Psalm 94:1–96:13

¹Lord, you are the God who punishes.

Since you are the one who punishes, come and show your anger.

²Judge of the earth, rise up.

Pay back proud people for what they have done.

³Lord, how long will those who are evil be glad?

How long will they be full of joy?

⁴Proud words pour out of their mouths.

All those who do evil are always bragging.

⁵Lord, they crush your people.

They beat down those who belong to you.

⁶They kill outsiders. They kill widows.

They murder children whose fathers have died.

⁷They say, “The Lord doesn’t see what’s happening.

The God of Jacob doesn’t pay any attention to it.”

⁸You who aren’t wise, pay attention.

You foolish people, when will you become wise?

⁹Does he who made the ear not hear?

Does he who formed the eye not see?

¹⁰Does he who corrects nations not punish?

Does he who teaches human beings not know anything?

¹¹The Lord knows what people think.

He knows that their thoughts don’t amount to anything.

¹²Lord, blessed is the man you correct.

Blessed is the person you teach from your law.

¹³You give him rest from times of trouble,

until a pit is dug to trap sinners.

¹⁴The Lord won’t say no to his people.

He will never desert those who belong to him.

¹⁵He will again judge people in keeping with what is right.

All those who have honest hearts will follow the right way.

¹⁶Who will rise up for me against sinful people?

Who will stand up for me against those who do evil?

¹⁷Suppose the Lord had not helped me.

Then I would soon have been lying quietly in the grave.

¹⁸I said, “My foot is slipping.”

But Lord, your love kept me from falling.

¹⁹I was very worried.

But your comfort brought joy to my heart.

²⁰Can you have anything to do with rulers who aren’t fair?

Can those who make laws that cause suffering be friends of yours?

²¹They join together against those who do what is right.

They sentence to death those who aren’t guilty of doing anything wrong.

²²But the Lord has become like a fort to me.

My God is my rock. I go to him for safety.

²³He will pay them back for their sins.

He will destroy them for their evil acts.

The Lord our God will destroy them.

Psalm 95

¹Come, let us sing with joy to the Lord.

Let us give a loud shout to the Rock who saves us.

²Let us come to him and give him thanks.

Let us praise him with music and song.

³The Lord is the great God.

He is the greatest King.

He rules over all of the gods.

⁴He owns the deepest parts of the earth.

The mountain peaks belong to him.

⁵The ocean is his, because he made it.

He formed the dry land with his hands.

⁶Come, let us bow down and worship him.

Let us fall on our knees in front of the Lord our Maker.

⁷He is our God.

We are the sheep belonging to his flock.

We are the people he takes good care of.

Listen to his voice today.

⁸If you hear it, don’t be stubborn as you were at Meribah.

Don’t be stubborn as you were that day at Massah in the desert.

⁹There your people of long ago really put me to the test.

They did it even though they had seen what I had done for them.

¹⁰For 40 years I was angry with them.

I said, “Their hearts are always going down the wrong path.

They do not know how I want them to live.”

¹¹So when I was angry, I took an oath.

I said, “They will never enjoy the rest I planned for them.”

Psalm 96

¹Sing a new song to the Lord.

All you people of the earth, sing to the Lord.

²Sing to the Lord. Praise him.

Day after day tell about how he saves us.

³Tell the nations about his glory.

Tell all people about the wonderful things he has done.

⁴The Lord is great. He is really worthy of praise.

People should have respect for him as the greatest God of all.

⁵All of the gods of the nations are like their statues.

They can’t do anything.

But the Lord made the heavens.

⁶Glory and majesty are all around him.

Strength and glory can be seen in his temple.

⁷Praise the Lord, all you nations.

Praise the Lord for his glory and strength.

⁸Praise the Lord for the glory that belongs to him.

Bring an offering and come into the courtyards of his temple.

⁹Worship the Lord because of his beauty and holiness.

All you people of the earth, tremble when you are with him.

¹⁰Say to the nations, “The Lord rules.”

The world is firmly set in place. It can’t be moved.

The Lord will judge the people of the world fairly.

¹¹Let the heavens be full of joy. Let the earth be glad.

Let the ocean and everything in it roar.

¹²Let the fields and everything in them be glad.

Then all of the trees in the forest will sing with joy.

¹³They will sing to the Lord,

because he is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the people of the world

in keeping with what is right and true.