Psalms 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.
 ¹  Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth!
 ²    Worship the LORD with gladness.
  Come before him, singing with joy.
 ³  Acknowledge that the LORD is God!
  He made us, and we are his. [3] 
  We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
 ⁴  Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
  go into his courts with praise.
  Give thanks to him and praise his name.
 ⁵  For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Psalms 101

A psalm of David.
 ¹  I will sing of your love and justice, LORD.
  I will praise you with songs.
 ²  I will be careful to live a blameless life—
  when will you come to help me?
I will lead a life of integrity
  in my own home.
 ³  I will refuse to look at
  anything vile and vulgar.
I hate all who deal crookedly;
  I will have nothing to do with them.
 ⁴  I will reject perverse ideas
  and stay away from every evil.
 ⁵  I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors.
  I will not endure conceit and pride.

 ⁶  I will search for faithful people
  to be my companions.
Only those who are above reproach
  will be allowed to serve me.
 ⁷  I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house,
  and liars will not stay in my presence.
 ⁸  My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked
  and free the city of the LORD from their grip.

Psalms 102

A prayer of one overwhelmed with trouble, pouring out problems before the LORD.
 ¹  LORD, hear my prayer!
  Listen to my plea!
 ²  Don't turn away from me
  in my time of distress.
Bend down to listen,
  and answer me quickly when I call to you.
 ³  For my days disappear like smoke,
  and my bones burn like red-hot coals.
 ⁴  My heart is sick, withered like grass,
  and I have lost my appetite.
 ⁵  Because of my groaning,
  I am reduced to skin and bones.
 ⁶  I am like an owl in the desert,
  like a little owl in a far-off wilderness.
 ⁷  I lie awake,
  lonely as a solitary bird on the roof.
 ⁸  My enemies taunt me day after day.
  They mock and curse me.
 ⁹  I eat ashes for food.
  My tears run down into my drink
 ¹⁰  because of your anger and wrath.
  For you have picked me up and thrown me out.
 ¹¹  My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows.
  I am withering away like grass.

 ¹²  But you, O LORD, will sit on your throne forever.
  Your fame will endure to every generation.
 ¹³  You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem [13] —
  and now is the time to pity her,
  now is the time you promised to help.
 ¹⁴  For your people love every stone in her walls
  and cherish even the dust in her streets.
 ¹⁵  Then the nations will tremble before the LORD.
  The kings of the earth will tremble before his glory.
 ¹⁶  For the LORD will rebuild Jerusalem.
  He will appear in his glory.
 ¹⁷  He will listen to the prayers of the destitute.
  He will not reject their pleas.

 ¹⁸  Let this be recorded for future generations,
  so that a people not yet born will praise the LORD.
 ¹⁹  Tell them the LORD looked down
  from his heavenly sanctuary.
He looked down to earth from heaven
 ²⁰    to hear the groans of the prisoners,
  to release those condemned to die.
 ²¹  And so the LORD's fame will be celebrated in Zion,
  his praises in Jerusalem,
 ²²  when multitudes gather together
  and kingdoms come to worship the LORD.

 ²³  He broke my strength in midlife,
  cutting short my days.
 ²⁴  But I cried to him, "O my God, who lives forever,
  don't take my life while I am so young!
 ²⁵  Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth
  and made the heavens with your hands.
 ²⁶  They will perish, but you remain forever;
  they will wear out like old clothing.
You will change them like a garment
  and discard them.
 ²⁷  But you are always the same;
  you will live forever.
 ²⁸  The children of your people
  will live in security.
Their children's children
  will thrive in your presence."

<<  100:3 As in an alternate reading in the Masoretic Text; the other alternate and some ancient versions read and not we ourselves.
<<  102:13 Hebrew Zion; also in 102:16.

1 Corinthians 1

Greetings from Paul
 ¹  This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes.
   ²  I am writing to God's church in Corinth, [2]  to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, [2]  just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
   ³  May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul Gives Thanks to God
 ⁴  I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus.  ⁵  Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge.  ⁶  This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true.  ⁷  Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.  ⁸  He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.  ⁹  God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Divisions in the Church
 ¹⁰  I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, [10]  by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.  ¹¹  For some members of Chloe's household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters.  ¹²  Some of you are saying, "I am a follower of Paul." Others are saying, "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Peter, [12] " or "I follow only Christ."
   ¹³  Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!  ¹⁴  I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,  ¹⁵  for now no one can say they were baptized in my name.  ¹⁶  (Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don't remember baptizing anyone else.)  ¹⁷  For Christ didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.

The Wisdom of God
 ¹⁸  The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.  ¹⁹  As the Scriptures say,

"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
  and discard the intelligence of the intelligent." [19] 

   ²⁰  So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.  ²¹  Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.  ²²  It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.  ²³  So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it's all nonsense.
   ²⁴  But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, [24]  Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.  ²⁵  This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God's weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.    ²⁶  Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you.  ²⁷  Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.  ²⁸  God chose things despised by the world, [28]  things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.  ²⁹  As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
   ³⁰  God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.  ³¹  Therefore, as the Scriptures say, "If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD."

<<  1:2a Corinth was the capital city of Achaia, the southern region of the Greek peninsula. 1:2b Or because you belong to Christ Jesus.
<<  1:10 Greek brothers; also in 1:11, 26.
<<  1:12 Greek Cephas.
<<  1:19 Isa 29:14.
<<  1:24 Greek and Greeks.
<<  1:26 Or high born.
<<  1:28 Or God chose those who are low born.
<<  1:31 Jer 9:24.