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Psalm 149

1  Alleluia.
      O sing to the Lord a new song; ♦︎
   sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful.
2  Let Israel rejoice in their maker; ♦︎
   let the children of Zion be joyful in their king.
3  Let them praise his name in the dance; ♦︎
   let them sing praise to him with timbrel and lyre.
4  For the Lord has pleasure in his people ♦︎
   and adorns the poor with salvation.
5  Let the faithful be joyful in glory; ♦︎
   let them rejoice in their ranks,
6  With the praises of God in their mouths ♦︎
   and a two-edged sword in their hands;
7  To execute vengeance on the nations ♦︎
   and punishment on the peoples;
8  To bind their kings in chains ♦︎
   and their nobles with fetters of iron;
9  To execute on them the judgement decreed: ♦︎
   such honour have all his faithful servants.
      Alleluia.

Psalm 150

1  Alleluia.
      O praise God in his holiness; ♦︎
   praise him in the firmament of his power.
2  Praise him for his mighty acts; ♦︎
   praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3  Praise him with the blast of the trumpet; ♦︎
   praise him upon the harp and lyre.
4  Praise him with timbrel and dances; ♦︎
   praise him upon the strings and pipe.
5  Praise him with ringing cymbals; ♦︎
   praise him upon the clashing cymbals.
6  Let everything that has breath ♦︎
   praise the Lord.
      Alleluia.

Reverence, Humility, and Contentment

5^*Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil.^{* 2*}Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.

3 For dreams come with many cares, and a fool’s voice with many words.

4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Fulfil what you vow. ⁵It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not fulfil it. ⁶Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake; why should God be angry at your words, and destroy the work of your hands?

7 With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words;^* but fear God.

8 If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and right, do not be amazed at the matter; for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. ⁹But all things considered, this is an advantage for a land: a king for a ploughed field.^*

10 The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.

11 When goods increase, those who eat them increase; and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

12 Sweet is the sleep of labourers, whether they eat little or much; but the surfeit of the rich will not let them sleep.

13 There is a grievous ill that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owners to their hurt, ¹⁴and those riches were lost in a bad venture; though they are parents of children, they have nothing in their hands. ¹⁵As they came from their mother’s womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil, which they may carry away with their hands. ¹⁶This also is a grievous ill: just as they came, so shall they go; and what gain do they have from toiling for the wind? ¹⁷Besides, all their days they eat in darkness, in much vexation and sickness and resentment.

18 This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot. ¹⁹Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God. ²⁰For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives, because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts.

29 At that time many who were seeking righteousness and justice went down to the wilderness to live there, ³⁰they, their sons, their wives, and their livestock, because troubles pressed heavily upon them. ³¹And it was reported to the king’s officers, and to the troops in Jerusalem the city of David, that those who had rejected the king’s command had gone down to the hiding-places in the wilderness. ³²Many pursued them, and overtook them; they encamped opposite them and prepared for battle against them on the sabbath day. ³³They said to them, ‘Enough of this! Come out and do what the king commands, and you will live.’ ³⁴But they said, ‘We will not come out, nor will we do what the king commands and so profane the sabbath day.’ ³⁵Then the enemy^* quickly attacked them. ³⁶But they did not answer them or hurl a stone at them or block up their hiding-places, ³⁷for they said, ‘Let us all die in our innocence; heaven and earth testify for us that you are killing us unjustly.’ ³⁸So they attacked them on the sabbath, and they died, with their wives and children and livestock, to the number of a thousand people.

39 When Mattathias and his friends learned of it, they mourned for them deeply. ⁴⁰And all said to their neighbours: ‘If we all do as our kindred have done and refuse to fight with the Gentiles for our lives and for our ordinances, they will quickly destroy us from the earth.’ ⁴¹So they made this decision that day: ‘Let us fight against anyone who comes to attack us on the sabbath day; let us not all die as our kindred died in their hiding-places.’

Counter-Attack

42 Then there united with them a company of Hasideans, mighty warriors of Israel, all who offered themselves willingly for the law. ⁴³And all who became fugitives to escape their troubles joined them and reinforced them. ⁴⁴They organized an army, and struck down sinners in their anger and renegades in their wrath; the survivors fled to the Gentiles for safety. ⁴⁵And Mattathias and his friends went around and tore down the altars; ⁴⁶they forcibly circumcised all the uncircumcised boys that they found within the borders of Israel. ⁴⁷They hunted down the arrogant, and the work prospered in their hands. ⁴⁸They rescued the law out of the hands of the Gentiles and kings, and they never let the sinner gain the upper hand.

The Promise to Abraham

15 Brothers and sisters,^* I give an example from daily life: once a person’s will^* has been ratified, no one adds to it or annuls it. ¹⁶Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring;^* it does not say, ‘And to offsprings’,^* as of many; but it says, ‘And to your offspring’,^* that is, to one person, who is Christ. ¹⁷My point is this: the law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. ¹⁸For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.

The Purpose of the Law

19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring^* would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator. ²⁰Now a mediator involves more than one party; but God is one.

21 Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law. ²²But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ^* might be given to those who believe.