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Psalm 89

God’s Covenant with David

A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
¹ I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord,^* for ever;
   with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.
² I declare that your steadfast love is established for ever;
   your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

³ You said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
   I have sworn to my servant David:
⁴ “I will establish your descendants for ever,
   and build your throne for all generations.” ’
          Selah

⁵ Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
   your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
⁶ For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
   Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
⁷ a God feared in the council of the holy ones,
   great and awesome^* above all that are around him?
⁸ O Lord God of hosts,
   who is as mighty as you, O Lord?
   Your faithfulness surrounds you.
⁹ You rule the raging of the sea;
   when its waves rise, you still them.
¹⁰ You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
   you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
¹¹ The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours;
   the world and all that is in it—you have founded them.
¹² The north and the south^*—you created them;
   Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
¹³ You have a mighty arm;
   strong is your hand, high your right hand.
¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
   steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
¹⁵ Happy are the people who know the festal shout,
   who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance;
¹⁶ they exult in your name all day long,
   and extol^* your righteousness.
¹⁷ For you are the glory of their strength;
   by your favour our horn is exalted.
¹⁸ For our shield belongs to the Lord,
   our king to the Holy One of Israel.

30When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I shall die!’ ²Jacob became very angry with Rachel and said, ‘Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?’ ³Then she said, ‘Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees and that I too may have children through her.’ ⁴So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in to her. ⁵And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶Then Rachel said, ‘God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son’; therefore she named him Dan.^{* 7}Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Then Rachel said, ‘With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled^* with my sister, and have prevailed’; so she named him Naphtali.

9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰Then Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹And Leah said, ‘Good fortune!’ so she named him Gad.^{* 12}Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³And Leah said, ‘Happy am I! For the women will call me happy’; so she named him Asher.^*

14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, ‘Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.’ ¹⁵But she said to her, ‘Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?’ Rachel said, ‘Then he may lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.’ ¹⁶When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and said, ‘You must come in to me; for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.’ So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷And God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸Leah said, ‘God has given me my hire^* because I gave my maid to my husband’; so she named him Issachar. ¹⁹And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰Then Leah said, ‘God has endowed me with a good dowry; now my husband will honour^* me, because I have borne him six sons’; so she named him Zebulun. ²¹Afterwards she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God heeded her and opened her womb. ²³She conceived and bore a son, and said, ‘God has taken away my reproach’; ²⁴and she named him Joseph,^* saying, ‘May the Lord add to me another son!’

THE FIRST LETTER OF

John

The Word of Life

1We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ²this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— ³we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴We are writing these things so that our^* joy may be complete.

God Is Light

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; ⁷but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

A Man Born Blind Receives Sight

9As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ³Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. ⁴We^* must work the works of him who sent me^* while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ ⁶When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, ⁷saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. ⁸The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ ⁹Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ ¹⁰But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ ¹¹He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’ ¹²They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.’ ¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’ And they were divided. ¹⁷So they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’