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Psalm 118

1  O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; ♦︎
   his mercy endures for ever.
2  Let Israel now proclaim, ♦︎
   ‘His mercy endures for ever.’
3  Let the house of Aaron now proclaim, ♦︎
   ‘His mercy endures for ever.’
4  Let those who fear the Lord proclaim, ♦︎
   ‘His mercy endures for ever.’
5  In my constraint I called to the Lord; ♦︎
   the Lord answered and set me free.
6  The Lord is at my side; I will not fear; ♦︎
   what can flesh do to me?
7  With the Lord at my side as my saviour, ♦︎
   I shall see the downfall of my enemies.
8  It is better to take refuge in the Lord ♦︎
   than to put any confidence in flesh.
9  It is better to take refuge in the Lord ♦︎
   than to put any confidence in princes.
10  All the nations encompassed me, ♦︎
   but by the name of the Lord I drove them back.
11  They hemmed me in, they hemmed me in on every side, ♦︎
   but by the name of the Lord I drove them back.
12  They swarmed about me like bees;
      they blazed like fire among thorns, ♦︎
   but by the name of the Lord I drove them back.
13  Surely, I was thrust to the brink, ♦︎
   but the Lord came to my help.
14  The Lord is my strength and my song, ♦︎
   and he has become my salvation.
15  Joyful shouts of salvation ♦︎
   sound from the tents of the righteous:
16  ‘The right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds;
      the right hand of the Lord raises up; ♦︎
   the right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds.’
17  I shall not die, but live ♦︎
   and declare the works of the Lord.
18  The Lord has punished me sorely, ♦︎
   but he has not given me over to death.
19  Open to me the gates of righteousness, ♦︎
   that I may enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20  This is the gate of the Lord; ♦︎
   the righteous shall enter through it.
21  I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me ♦︎
   and have become my salvation.
22  The stone which the builders rejected ♦︎
   has become the chief cornerstone.
23  This is the Lord’s doing, ♦︎
   and it is marvellous in our eyes.
24  This is the day that the Lord has made; ♦︎
   we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25  Come, O Lord, and save us we pray. ♦︎
   Come, Lord, send us now prosperity.
26  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; ♦︎
   we bless you from the house of the Lord.
27  The Lord is God; he has given us light; ♦︎
   link the pilgrims with cords
      right to the horns of the altar.
28  You are my God and I will thank you; ♦︎
   you are my God and I will exalt you.
29  O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; ♦︎
   his mercy endures for ever.

The Prophet’s Prayer

² O Lord, I have heard of your renown,
   and I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work.
In our own time revive it;
   in our own time make it known;
   in wrath may you remember mercy.
³ God came from Teman,
   the Holy One from Mount Paran.
          Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
   and the earth was full of his praise.
⁴ The brightness was like the sun;
   rays came forth from his hand,
   where his power lay hidden.
⁵ Before him went pestilence,
   and plague followed close behind.
⁶ He stopped and shook the earth;
   he looked and made the nations tremble.
The eternal mountains were shattered;
   along his ancient pathways
   the everlasting hills sank low.
⁷ I saw the tents of Cushan under affliction;
   the tent-curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
⁸ Was your wrath against the rivers,^* O Lord?
   Or your anger against the rivers,^*
   or your rage against the sea,^*
when you drove your horses,
   your chariots to victory?
⁹ You brandished your naked bow,
   sated^* were the arrows at your command.^*
          Selah
   You split the earth with rivers.
¹⁰ The mountains saw you, and writhed;
   a torrent of water swept by;
the deep gave forth its voice.
   The sun^* raised high its hands;
¹¹ the moon^* stood still in its exalted place,
   at the light of your arrows speeding by,
   at the gleam of your flashing spear.
¹² In fury you trod the earth,
   in anger you trampled nations.
¹³ You came forth to save your people,
   to save your anointed.
You crushed the head of the wicked house,
   laying it bare from foundation to roof.^*
          Selah
¹⁴ You pierced with their^* own arrows the head^* of his warriors,^*
   who came like a whirlwind to scatter us,^*
   gloating as if ready to devour the poor who were in hiding.
¹⁵ You trampled the sea with your horses,
   churning the mighty waters.

¹⁶ I hear, and I tremble within;
   my lips quiver at the sound.
Rottenness enters into my bones,
   and my steps tremble^* beneath me.
I wait quietly for the day of calamity
   to come upon the people who attack us.

Trust and Joy in the Midst of Trouble

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not blossom,
   and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
   and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
   and there is no herd in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
   I will exult in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹ God, the Lord, is my strength;
   he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
   and makes me tread upon the heights.^*

To the leader: with stringed^* instruments.

Feeding the Four Thousand

8In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, ²‘I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. ³If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.’ ⁴His disciples replied, ‘How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?’ ⁵He asked them, ‘How many loaves do you have?’ They said, ‘Seven.’ ⁶Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. ⁷They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed. ⁸They ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. ⁹Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. ¹⁰And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.^*