Psalm 20

1  May the Lord hear you in the day of trouble, •
   the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
2  Send you help from his sanctuary •
   and strengthen you out of Zion;
3  Remember all your offerings •
   and accept your burnt sacrifice;
4  Grant you your heart’s desire •
   and fulfil all your mind.
5  May we rejoice in your salvation
      and triumph in the name of our God; •
   may the Lord perform all your petitions.
6  Now I know that the Lord will save his anointed; •
   he will answer him from his holy heaven,
      with the mighty strength of his right hand.
7  Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses, •
   but we will call only on the name of the Lord our God.
8  They are brought down and fallen, •
   but we are risen and stand upright.
9  O Lord, save the king •
   and answer us when we call upon you.

Psalm 21

1  The king shall rejoice in your strength, O Lord; •
   how greatly shall he rejoice in your salvation!
2  You have given him his heart’s desire •
   and have not denied the request of his lips.
3  For you come to meet him with blessings of goodness •
   and set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
4  He asked of you life and you gave it him, •
   length of days, for ever and ever.
5  His honour is great because of your salvation; •
   glory and majesty have you laid upon him.
6  You have granted him everlasting felicity •
   and will make him glad with joy in your presence.
7  For the king puts his trust in the Lord; •
   because of the loving-kindness of the Most High,
      he shall not be overthrown.
8  Your hand shall mark down all your enemies; •
   your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9  You will make them like a fiery oven
      in the time of your wrath; •
   the Lord will swallow them up in his anger
      and the fire will consume them.
10  Their fruit you will root out of the land •
   and their seed from among its inhabitants.
11  Because they intend evil against you •
   and devise wicked schemes
      which they cannot perform,
12  You will put them to flight •
   when you aim your bow at their faces.
13  Be exalted, O Lord, in your own might; •
   we will make music and sing of your power.

Restoration and Protection Promised

43But now thus says the Lord,
   he who created you, O Jacob,
   he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
   I have called you by name, you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
   and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
   and the flame shall not consume you.
³ For I am the Lord your God,
   the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
   Ethiopia^* and Seba in exchange for you.
⁴ Because you are precious in my sight,
   and honoured, and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
   nations in exchange for your life.
⁵ Do not fear, for I am with you;
   I will bring your offspring from the east,
   and from the west I will gather you;
⁶ I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’,
   and to the south, ‘Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
   and my daughters from the end of the earth—
⁷ everyone who is called by my name,
   whom I created for my glory,
   whom I formed and made.’

⁸ Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
   who are deaf, yet have ears!
⁹ Let all the nations gather together,
   and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this,
   and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
   and let them hear and say, ‘It is true.’
¹⁰ You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
   and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
   and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
   nor shall there be any after me.
¹¹ I, I am the Lord,
   and besides me there is no saviour.
¹² I declared and saved and proclaimed,
   when there was no strange god among you;
   and you are my witnesses, says the Lord.
¹³ I am God, and also henceforth I am He;
   there is no one who can deliver from my hand;
   I work and who can hinder it?

Pronouncement about the Sabbath

23 One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ ²⁵And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? ²⁶He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ ²⁷Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; ²⁸so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’

The Man with a Withered Hand

3Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ²They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ ⁴Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. ⁵He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.