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Psalm 101

1  I will sing of faithfulness and justice; ♦︎
   to you, O Lord, will I sing.
2  Let me be wise in the way that is perfect: ♦︎
   when will you come to me?
3  I will walk with purity of heart ♦︎
   within the walls of my house.
4  I will not set before my eyes ♦︎
   a counsel that is evil.
5  I abhor the deeds of unfaithfulness; ♦︎
   they shall not cling to me.
6  A crooked heart shall depart from me; ♦︎
   I will not know a wicked person.
7  One who slanders a neighbour in secret ♦︎
   I will quickly put to silence.
8  Haughty eyes and an arrogant heart ♦︎
   I will not endure.
9  My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, ♦︎
   that they may dwell with me.
10  One who walks in the way that is pure ♦︎
   shall be my servant.
11  There shall not dwell in my house ♦︎
   one that practises deceit.
12  One who utters falsehood ♦︎
   shall not continue in my sight.
13  Morning by morning will I put to silence ♦︎
   all the wicked in the land,
14  To cut off from the city of the Lord ♦︎
   all those who practise evil.

An Oracle concerning Damascus

17An oracle concerning Damascus.

See, Damascus will cease to be a city,
   and will become a heap of ruins.
² Her towns will be deserted for ever;^*
   they will be places for flocks,
   which will lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
³ The fortress will disappear from Ephraim,
   and the kingdom from Damascus;
and the remnant of Aram will be
   like the glory of the children of Israel,

says the Lord of hosts.

⁴ On that day
   the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
   and the fat of his flesh will grow lean.
⁵ And it shall be as when reapers gather standing grain
   and their arms harvest the ears,
and as when one gleans the ears of grain
   in the Valley of Rephaim.
⁶ Gleanings will be left in it,
   as when an olive tree is beaten—
two or three berries
   in the top of the highest bough,
four or five
   on the branches of a fruit tree,

says the Lord God of Israel.

7 On that day people will regard their Maker, and their eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel; ⁸they will not have regard for the altars, the work of their hands, and they will not look to what their own fingers have made, either the sacred poles^* or the altars of incense.

9 On that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the Hivites and the Amorites,^* which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.

¹⁰ For you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
   and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge;
therefore, though you plant pleasant plants
   and set out slips of an alien god,
¹¹ though you make them grow on the day that you plant them,
   and make them blossom in the morning that you sow;
yet the harvest will flee away
   on a day of grief and incurable pain.

¹² Ah, the thunder of many peoples,
   they thunder like the thundering of the sea!
Ah, the roar of nations,
   they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!
¹³ The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,
   but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind
   and whirling dust before the storm.
¹⁴ At evening time, lo, terror!
   Before morning, they are no more.
This is the fate of those who despoil us,
   and the lot of those who plunder us.

The Harvest Is Great, the Labourers Few

35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. ³⁶When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; ³⁸therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’

The Twelve Apostles

10Then Jesus^* summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. ²These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;^{* 4}Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

The Mission of the Twelve

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, ⁶but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”^{* 8}Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers,^* cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. ⁹Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, ¹⁰no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for labourers deserve their food. ¹¹Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. ¹²As you enter the house, greet it. ¹³If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. ¹⁵Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town.