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Psalm 149

1  Alleluia.
      O sing to the Lord a new song; ♦︎
   sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful.
2  Let Israel rejoice in their maker; ♦︎
   let the children of Zion be joyful in their king.
3  Let them praise his name in the dance; ♦︎
   let them sing praise to him with timbrel and lyre.
4  For the Lord has pleasure in his people ♦︎
   and adorns the poor with salvation.
5  Let the faithful be joyful in glory; ♦︎
   let them rejoice in their ranks,
6  With the praises of God in their mouths ♦︎
   and a two-edged sword in their hands;
7  To execute vengeance on the nations ♦︎
   and punishment on the peoples;
8  To bind their kings in chains ♦︎
   and their nobles with fetters of iron;
9  To execute on them the judgement decreed: ♦︎
   such honour have all his faithful servants.
      Alleluia.

The Fifth Plague: Livestock Diseased

9Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh, and say to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ²For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, ³the hand of the Lord will strike with a deadly pestilence your livestock in the field: the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. ⁴But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing shall die of all that belongs to the Israelites.” ’ ⁵The Lord set a time, saying, ‘Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.’ ⁶And on the next day the Lord did so; all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but of the livestock of the Israelites not one died. ⁷Pharaoh inquired and found that not one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the people go.

Paul’s Concern for the Corinthian Church

11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it. Indeed you should have been the ones commending me, for I am not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. ¹²The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works. ¹³How have you been worse off than the other churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

14 Here I am, ready to come to you this third time. And I will not be a burden, because I do not want what is yours but you; for children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children. ¹⁵I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶Let it be assumed that I did not burden you. Nevertheless (you say) since I was crafty, I took you in by deceit. ¹⁷Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? ¹⁸I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did he? Did we not conduct ourselves with the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves before you? We are speaking in Christ before God. Everything we do, beloved, is for the sake of building you up. ²⁰For I fear that when I come, I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish; I fear that there may perhaps be quarrelling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. ²¹I fear that when I come again, my God may humble me before you, and that I may have to mourn over many who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and licentiousness that they have practised.