Psalms 97; Psalms 98; Psalms 99; Galatians 2

Psalms 97

1 The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.

2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

3 Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side.

4 His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all peoples see his glory.

7 All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols— worship him, all you gods!

8 Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, LORD.

9 For you, LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.

10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.

Psalms 98

1 Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

2 The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

3 He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

4 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;

5 make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing,

6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the LORD, the King.

7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

8 Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;

9 let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

Psalms 99

1 The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.

2 Great is the LORD in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.

3 Let them praise your great and awesome name— he is holy.

4 The King is mighty, he loves justice— you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right.

5 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.

6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who called on his name; they called on the LORD and he answered them.

7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.

8 LORD our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds.

9 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.

Galatians 2

1 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also.

2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain.

3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.

4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.

5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message.

7 On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.

8 For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles.

9 James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.

10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.

11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.

13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles

16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!

18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”