Psalms 116

 ¹  I love the LORD because he hears my voice
  and my prayer for mercy.
 ²  Because he bends down to listen,
  I will pray as long as I have breath!
 ³  Death wrapped its ropes around me;
  the terrors of the grave [3]  overtook me.
  I saw only trouble and sorrow.
 ⁴  Then I called on the name of the LORD:
  "Please, LORD, save me!"
 ⁵  How kind the LORD is! How good he is!
  So merciful, this God of ours!
 ⁶  The LORD protects those of childlike faith;
  I was facing death, and he saved me.
 ⁷  Let my soul be at rest again,
  for the LORD has been good to me.
 ⁸  He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.  ⁹  And so I walk in the LORD's presence
  as I live here on earth!
 ¹⁰  I believed in you, so I said,
  "I am deeply troubled, LORD."
 ¹¹  In my anxiety I cried out to you,
  "These people are all liars!"
 ¹²  What can I offer the LORD
  for all he has done for me?
 ¹³  I will lift up the cup of salvation
  and praise the LORD's name for saving me.
 ¹⁴  I will keep my promises to the LORD
  in the presence of all his people.

 ¹⁵  The LORD cares deeply when his loved ones die.  ¹⁶  O LORD, I am your servant;
  yes, I am your servant, born into your household;
  you have freed me from my chains.
 ¹⁷  I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving
  and call on the name of the LORD.
 ¹⁸  I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
  in the presence of all his people—
 ¹⁹  in the house of the LORD
  in the heart of Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD!

Psalms 117

 ¹  Praise the LORD, all you nations.
  Praise him, all you people of the earth.
 ²  For he loves us with unfailing love;
  the LORD's faithfulness endures forever.

Praise the LORD!

Psalms 118

 ¹  Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.  ²  Let all Israel repeat:
  "His faithful love endures forever."
 ³  Let Aaron's descendants, the priests, repeat:
  "His faithful love endures forever."
 ⁴  Let all who fear the LORD repeat:
  "His faithful love endures forever."

 ⁵  In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free.  ⁶  The LORD is for me, so I will have no fear.
  What can mere people do to me?
 ⁷  Yes, the LORD is for me; he will help me.
  I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
 ⁸  It is better to take refuge in the LORD
  than to trust in people.
 ⁹  It is better to take refuge in the LORD
  than to trust in princes.

 ¹⁰  Though hostile nations surrounded me,
  I destroyed them all with the authority of the LORD.
 ¹¹  Yes, they surrounded and attacked me,
  but I destroyed them all with the authority of the LORD.
 ¹²  They swarmed around me like bees;
  they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
  But I destroyed them all with the authority of the LORD.
 ¹³  My enemies did their best to kill me,
  but the LORD rescued me.
 ¹⁴  The LORD is my strength and my song;
  he has given me victory.
 ¹⁵  Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.
  The strong right arm of the LORD has done glorious things!
 ¹⁶  The strong right arm of the LORD is raised in triumph.
  The strong right arm of the LORD has done glorious things!
 ¹⁷  I will not die; instead, I will live
  to tell what the LORD has done.
 ¹⁸  The LORD has punished me severely,
  but he did not let me die.

 ¹⁹  Open for me the gates where the righteous enter,
  and I will go in and thank the LORD.
 ²⁰  These gates lead to the presence of the LORD,
  and the godly enter there.
 ²¹  I thank you for answering my prayer
  and giving me victory!

 ²²  The stone that the builders rejected
  has now become the cornerstone.
 ²³  This is the LORD's doing, and it is wonderful to see.  ²⁴  This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.  ²⁵  Please, LORD, please save us.
  Please, LORD, please give us success.
 ²⁶  Bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD.
  We bless you from the house of the LORD.
 ²⁷  The LORD is God, shining upon us.
  Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.
 ²⁸  You are my God, and I will praise you!
  You are my God, and I will exalt you!

 ²⁹  Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!
  His faithful love endures forever.

<<  116:3 Hebrew of Sheol.

1 Corinthians 7 : 1-19

Instruction on Marriage
 ¹  Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations. [1]   ²  But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.
   ³  The husband should fulfill his wife's sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband's needs.  ⁴  The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.
   ⁵  Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.  ⁶  I say this as a concession, not as a command.  ⁷  But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.
   ⁸  So I say to those who aren't married and to widows—it's better to stay unmarried, just as I am.  ⁹  But if they can't control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It's better to marry than to burn with lust.
   ¹⁰  But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. [10]  A wife must not leave her husband.  ¹¹  But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife.
   ¹²  Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a Christian man [12]  has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her.  ¹³  And if a Christian woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him.  ¹⁴  For the Christian wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the Christian husband [14]  brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy.  ¹⁵  (But if the husband or wife who isn't a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the Christian husband or wife [15]  is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you [15]  to live in peace.)  ¹⁶  Don't you wives realize that your husbands might be saved because of you? And don't you husbands realize that your wives might be saved because of you?
   ¹⁷  Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule for all the churches.  ¹⁸  For instance, a man who was circumcised before he became a believer should not try to reverse it. And the man who was uncircumcised when he became a believer should not be circumcised now.  ¹⁹  For it makes no difference whether or not a man has been circumcised. The important thing is to keep God's commandments.

<<  7:1 Or to live a celibate life; Greek reads It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
<<  7:10 See Matt 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:11-12; Luke 16:18.
<<  7:12 Greek a brother.
<<  7:14 Greek the brother.
<<  7:15a Greek the brother or sister. 7:15b Some manuscripts read us.