Psalms 100; Psalms 101; Psalms 102; 1 Corinthians 1

Psalms 100

1 Shout happily to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Serve the LORD cheerfully. Come into his presence with a joyful song.

3 Realize that the LORD alone is God. He made us, and we are his. We are his people and the sheep in his care.

4 Enter his gates with a song of thanksgiving. Come into his courtyards with a song of praise. Give thanks to him; praise his name.

5 The LORD is good. His mercy endures forever. His faithfulness endures throughout every generation.

Psalms 101

1 I will sing about mercy and justice. O LORD, I will make music to praise you.

2 I want to understand the path to integrity. When will you come to me? I will live in my own home with integrity.

3 I will not put anything wicked in front of my eyes. I hate what unfaithful people do. I want no part of it.

4 I will keep far away from devious minds. I will have nothing to do with evil.

5 I will destroy anyone who secretly slanders his neighbor. I will not tolerate anyone with a conceited look or arrogant heart.

6 My eyes will be watching the faithful people in the land so that they may live with me. The person who lives with integrity will serve me.

7 The one who does deceitful things will not stay in my home. The one who tells lies will not remain in my presence.

8 Every morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land to rid the LORD's city of all troublemakers.

Psalms 102

1 O LORD, hear my prayer, and let my cry for help come to you.

2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in trouble. Turn your ear toward me. Answer me quickly when I call.

3 My days disappear like smoke. My bones burn like hot coals.

4 My heart is beaten down and withered like grass because I have forgotten about eating.

5 I am nothing but skin and bones because of my loud groans.

6 I am like a desert owl, like an owl living in the ruins.

7 I lie awake. I am like a lonely bird on a rooftop.

8 All day long my enemies insult me. Those who ridicule me use my name as a curse.

9 I eat ashes like bread and my tears are mixed with my drink

10 because of your hostility and anger, because you have picked me up and thrown me away.

11 My days are like a shadow that is getting longer, and I wither away like grass.

12 But you, O LORD, remain forever. You are remembered throughout every generation.

13 You will rise and have compassion on Zion, because it is time to grant a favor to it. Indeed, the appointed time has come.

14 Your servants value Zion's stones, and they pity its rubble.

15 The nations will fear the LORD's name. All the kings of the earth will fear your glory.

16 When the LORD builds Zion, he will appear in his glory.

17 He will turn his attention to the prayers of those who have been abandoned. He will not despise their prayers.

18 This will be written down for a future generation so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:

19 "The LORD looked down from his holy place high above. From heaven he looked at the earth.

20 He heard the groans of the prisoners and set free those who were condemned to death.

21 The LORD's name is announced in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem

22 when nations and kingdoms gather to worship the LORD."

23 He has weakened my strength along the way. He has reduced [the number of] my days.

24 I said, "My God, don't take me now in the middle of my life. Your years [continue on] throughout every generation.

25 Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth. Even the heavens are the works of your hands.

26 They will come to an end, but you will still go on. They will all wear out like clothing. You will change them like clothes, and they will be thrown away.

27 But you remain the same, and your life will never end.

28 The children of your servants will go on living [here]. Their descendants will be secure in your presence."

1 Corinthians 1

1 From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and from Sosthenes, our brother in the Christian faith.

2 To God's church that was made holy by Christ Jesus and called to be God's holy people in the city of Corinth and to people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Good will and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are yours!

4 I always thank God for you because Christ Jesus has shown you God's good will.

5 Through Christ Jesus you have become rich in every way--in speech and knowledge of every kind.

6 Our message about Christ has been verified among you.

7 Therefore, you don't lack any gift as you wait eagerly for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

8 He will continue to give you strength until the end so that no one can accuse you of anything on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 God faithfully keeps his promises. He called you to be partners with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

10 Brothers and sisters, I encourage all of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to agree with each other and not to split into opposing groups. I want you to be united in your understanding and opinions.

11 Brothers and sisters, some people from Chloe's family have made it clear to me that you are quarreling among yourselves.

12 This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ."

13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in Paul's name?

14 I thank God that I didn't baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius

15 so that no one can say you were baptized in my name.

16 I also baptized Stephanas and his family. Beyond that, I'm not sure whether I baptized anyone else.

17 Christ didn't send me to baptize. Instead, he sent me to spread the Good News. I didn't use intellectual arguments. That would have made the cross of Christ lose its meaning.

18 The message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God's power to us who are being saved.

19 Scripture says, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will reject the intelligence of intelligent people."

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the persuasive speaker of our time? Hasn't God turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense?

21 The world with its wisdom was unable to recognize God in terms of his own wisdom. So God decided to use the nonsense of the Good News we speak to save those who believe.

22 Jews ask for miraculous signs, and Greeks look for wisdom,

23 but our message is that Christ was crucified. This offends Jewish people and makes no sense to people who are not Jewish.

24 But to those Jews and Greeks who are called, he is Christ, God's power and God's wisdom.

25 God's nonsense is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

26 Brothers and sisters, consider what you were when God called you to be Christians. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view. You were not in powerful positions or in the upper social classes.

27 But God chose what the world considers nonsense to put wise people to shame. God chose what the world considers weak to put what is strong to shame.

28 God chose what the world considers ordinary and what it despises--what it considers to be nothing--in order to destroy what it considers to be something.

29 As a result, no one can brag in God's presence.

30 You are partners with Christ Jesus because of God. Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God, our righteousness, our holiness, and our ransom from sin.

31 As Scripture says, "Whoever brags must brag about what the Lord has done."