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Psalm 46

1  God is our refuge and strength, ♦︎
   a very present help in trouble;
2  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, ♦︎
   and though the mountains tremble in the heart of the sea;
3  Though the waters rage and swell, ♦︎
   and though the mountains quake at the towering seas.
4  There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, ♦︎
   the holy place of the dwelling of the Most High.
5  God is in the midst of her;
      therefore shall she not be removed; ♦︎
   God shall help her at the break of day.
6  The nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken, ♦︎
   but God utters his voice and the earth shall melt away.
7  The Lord of hosts is with us; ♦︎
   the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
8  Come and behold the works of the Lord, ♦︎
   what destruction he has wrought upon the earth.
9  He makes wars to cease in all the world; ♦︎
   he shatters the bow and snaps the spear
      and burns the chariots in the fire.
10  ‘Be still, and know that I am God; ♦︎
   I will be exalted among the nations;
      I will be exalted in the earth.’
11  The Lord of hosts is with us; ♦︎
   the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, ‘Look, the words of the prophets with one accord are favourable to the king; let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favourably.’ ¹³But Micaiah said, ‘As the Lord lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak.’

14 When he had come to the king, the king said to him, ‘Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?’ He answered, ‘Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand.’ ¹⁵But the king said to him, ‘How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?’ ¹⁶Then Micaiah^* said, ‘I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd; and the Lord said, “These have no master; let each one go home in peace.” ’ ¹⁷The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy anything favourable about me, but only disaster?’

18 Then Micaiah^* said, ‘Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, with all the host of heaven standing to the right and to the left of him. ¹⁹And the Lord said, “Who will entice King Ahab of Israel, so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” Then one said one thing, and another said another, ²⁰until a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, “I will entice him.” The Lord asked him, “How?” ²¹He replied, “I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” Then the Lord ^* said, “You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do it.” ²²So you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; the Lord has decreed disaster for you.’

Christ’s Sacrifice Takes Away Sin

23 Thus it was necessary for the sketches of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. ²⁵Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; ²⁶for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgement, ²⁸so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.