Bless the Lord, O My Soul
Of David.
1 yBless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 yBless the Lord, O my soul,
and zforget not all his benefits,
3 who aforgives all your iniquity,
who bheals all your diseases,
4 who credeems your life from the pit,
who dcrowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who esatisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like fthe eagle’s.
6 The Lord works grighteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his hways to Moses,
his iacts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is jmerciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 kHe will not always chide,
nor will he lkeep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us maccording to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For nas high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his osteadfast love toward pthose who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he qremove our transgressions from us.
13 As ra father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion pto those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;1
he sremembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like tgrass;
he flourishes like ua flower of the field;
16 for vthe wind passes over it, and wit is gone,
and xits place knows it no more.
17 But ythe steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on pthose who fear him,
and his righteousness to zchildren’s children,
18 to those who akeep his covenant
and bremember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has cestablished his throne in the heavens,
and his dkingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you ehis angels,
you fmighty ones who gdo his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hhosts,
his iministers, who do his will!
22 jBless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
kBless the Lord, O my soul!
The Broken Covenant
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 a“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3 You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: bCursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant 4 that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, cfrom the iron furnace, saying, dListen to my voice, and do all that I command you. dSo shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5 ethat I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, fto give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”
6 And the Lord said to me, g“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: hHear the words of this covenant and do them. 7 For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, iwarning them persistently, even to this day, saying, dObey my voice. 8 jYet they did not obey or incline their ear, kbut everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all hthe words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”
9 Again the Lord said to me, l“A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to mthe iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. mThey have gone after other gods to serve them. nThe house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. oThough they cry to me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem pwill go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, pbut they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13 pFor your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, qaltars to make offerings to Baal.
14 “Therefore rdo not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, ofor I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.
Who Is the Greatest?
1 tAt that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you uturn and vbecome like children, you wwill never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 xWhoever humbles himself like this child is the wgreatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 y“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but zwhoever causes one of these alittle ones who believe in me to sin,1 it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Temptations to Sin
7 “Woe to the world for btemptations to sin!2 cFor it is necessary that temptations come, dbut woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8 eAnd if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into fthe eternal fire. 9 eAnd if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the fhell3 of fire.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
10 “See that you do not despise gone of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven htheir angels always isee the face of my Father who is in heaven.4 12 jWhat do you think? kIf a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So lit is not the will of my5 Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
If Your Brother Sins Against You
15 m“If your brother sins against you, ngo and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have ogained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established pby the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, qtell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, rlet him be to you as sa Gentile and sa tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, twhatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed6 in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you uagree on earth about anything they ask, vit will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are wgathered in my name, xthere am I among them.”
