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Psalm 103

1  Bless the Lord, O my soul, ♦︎
   and all that is within me bless his holy name.
2  Bless the Lord, O my soul, ♦︎
   and forget not all his benefits;
3  Who forgives all your sins ♦︎
   and heals all your infirmities;
4  Who redeems your life from the Pit ♦︎
   and crowns you with faithful love and compassion;
5  Who satisfies you with good things, ♦︎
   so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
6  The Lord executes righteousness ♦︎
   and judgement for all who are oppressed.
7  He made his ways known to Moses ♦︎
   and his works to the children of Israel.
8  The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, ♦︎
   slow to anger and of great kindness.
9  He will not always accuse us, ♦︎
   neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10  He has not dealt with us according to our sins, ♦︎
   nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.
11  For as the heavens are high above the earth, ♦︎
   so great is his mercy upon those who fear him.
12  As far as the east is from the west, ♦︎
   so far has he set our sins from us.
13  As a father has compassion on his children, ♦︎
   so is the Lord merciful towards those who fear him.
14  For he knows of what we are made; ♦︎
   he remembers that we are but dust.
15  Our days are but as grass; ♦︎
   we flourish as a flower of the field;
16  For as soon as the wind goes over it, it is gone, ♦︎
   and its place shall know it no more.
17  But the merciful goodness of the Lord is from of old
      and endures for ever on those who fear him, ♦︎
   and his righteousness on children’s children;
18  On those who keep his covenant ♦︎
   and remember his commandments to do them.
19  The Lord has established his throne in heaven, ♦︎
   and his kingdom has dominion over all.
20  Bless the Lord, you angels of his, ♦︎
   you mighty ones who do his bidding
      and hearken to the voice of his word.
21  Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, ♦︎
   you ministers of his who do his will.
22  Bless the Lord, all you works of his,
      in all places of his dominion; ♦︎
   bless the Lord, O my soul.

The Work of Wisdom from Adam to Moses

10Wisdom^* protected the first-formed father of the world, when he alone had been created;
she delivered him from his transgression,
² and gave him strength to rule all things.
³ But when an unrighteous man departed from her in his anger,
he perished because in rage he killed his brother.
⁴ When the earth was flooded because of him, wisdom again saved it,
steering the righteous man by a paltry piece of wood.

⁵ Wisdom^* also, when the nations in wicked agreement had been put to confusion,
recognized the righteous man and preserved him blameless before God,
and kept him strong in the face of his compassion for his child.

⁶ Wisdom^* rescued a righteous man when the ungodly were perishing;
he escaped the fire that descended on the Five Cities.^*
7 Evidence of their wickedness still remains:
a continually smoking waste-land,
plants bearing fruit that does not ripen,
and a pillar of salt standing as a monument to an unbelieving soul.
⁸ For because they passed wisdom by,
they not only were hindered from recognizing the good,
but also left for humankind a reminder of their folly,
so that their failures could never go unnoticed.

⁹ Wisdom rescued from troubles those who served her.
¹⁰ When a righteous man fled from his brother’s wrath,
she guided him on straight paths;
she showed him the kingdom of God,
and gave him knowledge of holy things;
she prospered him in his labours,
and increased the fruit of his toil.
¹¹ When his oppressors were covetous,
she stood by him and made him rich.
¹² She protected him from his enemies,
and kept him safe from those who lay in wait for him;
in his arduous contest she gave him the victory,
so that he might learn that godliness is more powerful than anything else.

¹³ When a righteous man was sold, wisdom^* did not desert him,
but delivered him from sin.
She descended with him into the dungeon,
¹⁴ and when he was in prison she did not leave him,
until she brought him the sceptre of a kingdom
and authority over his masters.
Those who accused him she showed to be false,
and she gave him everlasting honour.

Wisdom Led the Israelites out of Egypt

¹⁵ A holy people and blameless race
wisdom delivered from a nation of oppressors.
¹⁶ She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord,
and withstood dread kings with wonders and signs.
¹⁷ She gave to holy people the reward of their labours;
she guided them along a marvellous way,
and became a shelter to them by day,
and a starry flame through the night.
¹⁸ She brought them over the Red Sea,
and led them through deep waters;
¹⁹ but she drowned their enemies,
and cast them up from the depths of the sea.
²⁰ Therefore the righteous plundered the ungodly;
they sang hymns, O Lord, to your holy name,
and praised with one accord your defending hand;
²¹ for wisdom opened the mouths of those who were mute,
and made the tongues of infants speak clearly.

³ By wisdom a house is built,
   and by understanding it is established;
⁴ by knowledge the rooms are filled
   with all precious and pleasant riches.
⁵ Wise warriors are mightier than strong ones,^*
   and those who have knowledge than those who have strength;
⁶ for by wise guidance you can wage your war,
   and in abundance of counsellors there is victory.
⁷ Wisdom is too high for fools;
   in the gate they do not open their mouths.

⁸ Whoever plans to do evil
   will be called a mischief-maker.
⁹ The devising of folly is sin,
   and the scoffer is an abomination to all.

¹⁰ If you faint in the day of adversity,
   your strength being small;
¹¹ if you hold back from rescuing those taken away to death,
   those who go staggering to the slaughter;
¹² if you say, ‘Look, we did not know this’—
   does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it?
   And will he not repay all according to their deeds?

¹³ My child, eat honey, for it is good,
   and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.
¹⁴ Know that wisdom is such to your soul;
   if you find it, you will find a future,
   and your hope will not be cut off.

Some Women Accompany Jesus

8Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, ²as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, ³and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them^* out of their resources.

The Parable of the Sower

4 When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: ⁵‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. ⁶Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. ⁷Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. ⁸Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.’ As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

The Purpose of the Parables

9 Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. ¹⁰He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets^* of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak^* in parables, so that
“looking they may not perceive,
   and listening they may not understand.”

The Parable of the Sower Explained

11 ‘Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. ¹²The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. ¹⁴As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.