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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.

Psalm 102

1  O Lord, hear my prayer ♦︎
   and let my crying come before you.
2  Hide not your face from me ♦︎
   in the day of my distress.
3  Incline your ear to me; ♦︎
   when I call, make haste to answer me,
4  For my days are consumed in smoke ♦︎
   and my bones burn away as in a furnace.
5  My heart is smitten down and withered like grass, ♦︎
   so that I forget to eat my bread.
6  From the sound of my groaning ♦︎
   my bones cleave fast to my skin.
7  I am become like a vulture in the wilderness, ♦︎
   like an owl that haunts the ruins.
8  I keep watch and am become like a sparrow ♦︎
   solitary upon the housetop.
9  My enemies revile me all the day long, ♦︎
   and those who rage at me have sworn together against me.
10  I have eaten ashes for bread ♦︎
   and mingled my drink with weeping,
11  Because of your indignation and wrath, ♦︎
   for you have taken me up and cast me down.
12  My days fade away like a shadow, ♦︎
   and I am withered like grass.
13  But you, O Lord, shall endure for ever ♦︎
   and your name through all generations.
14  You will arise and have pity on Zion; ♦︎
   it is time to have mercy upon her;
      surely the time has come.
15  For your servants love her very stones ♦︎
   and feel compassion for her dust.
16  Then shall the nations fear your name, O Lord, ♦︎
   and all the kings of the earth your glory,
17  When the Lord has built up Zion ♦︎
   and shown himself in glory;
18  When he has turned to the prayer of the destitute ♦︎
   and has not despised their plea.
19  This shall be written for those that come after, ♦︎
   and a people yet unborn shall praise the Lord.
20  For he has looked down from his holy height; ♦︎
   from the heavens he beheld the earth,
21  That he might hear the sighings of the prisoner ♦︎
   and set free those condemned to die;
22  That the name of the Lord may be proclaimed in Zion ♦︎
   and his praises in Jerusalem,
23  When peoples are gathered together ♦︎
   and kingdoms also, to serve the Lord.
24  He has brought down my strength in my journey ♦︎
   and has shortened my days.
25  I pray, ‘O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days; ♦︎
   your years endure throughout all generations.
26  ‘In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, ♦︎
   and the heavens are the work of your hands;
27  ‘They shall perish, but you will endure; ♦︎
   they all shall wear out like a garment.
28  ‘You change them like clothing, and they shall be changed; ♦︎
   but you are the same, and your years will not fail.
29  ‘The children of your servants shall continue, ♦︎
   and their descendants shall be established in your sight.’

A Prayer of Penitence

¹⁵ Look down from heaven and see,
   from your holy and glorious habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
   The yearning of your heart and your compassion?
   They are withheld from me.
¹⁶ For you are our father,
   though Abraham does not know us
   and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our father;
   our Redeemer from of old is your name.
¹⁷ Why, O Lord, do you make us stray from your ways
   and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you?
Turn back for the sake of your servants,
   for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage.
¹⁸ Your holy people took possession for a little while;
   but now our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
¹⁹ We have long been like those whom you do not rule,
   like those not called by your name.

64O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
   so that the mountains would quake at your presence—
^{2 *}as when fire kindles brushwood
   and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
   so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
³ When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
   you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
⁴ From ages past no one has heard,
   no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
   who works for those who wait for him.
⁵ You meet those who gladly do right,
   those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
   because you hid yourself we transgressed.^*
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
   and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
   and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
⁷ There is no one who calls on your name,
   or attempts to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
   and have delivered^* us into the hand of our iniquity.
⁸ Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
   we are the clay, and you are our potter;
   we are all the work of your hand.
⁹ Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord,
   and do not remember iniquity for ever.
   Now consider, we are all your people.

¹⁷He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
   But you have made it a den of robbers.’
¹⁸And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. ¹⁹And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples^* went out of the city.

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹Then Peter remembered and said to him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.’ ²²Jesus answered them, ‘Have^* faith in God. ²³Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea”, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. ²⁴So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received^* it, and it will be yours.

25 ‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.’^*

Jesus’ Authority Is Questioned

27 Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him ²⁸and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?’ ²⁹Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.’ ³¹They argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say, “Why then did you not believe him?” ³²But shall we say, “Of human origin”?’—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. ³³So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

12Then he began to speak to them in parables. ‘A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watch-tower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. ²When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. ³But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. ⁵Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. ⁶He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” ⁷But those tenants said to one another, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” ⁸So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰Have you not read this scripture:
“The stone that the builders rejected
   has become the cornerstone;^*
11 this was the Lord’s doing,
   and it is amazing in our eyes”?’

12 When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away.