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The Call of Wisdom

²⁰ Wisdom cries out in the street;
   in the squares she raises her voice.
²¹ At the busiest corner she cries out;
   at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
²² ‘How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
   and fools hate knowledge?
²³ Give heed to my reproof;
I will pour out my thoughts to you;
   I will make my words known to you.
²⁴ Because I have called and you refused,
   have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
²⁵ and because you have ignored all my counsel
   and would have none of my reproof,
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
   I will mock when panic strikes you,
²⁷ when panic strikes you like a storm,
   and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
   when distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
   they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.
²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
   and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
³⁰ would have none of my counsel,
   and despised all my reproof,
³¹ therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way
   and be sated with their own devices.
³² For waywardness kills the simple,
   and the complacency of fools destroys them;
³³ but those who listen to me will be secure
   and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.’

The Servant’s Humiliation and Vindication

⁴ The Lord God has given me
   the tongue of a teacher,^*
that I may know how to sustain
   the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens—
   wakens my ear
   to listen as those who are taught.
⁵ The Lord God has opened my ear,
   and I was not rebellious,
   I did not turn backwards.
⁶ I gave my back to those who struck me,
   and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
   from insult and spitting.

⁷ The Lord God helps me;
   therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
   and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
⁸   he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
   Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
   Let them confront me.
⁹ It is the Lord God who helps me;
   who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment;
   the moth will eat them up.

Psalm 19

1  The heavens are telling the glory of God ♦︎
   and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
2  One day pours out its song to another ♦︎
   and one night unfolds knowledge to another.
3  They have neither speech nor language ♦︎
   and their voices are not heard,
4  Yet their sound has gone out into all lands ♦︎
   and their words to the ends of the world.
5  In them has he set a tabernacle for the sun, ♦︎
   that comes forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber
      and rejoices as a champion to run his course.
6  It goes forth from the end of the heavens
      and runs to the very end again, ♦︎
   and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7  The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; ♦︎
   the testimony of the Lord is sure
      and gives wisdom to the simple.
8  The statutes of the Lord are right and rejoice the heart; ♦︎
   the commandment of the Lord is pure
      and gives light to the eyes.
9  The fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever; ♦︎
   the judgements of the Lord are true
      and righteous altogether.
10  More to be desired are they than gold,
      more than much fine gold, ♦︎
   sweeter also than honey,
      dripping from the honeycomb.
11  By them also is your servant taught ♦︎
   and in keeping them there is great reward.
12  Who can tell how often they offend? ♦︎
   O cleanse me from my secret faults!
13  Keep your servant also from presumptuous sins
      lest they get dominion over me; ♦︎
   so shall I be undefiled,
      and innocent of great offence.
14  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
      be acceptable in your sight, ♦︎
   O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Psalm 116

Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness

¹ I love the Lord, because he has heard
   my voice and my supplications.
² Because he inclined his ear to me,
   therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
³ The snares of death encompassed me;
   the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
   I suffered distress and anguish.
⁴ Then I called on the name of the Lord:
   ‘O Lord, I pray, save my life!’

⁵ Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
   our God is merciful.
⁶ The Lord protects the simple;
   when I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷ Return, O my soul, to your rest,
   for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

⁸ For you have delivered my soul from death,
   my eyes from tears,
   my feet from stumbling.
⁹ I walk before the Lord
   in the land of the living.

Taming the Tongue

3Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters,^* for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ²For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. ³If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. ⁴Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.

How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! ⁶And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature,^* and is itself set on fire by hell.^{* 7}For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, ⁸but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters,^* this ought not to be so. ¹¹Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? ¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters,^* yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ ²⁸And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ ²⁹He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’^{* 30}And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³²He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’

34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel,^* will save it. ³⁶For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? ³⁷Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸Those who are ashamed of me and of my words^* in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’