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Psalm 72

1  Give the king your judgements, O God, ♦︎
   and your righteousness to the son of a king.
2  Then shall he judge your people righteously ♦︎
   and your poor with justice.
3  May the mountains bring forth peace, ♦︎
   and the little hills righteousness for the people.
4  May he defend the poor among the people, ♦︎
   deliver the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.
5  May he live as long as the sun and moon endure, ♦︎
   from one generation to another.
6  May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, ♦︎
   like the showers that water the earth.
7  In his time shall righteousness flourish, ♦︎
   and abundance of peace
      till the moon shall be no more.
8  May his dominion extend from sea to sea ♦︎
   and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9  May his foes kneel before him ♦︎
   and his enemies lick the dust.
10  The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute; ♦︎
   the kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring gifts.
11  All kings shall fall down before him; ♦︎
   all nations shall do him service.
12  For he shall deliver the poor that cry out, ♦︎
   the needy and those who have no helper.
13  He shall have pity on the weak and poor; ♦︎
   he shall preserve the lives of the needy.
14  He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence, ♦︎
   and dear shall their blood be in his sight.
15  Long may he live;
      unto him may be given gold from Sheba; ♦︎
   may prayer be made for him continually
      and may they bless him all the day long.
16  May there be abundance of grain on the earth,
      standing thick upon the hilltops; ♦︎
   may its fruit flourish like Lebanon
      and its grain grow like the grass of the field.
17  May his name remain for ever
      and be established as long as the sun endures; ♦︎
   may all nations be blest in him
      and call him blessed.
18  Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, ♦︎
   who alone does wonderful things.
19  And blessed be his glorious name for ever. ♦︎
   May all the earth be filled with his glory.
      Amen. Amen.

Insurrection against Gedaliah

41In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. As they ate bread together there at Mizpah, ²Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan with the sword and killed him, because the king of Babylon had appointed him governor in the land. ³Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.

4 On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it, ⁵eighty men arrived from Shechem and Shiloh and Samaria, with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed, bringing grain-offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord. ⁶And Ishmael son of Nethaniah came out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, ‘Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.’ ⁷When they reached the middle of the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them, and threw them^* into a cistern. ⁸But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, ‘Do not kill us, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.’ So he refrained, and did not kill them along with their companions.

9 Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down was the large cistern^* that King Asa had made for defence against King Baasha of Israel; Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled that cistern with those whom he had killed. ¹⁰Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

11 But when Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the crimes that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done, ¹²they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They came upon him at the great pool that is in Gibeon. ¹³And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him, they were glad. ¹⁴So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned and came back, and went to Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites. ¹⁶Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him took all the rest of the people whom Ishmael son of Nethaniah had carried away captive^* from Mizpah after he had slain Gedaliah son of Ahikam—soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan brought back from Gibeon.^{* 17}And they set out, and stopped at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt ¹⁸because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

Pronouncement about the Sabbath

23 One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ ²⁵And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? ²⁶He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ ²⁷Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; ²⁸so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’

The Man with a Withered Hand

3Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ²They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ ⁴Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. ⁵He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.