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Psalm 98

1  Sing to the Lord a new song, ♦︎
   for he has done marvellous things.
2  His own right hand and his holy arm ♦︎
   have won for him the victory.
3  The Lord has made known his salvation; ♦︎
   his deliverance has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.
4  He has remembered his mercy and faithfulness
      towards the house of Israel, ♦︎
   and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
5  Sound praises to the Lord, all the earth; ♦︎
   break into singing and make music.
6  Make music to the Lord with the lyre, ♦︎
   with the lyre and the voice of melody.
7  With trumpets and the sound of the horn ♦︎
   sound praises before the Lord, the King.
8  Let the sea thunder and all that fills it, ♦︎
   the world and all that dwell upon it.
9  Let the rivers clap their hands ♦︎
   and let the hills ring out together before the Lord,
      for he comes to judge the earth.
10  In righteousness shall he judge the world ♦︎
   and the peoples with equity.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria in place of the people of Israel; they took possession of Samaria, and settled in its cities. ²⁵When they first settled there, they did not worship the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶So the king of Assyria was told, ‘The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them; they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.’ ²⁷Then the king of Assyria commanded, ‘Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there; let him^* go and live there, and teach them the law of the god of the land.’ ²⁸So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel; he taught them how they should worship the Lord.

29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived; ³⁰the people of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the people of Cuth made Nergal, the people of Hamath made Ashima; ³¹the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³²They also worshipped the Lord and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. ³³So they worshipped the Lord, but they also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. ³⁴To this day they continue to practise their former customs.

They do not worship the Lord and they do not follow the statutes or the ordinances or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. ³⁵The Lord had made a covenant with them and commanded them, ‘You shall not worship other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, ³⁶but you shall worship the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm; you shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. ³⁷The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to observe. You shall not worship other gods; ³⁸you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not worship other gods, ³⁹but you shall worship the Lord your God; he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.’ ⁴⁰They would not listen, however, but they continued to practise their former custom.

41 So these nations worshipped the Lord, but also served their carved images; to this day their children and their children’s children continue to do as their ancestors did.

THE LETTER OF PAUL TO THE

Philippians

Salutation

1Paul and Timothy, servants^* of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops^* and deacons:^*

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians

3 I thank my God every time I remember you, ⁴constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, ⁵because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart,^* for all of you share in God’s grace^* with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. ⁹And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight ¹⁰to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.