1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
The humble and downtrodden will hear it and rejoice.
3
O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us lift up His name together.
4
I sought the Lord [on the authority of His word], and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
5
They looked to Him and were radiant;
Their faces will never blush in shame or confusion.
6
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
And saved him from all his troubles.
7
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience],
And He rescues [each of] them.
8
O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good;
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.
9
O [reverently] fear the Lord, you His saints (believers, holy ones);
For to those who fear Him there is no want.
10
The young lions lack [food] and grow hungry,
But they who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing.
11
Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you to fear the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience].
12
Who is the man who desires life
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13
Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14
Turn away from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
15
The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous [those with moral courage and spiritual integrity]
And His ears are open to their cry.
16
The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
To cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17
When the righteous cry [for help], the Lord hears
And rescues them from all their distress and troubles.
18
The Lord is near to the heartbroken
And He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).
19
Many hardships and perplexing circumstances confront the righteous,
But the Lord rescues him from them all.
20
He keeps all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.
21
Evil will cause the death of the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be held guilty and will be condemned.
22
The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
1 When Jesus had finished this discourse, He said to His disciples, 2 “You know that the Passover is coming in two days, and the Son of Man is to be betrayed and handed over for crucifixion.”
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of the [elegant home of the Jewish] high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and plotted together to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him. 5 But they said, “It must not be during the festival (Passover), otherwise there might be a riot among the people.”
6 Now when Jesus was [back] in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume and she poured it on Jesus’ head as He reclined at the table. 8 But when the disciples saw it they were indignant and angry, saying, “Why all this waste [of money]? 9 For this perfume might have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware [of the malice] of this [remark], said to them, “Why are you bothering the woman? She has done a good thing to Me. 11 For you always have the poor with you; but you will not always have Me. 12 When she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. 13 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, wherever this gospel [of salvation] is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her [for her act of love and devotion].”
14 Then one of the twelve [disciples], who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Jesus over to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment Judas began looking for an opportune time to betray Jesus.
17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread (Passover Week) the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time [to suffer and atone for sin] is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” 19 [Accordingly] the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.
20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. 21 And as they were eating, He said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you that one of you will betray Me.” 22 Being deeply grieved and extremely distressed, each one of them began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 Jesus answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the bowl with Me [as a pretense of friendship] will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man is to go [to the cross], just as it is written [in Scripture] of Him; but woe (judgment is coming) to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.” 25 And Judas, the betrayer, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself.”
26 Now as they were eating Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the [new and better] covenant, which [ratifies the agreement and] is being poured out for many [as a substitutionary atonement] for the forgiveness of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.