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Psalm 83

1  Hold not your peace, O God, do not keep silent; ♦︎
   be not unmoved, O God;
2  For your enemies are in tumult ♦︎
   and those who hate you lift up their heads.
3  They take secret counsel against your people ♦︎
   and plot against those whom you treasure.
4  They say, ‘Come, let us destroy them as a nation, ♦︎
   that the name of Israel be remembered no more.’
5  They have conspired together with one mind; ♦︎
   they are in league against you:
6  The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, ♦︎
   Moab and the Hagarenes,
7  Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, ♦︎
   the Philistines and those who dwell in Tyre.
8  Ashur also has joined them ♦︎
   and has lent a strong arm to the children of Lot.
9  Do to them as you did to Midian, ♦︎
   to Sisera and to Jabin at the river of Kishon,
10  Who perished at Endor ♦︎
   and became as dung for the earth.
11  Make their commanders like Oreb and Zeëb, ♦︎
   and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12  Who said, ‘Let us take for ourselves ♦︎
   the pastures of God as our possession.’
13  O my God, make them like thistledown, ♦︎
   like chaff before the wind.
14  Like fire that consumes a forest, ♦︎
   like the flame that sets mountains ablaze,
15  So drive them with your tempest ♦︎
   and dismay them with your storm.
16  Cover their faces with shame, O Lord, ♦︎
   that they may seek your name.
17  Let them be disgraced and dismayed for ever; ♦︎
   let them be put to confusion and perish;
18  And they shall know that you, whose name is the Lord, ♦︎
   are alone the Most High over all the earth.

Psalm 84

1  How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! ♦︎
   My soul has a desire and longing to enter the courts of the Lord;
      my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.
2  The sparrow has found her a house
      and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young: ♦︎
   at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
3  Blessed are they who dwell in your house: ♦︎
   they will always be praising you.
4  Blessed are those whose strength is in you, ♦︎
   in whose heart are the highways to Zion,
5  Who going through the barren valley find there a spring, ♦︎
   and the early rains will clothe it with blessing.
6  They will go from strength to strength ♦︎
   and appear before God in Zion.
7  O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; ♦︎
   listen, O God of Jacob.
8  Behold our defender, O God, ♦︎
   and look upon the face of your anointed.
9  For one day in your courts ♦︎
   is better than a thousand.
10  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God ♦︎
   than dwell in the tents of ungodliness.
11  For the Lord God is both sun and shield;
      he will give grace and glory; ♦︎
   no good thing shall the Lord withhold
      from those who walk with integrity.
12  O Lord God of hosts, ♦︎
   blessed are those who put their trust in you.

The Ingathering of the Dispersed

60Arise, shine; for your light has come,
   and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
² For darkness shall cover the earth,
   and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
   and his glory will appear over you.
³ Nations shall come to your light,
   and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

⁴ Lift up your eyes and look around;
   they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
   and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.
⁵ Then you shall see and be radiant;
   your heart shall thrill and rejoice,^*
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
   the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
⁶ A multitude of camels shall cover you,
   the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
   all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
   and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.
⁷ All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you,
   the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;
they shall be acceptable on my altar,
   and I will glorify my glorious house.

⁸ Who are these that fly like a cloud,
   and like doves to their windows?
⁹ For the coastlands shall wait for me,
   the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring your children from far away,
   their silver and gold with them,
for the name of the Lord your God,
   and for the Holy One of Israel,
   because he has glorified you.
¹⁰ Foreigners shall build up your walls,
   and their kings shall minister to you;
for in my wrath I struck you down,
   but in my favour I have had mercy on you.
¹¹ Your gates shall always be open;
   day and night they shall not be shut,
so that nations shall bring you their wealth,
   with their kings led in procession.
¹² For the nation and kingdom
   that will not serve you shall perish;
   those nations shall be utterly laid waste.
¹³ The glory of Lebanon shall come to you,
   the cypress, the plane, and the pine,
to beautify the place of my sanctuary;
   and I will glorify where my feet rest.
¹⁴ The descendants of those who oppressed you
   shall come bending low to you,
and all who despised you
   shall bow down at your feet;
they shall call you the City of the Lord,
   the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
¹⁵ Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
   with no one passing through,
I will make you majestic for ever,
   a joy from age to age.
¹⁶ You shall suck the milk of nations,
   you shall suck the breasts of kings;
and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Saviour
   and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

¹⁷ Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
   instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze,
   instead of stones, iron.
I will appoint Peace as your overseer
   and Righteousness as your taskmaster.

The Rich Man

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ¹⁸Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’ ²⁰He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ ²¹Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money^* to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ ²²When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ ²⁴And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is^* to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ ²⁶They were greatly astounded and said to one another,^* ‘Then who can be saved?’ ²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

28 Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ ²⁹Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news,^{* 30}who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’