Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good
1 iPraise the Lord!
jOh give thanks to the Lord, kfor he is good,
lfor his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
3 Blessed are they who observe justice,
who mdo righteousness at all times!
4 nRemember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you save them,1
5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your ochosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory with your inheritance.
6 pBoth we and qour fathers have sinned;
we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they rdid not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but srebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them tfor his name’s sake,
uthat he might make known his mighty power.
9 He vrebuked the Red Sea, and it wbecame dry,
and he xled them through the deep as through a desert.
10 So he ysaved them from the hand of the foe
and zredeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11 And athe waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
12 Then bthey believed his words;
they csang his praise.
13 But they soon dforgot his works;
they did not wait for ehis counsel.
14 But they had fa wanton craving in the wilderness,
and gput God to the test in the desert;
15 he hgave them what they asked,
but sent ia wasting disease among them.
16 When men in the camp jwere jealous of Moses
and Aaron, kthe holy one of the Lord,
17 lthe earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and covered the company of Abiram.
18 mFire also broke out in their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.
19 They nmade a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
20 They oexchanged the glory of God2
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They pforgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in qthe land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore rhe said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his schosen one,
tstood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they udespised vthe pleasant land,
having wno faith in his promise.
25 They xmurmured in their tents,
and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore he yraised his hand and swore to them
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 and would make their offspring fall among the nations,
zscattering them among the lands.
28 Then they ayoked themselves to the aBaal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to bthe dead;
29 they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then cPhinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stayed.
31 And that was dcounted to him as righteousness
from generation to generation forever.
32 They eangered him at the waters of Meribah,
and it went ill with Moses on their account,
33 for they fmade his spirit bitter,3
and he gspoke rashly with his lips.
34 They did not hdestroy the peoples,
ias the Lord commanded them,
35 but they jmixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
36 They served their idols,
which became ka snare to them.
37 They lsacrificed their sons
and their daughters to mthe demons;
38 they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was npolluted with blood.
39 Thus they obecame unclean by their acts,
and pplayed the whore in their deeds.
40 Then qthe anger of the Lord was kindled against rhis people,
and he abhorred his rheritage;
41 he sgave them into the hand of the nations,
so that those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies toppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection under their power.
43 uMany times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their vpurposes
and were wbrought low through their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he xheard their cry.
45 For their sake he yremembered his covenant,
and zrelented according to athe abundance of his steadfast love.
46 He caused them to be bpitied
by all those who held them captive.
47 cSave us, O Lord our God,
and dgather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
48 eBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
eAnd let all the people say, “Amen!”
fPraise the Lord!
The Transfiguration
1 gAnd after six days Jesus took with him hPeter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was itransfigured before them, and jhis face shone like the sun, and khis clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for lElijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, ma bright cloud overshadowed them, and ma voice from the cloud said, n“This is my beloved Son,1 with whom I am well pleased; olisten to him.” 6 When pthe disciples heard this, qthey fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and rtouched them, saying, “Rise, and shave no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
9 tAnd as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, u“Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say vthat first Elijah must come?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and whe will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but xdid to him whatever they pleased. ySo also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” 13 zThen the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon
14 aAnd when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has bseizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and cthey could not heal him.” 17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and dtwisted generation, how long am I to be with you? eHow long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 And Jesus frebuked the demon,2 and it3 came out of him, and gthe boy was healed instantly.4 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, h“Because of your little faith. For itruly, I say to you, jif you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, kyou will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and lnothing will be impossible for you.”5
Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection
22 mAs they were gathering6 in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on nthe third day.” And they were greatly distressed.
The Temple Tax
24 oWhen they came to Capernaum, the collectors of pthe two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, q“What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or rtax? From their sons or from others?” 26 And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel.7 Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”
