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Psalm 12

Plea for Help in Evil Times

To the leader: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
¹ Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly;
   the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
² They utter lies to each other;
   with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

³ May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
   the tongue that makes great boasts,
⁴ those who say, ‘With our tongues we will prevail;
   our lips are our own—who is our master?’

⁵ ‘Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,
   I will now rise up,’ says the Lord;
   ‘I will place them in the safety for which they long.’
⁶ The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,
   silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
   purified seven times.

⁷ You, O Lord, will protect us;
   you will guard us from this generation for ever.
⁸ On every side the wicked prowl,
   as vileness is exalted among humankind.

⁷ Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
   where you pasture your flock,
   where you make it lie down at noon;
for why should I be like one who is veiled
   beside the flocks of your companions?

⁸ If you do not know,
   O fairest among women,
follow the tracks of the flock,
   and pasture your kids
   beside the shepherds’ tents.

Colloquy of Bridegroom, Friends, and Bride

⁹ I compare you, my love,
   to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
¹⁰ Your cheeks are comely with ornaments,
   your neck with strings of jewels.
¹¹ We will make you ornaments of gold,
   studded with silver.

¹² While the king was on his couch,
   my nard gave forth its fragrance.
¹³ My beloved is to me a bag of myrrh
   that lies between my breasts.
¹⁴ My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
   in the vineyards of En-gedi.

¹⁵ Ah, you are beautiful, my love;
   ah, you are beautiful;
   your eyes are doves.
¹⁶ Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved,
   truly lovely.
Our couch is green;
¹⁷   the beams of our house are cedar,
   our rafters^* are pine.

2I am a rose^* of Sharon,
   a lily of the valleys.

² As a lily among brambles,
   so is my love among maidens.

³ As an apple tree among the trees of the wood,
   so is my beloved among young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
   and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
⁴ He brought me to the banqueting house,
   and his intention towards me was love.
⁵ Sustain me with raisins,
   refresh me with apples;
   for I am faint with love.
⁶ O that his left hand were under my head,
   and that his right hand embraced me!
⁷ I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
   by the gazelles or the wild does:
do not stir up or awaken love
   until it is ready!

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

6He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. ²On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! ³Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary^* and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence^* at him. ⁴Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ ⁵And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. ⁶And he was amazed at their unbelief.

The Mission of the Twelve

Then he went about among the villages teaching.