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Psalm 113

1  Alleluia.
      Give praise, you servants of the Lord, ♦︎
   O praise the name of the Lord.
2  Blessed be the name of the Lord, ♦︎
   from this time forth and for evermore.
3  From the rising of the sun to its setting ♦︎
   let the name of the Lord be praised.
4  The Lord is high above all nations ♦︎
   and his glory above the heavens.
5  Who is like the Lord our God,
      that has his throne so high, ♦︎
   yet humbles himself to behold
      the things of heaven and earth?
6  He raises the poor from the dust ♦︎
   and lifts the needy from the ashes,
7  To set them with princes, ♦︎
   with the princes of his people.
8  He gives the barren woman a place in the house ♦︎
   and makes her a joyful mother of children.
      Alleluia.

Social Injustice Denounced

⁸ Ah, you who join house to house,
   who add field to field,
until there is room for no one but you,
   and you are left to live alone
   in the midst of the land!
⁹ The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
Surely many houses shall be desolate,
   large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
¹⁰ For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
   and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah.^*

¹¹ Ah, you who rise early in the morning
   in pursuit of strong drink,
who linger in the evening
   to be inflamed by wine,
¹² whose feasts consist of lyre and harp,
   tambourine and flute and wine,
but who do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
   or see the work of his hands!
¹³ Therefore my people go into exile without knowledge;
their nobles are dying of hunger,
   and their multitude is parched with thirst.

¹⁴ Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
   and opened its mouth beyond measure;
the nobility of Jerusalem^* and her multitude go down,
   her throng and all who exult in her.
¹⁵ People are bowed down, everyone is brought low,
   and the eyes of the haughty are humbled.
¹⁶ But the Lord of hosts is exalted by justice,
   and the Holy God shows himself holy by righteousness.
¹⁷ Then the lambs shall graze as in their pasture,
   fatlings and kids^* shall feed among the ruins.

¹⁸ Ah, you who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood,
   who drag sin along as with cart-ropes,
¹⁹ who say, ‘Let him make haste,
   let him speed his work
   that we may see it;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfilment,
   that we may know it!’
²⁰ Ah, you who call evil good
   and good evil,
who put darkness for light
   and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
   and sweet for bitter!
²¹ Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes,
   and shrewd in your own sight!
²² Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine
   and valiant at mixing drink,
²³ who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
   and deprive the innocent of their rights!

The Widow’s Offering

41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴²A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. ⁴³Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. ⁴⁴For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’