Psalms 103–104; 1 Corinthians 2

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Psalms 103–104

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Of David.

yBless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!

yBless the Lord, O my soul,

and zforget not all his benefits,

who aforgives all your iniquity,

who bheals all your diseases,

who credeems your life from the pit,

who dcrowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who esatisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed like fthe eagle’s.

The Lord works grighteousness

and justice for all who are oppressed.

He made known his hways to Moses,

his iacts to the people of Israel.

The Lord is jmerciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

kHe will not always chide,

nor will he lkeep his anger forever.

10  He does not deal with us maccording to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11  For nas high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his osteadfast love toward pthose who fear him;

12  as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he qremove our transgressions from us.

13  As ra father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion pto those who fear him.

14  For he knows our frame;1

he sremembers that we are dust.

15  As for man, his days are like tgrass;

he flourishes like ua flower of the field;

16  for vthe wind passes over it, and wit is gone,

and xits place knows it no more.

17  But ythe steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on pthose who fear him,

and his righteousness to zchildren’s children,

18  to those who akeep his covenant

and bremember to do his commandments.

19  The Lord has cestablished his throne in the heavens,

and his dkingdom rules over all.

20  Bless the Lord, O you ehis angels,

you fmighty ones who gdo his word,

obeying the voice of his word!

21  Bless the Lord, all his hhosts,

his iministers, who do his will!

22  jBless the Lord, all his works,

in all places of his dominion.

kBless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord My God, You Are Very Great

lBless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, you are mvery great!

nYou are clothed with splendor and majesty,

covering yourself with light as with a garment,

ostretching out the heavens plike a tent.

He qlays the beams of his rchambers on the waters;

he makes sthe clouds his chariot;

he rides on tthe wings of the wind;

he umakes his messengers winds,

his vministers wa flaming fire.

He xset the earth on its foundations,

so that it should never be moved.

You ycovered it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

At zyour rebuke they fled;

at athe sound of your thunder they btook to flight.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down

to the place that you cappointed for them.

You set da boundary that they may not pass,

so that they emight not again cover the earth.

10  You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

they flow between the hills;

11  they fgive drink to every beast of the field;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12  Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;

they sing among the branches.

13  gFrom your lofty abode you hwater the mountains;

the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

14  You cause ithe grass to grow for the livestock

and jplants for man to cultivate,

that he may bring forth kfood from the earth

15  and lwine to gladden the heart of man,

moil to make his face shine

and bread to nstrengthen man’s heart.

16  The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,

othe cedars of Lebanon pthat he planted.

17  In them the birds build their nests;

the stork has her home in the fir trees.

18  The high mountains are for qthe wild goats;

the rocks are a refuge for rthe rock badgers.

19  He made the moon to mark the sseasons;2

the sun knows its time for setting.

20  tYou make darkness, and it is night,

when all the beasts of the forest creep about.

21  uThe young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.

22  When the sun rises, they steal away

and lie down in their vdens.

23  wMan goes out to his work

and to his labor until the evening.

24  O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In xwisdom have you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

25  Here is the sea, great and wide,

ywhich teems with creatures innumerable,

living things both small and great.

26  There go the ships,

and zLeviathan, which you formed to aplay in it.3

27  These ball look to you,

to cgive them their food in due season.

28  When you give it to them, they gather it up;

when you dopen your hand, they are filled with good things.

29  When you ehide your face, they are fdismayed;

when you gtake away their breath, they die

and hreturn to their dust.

30  When you isend forth your Spirit,4 they are created,

and you jrenew the face of the ground.

31  May the glory of the Lord kendure forever;

may the Lord lrejoice in his works,

32  who looks on the earth and it mtrembles,

who ntouches the mountains and they smoke!

33  I will sing to the Lord oas long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

34  May my pmeditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the Lord.

35  Let qsinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more!

rBless the Lord, O my soul!

sPraise the Lord!


1 Corinthians 2

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

And I, when I came to you, brothers,1 xdid not come proclaiming to you ythe testimony2 of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except zJesus Christ and him crucified. And aI was with you bin weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of cthe Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men3 but din the power of God.

Wisdom from the Spirit

Yet among ethe mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not fa wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, gwho are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, hwhich God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of ithe rulers of this age understood this, for jif they had, they would not have crucified kthe Lord of glory. But, as it is written,

lWhat no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has mprepared nfor those who love him

10 these things oGod has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even pthe depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts qexcept the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now rwe have received not sthe spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this tin words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, uinterpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.4

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are vfolly to him, and whe is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The xspiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 yFor who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But zwe have the mind of Christ.