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Psalm 66

1  Be joyful in God, all the earth; ♦︎
   sing the glory of his name;
      sing the glory of his praise.
2  Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds! ♦︎
   Because of your great strength
      your enemies shall bow before you.
3  ‘All the earth shall worship you, ♦︎
   sing to you, sing praise to your name.’
4  Come now and behold the works of God, ♦︎
   how wonderful he is in his dealings with humankind.
5  He turned the sea into dry land;
      the river they passed through on foot; ♦︎
   there we rejoiced in him.
6  In his might he rules for ever;
      his eyes keep watch over the nations; ♦︎
   let no rebel rise up against him.
7  Bless our God, O you peoples; ♦︎
   make the voice of his praise to be heard,
8  Who holds our souls in life ♦︎
   and suffers not our feet to slip.
9  For you, O God, have proved us; ♦︎
   you have tried us as silver is tried.
10  You brought us into the snare; ♦︎
   you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.
11  You let enemies ride over our heads;
      we went through fire and water; ♦︎
   but you brought us out into a place of liberty.
12  I will come into your house with burnt offerings
      and will pay you my vows, ♦︎
   which my lips uttered
      and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
13  I will offer you fat burnt sacrifices
      with the smoke of rams; ♦︎
   I will sacrifice oxen and goats.
14  Come and listen, all you who fear God, ♦︎
   and I will tell you what he has done for my soul.
15  I called out to him with my mouth ♦︎
   and his praise was on my tongue.
16  If I had nursed evil in my heart, ♦︎
   the Lord would not have heard me,
17  But in truth God has heard me; ♦︎
   he has heeded the voice of my prayer.
18  Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, ♦︎
   nor withheld his loving mercy from me.

Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom

9‘O God of my ancestors and Lord of mercy,
who have made all things by your word,
⁷ You have chosen me to be king of your people
and to be judge over your sons and daughters.
⁸ You have given command to build a temple on your holy mountain,
and an altar in the city of your habitation,
a copy of the holy tent that you prepared from the beginning.
⁹ With you is wisdom, she who knows your works
and was present when you made the world;
she understands what is pleasing in your sight
and what is right according to your commandments.
¹⁰ Send her forth from the holy heavens,
and from the throne of your glory send her,
that she may labour at my side,
and that I may learn what is pleasing to you.
¹¹ For she knows and understands all things,
and she will guide me wisely in my actions
and guard me with her glory.
¹² Then my works will be acceptable,
and I shall judge your people justly,
and shall be worthy of the throne^* of my father.
¹³ For who can learn the counsel of God?
Or who can discern what the Lord wills?
¹⁴ For the reasoning of mortals is worthless,
and our designs are likely to fail;
¹⁵ for a perishable body weighs down the soul,
and this earthy tent burdens the thoughtful^* mind.
¹⁶ We can hardly guess at what is on earth,
and what is at hand we find with labour;
but who has traced out what is in the heavens?
¹⁷ Who has learned your counsel,
unless you have given wisdom
and sent your holy spirit from on high?
¹⁸ And thus the paths of those on earth were set right,
and people were taught what pleases you,
and were saved by wisdom.’

¹⁹ Hear, my child, and be wise,
   and direct your mind in the way.
²⁰ Do not be among winebibbers,
   or among gluttonous eaters of meat;
²¹ for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
   and drowsiness will clothe them with rags.

²² Listen to your father who begot you,
   and do not despise your mother when she is old.
²³ Buy truth, and do not sell it;
   buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
²⁴ The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
   he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.
²⁵ Let your father and mother be glad;
   let her who bore you rejoice.

²⁶ My child, give me your heart,
   and let your eyes observe^* my ways.
²⁷ For a prostitute is a deep pit;
   an adulteress^* is a narrow well.
²⁸ She lies in wait like a robber
   and increases the number of the faithless.

²⁹ Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
   Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
   Who has redness of eyes?
³⁰ Those who linger late over wine,
   those who keep trying mixed wines.
³¹ Do not look at wine when it is red,
   when it sparkles in the cup
   and goes down smoothly.
³² At the last it bites like a serpent,
   and stings like an adder.
³³ Your eyes will see strange things,
   and your mind utter perverse things.
³⁴ You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
   like one who lies on the top of a mast.^*
35 ‘They struck me’, you will say,^* ‘but I was not hurt;
   they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
   I will seek another drink.’

24Do not envy the wicked,
   nor desire to be with them;
² for their minds devise violence,
   and their lips talk of mischief.

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus^* to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. ³⁷And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. ³⁸She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. ³⁹Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.’ ⁴⁰Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Teacher,’ he replied, ‘speak.’ ⁴¹‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii,^* and the other fifty. ⁴²When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’ ⁴³Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus^* said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ ⁴⁴Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. ⁴⁵You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ ⁴⁸Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ ⁴⁹But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ ⁵⁰And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’