1 And they brought in the ark of God and placed it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 3 Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both men and women, to everyone a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a raisin cake.
4 He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel: 5 Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, and lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals, 6 and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.
7 Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord.
8 Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;
Make His deeds known among the peoples.
9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders.
10 Boast in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be joyful.
11 Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
12 Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done,
His marvels and the judgments from His mouth,
13 You descendants of Israel His servant,
Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
14 He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
15 Remember His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,
16 The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac.
17 He also confirmed it to Jacob as a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
18 Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
As the portion of your inheritance.”
19 When they were only a few in number,
Very few, and strangers in it,
20 And they wandered from nation to nation,
And from one kingdom to another people,
21 He allowed no one to oppress them,
And He rebuked kings for their sakes, saying,
22 “Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do not harm My prophets.”
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.
24 Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
He also is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and joy are in His place.
28 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come before Him;
Worship the Lord in holy attire.
30 Tremble before Him, all the earth;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
31 Let the heavens be joyful, and the earth rejoice;
And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
32 Let the sea roar, and everything it contains;
Let the field rejoice, and everything that is in it.
33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy in the presence of the Lord;
For He is coming to judge the earth.
34 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His faithfulness is everlasting.
35 Then say, “Save us, God of our salvation,
And gather us and save us from the nations,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
And glory in Your praise.”
36 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting!
Then all the people said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.
37 So he left Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required, 38 and Obed-edom with his sixty-eight relatives; Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah as gatekeepers. 39 He left Zadok the priest and his relatives the priests before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place which was at Gibeon, 40 to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to everything that is written in the Law of the Lord, which He commanded Israel. 41 With them were Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the Lord, because His kindness is everlasting. 42 And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who were to play them, and with instruments for the songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate.
43 Then all the people departed, each to his house; and David returned to bless his household.
1 Do not become teachers in large numbers, my brothers, since you know that we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to rein in the whole body as well. 3 Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their whole body as well. 4 Look at the ships too: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are nevertheless directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot determines. 5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.
See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our body’s parts as that which defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. 8 But no one among mankind can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people, who have been made in the likeness of God; 10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way. 11 Does a spring send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, bear olives, or a vine bear figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.
13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
1 The vision of Obadiah.
This is what the Lord God says concerning Edom—
We have heard a report from the Lord,
And a messenger has been sent among the nations saying,
“Arise, and let’s go up against her for battle”—
2 “Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
You are greatly despised.
3 The arrogance of your heart has deceived you,
The one who lives in the clefts of the rock,
On the height of his dwelling place,
Who says in his heart,
‘Who will bring me down to earth?’
4 Though you make your home high like the eagle,
Though you set your nest among the stars,
From there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
5 “If thieves came to you,
If robbers by night—
Oh how you will be ruined!—
Would they not steal only until they had enough?
If grape-pickers came to you,
Would they not leave some gleanings?
6 Oh how Esau will be searched,
And his hidden treasures searched out!
7 All the people allied with you
Will send you to the border,
And the people at peace with you
Will deceive you and overpower you.
They who eat your bread
Will set an ambush for you.
(There is no understanding in him.)
8 Will I not on that day,” declares the Lord,
“Eliminate wise men from Edom,
And understanding from the mountain of Esau?
9 Then your warriors will be filled with terror, Teman,
So that everyone will be eliminated from the mountain of Esau by murder.
10 “Because of violence to your brother Jacob,
Shame will cover you,
And you will be eliminated forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof,
On the day that strangers carried off his wealth,
And foreigners entered his gate
And cast lots for Jerusalem—
You too were as one of them.
12 Do not gloat over your brother’s day,
The day of his misfortune.
And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah
On the day of their destruction;
Yes, do not boast
On the day of their distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of My people
On the day of their disaster.
You indeed, do not gloat over their catastrophe
On the day of their disaster.
And do not lay a hand on their wealth
On the day of their disaster.
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
To eliminate their survivors;
And do not hand over their refugees
On the day of their distress.
15 “For the day of the Lord is near for all the nations.
Just as you have done, it will be done to you.
Your dealings will return on your own head.
16 For just as you drank on My holy mountain,
All the nations will drink continually.
They will drink to the last drop,
And become as if they had never existed.
17 But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape,
And it will be holy.
And the house of Jacob will possess their property.
18 Then the house of Jacob will be a fire,
And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau will be like stubble.
And they will set them on fire and consume them,
So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau,”
For the Lord has spoken.
19 Then those of the Negev will possess the mountain of Esau,
And those of the Shephelah the Philistine plain;
Also, they will possess the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria,
And Benjamin the territory of Gilead.
20 And the exiles of this army of the sons of Israel,
Who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,
And the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad,
Will possess the cities of the Negev.
21 The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion
To judge the mountain of Esau,
And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.
1 Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the land. And He sat down and continued teaching the crowds from the boat. 4 Now when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon responded and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to tear; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, to the point that they were sinking. 8 But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and likewise also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear; from now on you will be catching people.” 11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
12 While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 13 And He reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He ordered him to tell no one, saying, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 15 But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.
17 One day He was teaching, and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. 18 And some men were carrying a man on a stretcher who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. 19 But when they did not find any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. 20 And seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 The scribes and the Pharisees began thinking of the implications, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, except God alone?” 22 But Jesus, aware of their thoughts, responded and said to them, “Why are you thinking this way in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher, and go home.” 25 And immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. 26 And they were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God. They were also filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today!”
27 After that He went out and looked at a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he left everything behind, and got up and began following Him.
29 And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30 The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling to His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.”
33 And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the attendants of the groom fast while the groom is with them, can you? 35 But the days will come; and when the groom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” 36 And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the patch from the new garment will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one, after drinking old wine wants new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’”
