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Psalm 136

1  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever.
2  Give thanks to the God of gods, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever.
3  Give thanks to the Lord of lords, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
4  Who alone does great wonders, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
5  Who by wisdom made the heavens, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
6  Who laid out the earth upon the waters, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
7  Who made the great lights, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
8  The sun to rule the day, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
9  The moon and the stars to govern the night, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
10  Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
11  And brought out Israel from among them, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
12  With a mighty hand and outstretched arm, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
13  Who divided the Red Sea in two, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
14  And made Israel to pass through the midst of it, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
15  But Pharaoh and his host he overthrew in the Red Sea, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
16  Who led his people through the wilderness, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
17  Who smote great kings, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
18  And slew mighty kings, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
19  Sihon, king of the Amorites, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
20  And Og, the king of Bashan, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
21  And gave away their land for a heritage, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
22  A heritage for Israel his servant, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
23  Who remembered us when we were in trouble, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
24  And delivered us from our enemies, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever;
25  Who gives food to all creatures, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever.
26  Give thanks to the God of heaven, ♦︎
   for his mercy endures for ever.

22 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.

The Festival of Trumpets

23 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²⁴Speak to the people of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of complete rest, a holy convocation commemorated with trumpet blasts. ²⁵You shall not work at your occupations; and you shall present the Lord’s offering by fire.

The Day of Atonement

26 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²⁷Now, the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you: you shall deny yourselves^* and present the Lord’s offering by fire; ²⁸and you shall do no work during that entire day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. ²⁹For anyone who does not practise self-denial^* during that entire day shall be cut off from the people. ³⁰And anyone who does any work during that entire day, such a one I will destroy from the midst of the people. ³¹You shall do no work: it is a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your settlements. ³²It shall be to you a sabbath of complete rest, and you shall deny yourselves;^* on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your sabbath.

The Year of Jubilee

33 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ³⁴Speak to the people of Israel, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, and lasting seven days, there shall be the festival of booths^* to the Lord. ³⁵The first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. ³⁶For seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire; on the eighth day you shall observe a holy convocation and present the Lord’s offerings by fire; it is a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations.

37 These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you shall celebrate as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire—burnt-offerings and grain-offerings, sacrifices and drink-offerings, each on its proper day— ³⁸apart from the sabbaths of the Lord, and apart from your gifts, and apart from all your votive offerings, and apart from all your freewill-offerings, which you give to the Lord.

39 Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the Lord, lasting seven days; a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day. ⁴⁰On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic^* trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹You shall keep it as a festival to the Lord seven days in the year; you shall keep it in the seventh month as a statute for ever throughout your generations. ⁴²You shall live in booths for seven days; all that are citizens in Israel shall live in booths, ⁴³so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

44 Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed festivals of the Lord.

Request for Prayer

3Finally, brothers and sisters,^* pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just as it is among you, ²and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people; for not all have faith. ³But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.^{* 4}And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will go on doing the things that we command. ⁵May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Warning against Idleness

6 Now we command you, beloved,^* in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are^* living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they^* received from us. ⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, ⁸and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labour we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. ⁹This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. ¹⁰For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. ¹¹For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. ¹²Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. ¹³Brothers and sisters,^* do not be weary in doing what is right.

14 Take note of those who do not obey what we say in this letter; have nothing to do with them, so that they may be ashamed. ¹⁵Do not regard them as enemies, but warn them as believers.^*

Final Greetings and Benediction

16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you.

17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. ¹⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.^*