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Psalm 147

1  Alleluia.
      How good it is to make music for our God, ♦︎
   how joyful to honour him with praise.
2  The Lord builds up Jerusalem ♦︎
   and gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3  He heals the brokenhearted ♦︎
   and binds up all their wounds.
4  He counts the number of the stars ♦︎
   and calls them all by their names.
5  Great is our Lord and mighty in power; ♦︎
   his wisdom is beyond all telling.
6  The Lord lifts up the poor, ♦︎
   but casts down the wicked to the ground.
7  Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; ♦︎
   make music to our God upon the lyre;
8  Who covers the heavens with clouds ♦︎
   and prepares rain for the earth;
9  Who makes grass to grow upon the mountains ♦︎
   and green plants to serve our needs.
10  He gives the beasts their food ♦︎
   and the young ravens when they cry.
11  He takes no pleasure in the power of a horse, ♦︎
   no delight in human strength;
12  But the Lord delights in those who fear him, ♦︎
   who put their trust in his steadfast love.
13  Sing praise to the Lord, O Jerusalem; ♦︎
   praise your God, O Zion;
14  For he has strengthened the bars of your gates ♦︎
   and has blest your children within you.
15  He has established peace in your borders ♦︎
   and satisfies you with the finest wheat.
16  He sends forth his command to the earth ♦︎
   and his word runs very swiftly.
17  He gives snow like wool ♦︎
   and scatters the hoarfrost like ashes.
18  He casts down his hailstones like morsels of bread; ♦︎
   who can endure his frost?
19  He sends forth his word and melts them; ♦︎
   he blows with his wind and the waters flow.
20  He declares his word to Jacob, ♦︎
   his statutes and judgements to Israel.
21  He has not dealt so with any other nation; ♦︎
   they do not know his laws.
      Alleluia.

Municipal Judges and Officers

18 You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes, in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall render just decisions for the people. ¹⁹You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality; and you must not accept bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. ²⁰Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Limitations of Royal Authority

14 When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me’, ¹⁵you may indeed set over you a king whom the Lord your God will choose. One of your own community you may set as king over you; you are not permitted to put a foreigner over you, who is not of your own community. ¹⁶Even so, he must not acquire many horses for himself, or return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You must never return that way again.’ ¹⁷And he must not acquire many wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; also silver and gold he must not acquire in great quantity for himself. ¹⁸When he has taken the throne of his kingdom, he shall have a copy of this law written for him in the presence of the levitical priests. ¹⁹It shall remain with him and he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes, ²⁰neither exalting himself above other members of the community nor turning aside from the commandment, either to the right or to the left, so that he and his descendants may reign long over his kingdom in Israel.

The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge

18Then Jesus^* told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. ²He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. ³In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” ⁴For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’^{* 6}And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? ⁸I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’