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Psalm 25

1  To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
      O my God, in you I trust; ♦︎
   let me not be put to shame;
      let not my enemies triumph over me.
2  Let none who look to you be put to shame, ♦︎
   but let the treacherous be shamed and frustrated.
3  Make me to know your ways, O Lord, ♦︎
   and teach me your paths.
4  Lead me in your truth and teach me, ♦︎
   for you are the God of my salvation;
      for you have I hoped all the day long.
5  Remember, Lord, your compassion and love, ♦︎
   for they are from everlasting.
6  Remember not the sins of my youth
      or my transgressions, ♦︎
   but think on me in your goodness, O Lord,
      according to your steadfast love.
7  Gracious and upright is the Lord; ♦︎
   therefore shall he teach sinners in the way.
8  He will guide the humble in doing right ♦︎
   and teach his way to the lowly.
9  All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth ♦︎
   to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
10  For your name’s sake, O Lord, ♦︎
   be merciful to my sin, for it is great.
11  Who are those who fear the Lord? ♦︎
   Them will he teach in the way that they should choose.
12  Their soul shall dwell at ease ♦︎
   and their offspring shall inherit the land.
13  The hidden purpose of the Lord is for those who fear him ♦︎
   and he will show them his covenant.
14  My eyes are ever looking to the Lord, ♦︎
   for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
15  Turn to me and be gracious to me, ♦︎
   for I am alone and brought very low.
16  The sorrows of my heart have increased; ♦︎
   O bring me out of my distress.
17  Look upon my adversity and misery ♦︎
   and forgive me all my sin.
18  Look upon my enemies, for they are many ♦︎
   and they bear a violent hatred against me.
19  O keep my soul and deliver me; ♦︎
   let me not be put to shame, for I have put my trust in you.
20  Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, ♦︎
   for my hope has been in you.
21  Deliver Israel, O God, ♦︎
   out of all his troubles.

Joshua and Caleb

46Joshua son of Nun was mighty in war,
   and was the successor of Moses in the prophetic office.
He became, as his name implies,
   a great saviour of God’s^* elect,
to take vengeance on the enemies that rose against them,
   so that he might give Israel its inheritance.
² How glorious he was when he lifted his hands
   and brandished his sword against the cities!
³ Who before him ever stood so firm?
   For he waged the wars of the Lord.
⁴ Was it not through him that the sun stood still
   and one day became as long as two?
⁵ He called upon the Most High, the Mighty One,
   when enemies pressed him on every side,
and the great Lord answered him
   with hailstones of mighty power.
⁶ He overwhelmed that nation in battle,
   and on the slope he destroyed his opponents,
so that the nations might know his armament,
   that he was fighting in the sight of the Lord;
   for he was a devoted follower of the Mighty One.
⁷ And in the days of Moses he proved his loyalty,
   he and Caleb son of Jephunneh:
they opposed the congregation,^*
   restrained the people from sin,
   and stilled their wicked grumbling.
⁸ And these two alone were spared
   out of six hundred thousand infantry,
to lead the people^* into their inheritance,
   the land flowing with milk and honey.
⁹ The Lord gave Caleb strength,
   which remained with him in his old age,
so that he went up to the hill country,
   and his children obtained it for an inheritance,
¹⁰ so that all the Israelites might see
   how good it is to follow the Lord.

¹⁰ I am my beloved’s,
   and his desire is for me.
¹¹ Come, my beloved,
   let us go forth into the fields,
   and lodge in the villages;
¹² let us go out early to the vineyards,
   and see whether the vines have budded,
whether the grape blossoms have opened
   and the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
¹³ The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
   and over our doors are all choice fruits,
new as well as old,
   which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

8O that you were like a brother to me,
   who nursed at my mother’s breast!
If I met you outside, I would kiss you,
   and no one would despise me.
² I would lead you and bring you
   into the house of my mother,
   and into the chamber of the one who bore me.^*
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
   the juice of my pomegranates.
³ O that his left hand were under my head,
   and that his right hand embraced me!
⁴ I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
   do not stir up or awaken love
   until it is ready!

Homecoming

⁵ Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
   leaning upon her beloved?

Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labour with you;
   there she who bore you was in labour.

⁶ Set me as a seal upon your heart,
   as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death,
   passion fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
   a raging flame.
⁷ Many waters cannot quench love,
   neither can floods drown it.
If one offered for love
   all the wealth of one’s house,
   it would be utterly scorned.

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

20One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders ²and said to him, ‘Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?’ ³He answered them, ‘I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: ⁴Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ ⁵They discussed it with one another, saying, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say, “Why did you not believe him?” ⁶But if we say, “Of human origin”, all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.’ ⁷So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸Then Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’