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Psalm 105

God’s Faithfulness to Israel

¹ O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
   make known his deeds among the peoples.
² Sing to him, sing praises to him;
   tell of all his wonderful works.
³ Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
⁴ Seek the Lord and his strength;
   seek his presence continually.
⁵ Remember the wonderful works he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgements he has uttered,
⁶ O offspring of his servant Abraham,^*
   children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

⁷ He is the Lord our God;
   his judgements are in all the earth.
⁸ He is mindful of his covenant for ever,
   of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
⁹ the covenant that he made with Abraham,
   his sworn promise to Isaac,
¹⁰ which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
   to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹¹ saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan
   as your portion for an inheritance.’

¹² When they were few in number,
   of little account, and strangers in it,
¹³ wandering from nation to nation,
   from one kingdom to another people,
¹⁴ he allowed no one to oppress them;
   he rebuked kings on their account,
¹⁵ saying, ‘Do not touch my anointed ones;
   do my prophets no harm.’

¹⁶ When he summoned famine against the land,
   and broke every staff of bread,
¹⁷ he had sent a man ahead of them,
   Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
¹⁸ His feet were hurt with fetters,
   his neck was put in a collar of iron;
¹⁹ until what he had said came to pass,
   the word of the Lord kept testing him.
²⁰ The king sent and released him;
   the ruler of the peoples set him free.
²¹ He made him lord of his house,
   and ruler of all his possessions,
²² to instruct^* his officials at his pleasure,
   and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³ Then Israel came to Egypt;
   Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
²⁴ And the Lord made his people very fruitful,
   and made them stronger than their foes,
²⁵ whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,
   to deal craftily with his servants.

²⁶ He sent his servant Moses,
   and Aaron whom he had chosen.
²⁷ They performed his signs among them,
   and miracles in the land of Ham.
²⁸ He sent darkness, and made the land dark;
   they rebelled^* against his words.
²⁹ He turned their waters into blood,
   and caused their fish to die.
³⁰ Their land swarmed with frogs,
   even in the chambers of their kings.
³¹ He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
   and gnats throughout their country.
³² He gave them hail for rain,
   and lightning that flashed through their land.
³³ He struck their vines and fig trees,
   and shattered the trees of their country.
³⁴ He spoke, and the locusts came,
   and young locusts without number;
³⁵ they devoured all the vegetation in their land,
   and ate up the fruit of their ground.
³⁶ He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
   the first issue of all their strength.

³⁷ Then he brought Israel^* out with silver and gold,
   and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.
³⁸ Egypt was glad when they departed,
   for dread of them had fallen upon it.
³⁹ He spread a cloud for a covering,
   and fire to give light by night.
⁴⁰ They asked, and he brought quails,
   and gave them food from heaven in abundance.
⁴¹ He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
   it flowed through the desert like a river.
⁴² For he remembered his holy promise,
   and Abraham, his servant.

⁴³ So he brought his people out with joy,
   his chosen ones with singing.
⁴⁴ He gave them the lands of the nations,
   and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,
⁴⁵ that they might keep his statutes
   and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 130

Waiting for Divine Redemption

A Song of Ascents.
¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
²   Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
   to the voice of my supplications!

³ If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
   Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But there is forgiveness with you,
   so that you may be revered.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
   and in his word I hope;
⁶ my soul waits for the Lord
   more than those who watch for the morning,
   more than those who watch for the morning.

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord!
   For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
   and with him is great power to redeem.
⁸ It is he who will redeem Israel
   from all its iniquities.

Jesus Calls Levi

13 Jesus^* went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. ¹⁴As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

15 And as he sat at dinner^* in Levi’s^* house, many tax-collectors and sinners were also sitting^* with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶When the scribes of^* the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat^* with tax-collectors and sinners?’ ¹⁷When Jesus heard this, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

The Question about Fasting

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people^* came and said to him, ‘Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’ ¹⁹Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

21 ‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²²And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.’^*