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Psalm 103

1  Bless the Lord, O my soul, ♦︎
   and all that is within me bless his holy name.
2  Bless the Lord, O my soul, ♦︎
   and forget not all his benefits;
3  Who forgives all your sins ♦︎
   and heals all your infirmities;
4  Who redeems your life from the Pit ♦︎
   and crowns you with faithful love and compassion;
5  Who satisfies you with good things, ♦︎
   so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
6  The Lord executes righteousness ♦︎
   and judgement for all who are oppressed.
7  He made his ways known to Moses ♦︎
   and his works to the children of Israel.
8  The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, ♦︎
   slow to anger and of great kindness.
9  He will not always accuse us, ♦︎
   neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10  He has not dealt with us according to our sins, ♦︎
   nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.
11  For as the heavens are high above the earth, ♦︎
   so great is his mercy upon those who fear him.
12  As far as the east is from the west, ♦︎
   so far has he set our sins from us.
13  As a father has compassion on his children, ♦︎
   so is the Lord merciful towards those who fear him.
14  For he knows of what we are made; ♦︎
   he remembers that we are but dust.
15  Our days are but as grass; ♦︎
   we flourish as a flower of the field;
16  For as soon as the wind goes over it, it is gone, ♦︎
   and its place shall know it no more.
17  But the merciful goodness of the Lord is from of old
      and endures for ever on those who fear him, ♦︎
   and his righteousness on children’s children;
18  On those who keep his covenant ♦︎
   and remember his commandments to do them.
19  The Lord has established his throne in heaven, ♦︎
   and his kingdom has dominion over all.
20  Bless the Lord, you angels of his, ♦︎
   you mighty ones who do his bidding
      and hearken to the voice of his word.
21  Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, ♦︎
   you ministers of his who do his will.
22  Bless the Lord, all you works of his,
      in all places of his dominion; ♦︎
   bless the Lord, O my soul.

The Day of Atonement

16The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died. ²The Lord said to Moses:

Tell your brother Aaron not to come just at any time into the sanctuary inside the curtain before the mercy-seat^* that is upon the ark, or he will die; for I appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat.^{* 3}Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bull for a sin-offering and a ram for a burnt-offering. ⁴He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and shall have the linen undergarments next to his body, fasten the linen sash, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy vestments. He shall bathe his body in water, and then put them on. ⁵He shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin-offering, and one ram for a burnt-offering.

6 Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin-offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷He shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting; ⁸and Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel.^{* 9}Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin-offering; ¹⁰but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel^* shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, so that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.^*

11 Aaron shall present the bull as a sin-offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house; he shall slaughter the bull as a sin-offering for himself. ¹²He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of crushed sweet incense, and he shall bring it inside the curtain ¹³and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat^* that is upon the covenant,^* or he will die. ¹⁴He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy-seat,^* and before the mercy-seat^* he shall sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times.

15 He shall slaughter the goat of the sin-offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the curtain, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it upon the mercy-seat^* and before the mercy-seat.^{* 16}Thus he shall make atonement for the sanctuary, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel, and because of their transgressions, all their sins; and so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which remains with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. ¹⁷No one shall be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. ¹⁸Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement on its behalf, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on each of the horns of the altar. ¹⁹He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and hallow it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.

5Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters,^* you do not need to have anything written to you. ²For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³When they say, ‘There is peace and security’, then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! ⁴But you, beloved,^* are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; ⁵for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. ⁶So then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; ⁷for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. ⁹For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. ¹¹Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.