Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name give glory because of your faithfulness and love.
Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Our God is in heaven; whatever God wills is done.

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
They have mouths but do not speak, eyes but do not see.
They have ears but do not hear, noses but do not smell.
They have hands but do not feel, feet but do not walk,
and no sound rises from their throats.
Their makers shall be like them, all who trust in them.

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, his religion is vain.  Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

I love the Lord, who listened to my voice in supplication,
who turned an ear to me on the day I called.

I was caught by the cords of death; the snares of Sheol had seized me;
I felt agony and dread.
Then I called on the name of the Lord, “O Lord, save my life!”

Gracious is the Lord and just; yes, our God is merciful.
The Lord protects the simple; I was helpless, but God saved me.
Return, my soul, to your rest; the Lord has been good to you.
For my soul has been freed from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

We know that no one begotten by God sins; but the one begotten by God, he protects, and the evil one cannot touch him.  We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one.  We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us discernment to know the one who is true.  And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.  He is the true God and eternal life.

Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build.
Unless the Lord guard the city, in vain does the guard keep watch.
It is vain for you to rise early and put off your rest at night,
to eat bread earned by hard toil – all this God gives to his beloved in sleep.

Children too are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children born in one’s youth.
Blessed are they whose quivers are full.
They will never be shamed contending with foes at the gate.

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer!
From the brink of Sheol I call; my heart grows faint.
Raise me up, set me on a rock, for you are my refuge,
a tower of strength against the foe.
Then I will ever dwell in your tent, take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
Then I will sing your name forever, fulfill my vows day after day.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder’s craft.
One day to the next conveys that message; one night to the next imparts that knowledge.
There is no word or sound; no voice is heard;
Yet their report goes forth through all the earth, their message to the ends of the world.
God has pitched a tent there for the sun;
it comes forth like a bridegroom from his chamber,
and like an athlete joyfully runs its course.
From one end of the heavens it comes forth;
its course runs through to the other; nothing escapes its heat.

How I love your teaching, Lord! I study it all day long.
Your command makes me wiser than my foes, for it is always with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers, because I ponder your decrees.
I have more insight than my elders, because I observe your precepts.

I keep my steps from every evil path, that I may obey your word.
From your edicts I do not turn, for you have taught them to me.
How sweet to my tongue is your promise, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I gain insight; therefore I hate all false ways.

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the almighty,
say to the Lord, “My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust.
God will rescue you from the fowler’s snare, from the destroying plague,
Will shelter you with pinions, spread wings that you may take refuge;
God’s faithfulness is a protecting shield.
You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day,
Nor the pestilence that roams in darkness, nor the plague that ravages at noon.
Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, near you it shall not come

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the Church, of which I am a minister in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God, the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.

But now it has been manifested to his holy ones, to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for glory.  It is he whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.  For this I labor and struggle, in accord with the exercise of his power working within me.