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Psalm 17

1  Hear my just cause, O Lord; consider my complaint; ♦︎
   listen to my prayer, which comes not from lying lips.
2  Let my vindication come forth from your presence; ♦︎
   let your eyes behold what is right.
3  Weigh my heart, examine me by night, ♦︎
   refine me, and you will find no impurity in me.
4  My mouth does not trespass for earthly rewards; ♦︎
   I have heeded the words of your lips.
5  My footsteps hold fast in the ways of your commandments; ♦︎
   my feet have not stumbled in your paths.
6  I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me; ♦︎
   incline your ear to me, and listen to my words.
7  Show me your marvellous loving-kindness, ♦︎
   O Saviour of those who take refuge at your right hand
      from those who rise up against them.
8  Keep me as the apple of your eye; ♦︎
   hide me under the shadow of your wings,
9  From the wicked who assault me, ♦︎
   from my enemies who surround me to take away my life.
10  They have closed their heart to pity ♦︎
   and their mouth speaks proud things.
11  They press me hard, they surround me on every side, ♦︎
   watching how they may cast me to the ground,
12  Like a lion that is greedy for its prey, ♦︎
   like a young lion lurking in secret places.
13  Arise, Lord; confront them and cast them down; ♦︎
   deliver me from the wicked by your sword.
14  Deliver me, O Lord, by your hand ♦︎
   from those whose portion in life is unending,
15  Whose bellies you fill with your treasure, ♦︎
   who are well supplied with children
      and leave their wealth to their little ones.
16  As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness; ♦︎
   when I awake and behold your likeness, I shall be satisfied.

⁵ Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
   and make mere flesh their strength,
   whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
⁶ They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
   and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
   in an uninhabited salt land.

⁷ Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
   whose trust is the Lord.
⁸ They shall be like a tree planted by water,
   sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
   and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
   and it does not cease to bear fruit.

⁹ The heart is devious above all else;
   it is perverse—
   who can understand it?
¹⁰ I the Lord test the mind
   and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
   according to the fruit of their doings.

¹¹ Like the partridge hatching what it did not lay,
   so are all who amass wealth unjustly;
in mid-life it will leave them,
   and at their end they will prove to be fools.

¹² O glorious throne, exalted from the beginning,
   shrine of our sanctuary!
¹³ O hope of Israel! O Lord!
   All who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you^* shall be recorded in the underworld,^*
   for they have forsaken the fountain of living water, the Lord.

Jeremiah Prays for Vindication

¹⁴ Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
   save me, and I shall be saved;
   for you are my praise.
¹⁵ See how they say to me,
   ‘Where is the word of the Lord?
   Let it come!’
¹⁶ But I have not run away from being a shepherd^* in your service,
   nor have I desired the fatal day.
You know what came from my lips;
   it was before your face.
¹⁷ Do not become a terror to me;
   you are my refuge on the day of disaster;
¹⁸ Let my persecutors be shamed,
   but do not let me be shamed;
let them be dismayed,
   but do not let me be dismayed;
bring on them the day of disaster;
   destroy them with double destruction!

Jesus and Beelzebul

22 Then they brought to him a demoniac who was blind and mute; and he cured him, so that the one who had been mute could speak and see. ²³All the crowds were amazed and said, ‘Can this be the Son of David?’ ²⁴But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, ‘It is only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons, that this fellow casts out the demons.’ ²⁵He knew what they were thinking and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. ²⁶If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own exorcists^* cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁸But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. ²⁹Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property, without first tying up the strong man? Then indeed the house can be plundered. ³⁰Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. ³¹Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. ³²Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.