Book of Common Prayer
מ (Mem)
97 O how I love your law!
All day long I meditate on it.
98 Your commandments[a] make me wiser than my enemies,
for I am always aware of them.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your rules.
100 I am more discerning than those older than I,
for I observe your precepts.
101 I stay away[b] from every evil path,
so that I might keep your instructions.[c]
102 I do not turn aside from your regulations,
for you teach me.
103 Your words are sweeter
in my mouth than honey![d]
104 Your precepts give me discernment.
Therefore I hate all deceitful actions.[e]
נ (Nun)
105 Your word[f] is a lamp to walk by,
and a light to illumine my path.[g]
106 I have vowed and solemnly sworn
to keep your just regulations.
107 I am suffering terribly.
O Lord, revive me with your word.[h]
108 O Lord, please accept the freewill offerings of my praise.[i]
Teach me your regulations.
109 My life is in continual danger,[j]
but I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked lay a trap for me,
but I do not wander from your precepts.
111 I claim your rules as my permanent possession,
for they give me joy.[k]
112 I am determined to obey[l] your statutes
at all times, to the very end.
ס (Samek)
113 I hate people with divided loyalties,[m]
but I love your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield.
I find hope in your word.
115 Turn away from me, you evil men,
so that I can observe[n] the commands of my God.[o]
116 Sustain me as you promised,[p] so that I will live.[q]
Do not disappoint me.[r]
117 Support me, so that I will be delivered.
Then I will focus[s] on your statutes continually.
118 You despise[t] all who stray from your statutes,
for such people are deceptive and unreliable.[u]
119 You remove all the wicked of the earth like slag.[v]
Therefore I love your rules.[w]
120 My body[x] trembles[y] because I fear you;[z]
I am afraid of your judgments.
Psalm 81[a]
For the music director, according to the gittith style;[b] by Asaph.
81 Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!
Shout out to the God of Jacob!
2 Sing[c] a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant-sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument.
3 Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon,[d]
and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins.[e]
4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel;[f]
it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.
5 He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph,
when he attacked the land of Egypt.[g]
I heard a voice I did not recognize.[h]
6 It said:[i] “I removed the burden from his shoulder;
his hands were released from holding the basket.[j]
7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud.[k]
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.[l] (Selah)
8 I said,[m] ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn[n] you.
O Israel, if only you would obey me![o]
9 There must be[p] no other[q] god among you.
You must not worship a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord, your God,
the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.’
11 But my people did not obey me;[r]
Israel did not submit to me.[s]
12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires;[t]
they did what seemed right to them.[u]
13 If only my people would obey me![v]
If only Israel would keep my commands![w]
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
and attack[x] their adversaries.”
15 (May those who hate the Lord[y] cower in fear[z] before him.
May they be permanently humiliated.)[aa]
16 “I would feed Israel the best wheat,[ab]
and would satisfy your appetite[ac] with honey from the rocky cliffs.”[ad]
Psalm 82[ae]
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God stands in[af] the assembly of El;[ag]
in the midst of the gods[ah] he renders judgment.[ai]
2 He says,[aj] “How long will you make unjust legal decisions
and show favoritism to the wicked?[ak] (Selah)
3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless.[al]
Vindicate the oppressed and suffering.
4 Rescue the poor and needy.
Deliver them from the power[am] of the wicked.
5 They[an] neither know nor understand.
They stumble around[ao] in the dark,
while all the foundations of the earth crumble.[ap]
6 I thought,[aq] ‘You are gods;
all of you are sons of the Most High.’[ar]
7 Yet you will die like mortals;[as]
you will fall like all the other rulers.”[at]
8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth!
For you own[au] all the nations.
73 The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all the rest of Israel lived in their cities.
The People Respond to the Reading of the Law
When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites[a] were settled in their towns,[b] 8 1 all the people gathered together[c] in the plaza which was in front of the Water Gate. They asked[d] Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. (This happened on the first day of the seventh month.) 3 So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon[e] before the men and women and those children who could understand.[f] All the people were eager to hear[g] the book of the law.
5 Ezra opened the book in plain view[a] of all the people, for he was elevated above all the people. When he opened the book,[b] all the people stood up. 6 Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people replied “Amen! Amen!” as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—all of whom were Levites[c]—were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing. 8 They read from the book of God’s law, explaining it[d] and imparting insight. Thus the people[e] gained understanding from what was read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor,[f] Ezra the priestly scribe,[g] and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them,[h] “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law. 10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord.[i] Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
11 Then the Levites quieted all the people saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy. Do not grieve.” 12 So all the people departed to eat and drink and to share their food[j] with others[k] and to enjoy tremendous joy,[l] for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.
13 On the second day of the month the family leaders[m] met with[n] Ezra the scribe, together with all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to consider the words of the law. 14 They discovered written in the law that the Lord had commanded through[o] Moses that the Israelites should live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month, 15 and that they should make a proclamation and disseminate this message[p] in all their cities and in Jerusalem: “Go to the hill country and bring back olive branches and branches of wild olive trees, myrtle trees, date palms, and other leafy trees to construct temporary shelters, as it is written.”
16 So the people went out and brought these things[q] back and constructed temporary shelters for themselves, each on his roof and in his courtyard and in the courtyards of the temple[r] of God and in the plaza of the Water Gate and the plaza of the Ephraim Gate. 17 So all the assembly which had returned from the exile constructed temporary shelters and lived in them. The Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day. Everyone experienced very great joy.[s] 18 Ezra[t] read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day to the last.[u] They observed the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly[v] as was required.[w]
21 Then[a] one powerful angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone, threw it into the sea, and said,
“With this kind of sudden violent force[b]
Babylon the great city will be thrown down[c]
and it will never be found again!
22 And the sound of the harpists, musicians,
flute players, and trumpeters
will never be heard in you[d] again.
No[e] craftsman[f] who practices any trade
will ever be found in you again;
the noise of a mill[g] will never be heard in you again.
23 Even the light from a lamp
will never shine in you again!
The voices of the bridegroom and his bride
will never be heard in you again.
For your merchants were the tycoons of the world,
because all the nations[h] were deceived by your magic spells![i]
24 The[j] blood of the saints and prophets was found in her,[k]
along with the blood[l] of all those who had been killed on the earth.”
Healing Many Others
29 When he left there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain, where he sat down. 30 Then[a] large crowds came to him bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others. They[b] laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.
The Feeding of the Four Thousand
32 Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way.” 33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?” 34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven—and a few small fish.” 35 After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples, who then gave them to the crowds.[c] 37 They[d] all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 38 Not counting children and women,[e] there were 4,000 men who ate.[f] 39 After sending away the crowd, he got into the boat[g] and went to the region of Magadan.[h]
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