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Psalm 94

1  Lord God to whom vengeance belongs, ♦︎
   O God to whom vengeance belongs, shine out in majesty.
2  Rise up, O Judge of the earth; ♦︎
   give the arrogant their just deserts.
3  Lord, how long shall the wicked, ♦︎
   how long shall the wicked triumph?
4  How long shall the evildoers boast ♦︎
   and pour out such impudent words?
5  They crush your people, O Lord, ♦︎
   and afflict your heritage.
6  They murder the widow and the stranger; ♦︎
   the orphans they put to death.
7  And yet they say, ‘The Lord will not see, ♦︎
   neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.’
8  Consider, most stupid of people; ♦︎
   you fools, when will you understand?
9  He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? ♦︎
   He that formed the eye, shall he not see?
10  He who corrects the nations, shall he not punish? ♦︎
   He who teaches the peoples, does he lack knowledge?
11  The Lord knows every human thought, ♦︎
   that they are but a breath.
12  Blessed are those whom you chasten, O Lord, ♦︎
   whom you instruct from your law;
13  That you may give them rest in days of adversity, ♦︎
   until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14  For the Lord will not fail his people, ♦︎
   neither will he forsake his inheritance.
15  For justice shall return to the righteous, ♦︎
   and all that are true of heart shall follow it.
16  Who will rise up for me against the wicked? ♦︎
   Who will take my part against the evildoers?
17  If the Lord had not helped me, ♦︎
   my soul would soon have been put to silence.
18  And when I said, ‘My foot has slipped’, ♦︎
   your loving mercy, O Lord, upheld me.
19  In the multitude of cares that troubled my heart, ♦︎
   your comforts have refreshed my soul.
20  Will you have anything to do with the throne of wickedness, ♦︎
   which fashions evil through its law?
21  They gather together against the life of the righteous ♦︎
   and condemn the innocent to death.
22  But the Lord has become my stronghold ♦︎
   and my God the rock of my trust.
23  He will turn against them their own wickedness
      and silence them through their own malice; ♦︎
   the Lord our God will put them to silence.

Peace and Security through Obedience

4In days to come
   the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
   and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it,
²   and many nations shall come and say:
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
   to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
   and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
³ He shall judge between many peoples,
   and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
   and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
   neither shall they learn war any more;
⁴ but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
   and no one shall make them afraid;
   for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

⁵ For all the peoples walk,
   each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
   for ever and ever.

Restoration Promised after Exile

⁶ On that day, says the Lord,
   I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away,
   and those whom I have afflicted.
⁷ The lame I will make the remnant,
   and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
   now and for evermore.

⁸ And you, O tower of the flock,
   hill of daughter Zion,
to you it shall come,
   the former dominion shall come,
   the sovereignty of daughter Jerusalem.

⁹ Now why do you cry aloud?
   Is there no king in you?
Has your counsellor perished,
   that pangs have seized you like a woman in labour?
¹⁰ Writhe and groan,^* O daughter Zion,
   like a woman in labour;
for now you shall go forth from the city
   and camp in the open country;
   you shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued,
   there the Lord will redeem you
   from the hands of your enemies.

¹¹ Now many nations
   are assembled against you,
saying, ‘Let her be profaned,
   and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.’
¹² But they do not know
   the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
   that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing-floor.
¹³ Arise and thresh,
   O daughter Zion,
for I will make your horn iron
   and your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples,
   and shall^* devote their gain to the Lord,
   their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.

5^*Now you are walled around with a wall;^*
   siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the ruler of Israel
   upon the cheek.

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

6He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. ²On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! ³Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary^* and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence^* at him. ⁴Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ ⁵And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. ⁶And he was amazed at their unbelief.

The Mission of the Twelve

Then he went about among the villages teaching. ⁷He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; ⁹but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. ¹⁰He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. ¹¹If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ ¹²So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. ¹³They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.