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Psalm 114

God’s Wonders at the Exodus

¹ When Israel went out from Egypt,
   the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
² Judah became God’s^* sanctuary,
   Israel his dominion.

³ The sea looked and fled;
   Jordan turned back.
⁴ The mountains skipped like rams,
   the hills like lambs.

⁵ Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
   O Jordan, that you turn back?
⁶ O mountains, that you skip like rams?
   O hills, like lambs?

⁷ Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
   at the presence of the God of Jacob,
⁸ who turns the rock into a pool of water,
   the flint into a spring of water.

Psalm 115

The Impotence of Idols and the Greatness of God

¹ Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
   for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
² Why should the nations say,
   ‘Where is their God?’

³ Our God is in the heavens;
   he does whatever he pleases.
⁴ Their idols are silver and gold,
   the work of human hands.
⁵ They have mouths, but do not speak;
   eyes, but do not see.
⁶ They have ears, but do not hear;
   noses, but do not smell.
⁷ They have hands, but do not feel;
   feet, but do not walk;
   they make no sound in their throats.
⁸ Those who make them are like them;
   so are all who trust in them.

⁹ O Israel, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield.
¹⁰ O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield.
¹¹ You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield.

¹² The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
   he will bless the house of Israel;
   he will bless the house of Aaron;
¹³ he will bless those who fear the Lord,
   both small and great.

¹⁴ May the Lord give you increase,
   both you and your children.
¹⁵ May you be blessed by the Lord,
   who made heaven and earth.

¹⁶ The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
   but the earth he has given to human beings.
¹⁷ The dead do not praise the Lord,
   nor do any that go down into silence.
¹⁸ But we will bless the Lord
   from this time on and for evermore.
Praise the Lord!

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles in Babylon

29These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ⁴Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ⁸For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,^{* 9}for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord.

10 For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfil to you my promise and bring you back to this place. ¹¹For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. ¹²Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. ¹³When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, ¹⁴I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ ¹⁴And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ¹⁵He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah,^* the Son of the living God.’ ¹⁷And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter,^* and on this rock^* I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ ²⁰Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was^* the Messiah.^*