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Psalm 106

A Confession of Israel’s Sins

¹ Praise the Lord!
   O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
   for his steadfast love endures for ever.
² Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord,
   or declare all his praise?
³ Happy are those who observe justice,
   who do righteousness at all times.

⁴ Remember me, O Lord, when you show favour to your people;
   help me when you deliver them;
⁵ that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
   that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
   that I may glory in your heritage.

⁶ Both we and our ancestors have sinned;
   we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly.
⁷ Our ancestors, when they were in Egypt,
   did not consider your wonderful works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
   but rebelled against the Most High^* at the Red Sea.^*
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
   so that he might make known his mighty power.
⁹ He rebuked the Red Sea,^* and it became dry;
   he led them through the deep as through a desert.
¹⁰ So he saved them from the hand of the foe,
   and delivered them from the hand of the enemy.
¹¹ The waters covered their adversaries;
   not one of them was left.
¹² Then they believed his words;
   they sang his praise.

¹³ But they soon forgot his works;
   they did not wait for his counsel.
¹⁴ But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,
   and put God to the test in the desert;
¹⁵ he gave them what they asked,
   but sent a wasting disease among them.

¹⁶ They were jealous of Moses in the camp,
   and of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
¹⁷ The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
   and covered the faction of Abiram.
¹⁸ Fire also broke out in their company;
   the flame burned up the wicked.

Elijah

48Then Elijah arose, a prophet like fire,
   and his word burned like a torch.
² He brought a famine upon them,
   and by his zeal he made them few in number.
³ By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens,
   and also three times brought down fire.
⁴ How glorious you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
   Whose glory is equal to yours?
⁵ You raised a corpse from death
   and from Hades, by the word of the Most High.
⁶ You sent kings down to destruction,
   and famous men, from their sickbeds.
⁷ You heard rebuke at Sinai
   and judgements of vengeance at Horeb.
⁸ You anointed kings to inflict retribution,
   and prophets to succeed you.^*
9 You were taken up by a whirlwind of fire,
   in a chariot with horses of fire.
¹⁰ At the appointed time, it is written, you are destined^*
   to calm the wrath of God before it breaks out in fury,
to turn the hearts of parents to their children,
   and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
¹¹ Happy are those who saw you
   and were adorned^* with your love!
   For we also shall surely live.^*

Elisha

¹² When Elijah was enveloped in the whirlwind,
   Elisha was filled with his spirit.
He performed twice as many signs,
   and marvels with every utterance of his mouth.^*
Never in his lifetime did he tremble before any ruler,
   nor could anyone intimidate him at all.
¹³ Nothing was too hard for him,
   and when he was dead, his body prophesied.
¹⁴ In his life he did wonders,
   and in death his deeds were marvellous.

¹⁵ Despite all this the people did not repent,
   nor did they forsake their sins,
until they were carried off as plunder from their land,
   and were scattered over all the earth.
The people were left very few in number,
   but with a ruler from the house of David.
¹⁶ Some of them did what was right,
   but others sinned more and more.

Hezekiah

¹⁷ Hezekiah fortified his city,
   and brought water into its midst;
he tunnelled the rock with iron tools,
   and built cisterns for the water.
¹⁸ In his days Sennacherib invaded the country;
   he sent his commander^* and departed;
he shook his fist against Zion,
   and made great boasts in his arrogance.
¹⁹ Then their hearts were shaken and their hands trembled,
   and they were in anguish, like women in labour.
²⁰ But they called upon the Lord who is merciful,
   spreading out their hands towards him.
The Holy One quickly heard them from heaven,
   and delivered them through Isaiah.
²¹ The Lord^* struck down the camp of the Assyrians,
   and his angel wiped them out.
²² For Hezekiah did what was pleasing to the Lord,
   and he kept firmly to the ways of his ancestor David,
as he was commanded by the prophet Isaiah,
   who was great and trustworthy in his visions.

Isaiah

²³ In Isaiah’s^* days the sun went backwards,
   and he prolonged the life of the king.
²⁴ By his dauntless spirit he saw the future,
   and comforted the mourners in Zion.
²⁵ He revealed what was to occur to the end of time,
   and the hidden things before they happened.

The Heavenly Worship

4After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ ²At once I was in the spirit,^* and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! ³And the one seated there looks like jasper and cornelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. ⁴Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. ⁵Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; ⁶and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.

Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: ⁷the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. ⁸And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
‘Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the Almighty,
   who was and is and is to come.’
⁹And whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,
¹¹ ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God,
   to receive glory and honour and power,
for you created all things,
   and by your will they existed and were created.’

¹⁹ They made a calf at Horeb
   and worshipped a cast image.
²⁰ They exchanged the glory of God^*
   for the image of an ox that eats grass.
²¹ They forgot God, their Saviour,
   who had done great things in Egypt,
²² wondrous works in the land of Ham,
   and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.^*
23 Therefore he said he would destroy them—
   had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
   to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

²⁴ Then they despised the pleasant land,
   having no faith in his promise.
²⁵ They grumbled in their tents,
   and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
²⁶ Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them
   that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
²⁷ and would disperse^* their descendants among the nations,
   scattering them over the lands.

²⁸ Then they attached themselves to the Baal of Peor,
   and ate sacrifices offered to the dead;
²⁹ they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
   and a plague broke out among them.
³⁰ Then Phinehas stood up and interceded,
   and the plague was stopped.
³¹ And that has been reckoned to him as righteousness
   from generation to generation for ever.

³² They angered the Lord ^* at the waters of Meribah,
   and it went ill with Moses on their account;
³³ for they made his spirit bitter,
   and he spoke words that were rash.

³⁴ They did not destroy the peoples
   as the Lord commanded them,
³⁵ but they mingled with the nations
   and learned to do as they did.
³⁶ They served their idols,
   which became a snare to them.
³⁷ They sacrificed their sons
   and their daughters to the demons;
³⁸ they poured out innocent blood,
   the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
   and the land was polluted with blood.
³⁹ Thus they became unclean by their acts,
   and prostituted themselves in their doings.

⁴⁰ Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
   and he abhorred his heritage;
⁴¹ he gave them into the hand of the nations,
   so that those who hated them ruled over them.
⁴² Their enemies oppressed them,
   and they were brought into subjection under their power.
⁴³ Many times he delivered them,
   but they were rebellious in their purposes,
   and were brought low through their iniquity.
⁴⁴ Nevertheless, he regarded their distress
   when he heard their cry.
⁴⁵ For their sake he remembered his covenant,
   and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
⁴⁶ He caused them to be pitied
   by all who held them captive.

An Invitation to Abundant Life

55Ho, everyone who thirsts,
   come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
   come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
   without money and without price.
² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
   and your labour for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
   and delight yourselves in rich food.
³ Incline your ear, and come to me;
   listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
   my steadfast, sure love for David.
⁴ See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
   a leader and commander for the peoples.
⁵ See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
   and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
   for he has glorified you.

⁶ Seek the Lord while he may be found,
   call upon him while he is near;
⁷ let the wicked forsake their way,
   and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
   and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰ For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
   and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
   giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
   it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
   and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

¹² For you shall go out in joy,
   and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
   shall burst into song,
   and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³ Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
   instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
   for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

The Cost of Discipleship

25 Now large crowds were travelling with him; and he turned and said to them, ²⁶‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. ²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” ³¹Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³²If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. ³³So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

About Salt

34 ‘Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?^{* 35}It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure heap; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

3 So he told them this parable: ⁴‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? ⁵When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. ⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” ⁷Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

8 ‘Or what woman having ten silver coins,^* if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” ¹⁰Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’