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Psalm 24

Entrance into the Temple

Of David. A Psalm.
¹ The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
   the world, and those who live in it;
² for he has founded it on the seas,
   and established it on the rivers.

³ Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
   And who shall stand in his holy place?
⁴ Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
   who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
   and do not swear deceitfully.
⁵ They will receive blessing from the Lord,
   and vindication from the God of their salvation.
⁶ Such is the company of those who seek him,
   who seek the face of the God of Jacob.^*
          Selah

⁷ Lift up your heads, O gates!
   and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
   that the King of glory may come in.
⁸ Who is the King of glory?
   The Lord, strong and mighty,
   the Lord, mighty in battle.
⁹ Lift up your heads, O gates!
   and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
   that the King of glory may come in.
¹⁰ Who is this King of glory?
   The Lord of hosts,
   he is the King of glory.
          Selah

Psalm 29

The Voice of God in a Great Storm

A Psalm of David.
¹ Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,^*
   ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
² Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
   worship the Lord in holy splendour.

³ The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
   the God of glory thunders,
   the Lord, over mighty waters.
⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful;
   the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
   the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
   and Sirion like a young wild ox.

⁷ The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
⁸ The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
   the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

⁹ The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,^*
   and strips the forest bare;
   and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’

¹⁰ The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
   the Lord sits enthroned as king for ever.
¹¹ May the Lord give strength to his people!
   May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Psalm 8

Divine Majesty and Human Dignity

To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
¹ O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
²   Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
   to silence the enemy and the avenger.

³ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars that you have established;
⁴ what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
   mortals^* that you care for them?

⁵ Yet you have made them a little lower than God,^*
   and crowned them with glory and honour.
⁶ You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under their feet,
⁷ all sheep and oxen,
   and also the beasts of the field,
⁸ the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
   whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

⁹ O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 84

The Joy of Worship in the Temple

To the leader: according to The Gittith. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
¹ How lovely is your dwelling place,
   O Lord of hosts!
² My soul longs, indeed it faints
   for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
   to the living God.

³ Even the sparrow finds a home,
   and the swallow a nest for herself,
   where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
   my King and my God.
⁴ Happy are those who live in your house,
   ever singing your praise.
          Selah

⁵ Happy are those whose strength is in you,
   in whose heart are the highways to Zion.^*
6 As they go through the valley of Baca
   they make it a place of springs;
   the early rain also covers it with pools.
⁷ They go from strength to strength;
   the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

⁸ O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
   give ear, O God of Jacob!
          Selah
⁹ Behold our shield, O God;
   look on the face of your anointed.

¹⁰ For a day in your courts is better
   than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
   than live in the tents of wickedness.
¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
   he bestows favour and honour.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
   from those who walk uprightly.
¹² O Lord of hosts,
   happy is everyone who trusts in you.

A Prayer for God’s People

36Have mercy upon us, O God^* of all,
²   and put all the nations in fear of you.
³ Lift up your hand against foreign nations
   and let them see your might.
⁴ As you have used us to show your holiness to them,
   so use them to show your glory to us.
⁵ Then they will know,^* as we have known,
   that there is no God but you, O Lord.
⁶ Give new signs, and work other wonders;
⁷   make your hand and right arm glorious.
⁸ Rouse your anger and pour out your wrath;
⁹   destroy the adversary and wipe out the enemy.
¹⁰ Hasten the day, and remember the appointed time,^*
   and let people recount your mighty deeds.
¹¹ Let survivors be consumed in the fiery wrath,
   and may those who harm your people meet destruction.
¹² Crush the heads of hostile rulers
   who say, ‘There is no one but ourselves.’
¹³ Gather all the tribes of Jacob,^*
16   and give them their inheritance, as at the beginning.
¹⁷ Have mercy, O Lord, on the people called by your name,
   on Israel, whom you have named^* your firstborn,

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

The Gift of Love

13If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,^* but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. ⁹For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; ¹⁰but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. ¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. ¹²For now we see in a mirror, dimly,^* but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. ¹³And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Forgiveness

21 Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church^* sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ ²²Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven^* times.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

23 ‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents^* was brought to him; ²⁵and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. ²⁶So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” ²⁷And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii;^* and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” ²⁹Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” ³⁰But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. ³²Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” ³⁴And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. ³⁵So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister^* from your heart.’