Psalms 66; Psalms 67; Psalms 68; 2 Corinthians 4; 2 Corinthians 5

Psalms 66

1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious.

3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.

4 All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.”

5 Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!

6 He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot— come, let us rejoice in him.

7 He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations— let not the rebellious rise up against him.

8 Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard;

9 he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.

10 For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.

11 You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.

12 You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.

13 I will come to your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to you—

14 vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.

15 I will sacrifice fat animals to you and an offering of rams; I will offer bulls and goats.

16 Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.

17 I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.

18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;

19 but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.

20 Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!

Psalms 67

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us—

2 so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

3 May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.

4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.

5 May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.

6 The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.

7 May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Psalms 68

1 May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.

2 May you blow them away like smoke— as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.

3 But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.

4 Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds ; rejoice before him—his name is the LORD.

5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

6 God sets the lonely in families,he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

7 When you, God, went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness,

8 the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.

9 You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.

10 Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.

11 The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng:

12 “Kings and armies flee in haste; the women at home divide the plunder.

13 Even while you sleep among the sheep pens,the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver, its feathers with shining gold.”

14 When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land, it was like snow fallen on Mount Zalmon.

15 Mount Bashan, majestic mountain, Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,

16 why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain, at the mountain where God chooses to reign, where the LORD himself will dwell forever?

17 The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.

18 When you ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even from the rebellious— that you,LORD God, might dwell there.

19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.

20 Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.

21 Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies, the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.

22 The Lord says, “I will bring them from Bashan; I will bring them from the depths of the sea,

23 that your feet may wade in the blood of your foes, while the tongues of your dogs have their share.”

24 Your procession, God, has come into view, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.

25 In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the young women playing the timbrels.

26 Praise God in the great congregation; praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.

27 There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them, there the great throng of Judah’s princes, and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.

28 Summon your power, God ; show us your strength, our God, as you have done before.

29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings will bring you gifts.

30 Rebuke the beast among the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations. Humbled, may the beast bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.

31 Envoys will come from Egypt; Cush will submit herself to God.

32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord,

33 to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice.

34 Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the heavens.

35 You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!

2 Corinthians 4

1 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.

2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.

12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak,

14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.

15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 5

1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,

3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.

7 For we live by faith, not by sight.

8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.

12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.

13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.

14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.