Good News Translation (GNT)

The Foolishness of Trusting in Riches

1 Hear this, everyone!

Listen, all people everywhere,

2 great and small alike,

rich and poor together.

3 My thoughts will be clear;

I will speak words of wisdom.

4 I will turn my attention to proverbs

and explain their meaning as I play the harp.

5 I am not afraid in times of danger

when I am surrounded by enemies,

6 by evil people who trust in their riches

and boast of their great wealth.

7 We can never redeem ourselves;

we cannot pay God the price for our lives,

8 because the payment for a human life is too great.

What we could pay would never be enough

9 to keep us from the grave,

to let us live forever.

10 Anyone can see that even the wise die,

as well as the foolish and stupid.

They all leave their riches to their descendants.

11 Their gravesare their homes forever;

there they stay for all time,

though they once had lands of their own.

12 Our greatness cannot keep us from death;

we will still die like the animals.

13 See what happens to those who trust in themselves,

the fate of thosewho are satisfied with their wealth—

14 they are doomed to die like sheep,

and Death will be their shepherd.

The righteous will triumph over them,

as their bodies quickly decay

in the world of the dead far from their homes.

15 But God will rescue me;

he will save me from the power of death.

16 Don’t be upset when someone becomes rich,

when his wealth grows even greater;

17 he cannot take it with him when he dies;

his wealth will not go with him to the grave.

18 Even if someone is satisfied with this life

and is praised because he is successful,

19 he will join all his ancestors in death,

where the darkness lasts forever.

20 Our greatness cannot keep us from death;

we will still die like the animals.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/49-5ef9170b6b89a30d9e6c5b955cfe8372.mp3?version_id=68—

True Worship

1 The Almighty God, the Lord, speaks;

he calls to the whole earth from east to west.

2 God shines from Zion,

the city perfect in its beauty.

3 Our God is coming, but not in silence;

a raging fire is in front of him,

a furious storm around him.

4 He calls heaven and earth as witnesses

to see him judge his people.

5 He says, “Gather my faithful people to me,

those who made a covenant with me by offering a sacrifice.”

6 The heavens proclaim that God is righteous,

that he himself is judge.

7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak;

I will testify against you, Israel.

I am God, your God.

8 I do not reprimand you because of your sacrifices

and the burnt offerings you always bring me.

9 And yet I do not need bulls from your farms

or goats from your flocks;

10 all the animals in the forest are mine

and the cattle on thousands of hills.

11 All the wild birds are mine

and all living things in the fields.

12 “If I were hungry, I would not ask you for food,

for the world and everything in it is mine.

13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls

or drink the blood of goats?

14 Let the giving of thanks be your sacrifice to God,

and give the Almighty all that you promised.

15 Call to me when trouble comes;

I will save you,

and you will praise me.”

16 But God says to the wicked,

“Why should you recite my commandments?

Why should you talk about my covenant?

17 You refuse to let me correct you;

you reject my commands.

18 You become the friend of every thief you see,

and you associate with adulterers.

19 “You are always ready to speak evil;

you never hesitate to tell lies.

20 You are ready to accuse your own relatives

and to find fault with them.

21 You have done all this, and I have said nothing,

so you thought that I am like you.

But now I reprimand you

and make the matter plain to you.

22 “Listen to this, you that ignore me,

or I will destroy you,

and there will be no one to save you.

23 Giving thanks is the sacrifice that honors me,

and I will surely save all who obey me.”

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/50-ba077853bbae5dfca8b332bdfef55715.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for Forgiveness

1 Be merciful to me, O God,

because of your constant love.

Because of your great mercy

wipe away my sins!

2 Wash away all my evil

and make me clean from my sin!

3 I recognize my faults;

I am always conscious of my sins.

4 I have sinned against you—only against you—

and done what you consider evil.

So you are right in judging me;

you are justified in condemning me.

5 I have been evil from the day I was born;

from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful.

6 Sincerity and truth are what you require;

fill my mind with your wisdom.

7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness;

and though you have crushed me and broken me,

I will be happy once again.

9 Close your eyes to my sins

and wipe out all my evil.

10 Create a pure heart in me, O God,

and put a new and loyal spirit in me.

11 Do not banish me from your presence;

do not take your holy spirit away from me.

12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation,

and make me willing to obey you.

13 Then I will teach sinners your commands,

and they will turn back to you.

14 Spare my life, O God, and save me,

and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness.

15 Help me to speak, Lord,

and I will praise you.

16 You do not want sacrifices,

or I would offer them;

you are not pleased with burnt offerings.

17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God;

you will not reject a humble and repentant heart.

18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her;

rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices

and with our burnt offerings;

and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/51-928d664c7da3066f947bbf0c64f97239.mp3?version_id=68—

God’s Judgment and Grace

1 Why do you boast, great one, of your evil?

God’s faithfulness is eternal.

2 You make plans to ruin others;

your tongue is like a sharp razor.

You are always inventing lies.

3 You love evil more than good

and falsehood more than truth.

4 You love to hurt people with your words, you liar!

5 So God will ruin you forever;

he will take hold of you and snatch you from your home;

he will remove you from the world of the living.

6 Righteous people will see this and be afraid;

then they will laugh at you and say,

7 “Look, here is someone who did not depend on God for safety,

but trusted instead in great wealth

and looked for security in being wicked.”

8 But I am like an olive tree growing in the house of God;

I trust in his constant love forever and ever.

9 I will always thank you, God, for what you have done;

in the presence of your people

I will proclaim that you are good.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/52-85062f680511ef737e88b0483d73971c.mp3?version_id=68—

Human Wickedness

1 Fools say to themselves,

“There is no God.”

They are all corrupt,

and they have done terrible things;

there is no one who does what is right.

2 God looks down from heaven at people

to see if there are any who are wise,

any who worship him.

3 But they have all turned away;

they are all equally bad.

Not one of them does what is right,

not a single one.

4 “Don’t they know?” God asks.

“Are these evildoers ignorant?

They live by robbing my people,

and they never pray to me.”

5 But then they will become terrified,

as they have never been before,

for God will scatter the bones of the enemies of his people.

God has rejected them,

and so Israel will totally defeat them.

6 How I pray that victory

will come to Israel from Zion.

How happy the people of Israel will be

when God makes them prosperous again!

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/53-f04df10119453fff370aaaf09dcb478b.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for Protection from Enemies

1 Save me by your power, O God;

set me free by your might!

2 Hear my prayer, O God;

listen to my words!

3 Proud people are coming to attack me;

cruel people are trying to kill me—

those who do not care about God.

4 But God is my helper.

The Lord is my defender.

5 May God use their own evil to punish my enemies.

He will destroy them because he is faithful.

6 I will gladly offer you a sacrifice, O Lord;

I will give you thanks

because you are good.

7 You have rescued me from all my troubles,

and I have seen my enemies defeated.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/54-3731eb001adbb9259eb8c70cee0b0fb6.mp3?version_id=68—

The Prayer of Someone Betrayed by a Friend

1 Hear my prayer, O God;

don’t turn away from my plea!

2 Listen to me and answer me;

I am worn out by my worries.

3 I am terrified by the threats of my enemies,

crushed by the oppression of the wicked.

They bring trouble on me;

they are angry with me and hate me.

4 I am terrified,

and the terrors of death crush me.

5 I am gripped by fear and trembling;

I am overcome with horror.

6 I wish I had wings like a dove.

I would fly away and find rest.

7 I would fly far away

and make my home in the desert.

8 I would hurry and find myself a shelter

from the raging wind and the storm.

9 Confuse the speech of my enemies, O Lord!

I see violence and riots in the city,

10 surrounding it day and night,

filling it with crime and trouble.

11 There is destruction everywhere;

the streets are full of oppression and fraud.

12 If it were an enemy making fun of me,

I could endure it;

if it were an opponent boasting over me,

I could hide myself from him.

13 But it is you, my companion,

my colleague and close friend.

14 We had intimate talks with each other

and worshiped together in the Temple.

15 May my enemies die before their time;

may they go down alive into the world of the dead!

Evil is in their homes and in their hearts.

16 But I call to the Lord God for help,

and he will save me.

17 Morning, noon, and night

my complaints and groans go up to him,

and he will hear my voice.

18 He will bring me safely back

from the battles that I fight

against so many enemies.

19 God, who has ruled from eternity,

will hear me and defeat them;

for they refuse to change,

and they do not fear him.

20 My former companion attacked his friends;

he broke his promises.

21 His words were smoother than cream,

but there was hatred in his heart;

his words were as soothing as oil,

but they cut like sharp swords.

22 Leave your troubles with the Lord,

and he will defend you;

he never lets honest people be defeated.

23 But you, O God, will bring those murderers and liars to their graves

before half their life is over.

As for me, I will trust in you.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/55-157549b169957bd34d5cba1dd472bba2.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer of Trust in God

1 Be merciful to me, O God,

because I am under attack;

my enemies persecute me all the time.

2 All day long my opponents attack me.

There are so many who fight against me.

3 When I am afraid, O Lord Almighty,

I put my trust in you.

4 I trust in God and am not afraid;

I praise him for what he has promised.

What can a mere human being do to me?

5 My enemies make trouble for me all day long;

they are always thinking up some way to hurt me!

6 They gather in hiding places

and watch everything I do,

hoping to kill me.

7 Punishthem, O God, for their evil;

defeat those people in your anger!

8 You know how troubled I am;

you have kept a record of my tears.

Aren’t they listed in your book?

9 The day I call to you,

my enemies will be turned back.

I know this: Godis on my side—

10 the Lord, whose promises I praise.

11 In him I trust, and I will not be afraid.

What can a mere human being do to me?

12 O God, I will offer you what I have promised;

I will give you my offering of thanksgiving,

13 because you have rescued me from death

and kept me from defeat.

And so I walk in the presence of God,

in the light that shines on the living.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/56-c0c0f91955bf434455fd2c91c9aa718e.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for Help

1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful,

because I come to you for safety.

In the shadow of your wings I find protection

until the raging storms are over.

2 I call to God, the Most High,

to God, who supplies my every need.

3 He will answer from heaven and save me;

he will defeat my oppressors.

God will show me his constant love and faithfulness.

4 I am surrounded by enemies,

who are like lions hungry for human flesh.

Their teeth are like spears and arrows;

their tongues are like sharp swords.

5 Show your greatness in the sky, O God,

and your glory over all the earth.

6 My enemies have spread a net to catch me;

I am overcome with distress.

They dug a pit in my path,

but fell into it themselves.

7 I have complete confidence, O God;

I will sing and praise you!

8 Wake up, my soul!

Wake up, my harp and lyre!

I will wake up the sun.

9 I will thank you, O Lord, among the nations.

I will praise you among the peoples.

10 Your constant love reaches the heavens;

your faithfulness touches the skies.

11 Show your greatness in the sky, O God,

and your glory over all the earth.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/57-2507eaf9ca5261a6fe01a02ab49aeef4.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for God to Punish the Wicked

1 Do you rulersever give a just decision?

Do you judge everyone fairly?

2 No! You think only of the evil you can do,

and commit crimes of violence in the land.

3 Evildoers go wrong all their lives;

they tell lies from the day they are born.

4 They are full of poison like snakes;

they stop up their ears like a deaf cobra,

5 which does not hear the voice of the snake charmer,

or the chant of the clever magician.

6 Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God.

7 May they disappear like water draining away;

may they be crushed like weeds on a path.

8 May they be like snails that dissolve into slime;

may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light.

9 Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds;

in his fierce anger God will blow them away

while they are still living.

10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished;

they will wade through the blood of the wicked.

11 People will say, “The righteous are indeed rewarded;

there is indeed a God who judges the world.”

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/58-5f330feb5c33a7cbd4558a920d927f20.mp3?version_id=68—