Psalm 116-118

English Standard Version

I Love the Lord

116 I ^(A)love the Lord, because he has ^(B)heard
    my voice and my pleas for mercy.
²Because he ^(C)inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
³^(D)The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
⁴Then ^(E)I called on the name of the Lord:
    “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”

⁵^(F)Gracious is the Lord, and ^(G)righteous;
    our God is ^(H)merciful.
⁶The Lord preserves ^(I)the simple;
    when ^(J)I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷Return, O my soul, to your ^(K)rest;
    for the Lord has ^(L)dealt bountifully with you.

⁸For ^(M)you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling;
⁹I will walk before the Lord
    ^(N)in the land of the living.

¹⁰^(O)I believed, ^(P)even when^[a] I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
¹¹^(Q)I said in my alarm,
^(R)“All mankind are liars.”

¹²What shall I ^(S)render to the Lord
    for all his benefits to me?
¹³I will lift up ^(T)the cup of salvation
    and ^(U)call on the name of the Lord,
¹⁴I will ^(V)pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people.

¹⁵^(W)Precious in the sight of the Lord
    is the death of his ^(X)saints.
¹⁶O Lord, I am your ^(Y)servant;
    I am your servant, ^(Z)the son of your maidservant.
    You have ^(AA)loosed my bonds.
¹⁷I will ^(AB)offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and ^(AC)call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸I will ^(AD)pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹in ^(AE)the courts of the house of the Lord,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
^(AF)Praise the Lord!

The Lord's Faithfulness Endures Forever

117 ^(AG)Praise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
²For ^(AH)great is his steadfast love toward us,
and ^(AI)the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
^(AJ)Praise the Lord!

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

118 ^(AK)Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!

²^(AL)Let Israel say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
³^(AM)Let the house of Aaron say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
⁴^(AN)Let those who fear the Lord say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”

⁵^(AO)Out of my distress I ^(AP)called on the Lord;
    the Lord answered me and set me ^(AQ)free.
⁶^(AR)The Lord is on my side; ^(AS)I will not fear.
    What can man do to me?
⁷^(AT)The Lord is on my side as my helper;
    I shall ^(AU)look in triumph on those who hate me.

⁸^(AV)It is better to take refuge in the Lord
^(AW)than to trust in man.
⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord
^(AX)than to trust in princes.

¹⁰^(AY)All nations surrounded me;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹¹They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹²^(AZ)They surrounded me like bees;
    they went out like ^(BA)a fire among thorns;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹³I was ^(BB)pushed hard,^[b] so that I was falling,
    but the Lord helped me.

¹⁴The Lord is my strength and my song;
    ^(BC)he has become my salvation.
¹⁵Glad songs of salvation
    are in the tents of the righteous:
^(BD)“The right hand of the Lord ^(BE)does valiantly,
¹⁶    the right hand of the Lord exalts,
    the right hand of the Lord ^(BF)does valiantly!”

¹⁷^(BG)I shall not die, but I shall live,
and ^(BH)recount the deeds of the Lord.
¹⁸The Lord has ^(BI)disciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.

¹⁹^(BJ)Open to me the gates of righteousness,
    that I may enter through them
    and give thanks to the Lord.
²⁰This is the gate of the Lord;
    ^(BK)the righteous shall enter through it.
²¹I thank you that ^(BL)you have answered me
    ^(BM)and have become my salvation.
²²^(BN)The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.^[c]
²³This is the Lord's doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.

²⁵Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!

²⁶^(BO)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
    We ^(BP)bless you from the house of the Lord.
²⁷The Lord is God,
    and he has made ^(BQ)his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
    up to ^(BR)the horns of the altar!

²⁸You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will ^(BS)extol you.
²⁹^(BT)Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!

Footnotes

Psalm 116:10 Or believed, indeed; Septuagint believed, therefore
Psalm 118:13 Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard
Psalm 118:22 Hebrew the head of the corner

1 Thessalonians 4

English Standard Version

A Life Pleasing to God

4 Finally, then, brothers,^[a] we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you ^(A)received from us ^(B)how you ought to walk and ^(C)to please God, just as you are doing, that you ^(D)do so more and more. ²For ^(E)you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³For this is the will of God, ^(F)your sanctification:^[b] ^(G)that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴that each one of you know how to control his own ^(H)body^[c] in holiness and ^(I)honor, ⁵not in ^(J)the passion of lust ^(K)like the Gentiles ^(L)who do not know God; ⁶that no one transgress and ^(M)wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is ^(N)an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷For ^(O)God has not called us for ^(P)impurity, but in holiness. ⁸Therefore ^(Q)whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, ^(R)who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

⁹Now concerning ^(S)brotherly love ^(T)you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been ^(U)taught by God ^(V)to love one another, ¹⁰for that indeed is what ^(W)you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to ^(X)do this more and more, ¹¹and to aspire ^(Y)to live quietly, and ^(Z)to mind your own affairs, and ^(AA)to work with your hands, as we instructed you, ¹²so that you may ^(AB)walk properly before ^(AC)outsiders and be dependent on no one.

The Coming of the Lord

¹³But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, ^(AD)that you may not grieve as others do ^(AE)who have no hope. ¹⁴For ^(AF)since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him ^(AG)those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵For this we declare to you ^(AH)by a word from the Lord,^[d] that ^(AI)we who are alive, who are left until ^(AJ)the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For ^(AK)the Lord himself will descend ^(AL)from heaven ^(AM)with a cry of command, with the voice of ^(AN)an archangel, and ^(AO)with the sound of the trumpet of God. And ^(AP)the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, will be ^(AQ)caught up together with them ^(AR)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so ^(AS)we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Footnotes

1 Thessalonians 4:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 10, 13
1 Thessalonians 4:3 Or your holiness
1 Thessalonians 4:4 Or how to take a wife for himself; Greek how to possess his own vessel
1 Thessalonians 4:15 Or by the word of the Lord