Psalms 105; Psalms 106; Psalms 107; Colossians 1; Colossians 2

Psalms 105

1 Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

2 Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.

3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

4 Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.

5 Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.

7 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

8 He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations,

9 the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.

10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.”

12 When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it,

13 they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another.

14 He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings:

15 “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”

16 He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food;

17 and he sent a man before them— Joseph, sold as a slave.

18 They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons,

19 till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true.

20 The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free.

21 He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed,

22 to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.

23 Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.

24 The LORD made his people very fruitful; he made them too numerous for their foes,

25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.

26 He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

27 They performed his signs among them, his wonders in the land of Ham.

28 He sent darkness and made the land dark— for had they not rebelled against his words?

29 He turned their waters into blood, causing their fish to die.

30 Their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.

31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.

32 He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land;

33 he struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country.

34 He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number;

35 they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil.

36 Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their manhood.

37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered.

38 Egypt was glad when they left, because dread of Israel had fallen on them.

39 He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night.

40 They asked, and he brought them quail; he fed them well with the bread of heaven.

41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.

42 For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.

43 He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy;

44 he gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—

45 that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws. Praise the LORD.

Psalms 106

1 Praise the LORD.Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORDor fully declare his praise?

3 Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.

4 Remember me, LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them,

5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.

6 We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

7 When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.

8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.

9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert.

10 He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.

11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.

12 Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.

13 But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold.

14 In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wilderness they put God to the test.

15 So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them.

16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD.

17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram.

18 Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.

19 At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal.

20 They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass.

21 They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,

22 miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

23 So he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them.

24 Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise.

25 They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the LORD.

26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the wilderness,

27 make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.

28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;

29 they aroused the LORD’s anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked.

31 This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.

32 By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them;

33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses’ lips.

34 They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,

35 but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.

36 They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.

37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to false gods.

38 They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.

39 They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves.

40 Therefore the LORD was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance.

41 He gave them into the hands of the nations, and their foes ruled over them.

42 Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power.

43 Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.

44 Yet he took note of their distress when he heard their cry;

45 for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.

46 He caused all who held them captive to show them mercy.

47 Save us, LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

48 Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD.

Psalms 107

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

2 Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

3 those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.

5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.

6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

7 He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.

8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains,

11 because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High.

12 So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.

14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.

15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

16 for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.

17 Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.

18 They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.

19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.

20 He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.

21 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

23 Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.

24 They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep.

25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.

26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.

27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end.

28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.

29 He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.

30 They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.

31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.

33 He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground,

34 and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there.

35 He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs;

36 there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle.

37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest;

38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.

39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow;

40 he who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste.

41 But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.

42 The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths.

43 Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the LORD.

Colossians 1

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—

5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel

6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.

7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,

8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,

10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,

12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.

22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—

23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.

25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—

26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.

27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.

29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

Colossians 2

1 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.

2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,

3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.

5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,

7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,

10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.

11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ,

12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,

14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.

19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:

21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?

22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.

23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.