the Lord will swallow them up in his anger
      and the fire will consume them.
10  Their fruit you will root out of the land ♦︎
   and their seed from among its inhabitants.
11  Because they intend evil against you ♦︎
   and devise wicked schemes
      which they cannot perform,
12  You will put them to flight ♦︎
   when you aim your bow at their faces.
13  Be exalted, O Lord, in your own might; ♦︎
   we will make music and sing of your power.

Impending Judgement on the Earth

24Now the Lord is about to lay waste the earth and make it desolate,
   and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
² And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
   as with the slave, so with his master;
   as with the maid, so with her mistress;
as with the buyer, so with the seller;
   as with the lender, so with the borrower;
   as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
³ The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly despoiled;
   for the Lord has spoken this word.

⁴ The earth dries up and withers,
   the world languishes and withers;
   the heavens languish together with the earth.
⁵ The earth lies polluted
   under its inhabitants;
for they have transgressed laws,
   violated the statutes,
   broken the everlasting covenant.
⁶ Therefore a curse devours the earth,
   and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;
therefore the inhabitants of the earth dwindled,
   and few people are left.
⁷ The wine dries up,
   the vine languishes,
   all the merry-hearted sigh.
⁸ The mirth of the timbrels is stilled,
   the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
   the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
⁹ No longer do they drink wine with singing;
   strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
¹⁰ The city of chaos is broken down,
   every house is shut up so that no one can enter.
¹¹ There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
   all joy has reached its eventide;
   the gladness of the earth is banished.
¹² Desolation is left in the city,
   the gates are battered into ruins.
¹³ For thus it shall be on the earth
   and among the nations,
as when an olive tree is beaten,
   as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is ended.

¹⁴ They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
   they shout from the west over the majesty of the Lord.
¹⁵ Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord;
   in the coastlands of the sea glorify the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
¹⁶ From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
   of glory to the Righteous One.
But I say, I pine away,
   I pine away. Woe is me!
For the treacherous deal treacherously,
   the treacherous deal very treacherously.

A Life Pleasing to God

4Finally, brothers and sisters,^* we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. ²For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; ⁴that each one of you knows how to control your own body^* in holiness and honour, ⁵not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶that no one wrongs or exploits a brother or sister^* in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. ⁸Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.

9 Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters,^* you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters^* throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved,^* to do so more and more, ¹¹to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you, ¹²so that you may behave properly towards outsiders and be dependent on no one.