Psalms 146; Psalms 147; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28

Psalms 146

1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, my soul!

2 I will praise him as long as I live; I will sing to my God all my life.

3 Don't put your trust in human leaders; no human being can save you.

4 When they die, they return to the dust; on that day all their plans come to an end.

5 Happy are those who have the God of Jacob to help them and who depend on the Lord their God,

6 the Creator of heaven, earth, and sea, and all that is in them. He always keeps his promises;

7 he judges in favor of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free

8 and gives sight to the blind. He lifts those who have fallen; he loves his righteous people.

9 He protects the strangers who live in our land; he helps widows and orphans, but takes the wicked to their ruin.

10 The Lord is king forever. Your God, O Zion, will reign for all time. Praise the Lord!

Psalms 147

1 Praise the Lord! It is good to sing praise to our God; it is pleasant and right to praise him.

2 The Lord is restoring Jerusalem; he is bringing back the exiles.

3 He heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds.

4 He has decided the number of the stars and calls each one by name.

5 Great and mighty is our Lord; his wisdom cannot be measured.

6 He raises the humble, but crushes the wicked to the ground.

7 Sing hymns of praise to the Lord; play music on the harp to our God.

8 He spreads clouds over the sky; he provides rain for the earth and makes grass grow on the hills.

9 He gives animals their food and feeds the young ravens when they call.

10 His pleasure is not in strong horses, nor his delight in brave soldiers;

11 but he takes pleasure in those who honor him, in those who trust in his constant love.

12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!

13 He keeps your gates strong; he blesses your people.

14 He keeps your borders safe and satisfies you with the finest wheat.

15 He gives a command to the earth, and what he says is quickly done.

16 He spreads snow like a blanket and scatters frost like dust.

17 He sends hail like gravel; no one can endure the cold he sends!

18 Then he gives a command, and the ice melts; he sends the wind, and the water flows.

19 He gives his message to his people, his instructions and laws to Israel.

20 He has not done this for other nations; they do not know his laws. Praise the Lord!

1 Corinthians 15:1-28

1 And now I want to remind you, my friends, of the Good News which I preached to you, which you received, and on which your faith stands firm.

2 That is the gospel, the message that I preached to you. You are saved by the gospel if you hold firmly to it - unless it was for nothing that you believed.

3 I passed on to you what I received, which is of the greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures;

4 that he was buried and that he was raised to life three days later, as written in the Scriptures;

5 that he appeared to Peter and then to all twelve apostles.

6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of his followers at once, most of whom are still alive, although some have died.

7 Then he appeared to James, and afterward to all the apostles.

8 Last of all he appeared also to me - even though I am like someone whose birth was abnormal.

9 For I am the least of all the apostles - I do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted God's church.

10 But by God's grace I am what I am, and the grace that he gave me was not without effect. On the contrary, I have worked harder than any of the other apostles, although it was not really my own doing, but God's grace working with me.

11 So then, whether it came from me or from them, this is what we all preach, and this is what you believe.

12 Now, since our message is that Christ has been raised from death, how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life?

13 If that is true, it means that Christ was not raised;

14 and if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe.

15 More than that, we are shown to be lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death - but if it is true that the dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ.

16 For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised.

17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins.

18 It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost.

19 If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.

20 But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.

21 For just as death came by means of a man, in the same way the rising from death comes by means of a man.

22 For just as all people die because of their union with Adam, in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union with Christ.

23 But each one will be raised in proper order: Christ, first of all; then, at the time of his coming, those who belong to him.

24 Then the end will come; Christ will overcome all spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers, and will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father.

25 For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet.

26 The last enemy to be defeated will be death.

27 For the scripture says, "God put [all] things under his feet." It is clear, of course, that the words "all things" do not include God himself, who puts all things under Christ.

28 But when all things have been placed under Christ's rule, then he himself, the Son, will place himself under God, who placed all things under him; and God will rule completely over all.