Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth! Sing about the glory of his name! Tell the world how glorious he is. Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! Your enemies cringe before your mighty power. Everything on earth will worship you; they will sing your praises, shouting your name in glorious songs." Interlude
Come and see what our God has done, what awesome miracles he performs for people! He made a dry path through the Red Sea, and his people went across on foot. There we rejoiced in him. For by his great power he rules forever. He watches every movement of the nations; let no rebel rise in defiance. Interlude
The Lord detests the use of dishonest scales, but he delights in accurate weights.
Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people.
Riches won't help on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death.
The godly are directed by honesty; the wicked fall beneath their load of sin.
The godliness of good people rescues them; the ambition of treacherous people traps them.
When the wicked die, their hopes die with them, for they rely on their own feeble strength.
The godly are rescued from trouble, and it falls on the wicked instead.
With their words, the godless destroy their friends, but knowledge will rescue the righteous.
The whole city celebrates when the godly succeed; they shout for joy when the wicked die.
Upright citizens are good for a city and make it prosper, but the talk of the wicked tears it apart.
It is foolish to belittle one's neighbor; a sensible person keeps quiet.
A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence.
Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers.
There's danger in putting up security for a stranger's debt; it's safer not to guarantee another person's debt.
A gracious woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth.
Your kindness will reward you, but your cruelty will destroy you.
Evil people get rich for the moment, but the reward of the godly will last.
Godly people find life; evil people find death.
The Lord detests people with crooked hearts, but he delights in those with integrity.
Evil people will surely be punished, but the children of the godly will go free.
A beautiful woman who lacks discretion is like a gold ring in a pig's snout.
The godly can look forward to a reward, while the wicked can expect only judgment.
Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything.
The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.
People curse those who hoard their grain, but they bless the one who sells in time of need.
If you search for good, you will find favor; but if you search for evil, it will find you!
Trust in your money and down you go! But the godly flourish like leaves in spring.
Those who bring trouble on their families inherit the wind. The fool will be a servant to the wise.
The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life; a wise person wins friends.
If the righteous are rewarded here on earth, what will happen to wicked sinners?
And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.
After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. For the Scriptures say, "God has put all things under his authority." (Of course, when it says"all things are under his authority," that does not include God himself, who gave Christ his authority.) Then, when all things are under his authority, the Son will put himself under God's authority, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.