Hannah prayed: "The LORD has filled my heart with joy; how happy I am because of what he has done! I laugh at my enemies; how joyful I am because God has helped me!

I will praise him for what he has done; may all who are oppressed listen and be glad!

Proclaim with me the LORD's greatness; let us praise his name together!

Then I will be glad because of the LORD; I will be happy because he saved me.

Praise the LORD, my soul! All my being, praise his holy name!

Praise the LORD, my soul, and do not forget how kind he is.

and those in the East will praise him. The people who live along the sea will praise the LORD, the God of Israel.

From the most distant parts of the world we will hear songs in praise of Israel, the righteous nation. But there is no hope for me! I am wasting away! Traitors continue to betray, and their treachery grows worse and worse.

I, the LORD, will rescue all the descendants of Jacob, and they will give me praise.

Jerusalem rejoices because of what the LORD has done. She is like a bride dressed for her wedding. God has clothed her with salvation and victory.

Even though the fig trees have no fruit and no grapes grow on the vines, even though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no grain, even though the sheep all die and the cattle stalls are empty,

I will still be joyful and glad, because the LORD God is my savior.

But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God's friends.

So then, as the scripture says, "Whoever wants to boast must boast of what the Lord has done."

But thanks be to God! For in union with Christ we are always led by God as prisoners in Christ's victory procession. God uses us to make the knowledge about Christ spread everywhere like a sweet fragrance.

It is we, not they, who have received the true circumcision, for we worship God by means of his Spirit and rejoice in our life in union with Christ Jesus. We do not put any trust in external ceremonies.

May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. I say it again: rejoice!

You love him, although you have not seen him, and you believe in him, although you do not now see him. So you rejoice with a great and glorious joy which words cannot express,