The Lord Is in His Holy Temple
To the choirmaster. Of David.
1 In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
z“Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked abend the bow;
bthey have fitted their arrow to the string
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if cthe foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”1
4 dThe Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord’s ethrone is in heaven;
his eyes see, his eyelids ftest the children of man.
5 The Lord gtests the righteous,
but hhis soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;
ifire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be jthe portion of their cup.
7 For the Lord is righteous;
he kloves righteous deeds;
lthe upright shall behold his face.
The Faithful Have Vanished
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.1 A Psalm of David.
1 Save, O Lord, for mthe godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
2 Everyone nutters lies to his neighbor;
3 May the Lord cut off all oflattering lips,
the tongue that makes qgreat boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
5 “Because rthe poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
sI will now arise,” says the Lord;
“I will place him in the tsafety for which he longs.”
6 uThe words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
you will guard us2 from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.
God Will Swallow Up Death Forever
1 O Lord, jyou are my God;
kI will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
lplans formed of old, faithful and sure.
2 For you have made the city ma heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners’ palace is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 nTherefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4 oFor you have been a stronghold to the poor,
a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
pa shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
qfor the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
5 rlike heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
as heat by the shade of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is put down.
6 sOn this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
tof rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up son this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
uthe veil that is spread over all nations.
8 vHe will swallow up death forever;
and wthe Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and xthe reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
yfor the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; zwe have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
alet us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like dten virgins who took their lamps1 and went to meet ethe bridegroom.2 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wwise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom fwas delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But gat midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and htrimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and ithose who were ready went in with him to jthe marriage feast, and kthe door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, l‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 lBut he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, mI do not know you.’ 13 nWatch therefore, for you oknow neither the day nor the hour.
The Parable of the Talents
14 p“For qit will be like a man rgoing on a journey, who called his servants3 and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five stalents,4 to another two, to another one, tto each according to his ability. Then he rwent away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and udug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now vafter a long time the master of those servants came and wsettled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and xfaithful servant.5 yYou have been faithful over a little; zI will set you over much. Enter into athe joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be ba hard man, reaping cwhere you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, dyou have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You ewicked and eslothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 fFor to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And gcast hthe worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place gthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
