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Psalm 35

1  Contend, O Lord, with those that contend with me; ♦︎
   fight against those that fight against me.
2  Take up shield and buckler ♦︎
   and rise up to help me.
3  Draw the spear and bar the way
      against those who pursue me; ♦︎
   say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’
4  Let those who seek after my life be shamed and disgraced; ♦︎
   let those who plot my ruin fall back and be put to confusion.
5  Let them be as chaff before the wind, ♦︎
   with the angel of the Lord thrusting them down.
6  Let their way be dark and slippery, ♦︎
   with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
7  For they have secretly spread a net for me without a cause; ♦︎
   without any cause they have dug a pit for my soul.
8  Let ruin come upon them unawares; ♦︎
   let them be caught in the net they laid;
      let them fall in it to their destruction.
9  Then will my soul be joyful in the Lord ♦︎
   and glory in his salvation.
10  My very bones will say, ‘Lord, who is like you? ♦︎
   You deliver the poor from those that are too strong for them,
      the poor and needy from those who would despoil them.’
11  False witnesses rose up against me; ♦︎
   they charged me with things I knew not.
12  They rewarded me evil for good, ♦︎
   to the desolation of my soul.
13  But as for me, when they were sick I put on sackcloth ♦︎
   and humbled myself with fasting;
14  When my prayer returned empty to my bosom, ♦︎
   it was as though I grieved for my friend or brother;
15  I behaved as one who mourns for his mother, ♦︎
   bowed down and brought very low.
16  But when I stumbled, they gathered in delight;
      they gathered together against me; ♦︎
   as if they were strangers I did not know
      they tore at me without ceasing.
17  When I fell they mocked me; ♦︎
   they gnashed at me with their teeth.
18  O Lord, how long will you look on? ♦︎
   Rescue my soul from their ravages,
      and my poor life from the young lions.
19  I will give you thanks in the great congregation; ♦︎
   I will praise you in the mighty throng.
20  Do not let my treacherous foes rejoice over me, ♦︎
   or those who hate me without a cause
      mock me with their glances.
21  For they do not speak of peace, ♦︎
   but invent deceitful schemes against those that are quiet in the land.
22  They opened wide their mouths and derided me, saying ♦︎
   ‘We have seen it with our very eyes.’
23  This you have seen, O Lord; do not keep silent; ♦︎
   go not far from me, O Lord.
24  Awake, arise, to my cause, ♦︎
   to my defence, my God and my Lord!
25  Give me justice, O Lord my God,
      according to your righteousness; ♦︎
   let them not triumph over me.
26  Let them not say to themselves,
      ‘Our heart’s desire!’ ♦︎
   Let them not say, ‘We have swallowed him up.’
27  Let all who rejoice at my trouble be put to shame and confusion; ♦︎
   let those who boast against me
      be clothed with shame and dishonour.
28  Let those who favour my cause rejoice and be glad; ♦︎
   let them say always,
      ‘Great is the Lord, who delights in his servant’s well-being.’
29  So shall my tongue be talking of your righteousness ♦︎
   and of your praise all the day long.

27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him, ‘Thus the Lord has said, “I revealed^* myself to the family of your ancestor in Egypt when they were slaves^* to the house of Pharaoh. ²⁸I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to offer incense, to wear an ephod before me; and I gave to the family of your ancestor all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. ²⁹Why then look with greedy eye^* at my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honour your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?” ³⁰Therefore the Lord the God of Israel declares: “I promised that your family and the family of your ancestor should go in and out before me for ever”; but now the Lord declares: “Far be it from me; for those who honour me I will honour, and those who despise me shall be treated with contempt. ³¹See, a time is coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your ancestor’s family, so that no one in your family will live to old age. ³²Then in distress you will look with greedy eye^* on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed upon Israel; and no one in your family shall ever live to old age. ³³The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep out his^* eyes and grieve his^* heart; all the members of your household shall die by the sword.^{* 34}The fate of your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you—both of them shall die on the same day. ³⁵I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed one for ever. ³⁶Everyone who is left in your family shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread, and shall say, Please put me in one of the priest’s places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.” ’

The Question about David’s Son

41 Then he said to them, ‘How can they say that the Messiah^* is David’s son? ⁴²For David himself says in the book of Psalms,
“The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand,
⁴³   until I make your enemies your footstool.’ ”
⁴⁴David thus calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?’

Jesus Denounces the Scribes

45 In the hearing of all the people he said to the^* disciples, ⁴⁶‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets. ⁴⁷They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’

The Widow’s Offering

21He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; ²he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. ³He said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; ⁴for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.’