Psalms 105; Galatians 5

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.

Galatians 5

1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?

8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty.

11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;

20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions

21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.