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Psalm 18

1  I love you, O Lord my strength. ♦︎
   The Lord is my crag, my fortress and my deliverer,
2  My God, my rock in whom I take refuge, ♦︎
   my shield, the horn of my salvation and my stronghold.
3  I cried to the Lord in my anguish ♦︎
   and I was saved from my enemies.
4  The cords of death entwined me ♦︎
   and the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5  The cords of the Pit fastened about me ♦︎
   and the snares of death entangled me.
6  In my distress I called upon the Lord ♦︎
   and cried out to my God for help.
7  He heard my voice in his temple ♦︎
   and my cry came to his ears.
8  The earth trembled and quaked; ♦︎
   the foundations of the mountains shook;
      they reeled because he was angry.
9  Smoke rose from his nostrils
      and a consuming fire went out of his mouth; ♦︎
   burning coals blazed forth from him.
10  He parted the heavens and came down ♦︎
   and thick darkness was under his feet.
11  He rode upon the cherubim and flew; ♦︎
   he came flying on the wings of the wind.
12  He made darkness his covering round about him, ♦︎
   dark waters and thick clouds his pavilion.
13  From the brightness of his presence, through the clouds ♦︎
   burst hailstones and coals of fire.
14  The Lord also thundered out of heaven; ♦︎
   the Most High uttered his voice
      with hailstones and coals of fire.
15  He sent out his arrows and scattered them; ♦︎
   he hurled down lightnings and put them to flight.
16  The springs of the ocean were seen,
      and the foundations of the world uncovered ♦︎
   at your rebuke, O Lord,
      at the blast of the breath of your displeasure.
17  He reached down from on high and took me; ♦︎
   he drew me out of the mighty waters.
18  He delivered me from my strong enemy, ♦︎
   from foes that were too mighty for me.
19  They came upon me in the day of my trouble; ♦︎
   but the Lord was my upholder.
20  He brought me out into a place of liberty; ♦︎
   he rescued me because he delighted in me.
21  The Lord rewarded me after my righteous dealing; ♦︎
   according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me,
22  Because I had kept the ways of the Lord ♦︎
   and had not gone wickedly away from my God,
23  For I had an eye to all his laws, ♦︎
   and did not cast out his commandments from me.
24  I was also wholehearted before him ♦︎
   and kept myself from iniquity;
25  Therefore the Lord rewarded me
      after my righteous dealing, ♦︎
   and according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
26  With the faithful you show yourself faithful; ♦︎
   with the true you show yourself true;
27  With the pure you show yourself pure, ♦︎
   but with the crooked you show yourself perverse.
28  For you will save a lowly people ♦︎
   and bring down the high looks of the proud.
29  You also shall light my candle; ♦︎
   the Lord my God shall make my darkness to be bright.
30  By your help I shall run at an enemy host; ♦︎
   with the help of my God I can leap over a wall.
31  As for God, his way is perfect;
      the word of the Lord is tried in the fire; ♦︎
   he is a shield to all who trust in him.
32  For who is God but the Lord, ♦︎
   and who is the rock except our God?
33  It is God who girds me about with strength ♦︎
   and makes my way perfect.
34  He makes my feet like hinds’ feet ♦︎
   so that I tread surely on the heights.
35  He teaches my hands to fight ♦︎
   and my arms to bend a bow of bronze.
36  You have given me the shield of your salvation; ♦︎
   your right hand upholds me
      and your grace has made me great.
37  You enlarge my strides beneath me, ♦︎
   yet my feet do not slide.
38  I will pursue my enemies and overtake them, ♦︎
   nor turn again until I have destroyed them.
39  I will smite them down so they cannot rise; ♦︎
   they shall fall beneath my feet.
40  You have girded me with strength for the battle; ♦︎
   you will cast down my enemies under me;
41  You will make my foes turn their backs upon me ♦︎
   and I shall destroy them that hate me.
42  They will cry out, but there shall be none to help them; ♦︎
   they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer.
43  I shall beat them as small as the dust on the wind; ♦︎
   I will cast them out as the mire in the streets.
44  You will deliver me from the strife of the peoples; ♦︎
   you will make me the head of the nations.
45  A people I have not known shall serve me;
      as soon as they hear me, they shall obey me; ♦︎
   strangers will humble themselves before me.
46  The foreign peoples will lose heart ♦︎
   and come trembling out of their strongholds.
47  The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock! ♦︎
   Praised be the God of my salvation,
48  Even the God who vindicates me ♦︎
   and subdues the peoples under me!
49  You that deliver me from my enemies,
      you will set me up above my foes; ♦︎
   from the violent you will deliver me;
50  Therefore will I give you thanks, O Lord, among the nations ♦︎
   and sing praises to your name,
51  To the one who gives great victory to his king ♦︎
   and shows faithful love to his anointed,
      to David and his seed for ever.

Joshua Renews the Covenant

30 Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, ³¹just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, ‘an altar of unhewn^* stones, on which no iron tool has been used’; and they offered on it burnt-offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed offerings of well-being. ³²And there, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua^* wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. ³³All Israel, alien as well as citizen, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark in front of the levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel. ³⁴And afterwards he read all the words of the law, blessings and curses, according to all that is written in the book of the law. ³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the aliens who resided among them.

Jesus and Beelzebul

14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵But some of them said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.’ ¹⁶Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven. ¹⁷But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house. ¹⁸If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? —for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹Now if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists^* cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁰But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. ²¹When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. ²²But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his plunder. ²³Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

24 ‘When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting-place, but not finding any, it says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” ²⁵When it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first.’

True Blessedness

27 While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!’ ²⁸But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!’