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\MT{Open English Bible}

\MTT{NT, Psalms}

\MTTT{and selected Old Testament books}
\page \par {\startalignment[flushleft] This version uses US spelling (for example, “color”).
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\RAHeader{Ruth}

\MTT{The book of}

\MT{Ruth}
 \stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Naomi and Ruth}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  In\C{1} the time when the judges ruled, there was once a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah took his wife and two sons to live in the territory of Moab. His\V{2} name was Elimelech and his wife’s was Naomi, and his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. After they had been living in Moab for some time, Elimelech\V{3} died, and Naomi was left with her two sons, who\V{4} married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, Mahlon\V{5} and Chilion both died, and Naomi was left alone, without husband or sons.
\par 
\indentation  So\V{6} she set out with her daughters-in-law to return from the land of Moab, for she had heard that the {\sc Lord} had remembered his people and given them food. As\V{7} they were setting out together on the journey to Judah, Naomi\V{8} said to her daughters-in-law, “Go, return both of you to the home of your mother. May the {\sc Lord} be kind to you as you have been kind to the dead and to me. The\V{9} {\sc Lord} grant that each of you may find peace and happiness in the house of a new husband.”
\par 
Then she kissed them; but they began to weep aloud and\V{10} said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” But\V{11} Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters; why should you go with me? Can I still bear sons who might become your husbands? Go\V{12} back, my daughters, go your own way, because I am too old to have a husband. Even if I should say, ‘I have hope,’ even if I should have a husband tonight and should bear sons, would\V{13} you wait for them until they were grown up? Would you remain single for them? No, my daughters! My heart grieves for you, for the {\sc Lord} has sent me adversity.” Then\V{14} they again wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth stayed with her.
\par 
 “Look,”\V{15} said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her own people and to her own gods; go along with her!” But\V{16} Ruth answered, “Do not urge me to leave you or to go back. I will go where you go, and I will stay wherever you stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God; I\V{17} will die where you die, and be buried there. May the {\sc Lord} bring a curse upon me, if anything but death separate you and me.” When\V{18} Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she ceased urging her to return.
\par 
 So\V{19} they journeyed on until they came to Bethlehem. Their arrival stirred the whole town, and the women said, “Can this be Naomi?”
\par 
 “Do\V{20} not call me Naomi,” she said to them, “call me Mara\footnote{  1:20    In Hebrew “Naomi” means “pleasant,” and “Mara” means “bitter.”} , for the Almighty has given me a bitter lot. I\V{21} had plenty when I left, but the {\sc Lord} has brought me back empty handed. Why should you call me Naomi, now that the {\sc Lord} has afflicted me, and the Almighty has brought misfortune on me?” So\V{22} Naomi and Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law, returned from Moab. They reached Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{In the Fields of Boaz}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Now\C{2} Naomi was related through her husband to a very wealthy man of the family of Elimelech named Boaz. Ruth\V{2} the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me now go into the fields and gather leftover grain behind anyone who will allow me.”
\par 
\indentation “Go, my daughter.” she replied.
\par 
 So\V{3} she went to glean in the field after the reapers. As it happened, she was in that part of the field which belonged to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. When\V{4} Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “The {\sc Lord} be with you,” they answered him, “May the {\sc Lord} bless you.”
\par 
 “Whose\V{5} girl is this?” Boaz asked his servant who had charge of the reapers. The\V{6} servant who had charge of the reapers replied, “It is the Moabite girl who came back with Naomi from the territory of Moab. She\V{7} asked to be allowed to glean and gather sheaves after the reapers. So she came and has continued to work until now and she has not rested a moment in the field.”
\par 
 Then\V{8} Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field nor leave this place, but stay here with my girls. Watch\V{9} where the men are reaping and follow the gleaners. I have told the young men not to trouble you. When you are thirsty, go to the jars and drink of that which the young men have drawn.”
\par 
 Then\V{10} she bowed low and said to him, “Why are you so kind to me, to take interest in me when I am just a foreigner?” Boaz\V{11} replied, “I have heard what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you left your father and mother and your native land to come to a people that you did not know before. May\V{12} the {\sc Lord} repay you for what you have done, and may you be fully rewarded by the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” Then\V{13} she said, “I trust I may please you, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, although I am not really equal to one of your own servants.”
\par 
 At\V{14} mealtime Boaz said to Ruth, “Come here and eat some of the food and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed her some roasted grain. She ate until she was satisfied and had some left. When\V{15} she rose to glean, Boaz gave this order to his young men: “Let her glean even among the sheaves and do not disturb her. Also\V{16} pull out some for her from the bundles and leave for her to glean, and do not find fault with her.”
\par 
 So\V{17} she gleaned in the field until evening, then beat out what she had gleaned. It was about a bushel of barley. Then\V{18} she took it up and went into the town and showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her that which she had left from her meal after she had had enough.
\par 
 “Where\V{19} did you glean today, and where did you work?” asked her mother-in-law. “A blessing on him who took notice of you!”
\par 
So she told her mother-in-law where she had worked. “The name of the man with whom I worked today,” she said, “is Boaz.”
\par 
 Naomi\V{20} said to her daughter-in-law, “May the blessing of the {\sc Lord} rest on this man who has not ceased to show his loving-kindness to the living and to the dead. The man,” she added, “is a near relation of ours.”
\par 
 “He\V{21} told me,” Ruth said, “that I must keep near his young men until they have completed all his harvest.”
\par 
 Naomi\V{22} said to Ruth, “It is best, my daughter, that you should go out with his girls because you might not be as safe in another field.” So\V{23} she gleaned with the girls of Boaz until the end of the barley and wheat harvest; but she lived with her mother-in-law. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Night and morning}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  One\C{3} day, Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, should I not seek to secure a home for you where you will be happy and prosperous? Is\V{2} not Boaz, with whose girls you have been, a relative of ours? Tonight\V{3} he is going to winnow barley on the threshing-floor. So bathe and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing-floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. Then\V{4} when he lies down, mark the place where he lies. Go in, uncover his feet, lie down, and then he will tell you what to do.”
\par 
\indentation  “I\V{5} will do as you say.” Ruth said to her.
\par 
 So\V{6} she went down to the threshing-floor and did just as her mother-in-law told her. When\V{7} Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in a happy mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth came quietly and uncovered his feet and lay down. At\V{8} midnight the man was startled and turned over, and there was a woman lying at his feet! “Who\V{9} are you?” he said. “I am Ruth your servant.” she answered, “Spread your cloak over your servant, for you are a near relative.” He\V{10} said, “May you be blest by the {\sc Lord}, my daughter. You have shown me greater favor now than at first, for you have not followed young men, whether poor or rich. My\V{11} daughter, have no fear; I will do for you all that you ask; for the whole town knows that you are a virtuous woman. Now\V{12} it is true that I am a near relative, but there is another man nearer than I. Stay\V{13} here tonight, and then in the morning, if he will perform for you the duty of a kinsman, well, let him do it. But if he will not perform for you the duty of a kinsman, then as surely as the {\sc Lord} lives, I will do it for you. Lie down until morning.”
\par 
 So\V{14} she lay at his feet until morning, but rose before anyone could recognize her, for Boaz said, “No one must know that a woman came to the threshing-floor.” He\V{15} also said, “Bring the cloak which you have on and hold it.” So she held it while he poured into it six measures of barley and laid it on her shoulders. Then he went into the city.
\par 
 When\V{16} Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “Is it you, my daughter?” Then Ruth told Naomi all that the man had done for her. “He\V{17} gave me these six measures of barley,” she said, “for he said I should not go to my mother-in-law empty-handed.”
\par 
 “Wait\V{18} quietly, my daughter.” Naomi said, “Until you know how the affair will turn out, for the man will not rest unless he settles it all today.” 
\par 
 Then\C{4} Boaz went up to the gate and sat down. Just then the near kinsman of whom Boaz had spoken came along. Boaz said, “Hello, So-and-so (calling him by name), come here and sit down.” So he stopped and sat down. Boaz\V{2} also took ten of the town elders and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down.
\par 
 Then\V{3} he said to the near relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is offering for sale the piece of land which belonged to our relative Elimelech, and\V{4} I thought that I would lay the matter before you, suggesting that you buy it in the presence of these men who sit here and of the elders of my people. If you will buy it and so keep it in the possession of the family, do so; but if not; then tell me, so that I may know; for no one but you has the right to buy it, and I am next to you.” “I will buy it.” he said.
\par 
 Then\V{5} Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you must also marry Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to preserve the name of the dead in connection with his inheritance.”
\par 
 “I\V{6} cannot buy it for myself without spoiling my own inheritance,” the near relative said. “You take my right of buying it as a relative, because I cannot do so.”
\par 
 Now\V{7} this used to be the custom in Israel: to make valid anything relating to a matter of redemption or exchange, a man drew off his sandal and gave it to the other man; and this was the way contracts were attested in Israel. So\V{8} when the near relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” Boaz drew off the man’s sandal.
\par 
 Then\V{9} Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses at this time that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s from Naomi. Moreover\V{10} I have secured Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in connection with his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his relatives and from the household where he lived. You are witnesses this day.”
\par 
 Then\V{11} all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the {\sc Lord} make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you do well in Ephrata, and become famous in Bethlehem. From\V{12} the children whom the {\sc Lord} will give you by this young woman may your household become like the household of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”
\par 
 So\V{13} Boaz married Ruth, and she became his wife; and the {\sc Lord} gave to her a son. Then\V{14} the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the {\sc Lord} who has not left you at this time without a near relative, and may his name be famous in Israel. This\V{15} child will restore your vigor and nourish you in your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is worth more to you than seven sons, has borne a son to Boaz!”
\par 
 So\V{16} Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him as if he was her own. The\V{17} women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi!” They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Genealogy}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  This\V{18} is the genealogy of Perez:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{Perez was the father of Hezron,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hezron\V{19} of Ram,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Ram of Amminadab,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Amminidab\V{20} of Nashon,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Nashon of Salmon,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Salmon\V{21} of Boaz,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Boaz of Obed,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Obed\V{22} of Jesse,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Jesse of David.}
\blank[medium] \marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Esther}

\MTT{The Book of}

\MT{Esther}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Follies of a Despot}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  These\C{1} events happened in the time of Ahasuerus, who ruled over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia from\V{2} his royal throne in the fortified palace of Susa.
\par 
\indentation  In\V{3} the third year of his reign, the king gave a feast for all his officers and courtiers. The commanders of the military forces of Persia and Media, the nobles and provincial rulers were present while\V{4} for one hundred and eighty days he showed them the glorious riches of his kingdom and the costliness of his magnificent regalia.
\par 
 When\V{5} these days were ended, the king held a banquet for all the people who were present in the royal palace at Susa, high and low alike. It was a seven days’ feast in the enclosed garden of the royal palace. There\V{6} were white and violet cotton curtains fastened to silver rings and pillars of marble with cords of fine purple wool and linen. The couches were of gold and silver placed upon a mosaic pavement of alabaster, white marble, mother-of-pearl, and dark stone. Drink\V{7} was brought in vessels of gold – which were all different – and the king’s wine was provided with royal liberality. The\V{8} drinking was unrestricted, for the king had directed all the officers of his household to let each man do as he pleased. Queen\V{9} Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the King Ahasuerus’ royal palace.
\par 
 On\V{10} the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zathar and Carkas, his seven eunuch attendants to\V{11} bring Queen Vashti before him with the royal diadem on her head, to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was very beautiful. But\V{12} Queen Vashti refused to come as the king commanded through the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry and his fury burned within him.
\par 
 The\V{13} king turned to the wise men who knew the precedents, for it was his custom to confer with those wise in law. Those\V{14} next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan, seven officials of Persia and Media who had access to the king and were highest in the kingdom. “Queen\V{15} Vashit”, the king said, “has failed to obey my royal command – the command of King Ahasuerus conveyed through the eunuchs! What does the law say should be done to her?”
\par 
 Memucan\V{16} replied before the king and the officials, “Queen Vashti has done wrong not only to the king but also to all the officials and to all the peoples in all of the king’s provinces. The\V{17} refusal of the queen will be reported to all the women with the result that it will make them despise their husbands. They will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come!’ This\V{18} very day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the refusal of the queen will tell it to all the king’s officials, and there will be contempt and strife! If\V{19} it seems best to the king, let him send out a royal edict. Let it be written among the laws of Persia and Media, never to be repealed, that Vashti may never again come before King Ahasuerus. Let the king give her place as queen to another who is more worthy than she. When\V{20} the king’s decree which he makes is heard throughout his kingdom – great as it is – the wives of all classes will give honor to their husbands.”
\par 
 The\V{21} proposal pleased the king and the officials, and the king did as Memucan advised. He\V{22} sent letters to all the provinces, to every province in its own system of writing and to every people in their language, that every man should be master in his own house! 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Choosing a Queen}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Some\C{2} time later, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered what Vashti had done and what had been decreed against her. Then\V{2} the king’s servants who waited upon him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king, and\V{3} let the king appoint commissioners to all the provinces of his kingdom to gather them all to Susa the royal residence. Let them be brought into the women’s quarters under the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who has charge of the women. Then give them what is needed to make them beautiful, and\V{4} let the girl who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” The proposal pleased the king so he put it into action.
\par 
\indentation  In\V{5} Susa the royal residence lived a Jew named Mordecai. He was son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjamite. (Kish\V{6} had been carried away from Jerusalem with the exiles who were deported with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon took captive.) Mordecai\V{7} had adopted Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, since she had neither father nor mother. The girl was shapely and beautiful; and after her father and mother died, Mordecai raised her as if she was his own daughter.
\par 
 When\V{8} the king’s command and decree were known, many girls were gathered together to Susa the capital under the custody of Hegai. Esther was also taken into the king’s palace and placed under the custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. The\V{9} girl pleased him and gained his favor, so that he quickly gave her the cosmetics she needed to enhance her beauty and her allowance of food and the seven maids selected from the king’s household. He also transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem. Esther\V{10} had not revealed her people nor her family background because Mordecai had ordered her not to. Every\V{11} day Mordecai would to walk in front of the courtyard of the harem and ask after Esther’s health and what was happening to her.
\par 
 The\V{12} girls were prepared for meeting King Ahasuerus for twelve months: six months being treated with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics. After the twelve months, each\V{13} girl went in to the king. She was allowed to take with her whatever she wished from the women’s quarters, and\V{14} would enter the palace in the evening and return the next morning to another part of the harem under the care of the king’s eunuch Shaashgaz who was in charge of concubines. She would not go to the king again unless he desired her and summoned her by name. When\V{15} it was the turn of Esther (the girl adopted by Mordecai, daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go in to the king, she only took with her those things that Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the women, had advised her to take. Esther was liked by all who saw her. Esther\V{16} was taken to King Ahasuerus in the royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. And\V{17} the king loved her more than all the other women, and she became his favorite and won his affection. He placed the royal diadem on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. Then\V{18} the king gave a great feast to all his officials and courtiers in honor of Esther, and he remitted the taxes of the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality.
\par 
 All\V{19} the time the virgins were assembled again, Mordecai was sitting as an offical at the king’s gate. Esther\V{20} had not revealed her people or family background because she still obeyed him as she had when he was bringing her up.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Hatred without Pity}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  In\V{21} those days while Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate, two of the royal court attendants, Bigthan and Teresh, who guarded the entrance of the palace, became enraged and attempted to kill King Ahasuerus. But\V{22} Mordecai learned of the conspiracy and disclosed it to Queen Esther, and she told the king on Mordecai’s behalf. When\V{23} the affair was investigated and the facts discovered, the conspirators were both hanged on the gallows. The incident was recorded in the presence of the king in the daily record of events. 
\par 
\indentation  After\C{3} these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him to a place above all the officials who were with him. All\V{2} the king’s courtiers who were in the king’s gate used to bow down before Haman, for so the king had commanded, but Mordecai did not bow down nor prostrate himself.
\par 
 Then\V{3} the king’s courtiers, who were in the king’s gate, said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” When\V{4} they had spoken to him day after day without his listening to them, they informed Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s acts would be tolerated, for he had told them that he was a Jew. When\V{5} Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down nor prostrate himself before him, he was furious. But\V{6} it seemed to him beneath his dignity to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who Mordecai’s people were. Instead Haman sought to destroy all the people of Mordecai, all the Jews throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus.
\par 
 In\V{7} the first month (the month of Nisan) in the twelfth year of the reign of King Ahasuerus, Haman had ‘pur’ (which means ‘lot’) cast before him to determine the best day and best month for his actions. The lot fell on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month – the month of Adar.
\par 
 So\V{8} Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, whose laws differ from those of every other and who do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not right for the king to tolerate them. If\V{9} it seems best to the king, let an order be given to destroy them, and I will pay ten thousand silver coins into the royal treasury.” So\V{10} the king took off his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. “The\V{11} money is yours,” the king said to Haman, “and the people also to do with them as you wish.” And\V{12} so, on the thirteenth day of the first month, the king’s secretaries were summoned and as Haman instructed an edict was issued to the king’s satraps and provincial governors and the rulers of each of the peoples in their own script and their own language. The edict was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with his ring. Dispatches\V{13} were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces, saying: Destroy, kill, put an end to all the Jews, young and old, little children and women, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, and plunder their possessions. A\V{14} copy of the edict was to be published as a decree in every province – publicly displayed so that everyone might be ready for that day. By\V{15} command of the king the couriers raced off, and the edict was published in Susa itself.
\par 
Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in turmoil. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{A Queen’s Efforts to Save Her People}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  When\C{4} Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and strewed ashes on his head, and went out into the city and raised a loud and bitter cry of lamentation. He\V{2} went as far as the king’s gate, but no one could enter the gate clothed with sackcloth. In\V{3} every province, wherever the king’s command and decree went, there was great mourning, fasting, weeping, and wailing among the Jews. Many of them sat in sackcloth and ashes.
\par 
\indentation  When\V{4} Esther’s maids and attendants told her about Mordecai’s behavior, she was greatly troubled. She sent garments for Mordecai to put on, so that he could take off his sack-cloth, but he would not accept them. So\V{5} Esther called Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what it all meant and the reason for it.
\par 
 So\V{6} Hathach went out to Mordecai, to the city square in front of the king’s gate. Mordecai\V{7} told him all that had happened to him and the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasury for the destruction of the Jews. Also\V{8} he gave him a copy of the decree to destroy them, that had been published in Susa, to show to Esther for her information. He also told her to go to the king and implore his mercy and to plead with him in behalf of her people.
\par 
 When\V{9} Hathach came and told Esther what Mordecai had said, she\V{10} instructed Hathach to go and say to Mordecai, “All\V{11} the king’s courtiers and the people of the king’s provinces know that for every man or woman who goes to the king into the inner court without being called there is one penalty, death, unless the king holds out the golden sceptre signifying that they may live. It has been thirty days since I have been called to go in to the king.”
\par 
 When\V{12} Mordecai was told what Esther had said, he\V{13} sent back this reply to Esther, “Don’t imagine that you alone of all the Jews will escape because you belong to the king’s household. If\V{14} you persist in remaining silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another quarter, but you and your family will perish. Who knows? Maybe you have been raised to the throne for a time like this!”
\par 
 Then\V{15} Esther sent this message to Mordecai: “Go,\V{16} gather all the Jews in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat nor drink anything for three days and nights. My maids and I will fast as well. Then I will go in to the king, although it is contrary to the law, and if I die, I die.” Mordecai\V{17} did everything Esther had directed. 
\par 
 On\C{5} the third day, Esther put on her regalia and stood in the inner court of the royal palace opposite the king’s house. The king was sitting on his throne in the palace, opposite the entrance. When\V{2} he saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she won his favor, and he held out to her the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the top of the sceptre. Then\V{3} the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? Whatever your request is, it will be granted, even if it is the half of the kingdom.”
\par 
 “If\V{4} it seems best to the king,” Esther said, “let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.” Then\V{5} the king ordered, “Bring Haman quickly, so that Esther’s wish may be gratified.”
\par 
So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared. While\V{6} they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “Whatever your petition is, it will be granted. Your request, it will be done – even if it takes half of my kingdom.” Esther\V{7} answered, “If\V{8} I have won the king’s favor and if it seems best to the king to grant my petition and to accede to my request, my petition and my request are that the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them. Tomorrow I will answer the king’s question as he wishes.”
\par 
 Haman\V{9} went out that day joyful and elated, but when he saw Mordecai in the king’s gate and noticed that he neither stood up nor moved for him, he was furiously angry with Mordecai. Nevertheless\V{10} Haman restrained himself and went home. He called together his friends and Zeresh his wife and\V{11} recounted to them the greatness of his wealth, how many children he had, and all the ways in which the king had honored him, and how he had promoted him above the officials and the royal courtiers. “What\V{12} is more,” Haman said, “Queen Esther brought no one in with the king to the banquet which she had prepared except me, and tomorrow also I am invited by her along with the king. Yet\V{13} all this does not satisfy me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”
\par 
 Then\V{14} Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows seventy-five feet high be erected, and in the morning speak to the king and let Mordecai be hanged on it. Then go merrily with the king to the banquet.” The advice pleased Haman, and so he had the gallows erected. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Downfall of a Conspirator}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  On\C{6} that night the king was unable to sleep, so he gave orders to bring the books that recorded memorable deeds, and they were read before the king. It\V{2} was found recorded how Mordecai had furnished information regarding Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s attendants who guarded the entrance of the palace, who had attempted to kill King Ahasuerus. “What\V{3} honor and dignity have been conferred on Mordecai for this?” the king asked. When the king’s pages who waited on him replied “Nothing has been done for him,” the\V{4} king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s house to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. So\V{5} the king’s pages said to him, “Haman is standing there; in the court.” The king said, “Let him enter.” So\V{6} Haman entered, and the king said to him, “What should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” Haman said to himself, “Whom besides me could the king wish to honor?” So\V{7} he said to the king, “For the man whom the king wishes to honor let\V{8} a royal garment be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse on which the king has ridden and on whose head a royal diadem has been placed. Then\V{9} let the garment and the horse be placed in charge of one of the king’s noble officials. Let him clothe the man whom the king wishes to honor and let him lead that man on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.’”
\par 
\indentation  Then\V{10} the king said to Haman, “Make haste and take the garment and the horse, as you have said, and do this to Mordecai the Jew, who sits in the king’s gate. Omit nothing of all you have said.” So\V{11} Haman took the garment and the horse and clothed Mordecai, and made him ride through the city square and proclaimed before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.”
\par 
 Mordecai\V{12} returned to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning, with his head covered. Haman\V{13} recounted to Zeresh his wife and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai before whom you have already been humiliated is of the Jewish people, you can do nothing against him but will surely fall before him.”
\par 
 While\V{14} they were still talking with him, the king’s attendants came and quickly took Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared. 
\par 
 So\C{7} the king and Haman went to drink with Queen Esther. As\V{2} they were drinking wine on that second day, the king again said to Esther, “Whatever your petition is, Queen Esther, it will be granted to you. Whatever you request it will be done, even if it takes half of the kingdom.” Then\V{3} Queen Esther answered, “Your Majesty, if I have won your favor, and if it seems best to Your Majesty, let my life be given me as my petition, and my people as my request, for\V{4} I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed, and completely annihilated! If we had been merely sold into slavery I would not have disturbed your peace, because such a fate would not have affected the interests of the king.”
\par 
 Then\V{5} King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he and where is he whose heart has impelled him to do this?”
\par 
 “A\V{6} foe, an enemy: this wicked Haman.” Esther answered. Haman shrank in terror before the king and the queen. In\V{7} his wrath the king rose from the place where he was drinking wine and went into the palace garden. Haman stayed to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he saw that the king was fully determined to bring calamity upon him. As\V{8} the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman had flung himself on Esther’s couch. The king cried, “Is he going to rape my queen while I am present in my own house?”
\par 
As the king spoke these words, the attendants covered Haman’s face and\V{9} Harbonah, one of those who waited on the king, said, “There are the gallows, seventy-five feet high, which Hainan erected for Mordecai, who spoke a good word in behalf of the king, standing in the house of Haman!” The king said “Hang him on them.” So\V{10} they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king was pacified. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Deliverance of the Jews}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  At\C{8} that time King Ahasuerus gave the property of Haman the Jews’ enemy to Queen Esther. Mordecai was made one of the king’s personal advisers, for Esther had disclosed his relationship to her. The\V{2} king also drew off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman. He gave it to Mordecai, and Esther placed Mordecai in charge of Haman’s property.
\par 
\indentation  Then\V{3} Esther sought another audience with the king and fell at his feet and with tears begged him to avert the evil planned by Haman the Agagite and to frustrate his designs against the Jews. The\V{4} king held out to her the golden sceptre, and she arose and stood before him. “If\V{5} it seems best to the king,” she said, “and if I have won his favor and he thinks it right, and if I please him, let written orders be given to revoke the dispatches devised by Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote ordering the destruction of the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. For\V{6} how can I bear to look upon the evil that will come to my people? How can I bear to see their destruction?” Then\V{7} King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “See, I have given Esther the property of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he laid hands upon the Jews. Now\V{8} you write on behalf of the Jews, as seems best to you, in the king’s name and seal it with the king’s signet ring. For a document that is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be revoked.”
\par 
 On\V{9} the twenty-third day of the third month (that is the month of Sivan), the king’s secretaries were summoned and as Mordecai instructed an edict was issued to the Jews, to the satraps and provincial governors and the rulers of each of the one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia in their own script and their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.
\par 
 Mordecai\V{10} wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus. He sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Dispatches were sent by mounted couriers who rode the swift, noble steeds, bred of the royal studs. In\V{11} this way the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and make a stand for their life, to destroy, to kill, and annihilate all the armed forces of any people or province that might be hostile to them, including their children and women, and to take their goods as plunder throughout\V{12} all the provinces of King Ahasuerus on that thirteenth day of the twelfth month (which is called Adar). A\V{13} copy of the edict was to be published as a decree in every province – publicly displayed so that the Jews might be ready for that day and avenge themselves. So\V{14} the couriers who rode the swift, noble steeds went out, hastened and impelled by the king’s commands!
\par 
Meantime the decree had been given out in the royal palace at Susa; and\V{15} Mordecai had gone out from the presence of the king in royal garments of violet and white and with a great crown of gold and with a robe of fine linen and purple. The people of Susa shouted and were glad. To\V{16} the Jews there came light and gladness and joy and honor. And\V{17} in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, there was gladness and joy among the Jews and a holiday. Many of the peoples of the earth professed to be Jews, for fear of the Jews took possession of them. 
\par 
 Now\C{9} in the twelfth month (that is the month of Adar), on the thirteenth day, when the king’s command and his decree was about to put into execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, then the tables were turned so that the Jews had the mastery over those who hated them. The\V{2} Jews gathered together in the cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, to attack anyone who tried to harm them. No one could withstand them, for the fear of them had fallen on all the peoples. All\V{3} the princes of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and they who attended to the king’s business, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. For\V{4} Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and as his power increased his fame spread throughout all the provinces. The\V{5} Jews put all their enemies to the sword and, with slaughter and destruction, they did what they wanted to those who hated them. In\V{6} Susa the capital the Jews killed five hundred people. They\V{7} killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha,\V{8} Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta,\V{9} Arisia, Aridai, and Vaizatha, the\V{10} ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy; but they did not take any plunder.
\par 
 On\V{11} that day the number of those who were slain in Susa was brought before the king, and\V{12} the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have slain five hundred people in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petition? It will be granted to you. What is your request? It will be done.”
\par 
 “If\V{13} it please the king,” Esther said, “let it be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do tomorrow also according to this day’s decree. Let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.” And\V{14} the king commanded it to be done. A decree was given out in Susa and they hung the bodies of Haman’s ten sons on the gallows. The\V{15} Jews who were in Susa gathered themselves together again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar. They killed three hundred people in Susa. But they did not take any plunder. And\V{16} the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together and fought for their lives and overcame their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand who hated them. But they did not take any plunder. This\V{17} was on the thirteenth day of Adar.\blank 

\par 
On the fourteenth day of the month Adar the Jews rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. (But\V{18} the Jews in Susa gathered on both the thirteenth and fourteenth day – and rested on the fifteenth day of the same month and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.)
\par 
 This\V{19} is why the Jews who live in the country villages keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of rejoicing and feasting and a holiday, and a day in which they send gifts of food to each other.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Establishment of Purim}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Mordecai\V{20} had these things recorded. He sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, both near and far. He\V{21} told them to keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and also the fifteenth day every year, as\V{22} the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned from sorrow to gladness and from mourning into a feast day. They should make them days of feasting and gladness and of sending gifts of food to each other and of gifts to the poor.
\par 
\indentation  So\V{23} what the Jews had begun to do they adopted as a custom, just as Mordecai had written to them. For\V{24} Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted to destroy them. He had cast ‘Pur’, that is the lot, intending to consume them and to destroy them. But\V{25} when the matter came before the king, he gave written orders that his wicked plot, which he had planned against the Jews, should come upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. This\V{26} is why these days are called Purim, after the word Pur. Therefore because of all the words of this letter, as well as all they had seen, and all they had experienced, the\V{27} Jews established and made it a custom for them, for their descendants, and for all who should join them, so that it might not be repealed, that they should continue to observe these two days as feasts each year, and\V{28} that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city. And these days of Purim should not pass away from among the Jews nor the remembrance of them disappear among their descendants.
\par 
 Queen\V{29} Esther, the daughter of Abihail, gave Mordecai the Jew all authority in writing to confirm this second letter of Purim. He\V{30} sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, wishing them peace and security, to\V{31} confirm these days of Purim in their proper times, to be observed as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had directed and as the Jews had proscribed for themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the fastings and their cry of lamentation. And\V{32} the commands of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the records.\blank 
 
\par 
 King\C{10} Ahasuerus imposed a tribute on the land and the coasts. All\V{2} the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king advanced him, are they not recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For\V{3} Mordecai the Jew was next in rank to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and loved by them all. He sought the good of his people and promoted the welfare of their descendants.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Psalms}

\MTT{The}

\MT{Psalms}
 
\MS{Book One}

\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 1 – The Way of Happiness}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ \C{1} {\sc Happy are those}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who do not follow the counsel of the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{not halting in ways frequented by sinners,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor taking a seat in a gathering of scoffers.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{2} the law of the {\sc Lord} is their joy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they study it day and night.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{3} are like trees}
\noindentation \Q{2}{planted by runlets of water,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{yielding fruit in due season,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{leaves never fading.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{In all that they do, they prosper.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Not\V{4} so fare the wicked, not so;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like chaff are they, blown by the wind.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{5} the wicked will not stand firm in the judgment,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor sinners appear, when the righteous are gathered.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{6} the way of the righteous is dear to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the way of the wicked will end in ruin. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 2 – The Lord’s Chosen King}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\C{2} this turmoil of nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{this futile plotting of peoples,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ with\V{2} kings of the earth conspiring,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and rulers consulting together,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{against the {\sc Lord} and against his anointed,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{3} snap their bonds}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and fling their cords away?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{4} whose throne is in heaven laughs,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} mocks them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{5} he speaks to them in his wrath,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in his hot anger confounds them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “This\V{6} my king is installed by me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on Zion my holy mountain.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{7} will tell of the {\sc Lord}’s decree.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He said to me: “You are my son,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{this day I became your father.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Only\V{8} ask, and I make you the heir of the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and lord of the world to its utmost bounds.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{9} will break them with sceptre of iron,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{shatter them like pottery.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{10} now, you kings, be wise:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be warned, you rulers of earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Serve\V{11} the {\sc Lord} in awe,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{kiss his feet with trembling,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ lest,\V{12} angry, he hurl you to ruin;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for soon will his fury blaze.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Happy all who take refuge in him. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 3 – A Morning Prayer for Protection}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\C{3} many, {\sc Lord}, are my foes!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Those who rise up against me are many.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Many\V{2} are those who say of me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“There is no help for him in his God.” {\em Selah} }
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{3} you, {\sc Lord}, are shield about me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my glory, who lifts up my head.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{4} loudly I call to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from his holy hill he gives answer. {\em Selah} }
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{5} laid down and slept:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{now I wake, for the {\sc Lord} sustains me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{6} fear not the myriads of people}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who beset me on every side.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Arise,\V{7} {\sc Lord}: save me, my God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who strikes all my foes on the cheek,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and shatters the teeth of the wicked.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Victory\V{8} belongs to the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let your blessing descend on your people. {\em Selah}  }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 4 – An Evening Prayer}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Answer\C{4} my cry,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God, my defender.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Often from straits you have brought me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to spacious places.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{So now show me your favor}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and hear my prayer.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{2} long, you proud people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will my honor be stained}
\noindentation \Q{1}{by the slanders you love,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the lies that you follow? {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ See!\V{3} The {\sc Lord} has shown me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his wonderful kindness:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the {\sc Lord} hears,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when I call to him.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sin\V{4} not in your anger:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but speak in your heart}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on your bed, and be still. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Offer\V{5} true sacrifice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{trust in the {\sc Lord}.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Many\V{6} are longing}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for fortune to smile.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Lift upon us}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the light of your face.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{7} have put in my heart, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a deeper joy}
\noindentation \Q{1}{than was theirs who had corn}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and wine in abundance.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{8} in peace I will}
\noindentation \Q{2}{lie down and sleep;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for you, {\sc Lord}, keep me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{safe. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 5 – A Prayer for Guidance}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear\C{5} my words, {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{give heed to my whisper.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Attend\V{2} to my loud cry for help,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my king and my God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{3} I pray to you, {\sc Lord}, in the morning,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hear my voice.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I make ready for you in the morning,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and look for a sign.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} you are no God who takes pleasure in wickedness:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{no one of evil can be your guest.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ No\V{5} braggarts can stand in your presence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you hate all workers of wrong.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{6} destroy all speakers of lies,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{people of blood and deceit you abhor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{7} I, through your kindness abundant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may enter your house,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and towards the shrine of your temple}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may reverently bow.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Lead\V{8} me, {\sc Lord}, in your righteousness}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because of my enemies.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Make your way level before me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{9} their mouth is a stranger to truth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their heart is a pit of destruction.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Their throat is a wide open grave,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their tongue the smooth tongue of the hypocrite.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Condemn\V{10} them, God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let their schemes bring them down to the ground.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For their numberless crimes thrust them down}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for playing the rebel against you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{11} let all who take refuge in you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ring out their gladness forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Protect those who love your name,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so they may exult in you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{12} you give your blessing, {\sc Lord}, to the godly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the shield of your favor protects them. }
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\MSS{Psalm 6 – A Cry for Help in Time of Trouble}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Rebuke\C{6} me not, {\sc Lord}, in your anger,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{punish me not in your wrath.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{2} }, be gracious to me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in my weakness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Heal me {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for racked is my body;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ all\V{3} of me utterly racked.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Why do you wait so long, {\sc Lord}?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Turn,\V{4} {\sc Lord}, rescue me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{save me, because of your love.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{5} in death none can call you to mind;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in Sheol who can praise you?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{6} am so weary of sighing.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{All the night I make my bed swim,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and wet my couch with my tears.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{7} eyes swollen with grief;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from weeping caused by my foes.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Begone,\V{8} workers of wrong,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the {\sc Lord} has heard my loud weeping,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ the\V{9} {\sc Lord} has heard my entreaty,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} accepts my prayer.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{10} foes will be stricken with terror,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{brought to shame and dismay in a moment. }
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\MSS{Psalm 7 – A Prayer to the God of Justice}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em {\sc Lord\C{7} } about Cush, the Benjamite.\stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord} my God, I take refuge in you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Deliver me, save me from all who pursue me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ or\V{2} like lions they will tear me to pieces,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and rend me, past hope of rescue.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{3} }, my God, if my life has been such}
\noindentation \Q{2}{if my hands have been stained with guilt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ if\V{4} friends I paid back with evil,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{if I plundered my foes without cause,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ may\V{5} the enemy chase and find me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ trample my life to the ground,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my honor leave in the dirt! {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Arise,\V{6} {\sc Lord}, in anger,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{against my foes rise in fury.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Awake for my help:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let justice be done.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Gather\V{7} the nations about you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and sit on your lofty throne,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ as\V{8} the {\sc Lord}, the judge of the peoples.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Judge me, {\sc Lord}, in my innocence}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and according to my integrity.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Put\V{9} an end to the wrong of the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{protect the righteous.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Searcher of hearts and minds,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{righteous God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\V{10} is my shield:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he saves the upright in heart.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\V{11} is a just judge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{constant in righteous anger.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{12} will sharpen his sword without fail,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his bow is bent and ready,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ his\V{13} deadly weapons are ready,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his arrows he makes of flame.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{14} enemy who conceives evil;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{pregnant with mischief,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{giving birth to lies,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ a\V{15} pit they have made and dug;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but into the hole that they made they will fall.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{16} their own heads their mischief comes back;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on their own skulls their violence comes down.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{17} will give thanks to the {\sc Lord} for his justice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and sing to the name of the {\sc Lord} Most High. }
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\MSS{Psalm 8 – God’s Glory in Nature}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\C{8} } our God!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{How glorious in all the earth is your name!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Your praise reaches as high as the heavens,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ from\V{2} the mouths of children and infants.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{You have built a fortress}
\noindentation \Q{2}{against your enemies,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to silence the foe and the rebel.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{3} I look at your heavens,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the work of your fingers,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the moon and the stars,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{which you have set there,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ what\V{4} are mortals,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that you think of them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{humans,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that you visit them?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yet\V{5} you made them little less than divine,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{crowned them with glory and majesty,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ made\V{6} them lord of the works of your hands,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{put all things under their feet –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ sheep\V{7} and oxen,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all of them;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the wild beasts also:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ birds\V{8} of the air,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and fish of the sea,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all that crosses the paths of the ocean.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{9} } our God!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{How glorious in all the earth is your name! }
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\MSS{Psalm 9 – A Song of Praise the Lord’s Justice}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\C{9} all my heart I will praise the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all your wonders I will rehearse.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} will rejoice and exult in you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{singing praise to your name, Most High;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ because\V{3} backward my foes were turned,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they stumbled and perished before you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{4} right and my claim you have upheld,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you did sit on the throne as a fair judge,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ rebuking\V{5} the nations, destroying the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and blotting their name out forever and ever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} foe is vanished, ruined forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their cities destroyed, their memory perished.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ See!\V{7} The {\sc Lord} is seated forever}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on the throne he established for judgment,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ruling\V{8} the world with justice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and judging the nations with equity.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{9} the {\sc Lord} proves a haven to the oppressed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a haven in times of trouble.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Well\V{10} may they trust you who know your name,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for those who seek you, you never abandon.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sing\V{11} praise to the {\sc Lord}, whose home is in Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{declare his deeds among the nations.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{12} avenger of blood, he keeps them in mind,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he does not forget the cry of the wretched.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Show\V{13} me favor, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{see how my foes afflict me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{lift me up from the gates of death;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ so\V{14} I may, in your help exulting,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{tell forth your praise at the gates of Zion.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{15} nations are sunk in the pit which they made,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the net that they hid, their own foot is entangled.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{16} {\sc Lord} is revealed in the judgment he wrought,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the wicked are snared in their own handiwork. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{17} the wicked depart to Sheol,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the nations that live forgetful of God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{18} the needy will not be always forgotten,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor the hope of the helpless be lost forever.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Arise,\V{19} {\sc Lord}; don’t let them triumph:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{before your face let the nations be judged.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Strike\V{20} them with fear, {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{show the nations how frail they are. {\em Selah}  }
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\MSS{Psalm 10 – A Prayer for Help}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\C{10} do you stand, {\sc Lord}, so far away,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hiding yourself in times of trouble?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{2} wicked, in their pride, are pursuing the helpless:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let them be caught in the schemes they have plotted.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} the wicked boasts of their wanton greed;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the robber despises the {\sc Lord}, and curses him,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ in\V{4} wicked pride, thinks:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God doesn’t care,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God doesn’t call to account.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Never\V{5} a season that they do not prosper;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your judgments are far above out of their sight:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they scoff at their foes.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Each\V{6} says in their heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“I will never be shaken;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will live for all time}
\noindentation \Q{2}{untouched by misfortune.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{7} mouths are full of deceit and oppression:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{under their tongues lurks mischief and wrong.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Lying\V{8} in secret in some village ambush,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and stealthily watching, they murder the innocent.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{9} a lion that lurks in a secret lair}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they lurk intending to catch the defenceless;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to seize them, to drag them away in their net.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{10} victims are crushed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sink down to the ground.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Under their claws}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the hapless fall.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{11} wicked say in their hearts}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that God has forgotten,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{has hidden his face,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will see nothing.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Arise,\V{12} {\sc Lord}, lift up your hand,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{do not forget the cry of the wretched.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\V{13} do the wicked treat God with contempt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and say in their hearts, “God doesn’t care”?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{14} have seen the trouble and sorrow;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you mark it all, and will take it in hand.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The hapless can count on you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{helper of orphans.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Break\V{15} the arm of the wicked and evil:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{search out their sin, till no more be found.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{16} {\sc Lord} is king forever and ever:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the nations will vanish from his land.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{17} }, you have heard the desire of the humble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{inclining your ear, strengthening their hearts,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ rights\V{18} you have won for the crushed and the orphan,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so no one on earth may strike terror again. }
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\MSS{Psalm 11 – Trust in the Lord}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\C{11} the {\sc Lord} I take refuge.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{How can you tell me}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to flee like a bird to the mountains?}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “See!\V{2} The wicked are bending the bow,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their arrow is set on the string,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{3} this tearing down of foundations}
\noindentation \Q{2}{what good can a good person do?”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{4} {\sc Lord} in his holy temple,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} in heaven, enthroned.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{His eyes watch the world,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they see everyone.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{5} {\sc Lord} examines the righteous and wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the lover of violence he hates.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{6} the wicked he rains coals of fire and brimstone,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their drink will be scorching wind.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{7} the {\sc Lord} is just, and justice he loves;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so the upright will see his face. }
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\MSS{Psalm 12 – A Prayer for the Faithful in a False World}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Help,\C{12} {\sc Lord}, for the good are all gone,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{faithful people have vanished.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ One\V{2} lies to another, speaking empty lies,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with flattering lips and false hearts they speak.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{3} the {\sc Lord} cut off all the flattering lips,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the tongue that utters arrogance,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ they\V{4} declare, “Our tongue is our strength,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{our allies our lips: who is lord over us?”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “The\V{5} poor are despoiled, and the needy are sighing;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so now I will act,” the {\sc Lord} declares}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“And place them in the safety they long for.”}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} words of the {\sc Lord} are words that are pure,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{silver smelted, seven times refined.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{7} will keep us, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and guard us from this generation forever,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ in\V{8} a world where the wicked prowl,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and worthless people exalted. }
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\MSS{Psalm 13 – A Prayer for Help in Trouble}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\C{13} long, {\sc Lord}, will you forget me forever?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{How long will you hide your face from me?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{2} long must I nurse grief inside me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in my heart a daily sorrow?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{How long are my foes to exult over me?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Look\V{3} at me, answer me, {\sc Lord} my God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Fill my eyes with your light,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{lest I sleep in death,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ lest\V{4} my enemies claim to have triumphed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{lest my foes rejoice at my downfall.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{5} I trust in your kindness:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my heart will rejoice in your help.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ I\V{6} will sing to the {\sc Lord} who was good to me. }
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\MSS{Psalm 14 – The Folly of Denying God}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Fools\C{14} say in their heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“There is no God.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Vile, hateful their life is;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{not one does good.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{2} heaven the {\sc Lord} looks out}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on humans, to see}
\noindentation \Q{1}{if any are wise,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and care for God.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{3} all have turned bad,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the taint is on all;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{not one does good,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{no, not one.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Have\V{4} they learned their lesson,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{those workers of evil?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Who ate up my people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{eating, devouring,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{never calling to the {\sc Lord}.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sore\V{5} afraid will they be;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for God is among}
\noindentation \Q{2}{those who are righteous,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ you\V{6} may mock the plans of the poor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the {\sc Lord} is their refuge.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ If\V{7} only help from Zion}
\noindentation \Q{2}{would come for Israel!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{When the {\sc Lord} brings his people}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a change of fortune,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{how glad will be Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and Israel how joyful! }
\blank[medium] 
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\MSS{Psalm 15 – Standing Firm}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\C{15} }, who can be guest in your tent?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Who may live on your holy mountain?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{2} person whose walk is blameless,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whose conduct is right,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{whose words are true and sincere;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ on\V{3} whose tongue there sits no slander,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who will not harm a friend,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ nor\V{4} cruelly insult a neighbor,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who regards with contempt those rejected by God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but honors those who obey the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who keeps an oath, whatever the cost,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ whose\V{5} money is lent without interest,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and never takes a bribe to hurt the innocent.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{The person who does these things will always stand firm. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 16 – The Joy of Fellowship with God}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Keep\C{16} me, O God, for in you I take refuge.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ I\V{2} said to the {\sc Lord}, “You are my {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{my happiness rests in you alone.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Those\V{3} who are holy in the land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they, they alone, are the noble ones;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all my delight is in them.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Those\V{4} who choose other gods}
\noindentation \Q{2}{find endless sorrow.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In their offerings of blood I will have no part}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor take their name on my lips.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{5} {\sc Lord} is my share and my portion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my fate is in your strong hands.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} boundary lines of my life}
\noindentation \Q{2}{mark out delightful country,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my heritage pleases me well.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{7} praise the {\sc Lord} for his counsel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{which so stirs my heart in the night.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{8} keep the {\sc Lord} always in mind:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with him at my hand, I can never be moved.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{9} my heart is glad, there is joy inside me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in safety of body I live.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{10} you will not give me up to Sheol}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor let any who love you see the pit.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{11} will show me the path that leads to life,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to that fulness of joy which is in your presence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the pleasures dispensed by your hand evermore. }
\blank[medium] 
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\MSS{Psalm 17 – A Prayer for Deliverance}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Listen,\C{17} O {\sc Lord}, to my innocence;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{attend to my piercing cry.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Give heed to my prayer}
\noindentation \Q{2}{out of lips unfeigned.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{2} my vindication come from you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your eyes see the truth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{3} you test my heart when you visit at night,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and assay me like silver – you can find no evil.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I am determined that my mouth should not lie.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ I\V{4} gave earnest heed to the words of your lips.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{5} steps have held fast to the paths of your precepts}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in your tracks have my feet never stumbled.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{6} I call you, O God, with assurance of answer;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bend down your ear to me, hear what I say.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Show\V{7} your marvelous love, you who save from enemies}
\noindentation \Q{2}{those who take refuge at your right hand.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Keep\V{8} me as the apple of the eye,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hide me in the shelter of your wings.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{9} wicked people who do me violence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from deadly foes who crowd around me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{10} have closed their hearts to pity,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the words of their mouths are haughty.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Now\V{11} they dog us at every step,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{keenly watching, to hurl us to the ground,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ like\V{12} a lion, longing to tear,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like a young lion, lurking in secret.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Arise,\V{13} {\sc Lord}, face them and fell them.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{By your sword set me free from the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ by\V{14} your hand, O {\sc Lord}, from those –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whose portion of life is but of this world.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{But let your treasured ones have food in plenty}
\noindentation \Q{1}{may their children be full and their children satisfied.}
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\noindentation \Q{2}{ In\V{15} my innocence I will see your face,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{awake I am filled with a vision of you. }
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\MSS{Psalm 18 – A King’s Song of Gratitude}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em {\sc Lord\C{18} }, who recited the words of this song to the {\sc Lord} after the {\sc Lord} had saved him from the power of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:\stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I love you, O {\sc Lord}, my strength.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{2} {\sc Lord} is my rock, my fortress, deliverer,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my God, my rock, where I take refuge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my shield, my defender, my tower.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Worthy\V{3} of praise is the {\sc Lord} whom I call on,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he rescues me from all my foes.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{4} waves of death broke about me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{fearful floods of chaos.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sheol\V{5} threw cords around me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{snares of death came to meet me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{6} distress I cried to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and shouted for help to my God;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{in his temple he heard my voice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{into his ears came my cry.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{7} the earth shook and quaked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{mountains trembled to their foundations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and quaked because of his wrath.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Smoke\V{8} went up from his nostrils,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{devouring fire from his mouth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{coals were kindled by it.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{9} he bent the sky and came down,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{thick darkness was under his feet.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{10} rode on a cherub and flew,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{darting on wings of wind,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ with\V{11} his screen of darkness about him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in thick dark clouds of water.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ At\V{12} the radiance before him there passed}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hailstones and coals of fire.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{13} {\sc Lord} thundered from heaven,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the Most High uttered his voice.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{14} shot his arrows and scattered them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{flashed lightnings, and routed them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{15} channels of the sea were revealed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the world was laid bare to its base,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{at your rebuke, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{16} stretched from on high, he seized me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{drew me up from the mighty waters,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{17} saved me from those who hated me –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{fierce foes, too mighty for me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{18} my day of distress they assailed me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the {\sc Lord} proved my support.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ To\V{19} a spacious place he brought me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and, for love of me, he saved me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{20} {\sc Lord} repays my innocence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he rewards my cleanness of hands.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{21} I kept the ways of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor have wickedly strayed from my God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ His\V{22} commandments were all before me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his statutes I put not away.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{23} I was blameless before him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{guarding myself from sin.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{24} the {\sc Lord} repaid my innocence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my cleanness of hands in his sight.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{25} the loyal you are loyal,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and with the blameless blameless.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{26} the pure you show yourself pure,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but shrewd with the devious.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{27} the lowly people you save,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but haughty eyes you abase.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{28} are my lamp, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my God who enlightens my darkness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{29} you I can storm a rampart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with my God I can leap a wall.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{30} for God, his way is perfect;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the word of the {\sc Lord} is pure.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{He is shield to all who take refuge in him.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{31} who is God but the {\sc Lord}?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And who is a rock but our God?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{32} God who arms me with strength,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who cleared and smoothed my way.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{33} made my feet like hinds’ feet,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and set me up on the heights.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{34} taught my hands how to fight,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my arms how to bend a bronze bow.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{35} shield of your help you gave me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your right hand supports me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you stoop down to make me great.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{36} your strength I took giant strides,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my feet never slipped.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{37} I chased the foe till I caught them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and turned not, till I made an end of them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{38} smashed them, they could not rise,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they fell beneath my feet.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{39} did arm me with strength for war,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you did bow my assailants beneath me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{40} made my foes turn their back to me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and those who did hate me I finished.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{41} cried for help, but none saved them;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the {\sc Lord}, but he answered them not.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{42} beat them like dust of the market-place,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{stamped them like mud of the streets.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{43} the strife of the peoples you saved me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you made me head of the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{peoples I knew not did serve me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{44} the instant they hear, they obey me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{foreigners come to me cringing.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Foreigners\V{45} lose courage,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and come out of their strongholds trembling.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{46} {\sc Lord} is alive! Blest be my rock!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Exalted be God, my protector!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{47} God who gave me revenge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and brought down nations beneath me,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{48} saved me from angry foes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and set me above my assailants,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{safe from the violent.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{49} this I will praise you among the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{making music, O {\sc Lord}, to your name:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{50} great triumphs he grants to his king,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and faithful love he shows his anointed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to David and his seed evermore. }
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\MSS{Psalm 19 – The Glory of God in the Heavens}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\C{19} heavens declare God’s glory,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the sky tells what his hands have done.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Day\V{2} tells it to day,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{night reveals it to night,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ without\V{3} speaking, without words;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{without the sound of voices.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{4} through all the world their voice carries}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their words to the ends of the earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{He has pitched a tent for the sun in the sky,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ it\V{5} comes out like a bridegroom from his bridal chamber,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{it joyfully runs its course like a hero.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ From\V{6} one end of the heavens it rises,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and around it runs to the other,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and nothing hides from its heat.}
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\MSS{In Praise of the Law}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{7} law of the {\sc Lord} is perfect,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{renewing life.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The decrees of the {\sc Lord} are trusty,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{making the simple wise.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{8} behests of the {\sc Lord} are right,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{rejoicing the heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The command of the {\sc Lord} is pure,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{giving light to the eyes.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{9} fear of the {\sc Lord} is clean,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord}’s judgments are true}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and right altogether.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ More\V{10} precious are they than gold –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{than fine gold in plenty,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and sweeter they are than honey,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that drops from the comb.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ By\V{11} them is your servant warned;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who keeps them has rich reward.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{12} can know their flaws?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Absolve me from those I know not.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Keep\V{13} your servant from wilful sins –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from falling under their sway:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{then blameless and clear will I be}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from great offense.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{14} the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be pleasing to you, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my rock and redeemer. }
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\MSS{Psalm 20 – A Prayer for Victory}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\C{20} {\sc Lord} answer you in the day of distress,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the name of the Jacob’s God protect you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ sending\V{2} you help from the temple,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{out of Zion supporting you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{3} your meal-offerings may he remember,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your burnt-offerings look on with favor. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{4} he grant you your heart’s desire,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and bring all your plans to pass.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ We\V{5} will shout then for joy at your victory,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and rejoice in the name of our God.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{May the {\sc Lord} grant your every request.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Now\V{6} I am sure that the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ will help his anointed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{From his temple in heaven he will answer}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by his mighty triumphant right hand.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Some\V{7} in chariots are strong, some in horses;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but our strength is the {\sc Lord} our God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{8} will totter and fall,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while we rise and stand firm.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\V{9} victory, {\sc Lord}, to the king,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and answer us when we call. }
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\MSS{Psalm 21 – A Prayer after a Victory}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\C{21} king rejoices, {\sc Lord}, in your might,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{how he exults because of your help!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{2} have granted to him his heart’s desire,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you have not withheld his lips’ request. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{3} came to meet him with rich blessings,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you set on his head a golden crown.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{4} asked you for life, you gave it –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{many long days, forever and ever.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Great\V{5} is his glory because of your help,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{honor and majesty you lay upon him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{6} you make him most blessed forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you make him glad with the joy of your presence.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{7} the king puts always his trust in the {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the Most High, in his love, will preserve him unshaken.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{8} hand will reach all your foes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your right hand, all who hate you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{9} will make them like a furnace of fire,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when you appear, {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} will swallow them up in his wrath.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The fire will devour them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{10} will sweep their offspring from the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their children from humanity.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{11} they scheme against you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and hatch evil plots – they will fail.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{12} you aim your bow at their faces,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{make them turn in flight.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{13} exalted, {\sc Lord}, in your strength,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to your might we shall sing and make music. }
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\MSS{Psalm 22 – The Sufferer’s Triumph}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\C{22} God, my God, why have you left me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my rescue so far from the words of my roaring?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} cry in the day, you do not answer,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I cry in the night but find no rest.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{3} are the Holy One,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{throned on the praises of Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{4} you our ancestors trusted,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they trusted and you delivered them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{5} cried to you, and found safety,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in you did they trust and were not put to shame.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{6} I am a worm, not a person;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{insulted by others, despised by the people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{7} who see me mock me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with mouths wide open and wagging heads:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “He\V{8} relies on the {\sc Lord}; let him save him.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Let him rescue the one he holds dear!”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{9} you drew me from the womb,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{laid me safely on my mother’s breasts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{10} your care was I cast from my very birth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you are my God from my mother’s womb.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{11} not far from me, for trouble is nigh,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and there is none to help.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{12} am circled by many bulls,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{beset by the mighty of Bashan,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{13} face me with gaping jaws,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like ravening roaring lions.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Poured\V{14} out am I like water,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all my bones are loosened.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{My heart is become like wax,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{melted within me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{15} palate is dry as a sherd,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my tongue sticks to my jaws;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the dust of death you lay me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{16} dogs are round about me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a band of knaves encircles me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{gnawing my hands and my feet.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{17} can count my bones, every one.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{As for them, they feast their eyes on me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{18} divide my garments among them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and over my raiment cast lots.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{19} you, O {\sc Lord}, be not far,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O my strength, hasten to help me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Deliver\V{20} my life from the sword}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my life from the power of the dogs.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Save\V{21} me from the jaws of the lion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the horns of the wild oxen help me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{22} will tell of your fame to my kindred,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in the assembly will praise you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\V{23} the {\sc Lord}, you who fear him.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{All Jacob’s seed, give him glory.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{All Israel’s seed, stand in awe of him.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{24} he has not despised nor abhorred}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the sorrow of the sorrowful.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He hid not his face from me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but he listened to my cry for help.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Of\V{25} you is my praise in the great congregation;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my vows I will pay before those who fear him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{26} afflicted will eat to their heart’s desire,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and those who seek after the {\sc Lord} will praise him.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Lift up your hearts forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{27} will call it to mind, to the ends of the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and turn to the {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and all tribes of the nations will bow down before you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{28} the kingdom belongs to the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he is the {\sc Lord} of the nations.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ To\V{29} him will bow down all who sleep in the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and before him bend all who go down to the dust,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and those who could not preserve their lives.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{30} descendants will tell of the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ to the next generation;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ they\V{31} will declare his righteousness}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to people yet to be born:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{He has done it. }
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\MSS{Psalm 23 – The Good Shepherd}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\C{23} {\sc Lord} is my shepherd: I am never in need.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ He\V{2} lays me down in green pastures.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He gently leads me to waters of rest,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ he\V{3} refreshes my life.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He guides me along paths that are straight,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{true to his name.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{4} when my way lies through a valley of gloom,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I fear no evil, for you are with me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Your rod and your staff comfort me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{5} spread a table for me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in face of my foes;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{with oil you anoint my head,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my cup runs over.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Surely\V{6} goodness and love will pursue me –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the days of my life.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In the house of the {\sc Lord} I will live}
\noindentation \Q{2}{through the length of the days. }
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\MSS{Psalm 24 – The True Worshipper}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\C{24} earth is the {\sc Lord}’s and all that it holds,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the world and those who live in it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{2} he founded it on the seas,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and on the floods he sustains it.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{3} may ascend the hill of the {\sc Lord}?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Who may stand in his holy place?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{4} clean of hands, the pure of heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who sets not their heart upon sinful things,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor swears with intent to deceive:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ they\V{5} win from the {\sc Lord} a blessing:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God is their champion and savior.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Such\V{6} must be those who resort to him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and seek the face of the God of Jacob. {\em Selah} }
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\MSS{The Lords’s Triumphal Entry into the Sanctuary}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Lift\V{7} high your heads, you gates –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Higher, you ancient doors;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{welcome the glorious king.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Who\V{8} is the glorious king?”}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“The {\sc Lord} strong and heroic,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} heroic in battle.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Lift\V{9} high your heads, you gates –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Higher, you ancient doors;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{welcome the glorious king.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Who\V{10} is the glorious king?”}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“The {\sc Lord}, the God of hosts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he is the glorious king.” {\em Selah}  }
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\MSS{Psalm 25 – A Prayer for Forgiveness and Protection}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ To\C{25} you, O {\sc Lord}, I lift up my heart:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the day I wait for you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{2} you I trust, put me not to shame;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let not my foes exult over me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ None\V{3} will be shamed who wait for you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but shame will fall upon wanton traitors.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Make\V{4} me, O {\sc Lord}, to know your ways:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{teach me your paths.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{5} your faithfulness guide me and teach me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you are my God and my savior.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Remember\V{6} your pity, O {\sc Lord}, and your kindness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for they have been ever of old.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{7} not remember the sins of my youth;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{remember me in kindness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because of your goodness, {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Good\V{8} is the {\sc Lord} and upright,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so he teaches sinners the way.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{9} humble he guides in the right,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he teaches the humble his way.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{10} his ways are loving and loyal}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to those who observe his charges and covenant.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{11} true to your name {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{forgive my many sins.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{12} then is the person who fears the {\sc Lord}?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{He will teach them the way to choose.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{13} will live in prosperity,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their children will inherit the land.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{14} {\sc Lord} gives guidance to those who fear him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and with his covenant he makes them acquainted.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{15} eyes are ever toward the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for out of the net he brings my foot.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Turn\V{16} to me with your favor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I am lonely and crushed}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{17} my heart are strain and storm;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bring me out of my distresses.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Look\V{18} on my misery and trouble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and pardon all my sins,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ look\V{19} on my foes oh, so many!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And their cruel hatred towards me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Deliver\V{20} me, keep me, and shame not}
\noindentation \Q{2}{one who takes refuge in you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{21} integrity and innocence preserve me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I wait for you, O {\sc Lord}.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Redeem\V{22} Israel, O God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from all its distresses. }
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\MSS{Psalm 26 – Prayer of a Devout Worshipper}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Defend\C{26} me, O {\sc Lord}, for my walk has been blameless;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the {\sc Lord} have I trusted unswervingly:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Examine\V{2} me, {\sc Lord}, and test me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{test my heart and my mind.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} your love is before my eyes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your faithfulness governs my way.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{4} never sat down with the worthless,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor companied with dissemblers.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{5} hate the assembly of knaves,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I would never sit down with the wicked;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ but,\V{6} with hands washed in innocence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I would march round your altar, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ singing\V{7} loud songs of thanks,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and telling of all your wonders.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{8} {\sc Lord}, I love your house,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the place where your glory lives.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{9} not gather me up with sinners;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{slay me not with people of blood,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ whose\V{10} hands are stained with villainy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and whose right hand is filled with bribes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{11} my walk is blameless!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O redeem me, be gracious to me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{12} foot stands on even ground,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the choirs I will bless the {\sc Lord}. }
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\MSS{Psalm 27 – If God is for Me}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\C{27} {\sc Lord} is my light and my savior;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whom then should I fear?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} protects my life;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whom then should I dread?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{2} the wicked drew near to assail me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and eat up my flesh,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{it was those who distressed and opposed me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who stumbled and fell.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{3} against me a host should encamp,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{yet my heart would be fearless:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{though battle should rise up against me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{still would I be trustful.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ One\V{4} thing have I asked of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and that do I long for –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{To live in the house of the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ all the days of my life,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to gaze on the grace of the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ and inquire in his temple.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{5} he will hide me in his shelter}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the day of misfortune.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In his sheltering tent he hides me:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he lifts me up on a rock.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{6} now that my head he has lifted}
\noindentation \Q{1}{above my encircling foes,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will march round the altar and sacrifice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{shouting with joy, in his tent,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{making music and song to the {\sc Lord}.}
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\MSS{The Serenity of Faith}
\par 
\noindentation 
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear,\V{7} O {\sc Lord}, my loud cry,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and graciously answer me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{8} heart has said to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“Your face, O {\sc Lord}, I seek.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hide\V{9} not your face from me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{reject not your servant in anger:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you have been my help.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Abandon me not, nor forsake me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O God of my help:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{10} father and mother have left me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the {\sc Lord} will take me up.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Teach\V{11} me your way, O {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{lead me in an even path,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because of my enemies.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\V{12} me not up, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{unto the rage of my foes;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for against me have risen false witnesses,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{breathing out cruelty.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Firm\V{13} is the faith I cherish,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I, in the land of the living,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will yet see the goodness of God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{14} your heart be courageous and strong,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and wait on the {\sc Lord}. }
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\MSS{Psalm 28 – An Answered Prayer for Help}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Unto\C{28} you, O {\sc Lord}, do I cry;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my rock, be not deaf to me:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{lest, through holding your peace, I become}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like those who go down to the pit.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear\V{2} my loud entreaty,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as I cry for help to you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{lifting my hands, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{towards your holy chancel.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Take\V{3} me not off with the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor with the workers of wrong,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{whose speech to their neighbors is friendly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while evil is in their heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\V{4} them as they have done,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as their wicked deeds deserve.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{As their hands have wrought, so give to them:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{requite to them their deserts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{5} are blind to all that the {\sc Lord} does,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to all that his hands have wrought;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and so he will tear them down,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to build them up no more.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Blest\V{6} be the {\sc Lord}, who has heard}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my voice as I plead for mercy.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{7} {\sc Lord} is my strength and my shield;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my heart trusts in him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I was helped: so my heart is exultant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in my song I will praise him.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{8} {\sc Lord} is the strength of his people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the fortress who saves his anointed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{9} save your people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and bless your inheritance.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Be their shepherd}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and carry them forever. }
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\MSS{Psalm 29 – The Lord’s Glory in the Storm}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Ascribe\C{29} to the {\sc Lord}, you heavenly beings,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ascribe to the {\sc Lord} glory and power}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Ascribe\V{2} to the {\sc Lord} the glory he manifests:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bow to the {\sc Lord} in holy array.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} {\sc Lord}’s voice peals on the waters.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The God of glory has thundered.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{He peals o’er the mighty waters.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{4} {\sc Lord}’s voice sounds with strength,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord}’s voice sounds with majesty.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{5} {\sc Lord}’s voice breaks the cedars,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he breaks the cedars of Lebanon,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ making\V{6} Lebanon dance like a calf,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Sirion like a young wild ox.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{7} {\sc Lord}’s voice hews out flames of fire.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{8} {\sc Lord}’s voice rends the desert,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he rends the desert of Kadesh.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{9} {\sc Lord}’s voice whirls the oaks,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and strips the forests bare;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all in his temple say “Glory.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{10} {\sc Lord} was king at the flood,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} sits throned forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{11} {\sc Lord} gives strength to his people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he blesses his people with peace. }
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\MSS{Psalm 30 – A Song of Thanksgiving for Deliverance}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{30} will extol you, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because you have lifted me up,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and not suffered my foes to rejoice over me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} cried to you for help,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O {\sc Lord} my God, and you healed me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{3} have brought me up, {\sc Lord}, from Sheol,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from my way to the pit back to life you have called me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sing\V{4} praise to the {\sc Lord}, faithful people;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{give thanks to his holy name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{5} his anger lasts only a moment,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his favor endures for a lifetime.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Weeping may lodge for the night,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the morning brings shouts of joy.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{6} all went well, I imagined}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that never should I be shaken.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{7} by your favor, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you had set me on mountains strong:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but you hide your face,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I was confounded.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{8} to you, {\sc Lord}, I cried,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the {\sc Lord} I begged for mercy,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “What\V{9} profit is there in my blood,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{if I go down to the pit?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Can you be praised by dust?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Can it tell of your faithfulness?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear,\V{10} {\sc Lord}, and show me your favor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{{\sc Lord} be a helper to me.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{11} have turned my mourning to dancing;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my sackcloth you have unloosed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and clothed me with joy:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ that\V{12} unceasingly I should sing your praise,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and give thanks to you, {\sc Lord} my God, forever. }
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\MSS{Psalm 31 – A Prayer for Deliverance from Troubles}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\C{31} you, O {\sc Lord}, I take refuge;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let me never be put to shame.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Rescue me in your faithfulness;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ incline\V{2} to me your ear.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Deliver me speedily.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Be to me a rock of defence,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{a fortified house, to save me.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ For\V{3} my rock and my fortress are you;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{lead me and guide me so your name will be honored.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Draw\V{4} me out of the net they have hid for me,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for you yourself are my refuge.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Into\V{5} your hand I commend my spirit:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you ransom me, {\sc Lord}, faithful God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{6} hate those devoted to worthless idols;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I trust in the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{7} will rejoice and be glad in your love,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because you have looked on my misery,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and cared for me in my distress.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{8} have not given me into the enemy’s hand,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you have set my feet in a spacious place.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{9} gracious to me, {\sc Lord}, for I am distressed;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my eye is wasted away with sorrow.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{10} my life is consumed with grief,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my years with sighing.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{My strength is broken with misery,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my bones waste away.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{11} scorn of all my foes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the butt of my neighbors am I,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a terror to my acquaintance.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{At the sight of me in the street}
\noindentation \Q{2}{people turn quickly away.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{12} am clean forgotten like the dead,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{am become like a ruined vessel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{13} hear the whispers of many –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{terror on every side –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{scheming together against me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{plotting to take my life.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{14} my trust is in you, {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“You are my God,” I say;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ my\V{15} times are in your hand, save me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the hand of the foes who pursue me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Make\V{16} your face to shine on your servant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{save me in your love.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Put\V{17} me not, O {\sc Lord}, to shame,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I have called upon you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Let the wicked be put to shame}
\noindentation \Q{2}{silent in Sheol.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Strike\V{18} the false lips dumb,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that speak proudly against the righteous}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with haughtiness and contempt.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{19} great is the goodness}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you have treasured for those who fear you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and wrought for those who take refuge in you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in plain sight of all!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{20} your sheltering wings you hide them}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from plottings of people,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{you keep them safe in a bower}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the chiding of tongues.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Blest\V{21} be the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ for the wonderful love he has shown me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in time of distress.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{22} I had said in panic,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“I am driven clean out of your sight.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{But you heard my plea,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when I cried to you for help.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Love\V{23} the {\sc Lord}, all you faithful;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} protects the loyal,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but repays the haughty in full.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{24} your hearts be courageous and strong,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all you who wait on the {\sc Lord}. }
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\MSS{Psalm 32 – A Prayer of Confession and Joy}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\C{32} those whose transgression is pardoned,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whose sin is covered.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{2} are those, free from falseness of spirit,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to whom the {\sc Lord} reckons no debt of guilt.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{3} I held my peace, my bones wore away}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with my endless groaning;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{4} day and night did your hand}
\noindentation \Q{2}{lie heavy upon me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The sap of my life was dried up}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as with fierce summer-heat. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{5} began to acknowledge my sin,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{not concealing my guilt;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the moment I vowed to confess}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the {\sc Lord} my transgression,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{then you yourself did pardon}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the guilt of my sin. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{6} this cause let all who are faithful}
\noindentation \Q{2}{pray to you in the time of distress;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{then, when the great waters rush,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they will not reach to him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{7} you are my shelter,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you protect me from trouble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and surround me with deliverance. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “With\V{8} my eye steadfastly upon you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will instruct and teach you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The way you should go.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{9} not be like the horse or the mule,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that have no understanding,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but need bridle and halter to curb them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{else they will not come near to you.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{10} godless have many sorrows,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but those who trust in the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ will be compassed about by his kindness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{11} glad in the {\sc Lord}, and rejoice, you righteous;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and ring out your joy, all you upright in heart. }
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\MSS{Psalm 33 – A Hymn of Thanksgiving}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Shout\C{33} for joy in the {\sc Lord}, you righteous:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praise for the upright is seemly.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\V{2} thanks to the {\sc Lord} on the lyre,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{play to him on a ten-stringed harp.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sing\V{3} to him a new song,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{play skilfully and shout merrily.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} the {\sc Lord} is straight in his promise;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all that he does is in faithfulness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Justice\V{5} and right he loves;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the earth is full of his kindness.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ By\V{6} his word the heavens were made,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all their host by the breath of his mouth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{7} gathers the sea in a bottle,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the ocean he puts into store-houses.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{8} the whole world honor the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let all who live on earth be in awe.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{9} at his word it came into being,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at his command it stood forth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{10} {\sc Lord} frustrates the designs of the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{what the peoples have purposed, he brings to nought,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ but\V{11} the {\sc Lord}’s own design will stand forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and what his heart has purposed, through all generations.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{12} the nation whose God is the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the people he chose for himself as his own.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{13} {\sc Lord} looks down from heaven,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he sees all of humanity;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ from\V{14} where he rules he gazes}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on all who inhabit the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{15} fashions the hearts of them all,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and gives heed to all that they do.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{16} is not by great armies that kings are victorious,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it is not by great strength that a warrior saves himself;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ false\V{17} hope is the war-horse to usher in victory,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for all its great might it can provide no escape.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ See!\V{18} The eye of the {\sc Lord} is on those who fear him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on those who hope in his kindness;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{19} deliver their life from death,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and to keep them alive in famine.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ We\V{20} wait for the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he is our help and our shield.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{21} in him our heart is glad,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{we trust in his holy name.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{22} your kindness, O {\sc Lord}, be upon us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as is our hope in you. }
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\MSS{Psalm 34 – The Lord is Mindful of His Own}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{34} will bless the {\sc Lord} at all times,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in my mouth will his praise be forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{2} the {\sc Lord} will my heart make her boast,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the humble will hear and be glad.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{3} magnify the {\sc Lord} with me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and let us extol his name together.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{4} sought the {\sc Lord}, and, in answer,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he saved me from all my terrors.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Look\V{5} to him and you will be radiant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with faces unashamed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Here\V{6} is one who was crushed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but cried and was heard by the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and brought safe out of every trouble.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{7} {\sc Lord}’s angel encamps}
\noindentation \Q{2}{about those who fear him, and rescues them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{8} taste and see that the {\sc Lord} is good,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{happy those who take refuge in him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Fear\V{9} the {\sc Lord}, all his people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for they who fear him lack nothing.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Even\V{10} young lions may be poor and hungry,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but those who seek the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ will not lack any good thing.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Come,\V{11} children, listen to me.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will teach you the fear of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Which\V{12} of you is desirous of life,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{loves many and happy days?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{13} guard your tongue from evil,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your lips from speaking deceit.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Depart\V{14} from evil, and do good;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{seek peace, and pursue it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{15} eyes of the {\sc Lord} are towards the righteous,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his ears are towards their cry for help.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{16} {\sc Lord} sets his face against those who do evil,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to root their memory out of the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{17} righteous cry, they are heard by the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he saves them from all their distresses.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{18} {\sc Lord} is near to the broken-hearted,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he helps those whose spirit is crushed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Many\V{19} misfortunes befall the righteous,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the {\sc Lord} delivers them out of them all.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{20} guards all their bones,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{none are broken.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Misfortune\V{21} will slay the ungodly;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{those who hate the righteous are doomed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{22} {\sc Lord} ransoms the life of his servants,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and none will be doomed who takes refuge in him. }
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\MSS{Psalm 35 – A Prayer for Deliverance from Malicious Foes}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Contend,\C{35} {\sc Lord}, with those who contend with me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{do battle with those who do battle with me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Grasp\V{2} shield and buckler,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and rise up as my help.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Draw\V{3} spear and battle-axe,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{confront those who pursue me.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Assure me that you will help me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Dishonor\V{4} and shame be on those}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who are seeking my life!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Defeat and confusion on those}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who are planning my hurt!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{5} chaff before wind may they be,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with the {\sc Lord}’s angel pursuing them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Slippery\V{6} and dark be their way,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with his angel thrusting them on.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{7} they wantonly hid their net for me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and dug a pit to destroy me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Upon\V{8} them may ruin come unawares;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{may the net which they hid catch themselves,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and into the pit may they fall.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{9} I will exult in the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and be joyful because of his help;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{10} all my being will say,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“Who, O {\sc Lord}, is like you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who save the helpless from those too strong for them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the poor and the helpless from those who despoil them?”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Violent\V{11} witnesses rise,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and ask of me things that I know not.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Evil\V{12} for good they requite me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{leaving me inwardly comfortless.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{13} when {\em they}  were sick, {\em I}  put on sackcloth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and chastened myself with fasting.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I prayed with head bowed low,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ as\V{14} if for my friend or my brother.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I went about bowed and in mourning,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as one who laments his mother.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{15} I stumbled, they gleefully gathered,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{strangers gathered around me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and tore at me without ceasing,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ impiously\V{16} mocking and mocking,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bearing their teeth at me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{17} long, {\sc Lord}, will you look on?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Rescue me from their roaring,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my precious life from the lions.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{18} will then give you thanks in the great congregation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and praise you before many people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Suffer\V{19} not those to rejoice over me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who are falsely my foes,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{suffer not those who without cause abhor me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to wink with the eye.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{20} it is not peace that they speak}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of those who are quiet in the land;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but treacherous charges they plot.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ With\V{21} wide open mouths they shout,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Hurrah! Hurrah!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{With our own eyes we saw it.”}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{22} you have seen, too, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{keep not silence, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be not far from me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Bestir\V{23} you, awake, for my right}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my God, my {\sc Lord}, for my cause.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{24} are just, {\sc Lord}: win for me justice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let them not rejoice over me,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ inwardly\V{25} saying, “Hurrah!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The desire of our hearts at last!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Now we have swallowed him up.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Shame\V{26} and confusion together}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on those who rejoice at my hurt!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Clothed with shame and dishonor}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be those who are haughty to me!}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{27} such as delight in my cause}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ring out their gladness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and say evermore,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Great is the {\sc Lord} whose delight}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is the well-being of his servant.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{28} my tongue will tell of your justice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all the day long of your praise. }
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\MSS{Psalm 36 – The Triumphant Power of God’s Love}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em {\sc Lord\C{36} }, of David.\stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sin whispers within the heart of the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who have no dread of God before their eyes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{2} flatters them in their eyes}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that their sin will not be found out.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ First,\V{3} their speech becomes wicked and false,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they give up acting wisely and well.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{4} they plot deliberate wrong,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{take their stand on the wicked way,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{without the least shrinking from evil.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{5} love, O {\sc Lord}, touches the heavens,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your faithfulness reaches the clouds.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{6} justice is like the great mountains,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your judgments are like the broad sea.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{{\sc Lord}, you save people and animals.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{7} precious your love, O God!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{All may seek shelter in the shadow of your wings.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{8} feast on the fat of your house,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they drink of your brook of delights.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{9} with you is the fountain of life,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the light that is yours we see light.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{10} continue your grace to the faithful,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your love to the upright in heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{11} no arrogant foot tread upon me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{no wicked hand drive me to exile.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{12} the workers of wrong lie prostrate,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{thrust down to rise up no more. }
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\MSS{Psalm 37 – Trust in the Lord and Do Good}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\C{37} not kindled to wrath at the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor envious of those who work wrong;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for,\V{2} like grass, they will speedily wither,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and fade like the green of young grass.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Trust\V{3} in the {\sc Lord}, and do good;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{remain in the land, and deal faithfully:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ then\V{4} the {\sc Lord} will be your delight,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he will grant you your heart’s petitions.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Commit\V{5} your way to the {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{trust in him, and he will act,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ making\V{6} clear as the light your right,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your just cause clear as the noon-day.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{7} silence and patience wait on the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Be not kindled to anger at those who prosper.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{At those who execute evil devices.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Desist\V{8} from anger, abandon wrath:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be not kindled to anger it leads but to evil:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{9} evildoers will be cut off,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the land will be theirs, who wait on the {\sc Lord}.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yet\V{10} but a little, and the wicked vanish:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{look at their place: they are there no more.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{11} the humble will have the land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the rapture of peace in abundance.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} wicked plots against the righteous,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ snarls like a wild animal;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ the\V{13} {\sc Lord} laughs,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for he sees that his day is coming.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{14} wicked have drawn the sword, and bent the bow,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to fell the poor, to slay those who walk uprightly;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ but\V{15} their sword will pierce their own heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their bows will be broken in pieces.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Better\V{16} is the righteous person’s little}
\noindentation \Q{2}{than the wealth of many wicked.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{17} the arms of the wicked will be broken,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the {\sc Lord} upholds the righteous.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{18} {\sc Lord} watches over the days of the blameless,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their heritage will continue forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{19} will not be shamed in the evil time,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the days of famine they will be satisfied.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Because\V{20} the wicked will perish:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but the foes of the {\sc Lord}, like a brand in the oven,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will vanish, like smoke they will vanish.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{21} wicked must borrow and cannot pay back,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the righteous is lavish and gives.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{22} those blest by the {\sc Lord} inherit the land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while those whom he curses will be cut off.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{23} {\sc Lord} supports the steps}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of those with whom he is pleased.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{24} they fall, they will not be cast headlong,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the {\sc Lord} holds their hands.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Never,\V{25} from youth to age,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{have I seen the righteous forsaken,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or their children begging bread.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{26} are ever lavishly lending,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their children are fountains of blessing.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Turn\V{27} away from evil and do good}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and you will live in the land forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{28} the {\sc Lord} loves justice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he does not forsake his friends.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{The unrighteous will be destroyed forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the seed of the wicked will be cut off.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{29} the land will belong to the righteous,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they will live upon it forever,}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{30} mouth of the righteous murmurs wisdom,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and words of justice are on their tongues.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{31} law of their God is in their heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their steps are never unsteady.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{32} wicked watches the righteous,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and seeks to put them to death.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{33} the {\sc Lord} leaves them not in their hand:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at their trial they will not be held guilty.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Wait\V{34} on the {\sc Lord}, and observe his way:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he will lift you to honor the land will be yours,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you will feast your eyes on the doom of the wicked.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{35} have seen the wicked exultant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{lifting themselves like a cedar of Lebanon.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{36} the moment I passed, they vanished!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I sought for them, but they could not be found.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Preserve\V{37} your honor and practise uprightness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for such a person fares well in the end.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{38} transgressors will perish together.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Cut off are the wicked forever.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{39} righteous are saved by the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who in time of distress is their refuge:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ the\V{40} {\sc Lord} helps and rescue them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the wicked he rescues and saves them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because they take refuge in him. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 38 – A Confession and Prayer for Deliverance}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Reprove\C{38} me not, {\sc Lord}, in your anger,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and chasten me not in your wrath;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{2} your arrows have sunk into me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your hand lies heavy upon me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{3} my flesh is no soundness}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because of your anger,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{no health in my bones,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because of my sin.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} that my guilt}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is gone over my head:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{it weighs like a burden}
\noindentation \Q{2}{too heavy for me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{5} wounds stink and fester,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for my foolishness I am tormented.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Bent\V{6} and bowed am I utterly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the day going in mourning.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{7} loins are filled with burning,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in my flesh is no soundness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{8} am utterly crushed and numb;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I cry louder than lion roars.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{9} }, you know all that I long for,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my groans are not hidden from you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{10} heart is throbbing,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my strength has failed me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The light of my eyes –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{even it is gone from me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{11} dear ones and friends keep aloof,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my neighbors stand afar off.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{12} who aim at my life lay their snares,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they who seek my hurt speak of ruin,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nursing treachery all the day long.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{13} I turn a deaf ear and hear not;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like the dumb I open not my mouth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{14} am like one without hearing,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with no arguments in my mouth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{15} my hope, O {\sc Lord}, is in you.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{You will answer, O {\sc Lord} my God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ when\V{16} I utter the hope that those}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who made scorn of my tottering feet}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may not rejoice over me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{17} I am ready to fall,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my pain forsakes me never.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{18} acknowledge my guilt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I am anxious because of my sin:}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{19} wanton assailants are strong,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{those who wrongfully hate me are many,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{20} render me evil for good,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and oppose me, because I make good my goal.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{21} not forsake me, O {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my God, be not far from me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hasten\V{22} to help me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O {\sc Lord} my savior. }
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\MSS{Psalm 39 – The Pathos of Life}
\par 
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{39} vowed to watch my words,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and sin not with my tongue,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but to put on my mouth a muzzle,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while the wicked were in my presence.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} was silent and dumb,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{speechless:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but my pain was stirred up.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{3} heart grew hot within me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as I mused, the fire was kindled,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{till at last the words came to my tongue.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Teach\V{4} me, O {\sc Lord}, my end,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the sum of my days what it is.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Let me know how transient I am.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ See!\V{5} My days you have made but a span,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my life is as nothing before you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{It is but as a breath that everyone stands: {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ it\V{6} is but in mere semblance we walk to and fro,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and all our noise is for nothing.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{We heap up, and know not who will gather.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{7} now, what wait I for, {\sc Lord}?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{My hope is in you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{8} all my transgressions deliver me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{make me not the scorn of the fool.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{9} am dumb, never opening my mouth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for this is your own doing.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Remove\V{10} your stroke from off me:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by the might of your hand I am spent.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{11} you rebuke someone to punish their sins,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you consume, like a moth, what they treasures.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Everyone is only a breath. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear\V{12} my prayer, O {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{attend to my cry for help.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Hold not your peace at my tears.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For I am but a guest of yours,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a stranger visiting, like all my ancestors.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Look\V{13} away from me, let me smile again,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{before I die and am gone. }
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\MSS{Psalm 40 – Thanksgiving and Petition}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\C{40} the {\sc Lord} I waited and waited,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{till, inclining to me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he heard my cry.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{2} the horrible pit he drew me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{up out of the miry clay;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{he set my feet on a rock,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my steps he made firm.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{3} put a new song in my mouth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of praise to our God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Many see it, and, filled with awe,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{put their trust in the {\sc Lord}.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{4} the person who has put}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the {\sc Lord} their trust,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{not looking to false gods}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or turning to idols.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{5} us you have wrought in rich measure,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O {\sc Lord} our God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{your marvels and purposes for us –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{none may compare with you –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{were I to declare or to tell them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{past counting are they.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{6} offerings bloody or bloodless}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you have no delight,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but with open ears you have made me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Burnt-offering and offering for sin}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are not what you ask.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{7} said I, “Here I am,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as the roll of the book has enjoined.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{8} delight, O God, is to do your will,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your law is within my heart.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Well,\V{9} O {\sc Lord}, you know}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that, with lips unrestrained,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{your righteousness I told}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the great congregation,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ not\V{10} hiding it in my heart.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I have told of your steadfast help,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the great congregation I hid not}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your love and your faithfulness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{11} do not restrain, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your pity from us.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Your love and your faithfulness – ever}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may they be our shield.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{12} evils that cannot be numbered}
\noindentation \Q{2}{have compassed me round.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{My transgressions have followed me up –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I can bear it no more.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They are more than the hairs of my head,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my heart has forsaken me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{13} {\sc Lord}, be pleased to deliver me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{haste to my help, O {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{14} those who are seeking my life}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be ashamed and confounded together;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{may those who delight in my hurt}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be defeated and brought to dishonor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{15} those who hurrah over me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be dumbfounded because of their shame.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{16} may all who seek after you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{rejoice and be glad in you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{May all those eager for your aid,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{say, “Great is the {\sc Lord}” evermore.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{17} am weak and needy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{yet the {\sc Lord} cares for me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You are my help and deliverer;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{don’t delay, my God. }
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\MSS{Psalm 41 – A Prayer for Healing and Vindication}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\C{41} are those who consider the weak;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the day of misfortune the {\sc Lord} will deliver them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{2} will keep them safe, happy, and long in the land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and not give them up to the rage of their foes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} {\sc Lord} will sustain them on bed of languishing;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{tending their sickness, as long as they lie.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} this cause I say, “{\sc Lord}, show me your favor;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{heal me, because I have sinned against you.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{5} enemies speak of me nothing but evil,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“When will he die, and his name pass away?”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{6} one comes to see me, their words ring hollow;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their heart keeps gathering mischief the while;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and when they go out, they give it speech.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{7} secret they whisper together against me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all those who hate me plot evil against me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Some\V{8} fatal disease has fastened upon him;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and now that he lies, he will rise up no more.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{9} most trusted friend, on whom I relied,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who ate of my bread, has turned against me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{10} do you, {\sc Lord}, graciously raise me up,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I may pay them their due reward.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ By\V{11} this will I know you delight in me:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{if my foes may not shout over me in triumph.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{12} my innocence you uphold me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and set me forever before your face.}
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\noindentation \Q{3}{ {\em Blessed\V{13} be the Lord, the God of Israel,} }
\noindentation \Q{3}{{\em from everlasting to everlasting,} }
\noindentation \Q{3}{{\em Amen and Amen.}  }
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\MS{Book Two}

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\MSS{Psalm 42 – Yearning for God}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ \C{42} {\sc Like the hart which longs}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for brooks of water,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I long}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you, God.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} thirst for God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for my living God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{When shall I enter in,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and see the face of God?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{3} tears have been my food}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by day and by night;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for they say to me all the day long,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“Where is your God?”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{4} heart floods with sorrow,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as I call to mind:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{how I used to pass on with the throng,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at their head, to the house of God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{with glad shouts and giving of thanks,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the throng who kept festival.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\V{5} am I downcast?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Why this moaning within me?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Hope in God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for yet will I praise him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my help, my God.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{6} am sunk in my misery;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will therefore call you to mind}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the land of Jordan and Hermon,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the mountain Mizar.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Flood\V{7} is calling to flood}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at the noise of your cataracts;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{all your waves and your breakers}
\noindentation \Q{2}{have passed over me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{8} the day I cry to the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ to summon his kindness;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the song that I sing in the night}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is a prayer to the living God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{9} say to God my rock,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“Why have you forgotten me?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Why must I walk so sadly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so hard pressed by the foe?”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{10} pierces me to the heart}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to hear the enemy’s taunts,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{as all the day long they say to me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“Where is your God?”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\V{11} am I downcast?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Why this moaning within me?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Hope in God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for yet will I praise him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my help, my God. }
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\MSS{Psalm 43 – Plea for Help}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Right\C{43} me, defend my cause}
\noindentation \Q{2}{against a pitiless people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{From the crafty and crooked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O God, deliver me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{2} you are God my protector:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{why have you cast me off?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Why must I walk so sadly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so hard pressed by the foe?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Send\V{3} forth your light and your truth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let them be my guides:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to your holy hill let them bring me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the place where you live.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{4} will I go to God’s altar,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to God my rejoicing;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and with joy on the lyre I will praise you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O God, my God.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\V{5} am I downcast?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Why this moaning within me?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Hope in God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for yet will I praise him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my help, my God. }
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\MSS{Psalm 44 – A Lament in Defeat}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\C{44} God, we have heard with our ears,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all our ancestors have told us}
\noindentation \Q{1}{of the work that you wrought in their day,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your wonders in days of old,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ uprooting\V{2} and crushing the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{then planting and settling them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For it wasn’t their own sword that won them the land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ it\V{3} was not their own arm that brought them the victory.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Yours was the hand and the arm,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{yours was the face that shone on them with favor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{4} was you, my king and my God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that ordained the victories of Jacob.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Through\V{5} you we can thrust back our foes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and by your name tread down our assailants:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{6} not in my bow do I trust,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor can my sword win me the victory.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Our\V{7} victory comes from you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and confusion to those who hate us.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{8} God we boast all the day long,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your name will we praise forever. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yet\V{9} you have spurned and disgraced us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in not going forth with our armies,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{10} in making us flee from the foe,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so that those who hated us plundered us.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{11} have let us be eaten like sheep,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you have scattered us over the world,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ sold\V{12} your people for a pittance,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and getting no gain from their price.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{13} have made us the butt of our neighbors,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the derision and scorn of all round us.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O’er\V{14} the world you have made us a byword,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the nations at us shake their heads.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{15} disgrace is forever before me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my face is covered with shame,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ at\V{16} the words of blasphemer and scoffer,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at the sight of the foe and the vengeful.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{17} this has come upon us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{yet we have not forgotten you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor falsely dealt with your covenant.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Our\V{18} heart has not turned back,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor our steps declined from your way,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ that\V{19} you thus should have crushed us down,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and covered us over with gloom,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the place where the jackals roam.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Had\V{20} we forgotten the name of our God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or stretched out our hands to a god that was strange,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ would\V{21} God not have searched this out?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{For he knows the heart and its secrets.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{22} in your cause it is we are killed all the day,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and counted as sheep for the slaughter.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Rouse\V{23} yourself, why do you sleep Lord?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Awake, cast us not off forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\V{24} do you hide your face,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{forgetting our stress and our misery?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{25} we have sunk down to the dust,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{our bodies cling to the ground.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Arise,\V{26} come to our help:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for your love’s sake, ransom us. }
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\MSS{Psalm 45 – Song for the Marriage of a King}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\C{45} heart is astir with beautiful words:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will sing a song, concerning the king,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{with tongue like the pen of a ready writer.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Your\V{2} beauty is more than mortal,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{grace is shed over your lips:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{therefore God has blessed you forever.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Warrior,\V{3} strap your sword on your thigh.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{What glory and splendor!}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Good\V{4} fortune attend you, as forth you ride}
\noindentation \Q{1}{in the cause of good faith, and as champion of justice.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{May your arm instruct you in deeds of dread.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sharp\V{5} are your arrows; nations fall under you:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{pierced to the heart are the foes of the king.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{6} throne shall endure for ever and ever}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your royal sceptre a sceptre of equity.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Right\V{7} you love and wrong you hate:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{therefore the {\sc Lord} your God anoints you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{With oil of gladness above your fellows.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{8} myrrh, aloes, and cassia your robes are all fragrant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you are gladdened by music of ivory harps.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ King’s\V{9} daughters stand ready with jewels for you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at your right hand the queen in gold of Ophir.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Listen,\V{10} daughter, and see; and incline your ear:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{forget your folk and your father’s house.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{11} when the king desires your beauty,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bow to him, for he is your lord.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{12} shall the Tyrians come with gifts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the richest of people will do you homage.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{13} king’s daughter is glorious altogether,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with dress of pearls inwrought with gold.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{14} many-coloured robes she is led to the king,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with the virgin companions she brought in her train.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ The\V{15} king’s palace they enter with joy and rejoicing.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{16} sons of yours take the place of your fathers,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whom you will make princes in all the land.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{17} name will I celebrate world without end,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so that nations shall praise you for ever and ever. }
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\MSS{Psalm 46 – Our God is a Mighty Fortress}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\C{46} is our refuge and strength,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a very present help in trouble.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{2} we have no fear, though earth should change,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the hills totter into the heart of the ocean.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{3} its waters roar and foam,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{On our side is the {\sc Lord} of hosts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{our sure defence is the God of Jacob. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{4} river there is, whose streams make glad}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God’s city, the home the Most High has hallowed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\V{5} is within her: she cannot be shaken.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God helps her at the turn of the morning.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Nations\V{6} roared, kingdoms tottered:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he uttered his voice, earth melted away.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{7} our side is the {\sc Lord} of hosts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{our sure defence is the God of Jacob.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Come\V{8} and see what the {\sc Lord} has done,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{working appallingly in the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{9} stills wars to the ends of the earth –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{breaking the bow, snapping the spear,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{burning the chariots in the fire.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Refrain;\V{10} and know surely that I am God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{high over the nations, high over the world.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{11} our side is the {\sc Lord} of Hosts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{our sure defence is the God of Jacob. {\em Selah}  }
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\MSS{Psalm 47 – The Lord’s Universal Sovereignty}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Clap\C{47} your hands, all you peoples:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{shout to God in ringing cries.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{2} the {\sc Lord} is most high and dread,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a great king over all the earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{3} subdues the peoples under us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the nations under our feet;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ he\V{4} chooses our heritage for us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the glory of Jacob whom he loves. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\V{5} is gone up with a shout,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} with the sound of a trumpet.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sing\V{6} praise to our God, sing praises:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sing praise to our king, sing praises.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{7} king of all earth is he:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praise God in a skilful song.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\V{8} is king over all the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God sits on his holy throne.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Princes\V{9} of nations gather}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with the people of Abraham’s God:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for the shields of the earth are God’s;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{greatly exalted is he. }
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\MSS{Psalm 48 – The Marvelous Deliverance of Zion}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Great\C{48} is the {\sc Lord} and worthy all praise}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the city of our God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{His holy mountain, that\V{2} rises so fair,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is the joy of all the world.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Like the mount of the gods is Mount Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the city of the great king.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Once\V{3} God made himself known}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as the defence of her palaces.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} see! A concert of kings}
\noindentation \Q{2}{passed over the frontier together.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{5} one glance, and they were astounded;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they hastened away in dismay.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Trembling\V{6} took hold of them there,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like the pains of a woman in labor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{7} were shattered, as east wind shatters}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the giant ships in pieces.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ What\V{8} we heard, we now have seen}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the city of the {\sc Lord} of hosts,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the city of our God.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God will uphold her forever. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ We\V{9} think, O God, of your love,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the midst of your temple.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{10} fame, O God, like your name, shall extend}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the ends of the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Victory fills your hand.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Let\V{11} mount Zion be glad;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{let the daughters of Judah rejoice}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because of your judgments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Walk\V{12} about Zion, go round her;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{count her towers.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Set\V{13} your mind on her ramparts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{consider her palaces;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{that you tell to the next generation}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ That\V{14} such is God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{our God he it is who shall guide us}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for ever and ever. }
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\MSS{Psalm 49 – The Problem of the Prosperity of the Wicked}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear\C{49} this, you peoples all;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{give ear, all you who live in the world}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ people\V{2} of low degree and high,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the rich and the poor together.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{3} mouth shall utter wisdom,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the thoughts of a seeing heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{4} incline my ear to a proverb,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on the lyre I will open my riddle.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\V{5} should I be afraid in the days of misfortune,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when circled by wicked and cunning foes,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{6} put their trust in their wealth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and boast of their boundless riches?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{7} assuredly no one can ransom themselves,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or give to God the price of their life,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{8} the ransom of a life is costly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{no payment is ever enough,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{9} keep them alive for ever and ever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so as never to see the pit at all.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{10} see it they will. Even wise people die,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the fool and the brutish perish alike,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and abandon their wealth to others.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{11} grave is their everlasting home,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the place they shall live in for ever and ever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{though after their own names they called whole lands.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Despite\V{12} their wealth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they perish like dumb animals.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ This\V{13} is the fate of the confident fool,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the end of those who are pleased with their portion. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{14} sheep they descend to Sheol}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with Death for their shepherd;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{down they go straight to the grave,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their form wastes away in their home below.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{15} God will assuredly ransom my life}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the hand of Sheol;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for he will receive me. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{16} be not afraid when someone grows rich,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when the wealth of their house increases.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Not\V{17} a shred of it all can they take when they die,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{wealth cannot follow them down.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{18} they count themselves happy, when they are alive,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and win praise from many for faring so well,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ they\V{19} must join their ancestors,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who see the light nevermore.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{20} wealthy are without understanding,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they perish like dumb animals. }
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\MSS{Psalm 50 – True Worship}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\C{50} {\sc Lord} God has spoken: He summons the earth}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from sunrise to sunset.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{2} Zion, perfection of beauty,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God’s glory shines forth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Our\V{3} God comes, he cannot keep silence,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{devouring fire is before him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and furious tempest around him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{4} summons the heavens above}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the earth to judge his people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Gather\V{5} to him his saints}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by covenant-sacrifice bound to him;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ that\V{6} the heavens may declare his justice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for a God of justice is he. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Hear,\V{7} O my people, and I will speak,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and protest to you, O Israel:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I am the {\sc Lord}, your God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Not\V{8} for your sacrifices will I reprove you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your burnt-offerings are ever before me}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Not\V{9} a bullock will I take from your house,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor he-goats out of your folds;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{10} all beasts of the forest are mine,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the kine on a thousand hills.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{11} know all the birds of the air,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all that moves on the fields is mine.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Were\V{12} I hungry, I would not tell you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the world and its fulness are mine.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Am\V{13} I such as to eat bulls’ flesh,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or drink the blood of goats?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Offer\V{14} to God a thank-offering,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{pay the Most High your vows.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Summon\V{15} me in the day of distress,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will rescue you, so will you honor me.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{16} to the wicked God says:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“What right have you to talk of my statutes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or take my covenant into your mouth}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ while\V{17} you yourself hate correction,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and cast my words behind you?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{18} you see a thief, you run with them;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with adulterers you keep company.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{19} let your mouth loose for evil,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your tongue contrives deceit.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{20} shamefully speak of your kin,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and slander your own mother’s son.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{21} because I kept silence at this,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you did take me for one like yourself.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{But I will convict you and show you plainly.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Now\V{22} you who forget God, mark this,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{lest I rend you, past hope of deliverance.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Those\V{23} who bring a thank-offering honor me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but to those: who follows my way,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will show the salvation of God.” }
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\MSS{Psalm 51 – God be Merciful to Me, the Sinner}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\C{51} your kindness, O God, be gracious to me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in your own great pity blot out my transgressions.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Wash\V{2} me clean of my guilt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{make me pure of my sin.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} well I know my transgressions,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my sin is ever before me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Against\V{4} you, only you, have I sinned,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and done that which is wrong in your sight:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{you therefore are just when you speak,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and clear when you utter judgment.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ See!\V{5} In guilt was I brought to the birth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in sin did my mother conceive me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It’s\V{6} the innermost truth you desire,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{give me therefore true wisdom of heart.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Purge\V{7} me clean with hyssop,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{wash me whiter than snow.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Fill\V{8} me with joy and gladness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let the bones you have broken rejoice.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hide\V{9} your face from my sins,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and blot out my guilt altogether.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Create\V{10} me a clean heart, O God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{put a new steadfast spirit within me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Cast\V{11} me not forth from your presence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{withdraw not your holy spirit.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\V{12} me back the joy of your help,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with a willing spirit sustain me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{13} will teach your ways to transgressors,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and sinners shall turn to you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Save\V{14} me from blood, O God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my tongue shall ring out your faithfulness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Open\V{15} my lips, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my mouth shall declare your praise.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{16} in sacrifice you have no pleasure,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in gifts of burnt-offering no delight.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{17} sacrifice pleasing to God}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is a spirit that is broken;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{a heart that is crushed, O God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you will not despise.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{18} good in your pleasure to Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{build the walls of Jerusalem.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{19} will you welcome the due forms of sacrifice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{then on your altars shall bullocks be offered. }
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\MSS{Psalm 52 – The Doom of Arrogance}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\C{52} glory in mischief, you hero?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God’s kindness is all the day.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Engulfing\V{2} ruin you plot,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your tongue like a razor sharpened,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you practiser of deceit.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Evil,\V{3} not good, you love,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and falsehood, not words of truth. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{4} you love all words that devour,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and a tongue that is given to deceit.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{5} God, on his part, shall destroy you forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{grasp you and pluck you out of your tent,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and root you out of the land of the living. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Smitten\V{6} with awe at the sight,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the righteous shall laugh at you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Look”\V{7} (they will say) “at the hero}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who did not make God his stronghold,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but trusted in his great wealth}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in the strength of his riches.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{8} I am like a fresh olive-tree}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the house of God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I trust in the kindness of God}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for ever and evermore.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{9} will render you thanks for ever}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for what you have done.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will tell how good you are}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the presence of those who love you. }
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\MSS{Psalm 53 – The Folly of Denying God}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Fools\C{53} say in their heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“There is no God.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Vile, hateful their life is;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{not one does good.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{2} heaven God looks out}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on humans, to see}
\noindentation \Q{1}{if any are wise,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and care for God.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{3} all have turned bad,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the taint is on all;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{not one does good,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{no, not one.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Have\V{4} they learned their lesson,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{those workers of evil?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Who ate up my people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{eating, devouring,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{never calling to the {\sc Lord}.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sore\V{5} afraid will they be,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{where no fear was;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{when God scatters the bones}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of the godless people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They will be put to shame,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when God rejects them.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ If\V{6} only help from Zion}
\noindentation \Q{2}{would come for Israel!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{When God brings his people}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a change of fortune,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{how glad will be Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and Israel how joyful! }
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\MSS{Psalm 54 – A Prayer for Deliverance from Oppression}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Save\C{54} me, O God, by your name,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by your power secure for me justice.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Listen,\V{2} O God, to my prayer,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{give ear to the words of my mouth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} proud men have risen against me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and terrible men seek my life,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{men who do not set God before them. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{4} see! God is my helper,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} is sustaining my life.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{5} their evil fall back on my foes:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{cut them off in your faithfulness, {\sc Lord}.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{6} will I bring you glad sacrifice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praising your gracious name;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{7} from all distress you have saved me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and feasted my eyes on my foes. }
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\MSS{Psalm 55 – Betrayed by a Friend}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Listen,\C{55} God, to my prayer.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Don’t hide yourself from my pleading.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear\V{2} me, and answer;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for bitter is my lament.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{3} am wild with the noise of the foe,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with the clamor of the ungodly;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for they hurl disaster upon me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and attack me with fury.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{4} heart shudders within me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{terrors of deaths press on me,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ fear\V{5} and trembling attack me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and horror wraps me round.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{6} for the wings of a dove:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I would fly away and rest.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{7} would wander far away,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{find refuge in the wilderness. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{8} would find myself a shelter}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from raging wind and tempest.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Confuse\V{9} them, {\sc Lord}, upset their plans;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I see violence and strife in the city.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ By\V{10} day and by night they make their rounds}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on the city walls,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{while within is crime and trouble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ within\V{11} is ruin.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Her market-place is never free}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of deceit and tyranny.}
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\MSS{The Treacherous Friend}
\par 
\noindentation 
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} taunts were not those of a foe}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I could have borne;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the disdain was not that of an enemy}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I could have shunned them:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ but\V{13} it was you, my equal,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my dear and familiar friend.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ We\V{14} used to be so close,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{together we walked in God’s house with the crowd.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{15} death suddenly take them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may they go down to Sheol alive,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for evil lives in their homes and their hearts.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{16} I will call on God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} will save me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Evening\V{17} and morning and noon}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I lament and moan.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He will hear my voice;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ though\V{18} I am attacked by many}
\noindentation \Q{1}{he will rescue me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{unharmed from the war.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ God,\V{19} who sits on his ancient throne}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will hear and will humble them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for they never change,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they never fear God. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{20} friend turned against me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{betrayed his word.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ His\V{21} mouth was smoother than butter,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but war filled his heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{His words were softer than oil,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but sharper than swords.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Cast\V{22} your burden on the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he will sustain you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He will never let the righteous}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be shaken.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{23} you, God, will hurl them down}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the deepest pit.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Bloody and treacherous people}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will not live out half their days;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but I will trust you. }
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\MSS{Psalm 56 – A Prayer of Trust in God}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\C{56} God, be gracious to me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for people trample upon me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the day righting and pressing me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{2} the day enemies trample me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{many there be}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who contend with me bitterly.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{3} the day of my terror}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I trust in you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{4} God I maintain my cause,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in God I fearlessly trust.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{What can flesh do to me?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{5} torture me all the day,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they ceaselessly plan to hurt me,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ banded\V{6} together in secret,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{watching my every step,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as those who hope for my death.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Pay\V{7} them out for their sin, O God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hurl down the strong in your anger.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{8} yourself count my wanderings.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Put in your bottle my tears}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are they not in your book?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{9} shall my foes be turned back}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the day that I call.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Of this I am sure,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because God is for me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{10} God I maintain my cause,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the {\sc Lord} I maintain my cause.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{11} God I fearlessly trust,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{what can people do to me?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{12} vows are upon me, O God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will render thank-offerings to you;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ because\V{13} you have saved me from death,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my feet from stumbling,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to the end that I walk before God}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the light of the living. }
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\MSS{Psalm 57 – A Prayer for Protection from Persecution}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\C{57} gracious, O God, be gracious to me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for in you I take shelter.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In your sheltering wings I take refuge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{till ruin be over past.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} cry to the Most High God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the God who accomplishes for me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{3} will send me his succour from heaven,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he will thrust away those who would trample me. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{4} the midst of lions I lie,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who devour human prey.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Their teeth are spears and arrows,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their tongue is a sharpened sword.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{5} exalted, God, o’er the heavens,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your glory o’er all the earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{6} set a net for my feet,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but in it was their own foot caught.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Before me they dug a pit,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but they fell into it themselves. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{7} heart is steadfast, O God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my heart is steadfast.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I would sing, I would make music;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ awake,\V{8} my soul.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Awake, harp and lyre;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I would wake the dawn.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{9} would praise you among the peoples, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and make music among the nations to you;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{10} great to heaven is your love,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your faithfulness to the clouds.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{11} exalted, God, o’er the heavens,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your glory o’er all the earth. }
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\MSS{Psalm 58 – A Prayer for Vengeance on Unjust Judges}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\C{58} you speak what is right, you gods?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{With equity judge you your people?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{2} the land you practise iniquity – all of you;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{violence do you dispense with your hands.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} wicked go astray from the womb}
\noindentation \Q{2}{liars take the wrong path from their birth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Venom\V{4} have they like the venom of snakes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they are like the deaf adder that stops her ears,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{5} refuses to listen to the voice of the charmer,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or binder of spells, no matter how cunning.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{6} God, break to pieces the teeth in their mouth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{tear out the great teeth of the young lions, {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{7} they melt away like running water!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Like tender grass, cut down may they be!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{8} the snail that dissolves on its crawling path,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like the birth untimely which sees not the sunlight.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Faster\V{9} than a thorn-fire heats your pots,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he will come with his tempest and sweep them away.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{10} sight of such vengeance will gladden the righteous;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their feet they will wash in the blood of the wicked.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ People\V{11} will say, “Yes, the just are rewarded:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{yes, on the earth is a God who is Judge.” }
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\MSS{Psalm 59 – A Prayer for Safety}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Save\C{59} me, O God, from my enemies;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{secure me from my assailants.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Save\V{2} me from those who do wrong,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{save me from the bloodthirsty.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} see! They lay ambush for me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{strong men are banded against me}
\noindentation \Q{1}{not for sin or transgression of mine,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for no guilt of mine, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ they\V{4} run and make ready. Awake!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Come forth to meet me, and see!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You,\V{5} O {\sc Lord} of hosts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God of Israel, awake!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And punish the proud, every one;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{spare none of the traitors vile. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{3}{ At\V{6} evening they come,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{and, howling like dogs,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{make their round in the city.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Look\V{7} at their venomous mouths,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{tongues like swords,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they think no one}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hears them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{8} you, {\sc Lord}, laugh at them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you mock all the insolent.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{9} strength, I will sing to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for God is my sure retreat.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{10} God with his love will meet me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and feast my eyes on my foes.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Slay\V{11} them not, lest my people forget,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let your hosts keep them roaming and wandering.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{12} their sinful speech snare them, O {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and may they be trapped in their pride,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for the curses and lies that they utter.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ In\V{13} your wrath make a clean end of them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{that people, to the ends of the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may know that God rules in Jacob. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{3}{ At\V{14} evening they come,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{and, howling like dogs,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{make their round in the city.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{15} roam about for a feast,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and snarl, if they get not their fill.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{16} I will sing of your might;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will ring out your love in the morning.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For to me you have been a sure refuge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a retreat in the day of my trouble.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{17} strength, I will sing praise to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for God is my sure retreat,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my faithful God. }
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\MSS{Psalm 60 – A Prayer after Defeat in Battle}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\C{60} God, you have spurned and broken us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{routing us in your wrath – restore us!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{2} have shaken the land and cleft it;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{heal its tottering breaches.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{3} have made your people drink hardship,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and given us wine of reeling.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{4} have given those who fear you a banner,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a rallying-place from the bow, {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{5} the rescue of your beloved.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Save by your right hand and answer us.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\V{6} did solemnly swear:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“As victor will I divide Shechem,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and mete out the valley of Succoth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Mine\V{7} is Gilead, mine is Manasseh,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Ephraim is the defence of my head,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Judah my sceptre of rule,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Moab\V{8} the pot that I wash in,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Edom – I cast my shoe over it,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I shout o’er Philistia in triumph.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{9} to be brought to the fortified city!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O to be led into Edom!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Have\V{10} you not spurned us, O God?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{You do not march forth with our armies.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Grant\V{11} us help from the foe,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for human help is worthless.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{12} God we shall yet do bravely:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he himself will tread down our foes. }
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\MSS{Psalm 61 – Our God is a Strong Tower}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear\C{61} my cry, O God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be attentive to my prayer.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{2} the ends of the earth I call}
\noindentation \Q{2}{unto you, when my heart is faint:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{lead me to the rock}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that is high above me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} you are a refuge to me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a strong tower in face of the foe.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{4} to be guest in your tent forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hiding beneath your sheltering wings! {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{5} you, O God, do hear my vows,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and grant the desires of those who fear you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Add\V{6} many days to the life of the king;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may his years endure throughout all generations.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{7} the presence of God be he throned forever;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may kindness and faithfulness watch over him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{8} I will sing praise to your name forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{paying my vows day after day. }
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\MSS{Psalm 62 – Quietness and Confidence}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{62} wait alone in silence for God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{From him comes my help.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yes,\V{2} he is my rock, my help, my retreat,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I shall not be shaken too sorely.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{3} long will you, all of you, batter a man,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as one might a leaning wall?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{4} his height}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they are planning to topple him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They take pleasure in falsehood; they bless with their mouth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but inwardly they curse. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{5} wait alone in silence for God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for from him comes my hope.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yes,\V{6} he is my rock, my help, my retreat,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I shall not be shaken too sorely.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{7} God rests my honor and safety,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in God is my strong rock, my refuge.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Trust\V{8} in him, all you people assembled,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{pour out your heart in his presence;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God is a refuge for us. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{9} lowly are nought but a breath,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the lofty are but an illusion:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{in the balances up they go,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they are lighter than breath altogether.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Trust\V{10} not in gain of extortion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{set no vain hopes in robbery.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{As for wealth, if it bears fruit,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{set not your heart upon it.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ One\V{11} thing God has uttered,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{two things there are which I heard}
\noindentation \Q{1}{that power belongs to God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ and\V{12} to you, too, O {\sc Lord}, belongs kindness;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for you requite each person}
\noindentation \Q{2}{according to what they have done. }
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\MSS{Psalm 63 – Athirst for God}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\C{63} God, my God, you, you do I seek:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my heart thirsts for you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{my body faints for you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in a parched and waterless land.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{2} I in the temple have seen you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{beholding your power and your glory,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{3} better than life is your kindness:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my lips shall utter your praise.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ So,\V{4} while I live, I will bless you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and lift up my hands in your name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{5} with marrow and fat am I feasted;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with joyful lips I will praise you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{6} call you to mind on my bed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and muse on you in the night watches;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{7} you have been my help,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I joyfully sing in the shadow of your wings.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{8} cling close after you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your right hand holds me up.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{9} those who seek after my life}
\noindentation \Q{2}{shall go down to the depths of the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ given\V{10} o’er to the power of the sword,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or as prey for jackals to devour.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{11} the king shall rejoice in God:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all who own his allegiance will glory.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{For the mouth of the false shall be stopped. }
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\MSS{Psalm 64 – A Prayer for Deliverance from Malicious Foes}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear,\C{64} O my God, the voice of my lament:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{guard my life from the foe who affrights me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hide\V{2} me from villains who secretly plot,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the blustering throng of the workers of evil,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{3} have sharpened their tongue like a sword,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and aimed bitter words like arrows,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ which\V{4} from ambush they launch at the blameless,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{shooting swiftly and unafraid.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{5} strengthen their wicked purpose,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they tell of the snares they have hidden,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they say to themselves, “Who can see?”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{6} think out their crimes full cunningly}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hidden deep in their crafty hearts.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{7} God with his arrow will shoot them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{swiftly shall they be smitten.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{8} their tongue he will bring them to ruin,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all will shudder with horror at the sight of them.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{9} every person, touched to awe,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as they ponder what God has wrought,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will tell the tale of his deeds.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{10} the {\sc Lord} shall the righteous rejoice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in him shall they take refuge;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all the true-hearted shall glory. }
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\MSS{Psalm 65 – Hymn for a Thanksgiving Festival}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\C{65} is seemly to praise you, O God, in Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and to you shall the vow be performed in Jerusalem.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{2} you who hear prayer,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{unto you shall all flesh come.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Our\V{3} sins are too mighty for us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{our transgressions you only can cover them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{4} the person who you choose}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to live beside you in your courts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{O may we be filled with the joys}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of your house, of your holy temple.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{5} dread deeds you loyally answer us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O God of our salvation,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{whom all ends of the earth put their trust in,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and islands far away.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ By\V{6} your strength you establish the hills,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you are armed with might;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ you\V{7} still the roaring of seas,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the turmoil of nations,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ so\V{8} that those who live at earth’s bounds}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are awed at your signs:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the lands of the sunrise and sunset}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you make to ring with joy.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{9} visit and water the earth;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you greatly enrich her}
\noindentation \Q{1}{with the river of God, which is full of water.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{You prepare the corn thereof,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ watering\V{10} her furrows,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{settling her ridges;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{you make her soft with showers,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and bless what grows thereon.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{11} crown the year with your goodness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your chariot-tracks drip with fatness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} desert pastures are lush,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the hills greened with joy.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{13} meadows are clothed with flocks,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the valleys are covered with corn;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they shout to each other and sing. }
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\MSS{Psalm 66 – Thanksgiving for National Deliverance}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Shout\C{66} to God, all the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ sing\V{2} praise to his glorious name,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sing his glorious praise.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Say\V{3} to God, “How dread are your works,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so great is your might that your enemies cringe to you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{4} the earth does homage to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{singing praises to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{singing praise to your name.” {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Come\V{5} and see what God has done,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{awe-inspiring is he in his works among people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{6} turns the sea into dry land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and people cross the river on foot.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Let us therefore rejoice in him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ the\V{7} mighty Ruler eternal,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{whose eyes keep watch on the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that no rebel lift up his head. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{8} bless our God, you peoples;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sound aloud his praise,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{9} keeps us in life,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and keeps our feet from slipping.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{10} you, God, have tested us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{have tried us, as silver is tried.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{11} did bring us into prison,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and put chains upon us,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ you\V{12} did let people ride over our head.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{We went through fire and through water,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but you led us out to a spacious place.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{13} will enter your house with burnt-offerings,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will pay to you my vows,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ which\V{14} my open lips have uttered,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{arid my mouth has declared in my straits.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{15} will offer you offerings of fatlings,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with the odour of burning rams,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will sacrifice bullocks with goats. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Come\V{16} and hear my story}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all who fear God –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of what he has done for me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{17} my mouth had no sooner invoked him}
\noindentation \Q{2}{than his praise was under my tongue.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Had\V{18} I cherished sin in my heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} would never have listened.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{19} assuredly God has listened,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and attended to my loud prayer.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Blessed\V{20} be God, who turned not aside}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my prayer, nor withdrew his kindness from me. }
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\MSS{Psalm 67 – A Harvest Thanksgiving}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Bless\C{67} us, O God, with your favor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let the light of your face fall upon us; {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ that\V{2} the world may know your way,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all nations your power to save.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{3} the peoples praise you, O God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let the peoples all of them praise you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{4} the nations ring out their joy;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you govern the peoples with equity,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and guide the nations on earth. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{5} the peoples praise you, O God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let the peoples, all of them, praise you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} earth has yielded her increase}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by the blessing of God, our God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{7} this blessing of ours win people to him}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to all the ends of the earth. }
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\MSS{Psalm 68 – Victory}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\C{68} arises, his enemies scatter:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they who hate him flee before him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{2} smoke before wind is driven,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as wax melts before fire,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so before God vanish the wicked.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{3} the righteous rejoice in God’s presence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they exult with exceeding joy.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sing\V{4} to God, make music to his name,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his name is the {\sc Lord}, praise him who rides on the clouds,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{and exult in his presence.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Father\V{5} of orphans, defender of widows,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is God in his holy abode.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\V{6} brings home the lonely,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he leads forth the prisoner to comfort,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so that none but the rebel lives cheerless.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ God,\V{7} when you went in front of your people}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in your march through the desert, {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ earth\V{8} shook, the heavens poured rain}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at the presence of God, Sinai’s God}
\noindentation \Q{1}{at the presence of God, Israel’s God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Rain\V{9} in abundance, God, you did sprinkle,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{restoring the languishing land of your heritage.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{10} dwelling therein your people found:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in your goodness, O God, you did care for the poor.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{11} {\sc Lord} spoke the glad tidings of victory,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a great army of women proclaim it:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Kings\V{12} of armies they flee, they flee,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the housewife divides the spoil:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ dove’s\V{13} wings covered with silver}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and pinions with shimmer of gold,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ set\V{14} with stones, like snow upon Zalmon.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{15} mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a mountain of peaks is the mountain of Bashan.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{16} high-peaked mountains, why look you askance}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at the mountain which God has desired for his home}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whereon the {\sc Lord} will live forever?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{17} chariots of God are twice ten thousand:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} came from Sinai, his holy place.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{18} did mount the height with trains of your captives,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and gifts that you had received from the people.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The rebels shall live with the {\sc Lord} God.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Blest\V{19} be the {\sc Lord} who sustains us daily,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the God who is also our savior. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Our\V{20} God is a God who is savior.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The ways of escape from death}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are known to the {\sc Lord} God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yes,\V{21} God will shatter the head of his foes}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the rough scalp of those who strut on in their sins.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{22} {\sc Lord} said: “I will bring you home from Bashan,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{home from the depths of the sea,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ that\V{23} your feet you may bathe in blood,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your dogs lick their share of the foe.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{24} the temple appear God’s triumphal processions,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{processions in praise of my king and my God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ with\V{25} singers in front, and minstrels behind,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and maidens with timbrels between them, singing,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “You\V{26} of the well-spring of Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bless the {\sc Lord} God in the dance.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There,\V{27} in front, is Benjamin the little,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the princes of Judah beside them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the princes of Zebulon, princes of Naphtali.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ God,\V{28} show your strength,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your godlike might,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{as you did in the past,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ from\V{29} your temple that crowns Jerusalem.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Kings shall bring tribute to you.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Rebuke\V{30} the beast of the reed,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the herd of bulls, with the calves of the peoples.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Trample down the lovers of lies.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Scatter the nations whose joy is in war.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{31} they come from Egypt with gifts of oil,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Ethiopia haste with full hands to God.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sing\V{32} to God, O you kingdoms of earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{make melody to the {\sc Lord}. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\V{33} him who rides on the ancient heavens.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{See! He utters his voice, his mighty voice.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Ascribe\V{34} strength to the God over Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whose strength and majesty live in the skies.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Awe-inspiring\V{35} is God in his holy place,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it is Israel’s God}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who gives strength and might to his people.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Blessed be God. }
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\MSS{Psalm 69 – A Prayer for Deliverance and Vengeance}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Save\C{69} me, O God; for the waters}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are threatening my life.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} am sunk in depths of mire,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{where ground there is none.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I am come into deep deep waters,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the flood overwhelms me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{3} am weary of crying, my throat is parched,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my eyes are wasted with waiting for God.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ More\V{4} than the hairs of my head}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are those who wantonly hate me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{More than my bones in number}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are those who are falsely my foes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{That which I never robbed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{how am I then to restore?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{5} God, you know my folly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my guilt is not hidden from you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Through\V{6} me let not any be shamed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who wait for you, {\sc Lord} God of hosts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Through me let not those be confounded}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who seek you, O God of Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It’s\V{7} in your cause that I have borne taunts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my face has been covered with shame;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{8} became to my kindred a foreigner,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to my mother’s sons a stranger.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{9} was zeal for your house that consumed me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the insults they hurled at you fell upon me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{10} I chastened myself with fasting,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they took occasion to taunt me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{11} I put on a garment of sackcloth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they made me the theme of a taunt-song.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Those\V{12} who sit in the gate make sport of me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the music of drunken songs.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{13} I pray to you, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for a time of favor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In your great love answer me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with your loyal help, save me}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ from\V{14} sinking down in the mire.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Lift me out of the deep deep waters,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ that\V{15} the rushing flood may not drown me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that the deep may not swallow me up,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor the pit close her mouth upon me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Answer\V{16} me, {\sc Lord}, in your gracious kindness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{turn to me in your great compassion.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hide\V{17} not your face from your servant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I am in trouble; O answer me speedily.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Draw\V{18} near to me, redeem me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because of my enemies, ransom me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{19} know how I am insulted;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in your sight are all my foes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Insult\V{20} has broken my heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{past cure are my shame and confusion.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For pity I looked – there was none!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And for comforters, but I found none.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Poison\V{21} they gave me for food,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and to slake my thirst they gave vinegar.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{22} their table, outspread, be a trap to them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their peace-offerings be a snare.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{23} their eyes be darkened and blind,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{make them shake without ceasing.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Pour\V{24} your indignation upon them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let your burning wrath overtake them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{25} their camp be a desolation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in their tents be there none to live.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{26} those whom you struck, they persecute,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and those whom you wounded, they pain yet more.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Charge\V{27} them with sin upon sin,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may they not be acquitted by you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{28} the book of life be they blotted,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may their names not be written with the righteous.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Lift\V{29} me, O God, by your help}
\noindentation \Q{2}{above my pain and misery.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{30} will I praise God in song}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and magnify him with thanksgiving,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ which\V{31} shall please the {\sc Lord} better than ox,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or than bullock with horns and hoofs.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{32} oppressed shall rejoice at the sight.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{You who seek after God, let your heart revive.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{33} the {\sc Lord} listens to the poor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he does not despise his prisoners.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{34} the heavens and the earth sing his praises,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the seas, and all creatures that move in them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{35} God will bring help to Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and build up the cities of Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his people shall live there in possession.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ His\V{36} servants’ children shall have it for heritage,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and those who love him shall live therein. }
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\MSS{Psalm 70 – A Cry for Help in Persecution}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Quickly,\C{70} God, deliver me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hasten to help me, {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{2} those who are seeking my life,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be ashamed and confounded.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{3} those who delight in my hurt}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be defeated and brought to dishonor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{4} may all who seek after you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{rejoice and be glad in you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{May all who love your salvation}
\noindentation \Q{2}{say, “Glory to God,” evermore.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{5} am weak and needy:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{make haste, God, to me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You are my help and deliverer;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{{\sc Lord}, don’t delay. }
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\MSS{Psalm 71 – Forsake me not, when I am Old}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\C{71} you, O {\sc Lord}, I take refuge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let me never be put to shame.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{2} your faithfulness save me and rescue me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bend your ear to me and save me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{3} to me a rock of defence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a fortified house, to save me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for my rock and my fortress are you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Save\V{4} me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{5} you, {\sc Lord}, are my hope,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in whom from my youth I have trusted.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{6} you have I leaned from my birth;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from my mother’s womb it was you who did draw me.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{In you is my hope evermore.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{7} have been as a wonder to many,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you are my refuge and strength.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{8} the day long my mouth}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is filled with your praise and your glory.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Cast\V{9} me not off in the time of old age;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when my strength is spent, forsake me not.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{10} my foes whisper against me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they who watch me take counsel together;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “God\V{11} has left him,” they say: “pursue}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and seize him, for he is helpless.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{12} God, be not far from me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{haste, O my God, to my help.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Put\V{13} my foes to shame and dishonor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with insult and shame be they covered.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{14} I will never stop hoping,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and more and yet more will I praise you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{15} the day long shall my mouth}
\noindentation \Q{2}{tell your faithfulness and your salvation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{though I know not how they may be counted.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{16} will tell of the might of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your faithfulness praise, you alone.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{17} have taught me, O God, from my youth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and till now have I told of your wonders.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Even\V{18} in old age and grey hair,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O God, do not forsake me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Still would I tell of your might}
\noindentation \Q{2}{unto all generations to come.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{19} power and your justice, O God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{extend as far as the heavens:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for great are the things you have done.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Who is like you, O God?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{20} have caused us to see troubles many,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but you will revive us again.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{From the depths of the earth}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you will bring me up again.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{21} will multiply my greatness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and comfort me again.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{22} with harp I will praise you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your faithfulness, O my God;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and make music to you on the lyre,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O you Holy One of Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{23} lips shall ring out their joy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my mouth shall sing praises to you;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all of me, which you have redeemed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yes,\V{24} all the day long shall my tongue}
\noindentation \Q{2}{utter your righteousness;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for ashamed and confounded are they}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who were seeking my hurt. }
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\MSS{Psalm 72 – A Prayer for a Just and Glorious Reign}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\C{72} the king, O God, your own spirit of justice}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your spirit of right to the son of the king,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ that\V{2} with right he may judge your people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your downtrodden ones with justice.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{3} the mountains bear weal for the people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the hills yield fruits of justice.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{4} weak may he help to their rights,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may he save the sons of the needy}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and crush the oppressor in pieces.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{5} he live as long as the sun,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while the moon shines – for ages and ages.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{6} he be like the rain on the meadow,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like showers that water the earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{7} his days may justice flourish,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and welfare abound, till the moon be no more.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{8} he reign from ocean to ocean,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the river to the ends of the earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{9} his foes bow down before him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his enemies lick the dust.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{10} tribute be rendered by kings}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of the isles and of Tarshish;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{may gifts be brought by the kings}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of Sheba and Seba.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{11} all kings fall prostrate before him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all nations yield him their service.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{12} he saves the poor when he cries,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the helpless and the downtrodden.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{13} pities the weak and the poor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he saves the lives of the poor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{14} redeems them from wrong and from violence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for dear is their blood in his sight.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Long\V{15} may he live;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and may gold of Sheba be given him;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{prayer, too, be made for him ceaselessly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the day long may men bless him.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{16} the land have abundance of corn,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the tops of the hills may it wave.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{May the fruit thereof flourish like Lebanon,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may men spring from the city like grass of the earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{17} his name be blessed forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may his fame endure as the sun.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{May all nations envy his blessedness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all tribes of the earth call him happy.}
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\noindentation \Q{3}{ {\em Blest\V{18} be the Lord God, Israel’s God,} }
\noindentation \Q{3}{{\em who alone does wonders;} }
\noindentation \Q{3}{ {\em And\V{19} blest be forever his glorious name.} }
\noindentation \Q{3}{{\em Let all the earth be filled with his glory.} }
\noindentation \Q{3}{{\em Amen and Amen.} }
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\noindentation \Q{3}{ Here\V{20} end the prayers of David, son of Jesse. }
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\MS{Book Three}

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\MSS{Psalm 73 – Fellowship with God Here and Hereafter}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ \C{73} {\sc Yes,} God is good to the upright,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} to the pure in heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{2} my feet were almost gone,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my steps had nearly slipped,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ through\V{3} envy of godless braggarts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when I saw how well they fared.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} never a pang have they,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their body is sound and sleek.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{5} have no trouble like mortals,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{no share in human pain.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{6} they wear their pride like a necklace,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they put on the garment of wrong,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ their\V{7} eyes stand out with fatness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their heart swells with riotous fancies.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{8} speech is mocking and evil,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{condescending and crooked their speech.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{9} have set their mouth in the heavens,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while their tongue struts about on the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Small\V{10} wonder that people resort to them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and drink deep draughts of their lore.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “How\V{11} does God know?” they say,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“And has the Most High any knowledge?”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ See!\V{12} These are the godless,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with wealth and ease ever increasing.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yes,\V{13} in vain have I kept my heart pure,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and washed my hands in innocence;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{14} all the day long was I plagued}
\noindentation \Q{2}{not a morning but I was chastised.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{15} to resolve to speak like they do}
\noindentation \Q{2}{would be treachery to your children.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{16} I sought to understand it,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but a wearisome task it seemed:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ till\V{17} I entered the holy world of God}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and saw clearly their destiny.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yes,\V{18} you set them on slippery places;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{down to destruction you hurl them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ One\V{19} moment and then what a horror of ruin!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{They are finished and ended in terrors.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{20} a dream, when one wakes, shall they be,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whose phantoms the waker despises.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{21} my bitterness of mind}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the pain that stabbed my heart}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ show\V{22} how dull I was and stupid}
\noindentation \Q{2}{just like a beast before you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{23} I am always with you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you have hold of my right hand.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ By\V{24} a plan of yours you guide me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and will afterward take me to glory.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Whom\V{25} have I in the heavens but you?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And on earth there is none I desire beside you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{26} flesh and heart waste away,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{yet God is the rock of my heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{yet God is my portion forever.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{27} see! Those who are far from you must perish,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you destroy all who are false to you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{28} I am happy when close to God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} my God I have made my refuge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I may recount all the things you have done. }
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\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 74 – Lament on the Devastation of the Temple}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why,\C{74} O God, have you spurned us forever?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Why smokes your wrath against the sheep of your pasture?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Remember\V{2} the community you purchased of old}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to become by redemption the tribe of your heritage,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Zion, the mountain you made your home.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Rouse\V{3} yourself, visit its ruins complete.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{In the temple the foe has made havoc of all things.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{4} lions your enemies roared through your house,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{replacing our symbols by signs of their own,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ hacking,\V{5} like woodsmen who lift}
\noindentation \Q{2}{axes on thickets of trees,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ smashing\V{6} with hatchets and hammers}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all of its carved work together.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{7} have set your temple on fire,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the very ground they have outraged}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the place where lives your name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{8} have said in their heart, “Let us utterly crush them.”}
\noindentation \Q{2}{They have burned all the houses of God in the land.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ No\V{9} symbol of ours do we see any more:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{no prophet is there any more,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{none is with us who knows how long.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{10} long, O God, is the foe to insult?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Shall the enemy spurn your name forever?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why,\V{11} O {\sc Lord}, do you hold back your hand,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{why keep your right hand in the folds of your robe?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yet\V{12} God is our king from the ancient days,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the midst of the earth working deeds of salvation.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{13} was you who did cleave the sea by your might,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and shatter the heads of the ocean monsters.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{14} was you who did crush many-headed Leviathan,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and give him as food to the beasts of the wilderness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{15} was you who did cleave the fountains and torrents;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it was you who did dry the perennial streams.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yours\V{16} is the day; yours, too, is the night,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it was you who did establish the sun and the star.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{17} was you who did fix all the borders of earth:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{summer and winter it’s you who have made them.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yet,\V{18} for all this, the foe has insulted you, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and a nation of fools has reviled your name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{19} not give your dove to the beasts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{do not forget your afflicted forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Look\V{20} to the sleek ones – how full they are:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the dark places of earth are the dwellings of violence.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{21} let not the downtrodden turn back ashamed:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let the poor and the needy sing praise to your name.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Arise,\V{22} God, and defend your cause:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{remember how fools all the day insult you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{23} not forget the uproar of your enemies,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the din of your foes that ascends evermore. }
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\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 75 – God the Judge}
\par 
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ We\C{75} praise you, God, we praise you:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{we would call on your name and declare your wonders.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “At\V{2} the time I choose,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will judge fairly.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{3} earth melt and all her inhabitants,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it is I who keep steady her pillars.” {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{4} say to the boasters, “Boast not”;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the wicked, “Lift not up your horn:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ lift\V{5} not your horn on high,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{speak not boldly against the Rock.”}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{6} not from east nor west,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{not from desert nor mountains;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ but\V{7} God himself is the judge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{humbling one and exalting another.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{8} the hand of the {\sc Lord} is a cup}
\noindentation \Q{2}{foaming wine, richly spiced.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Out of this he pours a draught,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all the wicked of earth}
\noindentation \Q{2}{must drain it down to the dregs.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{9} I will rejoice forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{singing praise to the God of Jacob.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{10} will hew all the horns of the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the horns of the just shall be lifted. }
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\MSS{Psalm 76 – A Song of Victory}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\C{76} has made himself known in Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his name is great in Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ His\V{2} tent is in Salem,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his dwelling in Zion.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{3} he broke the lightning arrows,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{shield, sword, and weapons of war. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Terrible\V{4} is your splendor}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on the everlasting mountains.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Despoiled\V{5} were the stout of heart;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the sleep into which they had fallen,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{none of the warriors}
\noindentation \Q{2}{could lift a hand.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ At\V{6} your rebuke, God of Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sank chariot and horse to sleep.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Awful\V{7} are you: who can stand}
\noindentation \Q{2}{before you, when once you are angry?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{8} judgment you gave from heaven}
\noindentation \Q{2}{frightened the earth into silence,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ when\V{9} God arose to judgment}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to save the oppressed of the earth. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{10} fiercest will praise you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to you will the remnant hold festival.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Vow\V{11} and pay to {\sc Lord} your God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and let all who are round him bring presents.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{12} lops off the courage of princes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and with terror fills kings of the earth. }
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\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 77 – A Prayer for Preservation as in the Days of Old}
\par 
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Loudly\C{77} will I lift my cry to God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{loudly to God, so he hears to me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{2} the day of my trouble I seek the {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the night I lift my hands in prayer,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{refusing all comfort.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{3} I think of God, I moan;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when I muse, my spirit is faint. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{4} you hold my eyes awake,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I am restless and speechless,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{5} think of the days of old,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{call to mind distant years.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{6} commune with my heart in the night,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I muse with inquiring spirit.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Will\V{7} the {\sc Lord} cast us off forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will he be gracious no more?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Has\V{8} his love vanished forever?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Is his faithfulness utterly gone?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Has\V{9} God forgotten to be gracious,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or in anger withheld his compassion?” {\em Selah} }
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{10} I said, “This it is that grieves me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that the hand of the Most High has changed.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{11} will think of the deeds of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and remember your wonders of old.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{12} will muse on all you have wrought,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and meditate on your deeds.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{13} your way, O God, was majestic:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{what God was great as our God?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{14} were a God who did marvels,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you did show your power to the world}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ by\V{15} your arm you rescued your people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the children of Jacob and Joseph. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{16} waters saw you, O God.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The waters saw you and shivered;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to their depths they trembled.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Clouds\V{17} poured torrents of water,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{thunder rolled in the sky,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your arrows sped to and fro.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Loud\V{18} was the roll of your thunder,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{lightnings lit up the world.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Earth quaked and trembled.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{19} your way, {\sc Lord}, through the sea,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in your path through the mighty waters,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your footsteps were all unseen.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{20} did guide your folk like a flock}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by the hand of Moses and Aaron. }
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\MSS{Psalm 78 – The Warnings of History}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\C{78} people, give ear to my teaching:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bend your ears to the words of my mouth,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ as\V{2} I open my mouth in a poem}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on the riddling story of the past.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ What\V{3} we have heard and known,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and what our ancestors have told us,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ we\V{4} will not hide from their children.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{We will tell to the next generation}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the praises and might of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the wonders that he has done.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{5} set up a testimony in Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a law he appointed in Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{which he commanded our ancestors}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to make known to their children,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ that\V{6} the next generation should know it,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that the children yet to be born}
\noindentation \Q{1}{should arise and tell their children;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ that\V{7} in God they might put their confidence,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and not forget God’s works;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but that they might keep his commandments,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{8} not be like their ancestors,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a generation defiant and stubborn,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{a generation with heart unsteady,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and spirit unfaithful towards God.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Ephraimites,\V{9} armed bowmen,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{turned back in the day of battle.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{10} did not keep God’s covenant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they refused to walk in his law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{11} forgot what he had done,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the wonders he had shown them.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{12} did wonders before their ancestors}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the country of Zoan in Egypt.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Through\V{13} the sea which he split he brought them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{making waters stand up like a heap;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ he\V{14} led them by day with a cloud,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the night with a light of fire.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{15} the rocks which he split in the wilderness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he gave them to drink as of ocean’s abundance.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{16} brought streams out of the rock,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and made water run down like rivers.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yet\V{17} they still went on sinning against him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they defied the Most High in the desert.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{18} willfully challenged God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{demanding the food that they longed for.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Is\V{19} God able,” such was their challenge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“to spread in the desert a table?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{20} the rock that he struck there gushed water,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and torrents that overflowed;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but can he also give bread,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or provide his people with meat?”}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{21} the {\sc Lord} heard this, he was furious,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and fire was kindled on Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{anger flared up against Israel.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{22} they put no trust in God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{no confidence in his help.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{23} he summoned the clouds above;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and, opening the doors of heaven,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ he\V{24} rained manna upon them for food,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and grain of heaven he gave them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Everyone\V{25} ate the bread of angels;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he sent them food to the full.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{26} launched the east wind in the heavens,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and guided the south by his power.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{27} rained meat upon them like dust,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{winged bird like the sand of the sea.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{28} the midst of their camp he dropped it,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all around their tents.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{29} ate and were more than filled;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he had brought them the thing they desired.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{30} the thing they desired became loathsome:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while their food was still in their mouths,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ the\V{31} wrath of God rose against them.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{He slew the stoutest among them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and laid low the young men of Israel.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yet\V{32} for all this they sinned yet more,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and refused to believe in his wonders.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{33} he ended their days in a breath,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their years in sudden dismay.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{34} he slew them, then they sought after him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they turned and sought God with diligence.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{35} remembered that God was their rock,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the Most High God their redeemer.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{36} they flattered him with their mouth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and lied to him with their tongue.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{37} heart was not steady with him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they were faithless to his covenant.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{38} he is full of pity:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he pardons sin and destroys not.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Often he turns his anger away,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{without stirring his wrath at all.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{39} he remembered that they were but flesh,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{breath that passes and does not return.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{40} how often they rebelled in the desert,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and caused him grief in the wilderness,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ tempting\V{41} God again and again,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{provoking the Holy One of Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{42} did not remember his strength,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor the day he redeemed from the foe,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ how\V{43} he set his signs in Egypt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the country of Zoan his wonders.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{44} turned their canals into blood,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their streams undrinkable.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{45} sent forth flies, which devoured them;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{frogs, too, which destroyed them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{46} crops he gave to the caterpillar,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the fruits of their toil to the locust.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{47} slew their vines with hail,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their sycamore trees with frost.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{48} delivered their cattle to the hail,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their flocks to bolts of fire.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{49} let loose his hot anger among them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{fury and wrath and distress,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a band of destroying angels.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{50} cleared a path for his anger,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{did not spare them from death,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but gave them over to pestilence.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{51} struck down all the first-born in Egypt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the first fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{52} led forth his people like sheep,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he was guide to his flock in the desert.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Securely\V{53} he led them, and free from fear,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while their foes were drowned in the sea.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ To\V{54} his holy realm he brought them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the mountain his right hand had purchased.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{55} drove out the nations before them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and allotted their land for possession,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their tents for Israel to live in.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yet\V{56} they tempted and angered the Most High God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they did not observe his decrees.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{57} drew back, false like their ancestors;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they failed like a treacherous bow.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{58} shrines stirred him to anger,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their idols moved him to jealousy.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{59} God heard of this, he was furious,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he spurned Israel utterly.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{60} abandoned his home in Shiloh,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the tent he had pitched among people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{61} gave his strength up to captivity,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his glory to the hands of the foe.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{62} gave his people to the sword,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he was furious with his own.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Fire\V{63} devoured their young men,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their maidens had no marriage-song.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{64} priests fell by the sword,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their widows could not weep.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{65} the {\sc Lord} awoke as from sleep,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like a warrior flushed with wine;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{66} he beat back his foes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{putting them to perpetual scorn.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{67} disowned the tent of Joseph,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he rejected the tribe of Ephraim;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ but\V{68} he chose the tribe of Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Mount Zion, which he loves.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{69} he built like the heights his sanctuary,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like the earth which he founded forever.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{70} he chose David his servant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{taking him from the sheepfolds.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{71} the mother-ewes he brought him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to be shepherd to Jacob his people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and to Israel his inheritance.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{72} upright heart did he shepherd them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and with skilful hands did he guide them. }
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\MSS{Psalm 79 – A National Prayer for Deliverance}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Heathen,\C{79} O God, have come into your land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{defiling your holy temple,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and laying Jerusalem in ruins.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{2} have given the bodies of your dead servants}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the birds of the air to devour,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the field.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Round\V{3} about Jerusalem}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they have poured out their blood like water;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and there was no one to bury them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{4} every side our neighbors}
\noindentation \Q{2}{revile us and mock us and jeer at us.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{5} long will you be angry, O {\sc Lord}?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Will your jealousy burn like fire forever?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Pour\V{6} out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{7} Jacob they devoured,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they have desolated his home.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{8} not remember against us our ancestors’ sins;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O meet us soon with your pity,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for utterly weak are we.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Help\V{9} us, O God our savior,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the renown of your name:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for your reputation deliver us}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and cover over our sins.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\V{10} should the nations say,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“Where is their God?”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Let revenge for the outpoured blood of your servants}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be shown on the heathen before our eyes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{11} the groans of the prisoner come before you;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{free the children of death by your mighty arm.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Pay\V{12} our neighbors back sevenfold}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the scorn they have heaped upon you, O {\sc Lord}.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{13} we, your people, the flock of your pasture,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will give thanks to you for evermore,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and tell your praise to all generations. }
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\MSS{Psalm 80 – A Prayer for the Preservation of Israel}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Listen,\C{80} Shepherd of Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who leads Joseph like a flock of sheep;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from your throne on the cherubs shine forth}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ before\V{2} Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Stir up your mighty power,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{come to our help.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ God,\V{3} restore us:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{show us the light of your face,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so we may be saved.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{4} {\sc Lord} of hosts,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{how long is your anger to smoke,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{despite the prayer of your people?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{5} have fed them with bread of tears,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you have made them drink tears by the measure.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} scorn of our neighbors you make us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the laughing-stock of our foes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\V{7} of hosts, restore us:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{show us the light of your face,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so we may be saved.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{8} vine out of Egypt you brought;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you did drive out the nations, and plant her;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ in\V{9} the ground you did clear she struck root,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and she filled all the land.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{10} shade of her covered the mountains,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{her branches the cedars of God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ She\V{11} sent forth her shoots to the sea,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and her branches as far as the River.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\V{12} have you torn down her fences, and left her}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to be plucked at by all who pass by,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{13} be gnawed by the boar from the forest,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and devoured by the beasts of the field?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{14} God of hosts, return:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{look down from heaven and see}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and visit this vine, and restore her}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ the\V{15} vine which your right hand has planted.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ She\V{16} is burned with fire and cut down}
\noindentation \Q{2}{before your stern face they are perishing.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Support\V{17} the one you have chosen,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the one you have raised for yourself;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ then\V{18} from you we will never draw back.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Preserve us, and we will call on your name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{19} }, God of hosts, restore us:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Show us the light of your face,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so we may be saved. }
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\MSS{Psalm 81 – For the Feast of Tabernacles}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sing\C{81} aloud to God our strength,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{shout for joy to the God of Jacob.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Raise\V{2} a song, sound the timbrel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sweet lyre and harp.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{3} the new moon blow the horn,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at the full moon, the day of our festival.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} this is a statute for Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a ruling of the God of Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ a\V{5} witness he set up in Joseph,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when he marched against Egypt’s land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{where he heard an unknown voice say:}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “I\V{6} removed from your shoulder the burden,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and freed your hands from the basket.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ At\V{7} your call of distress I delivered you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the thundercloud I answered you.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{At Meribah’s waters I tested you. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Listen,\V{8} my people, to my warning,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O Israel, if you would but listen!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{9} must not be a strange god among you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you must bow to no foreign god.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{10} am the {\sc Lord} your God}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who brought you up out of Egypt.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Open your mouth, that I fill it.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “But\V{11} my people did not listen to my voice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Israel would have none of me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{12} to their own hard hearts I left them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to follow their own devices.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{13} that my people would listen,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that Israel would walk in my ways.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Soon\V{14} would I humble their enemies,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and turn my hand on their foes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Those\V{15} who hate the {\sc Lord} would cringe before him}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in everlasting terror.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{16} you would I feed with the richest wheat,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and with honey from the rock to your heart’s desire.” }
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\MSS{Psalm 82 – God the Upholder of Justice}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\C{82} has taken his stand}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the divine assembly:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the midst of the gods he holds judgment.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “How\V{2} long will you crookedly judge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and favor the wicked? {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{3} right by the weak and the orphan,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{acquit the innocent poor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Rescue\V{4} the weak and the needy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{save them from the hand of the wicked.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “They\V{5} have neither knowledge nor insight,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in darkness they walk to and fro,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while the earth’s foundations totter.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{6} was I who appointed you gods,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{children of the Most High all of you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yet\V{7} like mortals you will surely die,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you will fall like any prince.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Arise,\V{8} O God, judge the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for all nations are yours by inheritance. }
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\MSS{Psalm 83 – A Prayer for the Destruction of the Enemies of Judah}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\C{83} not keep silent, O God:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hold not your peace, be not still, God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{2} see! Your enemies roar,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{those who hate you lift up their heads,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ laying\V{3} crafty plans for your people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and plotting against those you treasure.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Come,\V{4} let us wipe them out as a nation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so Israel’s name will be mentioned no more.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For,\V{5} conspiring with one accord,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they have made a league against you}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Tents\V{6} of Edom, and Ishmaelites,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Moab, and the Hagrites.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Gebal\V{7} and Ammon and Amalek,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Philistia, with the people of Tyre;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Syria,\V{8} too, is confederate,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they have strengthened the children of Lot. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Deal\V{9} with them as you dealt with Midian,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with Sisera, with Jabin, at the torrent of Kishon,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{10} at Endor were destroyed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and became dung for the field.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Make\V{11} their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{12} said, “Let us take for ourselves}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the meadows of God.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Whirl\V{13} them, my God, like dust,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like stubble before the wind.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{14} the fire that kindles the forest,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as flame that sets mountains ablaze,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ so\V{15} with your tempest pursue them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{terrify them with your hurricane.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Make\V{16} them blush with shame;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{until they seek your name, O {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Everlasting\V{17} shame and confusion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{disgrace and destruction be theirs.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Teach\V{18} those who you alone}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are most high over all the earth. }
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\MSS{Psalm 84 – The Song of the Pilgrims}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\C{84} dearly loved is the place where you live,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{{\sc Lord} of hosts!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{2} I long and yearn}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the courts of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Now heart and flesh cry for joy}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the living God.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Even\V{3} the sparrow has found her a home}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the swallow a nest,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to lay her young,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{near your altar,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{{\sc Lord} of hosts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my king and my God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{4} those who live in your house,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praising you evermore. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{5} those whose strength is in you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{people with pilgrim hearts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{6} they pass through the valley of tears,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they make it a place of fountains,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{clothed with the blessings of early rain.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{7} rampart to rampart on they march,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{till at last God reveals himself in Zion.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{8} }, God of hosts, hear my prayer,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{give ear, O God of Jacob. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Behold,\V{9} O God, our defender,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and look upon your anointed,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{10} better a single day in your courts}
\noindentation \Q{2}{than a thousand in my own chambers:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{better stand at the door of the house of my God}
\noindentation \Q{2}{than live in the tents of ungodliness,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{11} the {\sc Lord} is sun and shield,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} gives grace and glory.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He withholds no good thing from the life that is blameless.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{12} } of hosts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{happy those whose trust is in you. }
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\MSS{Psalm 85 – A Prayer for National Restoration}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Once,\C{85} {\sc Lord}, you did favor your land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{granting change of fortune to Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ forgiving\V{2} the guilt of your people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{pardoning all their sin, {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ withdrawing\V{3} all your fury,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{turning from your hot anger.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Restore\V{4} us, O God our savior,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{put away your displeasure against us.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Will\V{5} you cherish your anger against us forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{prolonging your wrath to all generations?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Will\V{6} you not revive us again,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that your people may be glad in you?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Show\V{7} us your kindness, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{grant us your salvation.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{8} me hear what God the {\sc Lord} will speak;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for he will speak of peace}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to his people, to those who love him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and turn their hearts to him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Soon\V{9} those who fear him shall see how he saves,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and glory shall live in our land.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Kindness\V{10} and loyalty meet;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{peace and righteousness kiss.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Loyalty\V{11} springs from the earth;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{righteousness looks from the sky.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} {\sc Lord} shall give all that is good,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{our land yielding its increase,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ righteousness\V{13} marching before him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and peace on the path he treads. }
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\MSS{Psalm 86 – A Prayer for Divine Guidance and Favor}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Incline\C{86} your ear, {\sc Lord}, and answer me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I am afflicted and needy.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Guard\V{2} me, for I am loyal:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{save your servant, who trusts in you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{3} }, be gracious to me, for you are my God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I cry to you all the day.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Gladden\V{4} the heart of your servant;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for to you, {\sc Lord}, I set my hope.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{5} you, {\sc Lord}, are good and forgiving,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{rich in love towards all who call on you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Listen,\V{6} O {\sc Lord}, to my prayer;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{attend to my plea for mercy.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{7} the day of my trouble I call on you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with assurance that you will answer me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ None\V{8} of the gods is like you, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor are any works like yours.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{9} the nations you have made}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will come and bow down before you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{giving glory, O {\sc Lord}, to your name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{10} great are you, and a doer of wonders;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you alone are God.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Teach\V{11} me, O {\sc Lord}, your way,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I may walk in your truth:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so my heart shall rejoice in your name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{12} will give you thanks, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with all my heart, my God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will honor your name forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{13} great is your love towards me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the depths of Sheol you have saved me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Haughty\V{14} men have risen up against me, O God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a band of the violent seeking my life,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who think nothing of you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{15} you are a God of pity and grace,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{patient and rich in kindness and faithfulness;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{turn to me with your grace, O {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Grant\V{16} your strength to your servant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and save the child of your handmaid.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Show\V{17} me a sign of your favor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{which those who hate me may see with confusion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{since you, {\sc Lord}, are my helper and comforter. }
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\MSS{Psalm 87 – Zion, City of God}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\C{87} the holy mountain stands}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the city he founded.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{2} {\sc Lord} loves the gates of Zion}
\noindentation \Q{2}{more than all the dwellings of Jacob.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Glorious\V{3} things he is speaking of you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you city of God. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Among\V{4} those who are mine I name Rahab and Babylon,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their people will say I was born in Zion.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{5} for Zion it will be said}
\noindentation \Q{2}{each and all were born in her.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} will preserve her.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} {\sc Lord} will count, when enrolling the peoples,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“This one was born there, and that one was born there.” {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Singers\V{7} and dancers alike will say}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“All my springs are in you.” }
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\MSS{Psalm 88 – The Prayer of Despair}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\C{88} {\sc Lord} my God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I cry for help in the day-time,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the night my cry is before you;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ let\V{2} my prayer come into your presence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{incline your ear to my cry.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} I am sated with sorrow,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my life draws near to Sheol.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{4} am counted with those who go down to the pit;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ without strength am I.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{5} home is among the dead,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like the slain that lie in the grave,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{whom you remember no more}
\noindentation \Q{2}{cut off as they are from your hand.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{6} the deepest pit you have put me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in shadows deep and dark.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{7} wrath lies heavy upon me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{waves of your anger roll over me. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{8} have put my friends far from me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you have made them shun me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I am shut in, and cannot escape,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ my\V{9} eyes are wasted with sorrow.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I call on you, {\sc Lord}, every day,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{spreading my hands out to you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{10} the dead can you work wonders?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Can the shades rise again to praise you? {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Can\V{11} your kindness be told in the grave,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your faithfulness in the tomb?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Can\V{12} your wonders be known in the darkness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or your help in the land of forgetfulness?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{13} cry for help to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the morning my prayer comes before you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why,\V{14} O {\sc Lord}, do you spurn me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and hide your face from me?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{15} my youth I am wretched and dying,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I am numbed by the terrors I bear.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{16} fires of your wrath have passed over me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your terrors destroy me,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ surging\V{17} around me forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hemming me in altogether.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Those\V{18} who love me you put far from me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the dark is my only friend. }
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\MSS{Psalm 89 – The Promise to David}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{89} will sing evermore of the love of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{proclaiming to all generations his faithfulness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{2} your love you did promise to build up forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your faithfulness firm as the heavens themselves.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “I\V{3} have made with my chosen a covenant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and sworn to David my servant,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{4} establish his seed forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and to build up his throne to all ages.” {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{5} the holy assembly in heaven}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praised your marvelous faithfulness, {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{6} who in the skies may compare with the {\sc Lord}?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Who is like the {\sc Lord} among the gods?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{7} God to be feared in the holy assembly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{awful and great above all who are round him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{8} {\sc Lord} God of hosts, who is mighty as you?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Your strength and faithfulness, {\sc Lord}, surround you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{9} are the {\sc Lord} of the raging sea:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when its waves surge, it is you who still them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{10} was you who did pierce and crush Rahab in pieces,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and scatter your foes by your mighty arm.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yours\V{11} are the heavens, yours also the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the world and its fulness, it’s you who did found them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} north and the south, it’s you have created them;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Tabor and Hermon shout praise to your name.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{13} have an arm with the might of a hero;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{strong is your hand, high uplifted your right hand.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Justice\V{14} and right are the base of your throne,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{kindness and faithfulness ever attend you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{15} the people who know the glad shout,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who walk, O {\sc Lord}, in the light of your face.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{16} exult in your name all the day,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your righteousness they extol.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{17} you are our strength and our pride.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Your favor will lift us to honor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{18} the holy {\sc Lord} of Israel}
\noindentation \Q{2}{keeps our defender and king.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{19} a vision of old you did speak}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in this way to the one whom you loved:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“A crown I have set on the hero}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I chose to be over the people}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “I\V{20} found my servant David,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and anointed with holy oil.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{21} hand will be with him forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my arm will give him strength.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “No\V{22} enemy will dare to assail him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor the wicked to oppress him;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ but\V{23} his foes I will shatter before him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will strike down those who hate him.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “My\V{24} loyal love shall attend him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will lift him to honor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{25} will set his hand on the sea,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his right hand on the rivers.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “As\V{26} for him, he will call me ‘My father,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my God, and my rock of salvation.’}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{27} I will make him my first-born,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{highest of kings on the earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “My\V{28} love will I keep for him ever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my covenant with him shall stand fast.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ His\V{29} line will I make everlasting,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his throne as the days of the heavens.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “If\V{30} his children forsake my law,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and walk not as I have ordained;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ if\V{31} they profane my statutes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and do not keep my commandments;}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “I\V{32} will punish their sin with the rod,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their iniquity with scourges.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{33} my love will I not take from him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor will I belie my faithfulness.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “I\V{34} will not profane my covenant}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by changing the word that has passed my lips.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Once\V{35} have I solemnly sworn}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I would not lie to David,}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “that\V{36} his line should endure forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his throne as the sun before me,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ firm\V{37} as the moon which for ever}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and ever is fixed in the sky.” {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{38} you have cast off in contempt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and been furious with your anointed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{39} have spurned the covenant with your servant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his sacred crown dashed to the ground.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{40} have broken down all his walls,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and laid his bulwarks in ruins.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{41} who pass on their way despoil him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the scorn of his neighbors is he now.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{42} have given his foes the victory,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and made all his enemies glad.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{43} have turned back his sword from the foe,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you did not lift him up in the battle.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{44} sceptre you took from his hand,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his throne you did hurl to the ground.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{45} have shortened the days of his youth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and covered him with shame. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{46} long, {\sc Lord} will you hide you forever?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{How long are the fires of your wrath to burn?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Remember,\V{47} {\sc Lord}, the shortness of life}
\noindentation \Q{2}{how fleeting you made all people.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{48} can live without seeing death?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Who can rescue their life from the clutch of Sheol? {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Where,\V{49} {\sc Lord}, is your kindness of old,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{which you in your faithfulness swore to David?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Remember,\V{50} O {\sc Lord}, how your servants are mocked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{how I bear in my heart the scorn of all nations}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{51} scorn which your enemies hurl, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{which they hurl at the footsteps of your anointed.}
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\noindentation \Q{3}{ {\em Blest\V{52} be the Lord, for ever and ever.} }
\noindentation \Q{3}{{\em Amen and Amen.}  }
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\MS{Book Four}

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\MSS{Psalm 90 – Hymn of Eternity}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc \C{90} {\sc Lord}}, you have been a home to us}
\noindentation \Q{2}{one generation after another.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Before\V{2} the mountains were born,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or the earth and the world were brought forth,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from everlasting to everlasting}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you are God.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{3} bring us back to the dust,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you summon mortals to return.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} you see a thousand years}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as the passing of yesterday,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as a watch in the night.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{5} floods sweep them away;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they are like a dream,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or like grass which sprouts in the morning,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ which\V{6} blossoms and sprouts in the morning,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but by evening is cut and withered.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{7} your anger consumes us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the heat of your wrath confounds us.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Our\V{8} sins you have set before you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{our secrets in the light of your face.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{9} through your wrath our days are declining,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{we bring our years to an end as a sigh.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{10} span of our life is seventy years,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or, if we are strong, maybe eighty;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{yet is their breadth but empty toil,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for swiftly they go, and we fly away.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{11} lays to heart the power of your anger?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Or who stands in reverent awe of your wrath?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{12} teach us to count our days}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so our minds may learn wisdom.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Return,\V{13} O {\sc Lord}; why so long?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Relent on your servants.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Grant\V{14} us your love to the full in the morning,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that all our days we may shout for joy.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Make\V{15} us glad for the days you have humbled us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the evil years we have seen.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{16} your servants see you in action,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{show your majesty to their children.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{17} the grace of the {\sc Lord} our God be upon us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{uphold what our hands are striving to do. }
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\MSS{Psalm 91 – In the Shelter of the Most High}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\C{91} whose home is the shelter of God Most High,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whose abode is the shadow of God Almighty,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ can\V{2} say to the {\sc Lord}, “My refuge, my fortress,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my God, in whom I trust.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} he saves you from fowler’s snare,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from deadly plague,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ he\V{4} shelters you with his pinions,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and under his wings you can hide.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{His truth will be a shield and buckler.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{5} need not fear the terror of night,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor the arrow that flies by day,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ nor\V{6} the plague that stalks in darkness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor the pestilence raging at noon.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{7} thousand may fall at your side,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ten thousand at your right hand:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but it will not draw near to you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{8} will only look on with your eyes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and see how the wicked are punished.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{9} have made the {\sc Lord} your refuge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you have made the Most High your defence.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{10} will never be met by misfortune,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{no plague will come near your tent,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{11} he orders his angels to guard you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{wherever you go.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{12} will carry you with their hands,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so you don’t hurt your foot on a stone.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{13} will trample down lions and snakes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{tread on young lions and cobras.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Because\V{14} of their love for me, I will deliver them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will protect those who trust my name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{15} will answer their cry and be with them in trouble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bringing them forth into safety and honor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{16} will give them a life of many days,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will show them my salvation.” }
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\MSS{Psalm 92 – The Ways of God}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\C{92} is good to give thanks to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to sing praise to your name, O Most High,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{2} declare your love in the morning,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your faithfulness in the night,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ with\V{3} voice and a ten-stringed harp,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with music that throbs on the lyre.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} you make me glad by your deeds, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at the work of your hands I will ring out my joy.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{5} great are your works, O {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{how deep are your thoughts!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} insensitive cannot know,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor can a fool understand,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ that,\V{7} though the wicked flourish like grass,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and evil-doers all blossom,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they will perish forever.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{8} you are exalted forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{9} see! Your enemies, {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ For see! Your enemies perish,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all evil-doers are scattered.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{10} you lift me to honor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and anoint me afresh with oil.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{11} eyes will feast on my foes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my ears will hear of the doom of the wicked.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} righteous will sprout like the palm,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ will grow like a cedar of Lebanon.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{13} the house of the {\sc Lord} are they planted,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the courts of our God they will sprout.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{14} will still bear fruit in old age,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all sappy and fresh will they be}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{15} they proclaim the {\sc Lord} to be just,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my rock, in whom is no wrong. }
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\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 93 – The Lord, King of all the World}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\C{93} {\sc Lord} has taken his seat on the throne,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{clothed with majesty, armed with might.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Now the world stands firm, to be shaken no more,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ firm\V{2} stands your throne from all eternity.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{You are from everlasting.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} floods, O {\sc Lord}, have lifted,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the floods have lifted their voice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the floods lift up their roar.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{4} more grand than the great roaring waters,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{more grand than the ocean waves,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{grand on the height stands the {\sc Lord}.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ What\V{5} you have ordained is most sure;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{most sure shall your house stand inviolate,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O {\sc Lord}, for ever and ever. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 94 – A Prayer for Vengeance on the Cruel}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\C{94} }, God of vengeance,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God of vengeance, shine forth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Rise\V{2} up, judge of the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{pay back the proud what they deserve.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{3} }, how long shall the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{how long shall the wicked exult,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ with\V{4} their blustering arrogant words,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their braggart and wicked speech,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ crushing\V{5} your people, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and afflicting your heritage,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ murdering\V{6} widows and strangers,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{slaying the fatherless?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{7} think that the {\sc Lord} does not see,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor the God of Jacob regard it.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Take\V{8} heed, you dullest of people;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when will you be wise, you fools?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Is\V{9} he deaf, who shaped the ear?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Is he blind, who fashioned the eye?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Can\V{10} he who trains nations not punish them}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he who teaches knowledge to people?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{11} {\sc Lord} knows the thoughts of people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that only a breath are they.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{12} are those whom you chasten,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and teach out of your law,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ keeping\V{13} them calm in the day of misfortune,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{till a pit be dug for the wicked.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{14} the {\sc Lord} will not leave his people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he will not forsake his inheritance.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{15} the righteous shall come to their rights,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all true-hearted people shall follow them.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{16} will rise up for me against those who do evil?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Who will stand up for me against workers of wrong?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Were\V{17} it not for the help of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I would soon have gone to the silent grave.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{18} I thought that my foot was slipping,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your kindness, {\sc Lord}, held me up.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{19} with cares my heart was crowded,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your comforts make me glad.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Can\V{20} corrupt justice be your ally,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{framing mischief by statute?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{21} assail the life of the righteous,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and innocent blood condemn.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{22} the {\sc Lord} is my sure retreat,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my God is the rock of my refuge.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{23} will bring back their sin upon them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for their wickedness he will destroy them;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} our God will destroy them. }
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\MSS{Psalm 95 – For a Festival. A Hymn of Praise and a Solemn Warning}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Come!\C{95} Let us ring out our joy to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let us merrily shout to our rock of salvation.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Before\V{2} his face let us come with thanks,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with songs of praise let us shout to him.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} the {\sc Lord} is a great God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{king above all gods.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{4} his hand are the depths of the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the heights of the mountains are his.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{5} sea is his, for he made it:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the dry land was formed by his hands.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Come!\V{6} Let us worship and bow}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on our knees to the {\sc Lord} our creator.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{7} he is our God; and we}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are the people he tends, the sheep in his care.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{If only you would heed his voice today:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Do\V{8} not harden your hearts as at Meribah,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or at Massah, that day in the desert,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ when\V{9} your ancestors tempted and tried me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{though they had seen my deeds.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “For\V{10} forty years I was filled with loathing}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for that generation, so I said:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘A people with wandering hearts are they,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and ignorant of my ways.’}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{11} I solemnly swore to them in my anger,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that never would they enter my place of rest.” }
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\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 96 – The Lord’s Rule}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sing\C{96} to the {\sc Lord} a new song,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sing to the {\sc Lord}, all the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sing\V{2} to the {\sc Lord}, bless his name,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from day to day herald his victory.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Tell\V{3} his glory among the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his wonders among all peoples.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} great is the {\sc Lord} and worthy all praise;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{held in awe, above all gods:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{5} all the gods of the nations are idols,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the {\sc Lord} created the heavens.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Before\V{6} him are splendor and majesty,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{beauty and strength in his holy place.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Ascribe\V{7} to the {\sc Lord}, you tribes of the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ascribe to the {\sc Lord} glory and strength.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Ascribe\V{8} to the {\sc Lord} the glory he manifests:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bring you an offering, enter his courts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Bow\V{9} to the {\sc Lord} in holy array:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{tremble before him, all the earth.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Say\V{10} to the nations, “The {\sc Lord} is king.”}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The world stands firm to be shaken no more.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{He will judge the peoples with equity.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{11} the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let the sea and its fulness thunder.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{12} the field, and all that is in it, exult;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let the trees of the forest ring out their joy}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ before\V{13} the {\sc Lord}: for he comes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he comes to judge the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He will judge the world with justice}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the nations with faithfulness. }
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\MSS{Psalm 97 – The Lord’s Judgment}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\C{97} {\sc Lord} is king, let the earth rejoice:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let her many isles be glad.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Clouds\V{2} and darkness are round about him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{justice and right are the base of his throne.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Fire\V{3} goes before him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and blazes around his steps,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ his\V{4} lightnings illumine the world:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the earth quakes at the sight.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Mountains\V{5} melt like wax}
\noindentation \Q{2}{before the {\sc Lord} of all the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} heavens proclaim his justice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all nations behold his glory.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Shamed\V{7} are all image-worshippers,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who make a boast of their idols.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{All the gods bow before him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Zion\V{8} is glad at the tidings,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the towns of Judah rejoice}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because of your judgments, {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{9} you are most high over all the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{greatly exalted above all gods.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{10} {\sc Lord} loves those who hate evil,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he guards the lives of the faithful:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the hand of the wicked he saves them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Light\V{11} arises for the righteous,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and joy for the upright in heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Rejoice\V{12} in the {\sc Lord}, you righteous:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{give thanks to his holy name. }
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\MSS{Psalm 98 – A Song of Praise to the Lord}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sing\C{98} a new song to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for he has done wonders;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{his right hand and holy arm}
\noindentation \Q{2}{have won him the victory.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{2} {\sc Lord} has made his victory known,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and revealed to the eyes of the nations his righteousness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Mindful\V{3} he was of his kindness to Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{faithful he was to the house of Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{All the ends of the earth have seen}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the victory of our God.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Shout,\V{4} all the earth, to the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{break into cries and music.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Play\V{5} on the lyre to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on the lyre and with loud melody.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{6} trumpet and sound of horn,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{shout before the king.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{7} the sea and its fulness roar,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the world and the dwellers upon it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{8} the streams clap their hands,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let the hills shout for gladness together}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ before\V{9} the {\sc Lord} for he comes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he comes to judge the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He will judge the world with justice}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the nations with equity. }
\blank[medium] 
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\MSS{Psalm 99 – The Lord’s Just and Holy Rule}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\C{99} {\sc Lord} is king; let the nations tremble:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he is throned upon cherubs; let earth quake.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{2} {\sc Lord} is great in Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he is high over all the nations.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{3} them praise your great and terrible name.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Holy is he.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{4} are a king who loves justice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{equity you have established:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{justice and right you have wrought for Jacob.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Exalt\V{5} the {\sc Lord} our God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bow down at his footstool.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Holy is he.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Among\V{6} his priests were Moses and Aaron,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Samuel among those who called on his name.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{They called to the {\sc Lord}, and he gave them answer.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{7} spoke to them in the pillar of cloud,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they kept his commands and the statute he gave them.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ {\sc Lord\V{8} } our God, you gave them answer.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{A God of forgiveness were you to them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who suffered their deeds to go unpunished.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Exalt\V{9} the {\sc Lord} our God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bow down at his holy mountain.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{For holy is the {\sc Lord} our God. }
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\MSS{Psalm 100 – A Call to Worship}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Shout,\C{100} all the earth, to the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Serve\V{2} the {\sc Lord} with gladness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{approach him with ringing cries.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{3} sure that the {\sc Lord} alone is God.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{It is he who has made us, and his we are}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his people, the sheep of his pasture.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Enter\V{4} his gates with thanksgiving,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his courts with praise.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Give thanks to him, bless his name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{5} the {\sc Lord} is good, his love is forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and to all ages endures his faithfulness. }
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\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 101 – A Model King}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ If\C{101} kindness and justice I sing,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{making melody to you, {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} would look to the way that is blameless,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and make it my own.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{Within my own house I would walk}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with an innocent heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{3} would never direct my eyes}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to a thing that is base.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{The impulse to stray I abhor}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it shall not cling to me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Far\V{4} from me be perverseness of heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or kinship with evil.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{5} slanders their neighbor in secret,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I bring them to silence:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{haughty looks and proud hearts}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will not abide.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{6} will favor the true in the land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they shall live in my court.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Those who walk in a way that is blameless}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will be my attendant.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ No\V{7} one will live in my house}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who practises guile.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{No one that speaks a lie}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will abide in my presence.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Morn\V{8} by morn I will wholly wipe out}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the bad in the land,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and cut off from the {\sc Lord}’s own city}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all workers of evil. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 102 – A Prayer for Pity and for the Restoration of Zion}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear\C{102} my prayer, O {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let my cry for help come to you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hide\V{2} not your face from me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the day of my distress.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Incline your ear to me:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when I call, answer me speedily.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} my days pass away like smoke:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my bones are burned through as with fire.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{4} heart is scorched, withered like grass;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I forget to eat my bread.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ By\V{5} reason of my loud groaning,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my flesh clings to my bones.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{6} a desert-owl of the wilderness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like an owl among ruins am I.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{7} make my sleepless lament}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like a bird on the house-top alone.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{8} the day wild foes revile me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{using my name for a curse.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{9} ashes have been my bread,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and tears have been mixed with my cup.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Because\V{10} of your passionate anger,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you did raise me, then hurl me to the ground.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{11} days come to an end, shadows lengthen,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I wither like grass.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{12} you, O {\sc Lord}, are enthroned forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your fame endures to all generations.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{13} will arise and have pity on Zion;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it’s time to be gracious; her hour has come.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{14} even her stones are dear to your servants,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{even the dust of her ruins they look on with love.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{15} the nations will revere the name of the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ and all the kings of the earth his glory,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ when\V{16} the {\sc Lord} shall have built up Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and revealed himself in his glory,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ in\V{17} response to the prayer of the destitute,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whose prayer he will not despise.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{18} this be recorded for ages to come,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that the {\sc Lord} may be praised by a people yet unborn.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{19} he shall look down from his holy height,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the heavens the {\sc Lord} will gaze on the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{20} hear the groans of the prisoner,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to free those who are doomed to die;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ that\V{21} people may recount the {\sc Lord}’s fame in Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the praise of him in Jerusalem,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ when\V{22} the nations are gathered together,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the kingdoms, to worship the {\sc Lord}.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{23} has broken my strength on the way,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he has shortened my days.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{24} will say, “My God, take me not hence}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the midst of my days.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Your years endure age after age.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Of\V{25} old you have founded the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the heavens are the work of your hands.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{26} shall perish; but you do stand.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{They shall all wax old like a garment,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and change as a robe you will change them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{27} you are the same, your years are endless.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ The\V{28} children of your servants abide,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{evermore shall their seed be before you.” }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 103 – Bless the Lord, O my Soul}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\C{103} my soul, bless the {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all that is in me, his holy name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{2} my soul, bless the {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and forget not one of his benefits.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{3} pardons all your sins,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he heals all your diseases.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{4} ransoms your life from the pit,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he crowns you with kindness and pity.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{5} gives you your heart’s desire,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{renewing your youth like the eagle’s.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} {\sc Lord} executes justice –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and right for all who are wronged.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{7} revealed his ways to Moses,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his acts to the children of Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Full\V{8} of pity and grace is the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{patient, and rich in kindness:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ he\V{9} will not always chide,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor cherish his anger forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Not\V{10} after our sins has he dealt with us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor requited us after our wickedness.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{11} high as the heavens o’er the earth}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is his love over those who fear him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Far\V{12} as is east from the west}
\noindentation \Q{2}{has he put our transgressions from us.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{13} a father pities his children,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so the {\sc Lord} pities those who fear him;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{14} well he knows our frame,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he remembers that we are dust.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{15} person’s days are as grass;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{blossoms like a flower of the meadow.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ At\V{16} the breath of the wind it is gone,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the place thereof knows it no more.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{17} the love of the {\sc Lord} is eternal,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his kindness to children’s children,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{18} those who keep his covenant}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and mindfully do his behests.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{19} {\sc Lord} has set his throne in the heavens;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the whole world is under his sway.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Bless\V{20} the {\sc Lord}, you angels of his,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{mighty heroes performing his word.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Bless\V{21} the {\sc Lord}, all you his hosts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you servants who do his will.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Bless\V{22} the {\sc Lord}, all you his works,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{far as his sway extends.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O my soul, bless the {\sc Lord}. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 104 – The Hymn of Creation}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Bless\C{104} the {\sc Lord}, O my soul.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{O {\sc Lord} my God, you are very great,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{clad in awful splendor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ covered\V{2} with robe of light.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You stretch out the heavens like the cloth of a tent.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ He\V{3} lays the beams of his chambers on water.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He takes dark clouds for his chariot,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and rides on the wings of the wind.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{4} takes the winds for his messengers,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the fire and the flame for his servants.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{5} founded the earth upon pillars,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to sustain it unshaken forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{6} the garment of ocean he covered it,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{waters towered over the mountains.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{7} at your rebuke they fled,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{scared by the roar of your thunder,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ mountains\V{8} rose, valleys sank down}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the place appointed for them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{9} dared not pass the bounds set for them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or cover the earth any more.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{10} sent brooks into the valleys,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they meander between the mountains.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{11} wild beasts all drink from them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the wild asses quench their thirst.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} birds have their home by the banks,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and sing in the branches.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{13} his chambers above he gives drink to the mountains,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and satisfies earth with the vials of heaven.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{14} makes grass grow for the cattle,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and herbs for people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He brings bread out of the earth;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ wine,\V{15} to gladden hearts;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{oil, to make faces shine;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bread, to strengthen hearts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{16} trees of the {\sc Lord} drink their fill}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the cedars he planted on Lebanon,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ where\V{17} the little birds build their nest,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the stork whose home is the cypress.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{18} high hills are for the wild goats,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the rocks are for coneys to hide in.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{19} created the moon to mark seasons,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and told the sun when to set.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{20} make it dark: night comes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when all the wild beasts creep out.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Young\V{21} lions that roar for their prey,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{seeking their meat from God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ At\V{22} sunrise they slink away,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and lie down in their dens.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{23} people go forth to their work,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and toil till evening.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{24} many, O {\sc Lord}, are your works,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all of them made in wisdom!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The earth is filled with your creatures.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{25} there is the great broad sea,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{where are countless things in motion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{living creatures, both great and small.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{26} go the ships,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the Leviathan you made to play there.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{27} all look in hope to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to give them their food in due season.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{28} you give with open hand;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they gather and eat to their heart’s desire.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{29} you hide your face, they are terrified;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when you take their breath away,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they die and go back to their dust.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{30} a breath from your lips creates them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and renews the face of the earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{31} the glory of the {\sc Lord} be forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may the {\sc Lord} rejoice in his works.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{32} glance of his makes the earth tremble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a touch of his makes the hills smoke.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{33} will sing to the {\sc Lord} while I live,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will play to my God while I am.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{34} my musing be sweet to him.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I rejoice in the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{35} may sinners be swept from the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the wicked vanish forever.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O my soul, bless the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Hallelujah. }
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\MSS{Psalm 105 – The Inspiration of the Past}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\C{105} thanks to the {\sc Lord}, call on his name:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{make known his deeds among the nations.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sing\V{2} to him, make music to him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{tell of all his wondrous works.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Make\V{3} your boast in his holy name,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be glad at heart, you who seek the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Seek\V{4} after the {\sc Lord} and his strength,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{seek his face evermore.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Remember\V{5} the wonders he did,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his portents, the judgments he uttered,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ you\V{6} who are offspring of Abraham, his servant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the children of Jacob, his chosen ones.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{7} is the {\sc Lord} our God:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in all the earth are his judgments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{8} remembers forever his covenant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his promise for a thousand generations}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{9} covenant he made with Abraham,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the oath he swore to Isaac,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{10} confirmed as a statute to Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a pact everlasting to Israel}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{11} give them the land of Canaan}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as the lot which they should inherit.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{12} when they were very few,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{few and but pilgrims therein,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ wandering\V{13} from nation to nation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{journeying from people to people,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ he\V{14} allowed no one to oppress them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{even punishing kings for their sakes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{15} forbade them to touch his anointed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or do any hurt to his prophets.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{16} he called down famine on the land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and cut off the bread which sustained them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ he\V{17} sent before them a man,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Joseph, who was sold as a slave.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ His\V{18} feet were galled with fetters,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he was laid in chains of iron,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ till\V{19} the time that his word came to pass,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the word of the {\sc Lord} that had tried him.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{20} king sent and freed him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the ruler of nations released him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{21} made him lord of his household,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and ruler of all his possessions,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{22} admonish his princes at will}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and instruct his elders in wisdom.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Thus\V{23} Israel came into Egypt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ His\V{24} people he made very fruitful,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and mightier than their foes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{25} inspired them to hate his people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and to deal with his servants craftily.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{26} sent his servant Moses,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and Aaron whom he had chosen,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ portents\V{27} he wrought in Egypt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and signs in the land of Ham.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Darkness\V{28} he sent, and it fell:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{yet they gave no heed to his word.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{29} turned their waters into blood,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{thus causing their fish to die.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{30} land was alive with frogs,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{swarming even in the royal chambers.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ At\V{31} his command came flies,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and lice in all their borders.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{32} gave them hail for rain}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and fire that flashed through the land,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ smiting\V{33} their vines and figs,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{breaking the trees of their border.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ At\V{34} his command came locusts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{young locusts beyond all counting,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ which\V{35} ate every herb in the land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ate up, too, the fruit of their ground.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{36} struck down in their land all the first-born,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the firstlings of all their strength}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{37} forth he led Israel with silver and gold,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and among his tribes no one was weary.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Egypt\V{38} was glad when they left,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for terror had fallen upon them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{39} spread out a cloud to screen them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and fire to give light in the night.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{40} sent quails at their entreaty,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and heavenly bread in abundance.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{41} opened the rock; waters gushed:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the desert they ran like a river.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{42} he remembered his holy promise}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to Abraham his servant.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{43} he led out his people with joy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his elect with a ringing cry.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{44} he gave them the lands of the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the fruit of their toil for possession,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ that\V{45} so they might keep his statutes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and be of his laws observant.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Hallelujah. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 106 – The Nation’s Sin against the Lord}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{3}{ Hallelujah!\C{106} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{Give thanks to the {\sc Lord} for his goodness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{2} can describe his heroic deeds,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or publish all his praise?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{3} they who act justly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and do righteousness evermore.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Remember\V{4} me, {\sc Lord}, as you remember your people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and visit me with your gracious help.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{5} I see the good fortune of your elect,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may I share in the joy of your nation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in the pride of your heritage.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ We,\V{6} like our fathers, have sinned,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{we have done perversely and wickedly}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{7} the land of Egypt our fathers,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all heedless of your wonders,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and unmindful of your great kindness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at the Red Sea defied the Most High.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{8} true to his name he saved them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in order to show his might.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{9} rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they marched through the depths as through desert,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ saved\V{10} from the hand of the hostile,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{redeemed from the hand of the foe.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{11} waters covered their enemies:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{not one of them was left.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{12} then they believed in his words,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and began to sing his praise.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{13} soon they forgot his deeds:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they did not wait for his counsel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{14} greed was ravenous in the desert;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they put God to the test in the wilderness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{15} gave them the thing they had asked for,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but sent wasting disease among them.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{16} camp grew jealous of Moses}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and of Aaron, holy one of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{17} earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and covered Abiram’s company.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Fire\V{18} broke out on their company,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{flame kindled upon the wicked.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{19} made a calf in Horeb,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and bowed to the molten image.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{20} exchanged their glorious God}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the image of ox that eats grass.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{21} forgot the God who had saved them}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by mighty deeds in Egypt}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Wonders\V{22} in the land of Ham,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{terrors by the Red Sea.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{23} he vowed, and would have destroyed them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but for Moses his elect,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who stepped into the breach before him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to divert his deadly wrath.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{24} spurned the delightsome land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they refused to believe in his word.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{25} grumbled in their tents,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{would not listen to the voice of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{26} he swore with uplifted hand}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to lay them low in the wilderness;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{27} disperse their seed among heathen,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to scatter them over the world.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{28} they joined them to Baal of Peor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and ate what was offered the dead.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{29} provoked him to wrath by their deeds,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and plague broke out among them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{30} Phinehas stood between,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and so the plague was stayed;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{31} it was counted to him for righteousness}
\noindentation \Q{2}{unto all generations forever.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{32} angered him at the waters of Meribah,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{through them it went ill with Moses.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{33} rebelled against his spirit,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he uttered speech that was rash.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{34} did not destroy the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{as the {\sc Lord} had commanded them;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ but\V{35} they mingled with the heathen,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and learned to do as they did.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Their\V{36} idol gods they worshipped,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and they were ensnared by them.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ They\V{37} sacrificed their sons}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and their daughters to the demons.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ They\V{38} poured out innocent blood}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the blood of their sons and daughters}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whom they offered to Canaan’s idols,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the land was polluted with blood.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ They\V{39} became unclean by their works,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and adulterous in their deeds.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Then\V{40} the {\sc Lord}’s fury was on his people,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{filled with horror at his inheritance.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ He\V{41} delivered them to the heathen,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to the sway of those who hated them.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Their\V{42} enemies oppressed them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and subdued them under their hand.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Many\V{43} a time he saved them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but they rebelled at his counsel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and were brought low by their wrongdoing.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yet\V{44} he looked upon their distress,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when he heard their cry.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{45} remembered his covenant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and, in his great kindness, relented.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{46} caused them to be pitied}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by all who carried them captive.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Save\V{47} us, O {\sc Lord} our God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and gather us out of the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to give thanks to your holy name,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and to make our boast of your praise.}
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\blank 
\blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{3}{ {\em Blessed\V{48} be the Lord, the God of Israel,} }
\noindentation \Q{3}{{\em from everlasting to everlasting.} }
\noindentation \Q{3}{{\em And let all the people say “Amen.”} }
\noindentation \Q{3}{{\em Praise the Lord.}  }
\blank[medium] 
\MS{Book Five}

\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 107 – The Song of the Redeemed}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ \C{107} {\sc Give thanks to the }{\sc Lord} for his goodness}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{2} this be the song of the ransomed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whom the {\sc Lord} has redeemed from distress,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ gathering\V{3} them from all lands,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{east, west, north, and south.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{4} the wastes of the desert some wandered,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{finding no way to a city inhabited.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Full\V{5} of hunger and thirst,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their spirit failed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{6} they cried to the {\sc Lord} in their trouble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he saved them from their distresses,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ guiding\V{7} them straight on the way,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{till they reached an inhabited city.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{8} them thank the {\sc Lord} for his kindness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his wonderful deeds for people;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{9} the thirsty he satisfies,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the hungry he fills with good things.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Some\V{10} sat in darkness and gloom}
\noindentation \Q{2}{prisoners in irons and misery,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{11} rebelling against God’s word,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and spurning the Most High’s counsel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{12} heart was bowed with toil;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{there was no one to help when they stumbled.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{13} they cried to the {\sc Lord} in their trouble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he saved them from their distresses.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Out\V{14} of darkness and gloom he brought them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and burst their chains.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{15} them praise the {\sc Lord} for his kindness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his wonderful deeds for people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{16} he shattered the gates of bronze,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and broke bars of iron.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Some\V{17} were sick from their wicked ways,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and suffering because of their sins.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{18} manner of food they hated;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they had come to the gates of death.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{19} they cried to the {\sc Lord} in their trouble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he saved them from their distresses.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{20} sent his word and healed them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and delivered their life from the pit.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{21} them praise the {\sc Lord} for his kindness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his wonderful deeds for people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{22} them offer to him thankofferings,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and with joy tell what things he has done.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Some\V{23} crossed the sea in ships,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{doing business in great waters.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{24} have seen what the {\sc Lord} can do,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his wonderful deeds on the deep.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ At\V{25} his command rose a tempest,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{which lifted the waves on high.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Up\V{26} to heaven they went, down to the depths;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their courage failed them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{27} staggered and reeled like drunkards;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all their skills useless.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{28} they cried to the {\sc Lord} in their trouble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he saved them from their distresses.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{29} stilled the storm to a whisper,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the waves of the sea were hushed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{30} were glad, because it was quiet;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they were led to the haven they longed for.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{31} them praise the {\sc Lord}, for his kindness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his wonderful deeds for people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Where\V{32} the people assemble, extol him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and praise him in council of elders.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{33} turns streams into a wilderness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{springs of water into thirsty land,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ fruitful\V{34} land into a salt waste,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because of the sin of the people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{35} desert he makes pools of water,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a land of drought into springs of water.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{36} settles the hungry therein,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they establish a city to live in.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{37} sow fields and plant vineyards,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{which furnish a fruitful yield.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ By\V{38} his blessing they multiply greatly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he lets not their cattle decrease.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yet\V{39} when they are bowed and diminished}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by oppression, misfortune, or sorrow,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ he\V{40} pours contempt upon princes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and on trackless wastes leads them astray}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{41} lifts the poor out of misery,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and makes families fruitful as flocks.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ At\V{42} this sight shall the upright be glad,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all wicked mouths shall be stopped.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{43} those who are wise observe this,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and consider the love of the {\sc Lord} }
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\MSS{Psalm 108 – A Prayer for Victory}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{  My\C{108} heart is steadfast, O God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my heart is steadfast.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I would sing, I would make music;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{awake, my soul.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Awake,\V{2} harp and lyre;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I would wake the dawn.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{3} would praise you among the peoples, O {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{make music among the nations to you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} great to heaven is your love,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your faithfulness to the clouds.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{5} exalted, O God, o’er the heavens,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your glory o’er all the earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{6} those you love may be rescued,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{save by your right hand and answer us.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\V{7} did solemnly swear:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“As victor will I divide Shechem,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{portion out the valley of Succoth.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Mine\V{8} is Gilead, mine is Manasseh,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Ephraim is my helmet,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Judah my sceptre of rule,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Moab\V{9} the pot that I wash in,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on Edom I hurl my sandal,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I shout o’er Philistia in triumph.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{10} to be brought to the fortified city!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O to be led into Edom!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Have\V{11} you not spurned us, O God?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{You do not march forth with our armies.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Grant\V{12} us help from the foe,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for human help is worthless.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{13} God we shall yet do bravely,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he himself will tread down our foes. }
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\MSS{Psalm 109 – A Prayer for the Lord’s Help}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\C{109} God whom I praise, keep not silence;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ for\V{2} their wicked mouths they have opened against me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they speak to me with tongues that are false,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ they\V{3} beset me with words of hatred,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and fight without cause against me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{4} love they requite with hostility,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while for them I lift up my prayer.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Evil\V{5} for good they reward me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and hatred for my love.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Set\V{6} over him one who is godless,” they say,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“an opponent at his right hand.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{7} his trial let him come forth guilty,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may his prayer be counted as sin.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Grant\V{8} that his days may be few,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that his office be seized by another.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Grant\V{9} that his children be fatherless,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and that his wife be a widow.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Up\V{10} and down may his children go begging,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{expelled from their desolate home.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{11} all that he owns be seized by the creditor}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “May\V{12} none extend to him kindness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or pity his fatherless children.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ His\V{13} descendants be doomed to destruction!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Blotted out be his name in one generation!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{14} his father’s guilt be remembered,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his mother’s sin not blotted out:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ on\V{15} record always before the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his memory root from the earth;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{16} he gave no thought to show kindness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but pursued the poor and the needy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{drove the downhearted to death.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “May\V{17} the curses he loved light upon him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may the blessings he loathed be afar.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{18} a garment he clothed him with curses;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may they pierce to his inwards like water,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and cling to his bones like oil.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{19} them be like the robe he wraps round him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like the belt he wears every day.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{20} this the reward of my adversaries,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of those who speak evil against me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{21} you, {\sc Lord} my {\sc God},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be true to your name,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{deal kindly with me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in your gracious kindness}
\noindentation \Q{3}{save me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{22} I am poor and needy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my heart is wounded within me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{23} am gone like a lengthening shadow,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I am shaken off like a locust.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{24} knees totter from fasting,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my flesh is shrivelled and spare.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{25} heap insults upon me:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when they see me, they shake their head.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Help\V{26} me, O {\sc Lord} my God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and save me in your kindness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Teach\V{27} them that this is your hand,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your own doing, O {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{28} them curse, if only you bless.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Put my assailants to shame,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and make your servant glad.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{29} opponents be clothed with dishonor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and wrapped in a robe of shame.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{30} give thanks to you, {\sc Lord}, with loud voice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I give praise in the midst of the throng;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{31} he stands by the poor, at his right hand,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to save them from those who condemn them. }
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\MSS{Psalm 110 – A Promise of Victory to the King}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ This\C{110} said the {\sc Lord} concerning my lord,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“Sit at my right hand,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{till I set your foot on the neck of your foes.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{2} Zion the {\sc Lord} is wielding}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your sceptre of might, and charges you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to rule over the foes that surround you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} day that you march to battle}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your people will follow you gladly}
\noindentation \Q{1}{young warriors in holy array,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like dew-drops, born of the morning.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{4} {\sc Lord} has sworn and will not repent,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“As for you, you are priest for ever}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as Melchizedek was.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ By\V{5} your side will the {\sc Lord} shatter kings}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on the day of his wrath.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{6} will execute judgment}
\noindentation \Q{2}{filling the valleys with dead,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the broad fields with shattered heads.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{7} will drink of the brook by the way,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and march onward with uplifted head. }
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\MSS{Psalm 111 – In Praise of the Divine Goodness}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{3}{ Hallelujah.\C{111} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will thank the {\sc Lord} with all my heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the assembled congregation of his people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Great\V{2} are the things that the {\sc Lord} has done,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{worthy of study by those who love them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Majestic\V{3} and glorious is his work,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his righteousness abides forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} his marvelous deeds he has won renown;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} is gracious and full of compassion.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Food\V{5} he gives to those who fear him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{always he remembers his covenant.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ His\V{6} mighty works he has shown to his people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in giving to them the nations for heritage.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{7} that he does is faithful and right,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all his behests are firm and sure.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{8} are established for ever and ever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{executed with truth and uprightness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ To\V{9} his people he sent redemption,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he has appointed his covenant forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{His name is holy and awe-inspiring.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ The\V{10} fear of the {\sc Lord} is the beginning of wisdom}
\noindentation \Q{1}{those who keep it are wise indeed.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{His praise abides for ever and ever. }
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\MSS{Psalm 112 – The Blessings of Godliness}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{3}{ Hallelujah.\C{112} Happy are those who fear the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and greatly delight in his commandments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Mighty\V{2} on earth shall be their seed;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a blessing shall rest on the race of the upright.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Wealth\V{3} and riches are in their houses,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their prosperity stands forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ To\V{4} the upright arises light in the darkness;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{full of favor and pity and kindness are they.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{5} is well with those who show pity and lend,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who support all their affairs upon justice.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{6} they will never be shaken;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the just will be forever remembered.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{7} will not be afraid of evil tidings,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with steady heart they trust the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{8} heart is firm and unafraid:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they know they will feast their eyes on their enemies.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ With\V{9} lavish hands they give to the poor,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and their prosperity stands forever.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{They are lifted to heights of triumph and honor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{10} sight of them fills the wicked with anger:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{grinding their teeth with despair.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The hopes of the wicked will come to nothing. }
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\MSS{Psalm 113 – The Lord loves the Humble}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{3}{ Hallelujah.\C{113} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{Praise the {\sc Lord}, you his servants,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praise the name of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{2} name of the {\sc Lord} be blessed}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from now and for evermore.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{3} sunrise to sunset}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is the name of the {\sc Lord} to be praised.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ High\V{4} is the {\sc Lord} above all nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{above the heavens is his glory.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{5} is like the {\sc Lord} our God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{seated on high?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{6} bends down to look}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at the heavens and earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{7} raises the weak from the dust,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he lifts the poor from the dunghill,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{8} sets them beside the princes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{even the princes of his people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{9} gives the childless woman a home,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and makes her the happy mother of children.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Hallelujah. }
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\MSS{Psalm 114 – The Marvel of the Exodus}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\C{114} Israel went out of Egypt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Jacob’s house from a barbarous people,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\V{2} chose Judah for himself,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Israel became his kingdom.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} sea saw it, and fled,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Jordan river ran backwards.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Mountains\V{4} skipped like rams,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hills like the young of the flock.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why,\V{5} sea, do you flee?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Jordan, why run backwards?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Mountains,\V{6} why skip ram-like?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Why, hills, like the young of the flock?}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Earth,\V{7} tremble before the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at the presence of Jacob’s God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{8} turns rocks into pools of water,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and flint into fountains of water. }
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\MSS{Psalm 115 – Israel’s Incomparable God}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Not\C{115} to us, {\sc Lord}, not to us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but to your name give glory,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for your kindness’ and faithfulness’ sake.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\V{2} should the heathen say,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“Where is now their God?”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Our\V{3} God he is in heaven;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whatever he wishes, he does.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{4} idols are silver and gold,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{made by human hands.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{5} have mouths, but cannot speak;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they have eyes, but cannot see.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{6} have ears, but cannot hear;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they have noses, but cannot smell.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{7} have hands, but cannot feel;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they have feet, but cannot walk:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{no sound comes from their throats.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{8} makers become like them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so do all who trust in them.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{9} Israel, trust in the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he is their help and their shield.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ House\V{10} of Aaron, trust in the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he is their help and their shield.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{11} who fear the {\sc Lord}, trust in the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ he is their help and their shield.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} {\sc Lord}, mindful of us, will bless us:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he will bless the house of Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he will bless the house of Aaron.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{13} will bless those who fear the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the small and the great together.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{14} the {\sc Lord} add to your numbers}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to you and to your children.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Blessed\V{15} be you of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{creator of heaven and earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{16} heavens are the heavens of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the earth has he given to people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{17} dead cannot praise the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor those who go down into silence.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{18} we will bless the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ from now and for evermore.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Hallelujah. }
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\MSS{Psalm 116 – Song of Thanksgiving for Deliverance}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{116} love the {\sc Lord}, for he hears}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my voice, my pleas for mercy.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{2} he has inclined his ear to me:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will call upon him as long as I live.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ About\V{3} me were snares of death,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the anguish of Sheol was upon me:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{distress and sorrow were mine.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{4} I called on the name of the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“I beseech you, O {\sc Lord}, deliver me.”}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Gracious\V{5} and just is the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{compassionate is our God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} {\sc Lord} preserves the simple;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when I was drooping, he saved me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{7} at peace, my heart, once more,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the {\sc Lord} has been good to you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{8} have rescued me from death,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my eyes from tears,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my feet from stumbling.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Before\V{9} the {\sc Lord} I will walk}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the land of the living.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{10} held fast my faith, though I said,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“Ah me! I am sore afflicted,”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ though\V{11} in my alarm I said,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“Everyone is a liar.”}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ What\V{12} shall I render the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ for all his bounty to me?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{13} will lift up the cup of salvation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and call on the name of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{14} will pay my vows to the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ in the presence of all his people.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Grave\V{15} in the eyes of the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ is the death of his loyal and loved ones.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Ah,\V{16} {\sc Lord}! I am your servant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your servant, child of your handmaid.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{You have loosened my bonds.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{17} will offer to you a thank-offering,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and call on the name of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{18} will pay my vows to the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ in the presence of all his people,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ in\V{19} the courts of the house of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Hallelujah. }
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\MSS{Psalm 117 – A Call to Praise}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\C{117} the {\sc Lord}, all you nations:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{laud him, all you peoples.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{2} his mighty love is over us:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} is faithful forever.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Hallelujah. }
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\MSS{Psalm 118 – Thanksgiving for Victory}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\C{118} thanks to the {\sc Lord} for his goodness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{2} the house of Israel now say:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{3} the house of Aaron now say:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{4} those who fear the {\sc Lord} now say:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his kindness endures forever.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Out\V{5} of straits I called on the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} answered and gave me room.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} {\sc Lord} is mine; I am fearless.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{What can mere people do to me?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{7} {\sc Lord} is mine, as my help:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I shall feast my eyes on my foes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{8} is better to hide in the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ than to trust in mortals.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{9} is better to hide in the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ than to put any trust in princes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Everywhere\V{10} heathen swarmed round me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the name of the {\sc Lord} I cut them down.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{11} swarmed, swarmed around me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the name of the {\sc Lord} I cut them down,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ they\V{12} swarmed around me like bees,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they blazed like a fire of thorns:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the name of the {\sc Lord} I cut them down.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sore\V{13} they pushed me, to make me fall;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the {\sc Lord} gave me his help.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{14} {\sc Lord} is my strength and my song,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he is become my salvation.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hark!\V{15} In the tents of the righteous}
\noindentation \Q{2}{glad cries of victory are ringing.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The hand of the {\sc Lord} has wrought bravely,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ the\V{16} hand of the {\sc Lord} is exalted,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the hand of the {\sc Lord} has wrought bravely.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{17} shall not die: nay, I shall live,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to declare the works of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{18} the {\sc Lord} has chastened me sore,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he has not given me over to death.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{{\em (The Procession arrives at the Temple)} }
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Open\V{19} to me the gates of victory.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I would enter therein and give thanks to the {\sc Lord}.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{{\em (The Welcome)} }
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “This\V{20} is the gate of the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the righteous may enter therein;”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{21} thank you because you have heard me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and are become my salvation.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{22} stone which the builders despised}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is become the head-stone of the corner.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ This\V{23} has been wrought by the {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it is marvelous in our eyes.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ This\V{24} day is the {\sc Lord}’s own creation:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in it let us joy and be glad.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{25} {\sc Lord}, save us, we pray,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O {\sc Lord}, prosper, we pray.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Blessed\V{26} the one who enters}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the name of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{From the house of the {\sc Lord} we bless you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{27} {\sc Lord} is God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he has given us light.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Wreathe the dance with boughs,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{till they touch the horns of the altar.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{28} are my God, I will thank you;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O my God, I will exalt you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\V{29} thanks to the {\sc Lord} for his goodness:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his kindness endures forever. }
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\MSS{Psalm 119 – The Power and Comfort of the Word of God}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\C{119} they whose life is blameless,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who walk by the law of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{2} they who keep his charges,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and seek him with all their hearts;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{3} have done no wrong,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but walk in his ways.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{4} yourself have appointed your precepts}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to be kept with diligence.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{5} to be steadily guided}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the keeping of your statutes!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{6} unashamed shall I be,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when I look towards all your commandments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{7} will thank you with heart unfeigned,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when I learn your righteous judgments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{8} will observe your statutes:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O forsake me not utterly.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{9} can a young person keep their life pure?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{By giving heed to your word.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{10} all my heart have I sought you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let me not stray from your commandments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{11} my heart have I treasured your word,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to keep from sinning against you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Blessed\V{12} are you, O {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{2}{teach me your statutes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{13} my lips have I rehearsed}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the judgments of your mouth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{14} delight in the way of your charges,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{more than in riches of all sorts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{15} will muse upon your precepts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and look to your paths.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{16} your statutes I delight,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will not forget your word.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Grant\V{17} that your servant may live,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will observe your word.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Open\V{18} my eyes, that I see}
\noindentation \Q{2}{wondrous things out of your law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{19} a guest am I on the earth:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hide not your commandments from me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{20} heart is crushed with longing}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for your ordinances, at all times.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{21} rebuke the proud, the accursed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who wander from your commandments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Roll\V{22} away from me scorn and contempt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I have observed your charges.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{23} princes sit plotting against me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your servant will muse on your statutes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{24} charges are my delight,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they are my counsellors.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{25} lie grovelling in the dust;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{revive me, as you have promised.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{26} told of my ways, you made answer;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{teach me your statutes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Grant\V{27} me insight into your precepts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will muse on your wonders.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{28} am overcome with sorrow;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{raise me up, as you have promised.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Put\V{29} the way of falsehood from me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and graciously grant me your law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{30} have chosen the way of fidelity,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your ordinances I long for.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{31} hold fast to your charges:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O put me not, {\sc Lord}, to shame.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{32} will run in the way of your commandments,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you give me room of heart.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Teach\V{33} me, O {\sc Lord}, the way of your statutes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will keep it to the end,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ instruct\V{34} me to keep your law,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will observe it with all my heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Guide\V{35} me in the path of your commandments,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for therein do I delight.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Incline\V{36} my heart to your charges,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and not to greed of gain.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Turn\V{37} away my eyes from vain sights,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{revive me by your word.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Confirm\V{38} to your servant the promise}
\noindentation \Q{2}{which is given to those who fear you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Remove\V{39} the reproach which I dread,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because your judgments are good.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Behold,\V{40} I long for your precepts.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Quicken me in your righteousness.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Visit\V{41} me, {\sc Lord}, with your love}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and salvation, as you have promised.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{42} shall I answer my slanderers,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for my trust is in your word.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Snatch\V{43} not from my mouth the word of truth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for in your judgments I hope.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{44} will keep your law continually,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for ever and evermore.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{45} shall I walk in wide spaces,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I give my mind to your precepts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{46} will speak of your charge before kings,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and will not be ashamed thereof.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{47} commandments are my delight,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I love them exceedingly.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{48} will lift up my hands to your commandments,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and muse upon your statutes.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Remember\V{49} your word to your servant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on which you have made me to hope.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ This\V{50} is my comfort in trouble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that your word gives life to me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{51} arrogant utterly scorn me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but I have not declined from your law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{52} I think of your judgments of old,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O {\sc Lord}, I take to me comfort.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{53} am seized with glowing anger}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at the wicked who forsake your law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{54} statutes have been to me songs}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the house of my pilgrimage.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{55} remember your name in the night,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O {\sc Lord} and observe your law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{56} lot has been this,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I have kept your precepts.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{57} portion are you, O {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I have promised to keep your words.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{58} entreat you with all my heart;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{grant me your promised favor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{59} have thought upon my ways,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and turned my feet to your charges.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{60} hasted and tarried not}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to give heed to your commandments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{61} the godless have wound their cords round me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I have not forgotten your law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ At\V{62} midnight I rise to praise you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because of your righteous judgments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{63} all those who fear you I company,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{aid with those who observe your precepts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{64} earth, {\sc Lord}, is full of your kindness;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{teach me your Statutes.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Well\V{65} have you dealt with your servant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as you have promised, O {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Teach\V{66} me discretion and knowledge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I have believed your commandments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Till\V{67} trouble came I was a wanderer,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but now I observe your word.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{68} are good and do good;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{teach me your statutes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{69} proud have forged lies against me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but I keep your precepts with all my heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{70} heart is gross like fat,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but I delight in your law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{71} was good for me to be humbled,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I should learn your statutes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{72} law of your mouth is better to me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{73} hands have made me and fashioned me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{make me wise to learn your commandments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Those\V{74} who fear you shall see me with joy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for in your word have I hoped.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{75} know, O {\sc Lord}, that your judgments are right,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{76} your love be a comfort to me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for so have you promised your servant.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Visit\V{77} me with your quickening pity,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for your law is my delight.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Put\V{78} the proud to shame, who have wronged me falsely:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will muse on your precepts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{79} those turn to me who fear you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that they may learn your charges.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{80} my heart be sound in your statutes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I may not be put to shame.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{81} long for you to rescue me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I put my hope in your word.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{82} eyes pine away for your promise:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{saying, “When will you comfort me?”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{83} shrivelled like wine-skin in smoke,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your statutes I have not forgotten.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{84} few are the days of your servant!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{When will you judge those who harass me?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Proud\V{85} people have dug for me pits}
\noindentation \Q{2}{people who do not conform to your law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{86} your commandments are trusty.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{With falsehood they harass me: help me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{87} had nearly made an end of me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{yet I did not forget your precepts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Spare\V{88} me in your kindness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will observe the charge of your mouth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Forever,\V{89} O {\sc Lord}, is your word}
\noindentation \Q{2}{fixed firmly in the heavens.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{90} truth endures age after age;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it is established on earth, and it stands.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ By\V{91} your appointment they stand this day,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for all are your servants.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Had\V{92} not your law been my joy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in my misery then had I perished.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{93} will never forget your precepts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for through them you have put life in me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{94} am yours, O save me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I give my mind to your precepts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{95} wicked lay wait to destroy me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but I give heed to your charge.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{96} have seen a limit to all things:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but your commandment is spacious exceedingly.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{97} how I love your law!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{All the day long I muse on it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{98} commandment makes me wiser than my enemies:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for it is mine forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{99} am prudent above all my teachers,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for your charges are my meditation.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{100} have insight more than the aged,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because I observe your precepts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{101} refrain my foot from all wicked ways,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I may keep your word.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{102} turn not aside from your judgments,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you yourself are my teacher.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{103} sweet are your words to my taste,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sweeter than honey to my mouth!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Insight\V{104} I win through your precepts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{therefore every false way I hate.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{105} word is a lamp to my feet,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and a light to my path.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{106} have sworn an oath, and will keep it,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to observe your righteous judgments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{107} am afflicted sorely:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{revive me, O {\sc Lord}, as you said.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Accept,\V{108} {\sc Lord}, my willing praise,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and teach me your judgments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{109} life is in ceaseless peril;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but I do not forget your law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{110} wicked set traps for me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{yet I do not stray from your precepts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{111} your charges are my everlasting inheritance,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they are the joy of my heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{112} am resolved to perform your statutes}
\noindentation \Q{2}{forever, to the utmost.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{113} hate people of divided heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but your law do I love.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{114} are my shelter and shield:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in your word do I hope.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Begone,\V{115} you wicked people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will keep the commands of my God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Uphold\V{116} me and spare me, as you have promised:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O disappoint me not.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hold\V{117} me up, and I shall be saved:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your statutes shall be my unceasing delight.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{118} who swerve from your statutes you spurn:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their cunning is in vain.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{119} the wicked of earth you count as dross,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{therefore I love your charges.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{120} flesh, for fear of you, shudders,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I stand in awe of your judgments.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Justice\V{121} and right have I practised,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{do not leave me to my oppressors.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{122} your servant’s surety for good,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let not the proud oppress me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{123} eyes pine for your salvation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and for your righteous promise.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Deal\V{124} in your love with your servant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and teach me your statutes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{125} servant am I; instruct me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I may know your charges.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{126} is time for the {\sc Lord} to act:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they have violated your law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Therefore\V{127} I love your commandments}
\noindentation \Q{2}{above gold, above fine gold.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{128} by all your precepts I guide me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and every false way I hate.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{129} decrees are wonderful,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{gladly I keep them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{130} your word is unfolded, light breaks;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it imparts to the simple wisdom.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{131} open mouth I pant}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with longing for your commandments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Turn\V{132} to me with your favor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as is just to those who love you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Steady\V{133} my steps by your word,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so that sin have no power over me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Set\V{134} me free from those who oppress me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I shall observe your precepts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Shine\V{135} with your face on your servant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and teach me your statutes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{136} eyes run down with rills of water,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because your law is not kept.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Righteous\V{137} are you, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and right are your ordinances.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{138} laws you has ordered are just,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and trusty exceedingly.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{139} jealousy has undone me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that my foes have forgotten your words.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{140} word has been tested well;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your servant loves it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{141} am little and held in contempt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but your precepts I have not forgotten.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Just\V{142} is your justice forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and trusty is your law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Stress\V{143} and strain are upon me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but your commandments are my delight.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Right\V{144} are your charges forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{instruct me that I may live.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{145} my whole heart I cry; O answer me.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I would keep your statutes, O {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{146} cry to you: O save me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will observe your charges.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Ere\V{147} the dawn I cry for your help:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in your word do I hope.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Awake\V{148} I meet the night-watches,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to muse upon your sayings.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear\V{149} my voice in your kindness:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O {\sc Lord}, by your judgments revive me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Near\V{150} me are wicked tormentors,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who are far from thoughts of your law;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ but\V{151} near, too, are you, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all your commandments are trusty.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Long\V{152} have I known from your charges}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that you have founded them for all time.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Look\V{153} on my misery, and rescue me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I do not forget your law.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Defend\V{154} my cause and redeem me:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{revive me, as you have promised.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Salvation\V{155} is far from the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for their mind is not in your statutes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Great\V{156} is your pity, O {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Revive me, as you have ordained.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{157} foes and tormentors are many,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but I have not declined from your charges.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{158} behold the traitors with loathing,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for they do not observe your word.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Behold\V{159} how I love your precepts:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{revive me, O {\sc Lord}!, in your kindness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{160} sum of your word is truth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all your laws are just and eternal.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Princes\V{161} have harassed me wantonly:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but my heart stands in awe of your word.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Over\V{162} your word I rejoice}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as one who finds great spoil.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Falsehood\V{163} I hate and abhor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but your law do I love.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Seven\V{164} times a day do I praise you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because of your righteous judgments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Right\V{165} well do they fare who love your law:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they go on their way without stumbling.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{166} hope for your salvation;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O {\sc Lord} I do your commandments.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{167} observe your charges:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I love them greatly.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{168} observe your precepts and charges:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all my ways are before you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{169} my cry come before you, O {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{give me insight, as you have promised.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{170} my prayer enter into your presence:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{deliver me, as you have said.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{171} lips shall be fountains of praise,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that you teach me your statutes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{172} tongue shall sing of your word,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for all your commandments are right.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{173} your hand be ready to help me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for your precepts have been my choice.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{174} long, {\sc Lord}, for your salvation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your law is my delight.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Revive\V{175} me that I may praise you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and let your precepts help me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{176} have strayed like a wandering sheep}
\noindentation \Q{2}{seek your servant, because}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I do not forget your commandments. }
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\MSS{Psalm 120 – Prayer for Deliverance from Slander and Treachery}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\C{120} distress I cried to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he answered me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Deliver\V{2} me, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the lip that is false}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the tongue that is crafty.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ What\V{3} shall he give to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you tongue that is crafty?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{What yet shall he give to you?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Arrows\V{4} of warrior, sharpened,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with glowing broom coals together.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Woe\V{5} is me that I sojourn in Meshech,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I live by the tents of Kedar.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Already\V{6} too long have I dwelt}
\noindentation \Q{2}{among those who hate peace.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{7} am for peace:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but when I speak of it,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they are for war. }
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\MSS{Psalm 121 – The Lord Our Protector}
\par 
\noindentation 
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\MSS{A song of ascents}
\par 
\noindentation 
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{121} will lift up my eyes to the mountains.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O whence shall help for me come?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{2} the {\sc Lord} comes help to me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the creator of heaven and earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{3} foot he will not let totter:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he who guards you will not sleep.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{4} guardian of Israel}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will neither slumber nor sleep.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{5} {\sc Lord} is he who guards you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your shelter upon your right hand.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} sun by day shall not strike you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor the moon by night.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{7} all evil the {\sc Lord} will guard you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he will guard your life.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{8} {\sc Lord} will guard your going and coming}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from now and for evermore. }
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\MSS{Psalm 122 – The Joy and the Prayer of the Pilgrims}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{122} was glad when they said to me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“We will go to the house of the {\sc Lord}.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Now\V{2} we are standing,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{within your gates, O Jerusalem.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{3} Jerusalem, built close-packed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like a city without breach or gap,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{4} you do the tribes come,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the tribes of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{as the law has ordained for Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{there to give thanks to the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{5} once stood thrones of justice}
\noindentation \Q{2}{even thrones of the household of David.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Pray\V{6} that all may be well with Jerusalem,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and well with those who love you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ well\V{7} within your ramparts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and well within your palaces.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{8} the sake of my brethren and friends,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will wish you now prosperity:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{9} the sake of the house of the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ our God, I will seek your good. }
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\MSS{Psalm 123 – A Prayer for Mercy}
\par 
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{123} Lift up my eyes to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who are throned in the heavens.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{2} the eyes of a servant}
\noindentation \Q{2}{turn to the hand of his master,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{or the eyes of a maid}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the hand of her mistress,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so do our eyes turn}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the {\sc Lord} our God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{until he is gracious to us.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{3} gracious, be gracious to us, {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Scorn enough, and more, have we borne}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ More\V{4} than enough have we borne}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of derision from those at their ease,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of scorn from those who are haughty. }
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\MSS{Psalm 124 – A Magnificent Deliverance}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Had\C{124} it not been the {\sc Lord} who was for us”}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let Israel say}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Had\V{2} it not been the {\sc Lord} who was for us}
\noindentation \Q{1}{when enemies rose against us,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ then\V{3} alive they’d have swallowed us up,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when their anger was kindled against us.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{4} the waters would’ve swept us away,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the torrent passed over us clean:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ then\V{5} most sure would’ve passed over us clean}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the wild seething waters.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Blest\V{6} be the {\sc Lord} who has given us not}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to be torn by their teeth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ We\V{7} are like a bird just escaped}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the snare of the fowler.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{The snare is broken,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and we are escaped.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Our\V{8} help is the name of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the Creator of heaven and earth. }
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\MSS{Psalm 125 – A Sure Defence}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Those\C{125} who trust in the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ are like Mount Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{that cannot be moved,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but abides forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Round\V{2} Jerusalem are the mountains,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the {\sc Lord} is round his people}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from now and for evermore.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} he will not suffer}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the sceptre of wrong}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to rest on the land}
\noindentation \Q{2}{allotted to the righteous;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{else the righteous might put forth}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their own hand to evil.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{4} good, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the good,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and to the true-hearted.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{5} those who swerve}
\noindentation \Q{2}{into crooked ways}
\noindentation \Q{1}{will the {\sc Lord} lead away}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with the workers of evil.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{3}{Peace be upon Israel. }
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\MSS{Psalm 126 – Sowing in Tears}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\C{126} the {\sc Lord} turned the fortunes of Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{we were like dreamers.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{2} was our mouth filled with laughter,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{our tongue with glad shouts;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{then among the nations they said,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“The {\sc Lord} has dealt greatly with them.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} {\sc Lord} had dealt greatly with us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and we were rejoicing.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Turn\V{4} our fortunes, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as the streams in the Negreb.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{5} who sow in tears}
\noindentation \Q{2}{shall reap with glad shouts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Forth\V{6} they fare, with their burden of seed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and they weep as they go.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{But home, home, with glad shouts they shall come}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with their arms full of sheaves. }
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\MSS{Psalm 127 – The Need of Heavenly Help}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Unless\C{127} the {\sc Lord} builds the house,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{those who build it labor in vain.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Unless the {\sc Lord} guards the city,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the watchman wakes in vain.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{2} vain you rise early,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and finish so late,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and so eat sorrow’s bread;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for he cares for his loved ones}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in their sleep.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Children\V{3} are a gift of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the fruit of the womb, a reward.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{4} arrows wielded by warriors,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are the children of youth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{5} the man who has filled}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his quiver full of them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He will not be ashamed when he speaks}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with enemies in the gate. }
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\MSS{Psalm 128 – The Blessings of Home}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\C{128} all who fear the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who walk in his ways.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{2} will eat what your hands have toiled for,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and be happy and prosperous!}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{3} a fruitful vine shall your wife be}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the innermost room of your house:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{your children, like olive shoots,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{round about your table.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ See!\V{4} This is the blessing}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of the man who fears the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{5} {\sc Lord} shall bless you from Zion.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{You will see Jerusalem nourish}
\noindentation \Q{1}{all the days of your life.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ You\V{6} will see your children’s children.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{3}{Peace upon Israel. }
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\MSS{Psalm 129 – A Prayer for the Discomfiture of the Enemies of Zion}
\par 
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Sore\C{129} have they vexed me from youth”}
\noindentation \Q{2}{thus let Israel say}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Sore\V{2} have they vexed me from youth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but they have not prevailed against me.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “The\V{3} ploughers ploughed on my back,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they made their furrows long.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{4} the {\sc Lord}, who is righteous, has cut}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the cords of the wicked.”}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{5} all who are haters of Zion}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be put to shame and defeated.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{6} they be as the grass on the house-top,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{which withers before it shoots up;}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ which\V{7} fills not the arms of the reaper,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{nor the lap of the binder of sheaves}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ whereof\V{8} no one says as they pass,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“The blessing of God be upon you.”}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{3}{In the name of the {\sc Lord} we bless you. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 130 – Out of the Depths}
\par 
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Out\C{130} of the depths}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I call to you, {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{2} }, hear my voice:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{give heed with your ears}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to my loud plea.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ If\V{3} you should mark sin, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O {\sc Lord}, who could stand?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{4} with you is forgiveness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that you may be feared.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{5} wait for the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I wait for his word,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{6} look for the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ more than watchman for morning,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{than watchman for morning.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Israel,\V{7} hope in the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with the {\sc Lord} there is love}
\noindentation \Q{1}{with him plenteous redemption.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{8} he redeems Israel}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from all his iniquities. }
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\MSS{Psalm 131 – As a Little Child}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\C{131} {\sc Lord}, my heart is not haughty,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my eyes are not lofty,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I walk not among great things,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{things too wonderful for me.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yes,\V{2} I have soothed and stilled myself,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like a young child on his mother’s lap;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like a young child am I.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{3} Israel, hope in the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ from now and for evermore. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 132 – The Ancient Promise to David and Zion}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Remember,\C{132} O {\sc Lord}, David}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all his sufferings,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ the\V{2} oath that he swore to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his vow to the Strong One of Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ never\V{3} to enter his tent,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{never to lie on his bed,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ never\V{4} to give his eyes sleep}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or his eyelids slumber,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ till\V{5} he had found a place for the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the Strong One of Jacob to live in.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ We\V{6} heard of it in Ephrathah,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the fields of Jaar we found it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ We\V{7} went to the place where he dwelt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{we bowed ourselves low at his footstool.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Arise,\V{8} {\sc Lord}, and enter your resting-place,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you and your mighty ark.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{9} your priests wear a garment of righteousness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your faithful shout aloud for joy.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{10} the sake of David your servant,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{do not reject your Anointed.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{11} {\sc Lord} swore an oath to David}
\noindentation \Q{2}{an oath that he will not break;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“I will set on your throne}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a prince of your line.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ If\V{12} your sons keep my covenant}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the statutes I teach them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{then their sons, too, forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will sit on your throne.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{13} the choice of the {\sc Lord} is Zion;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{she is the home of his heart.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ “This\V{14} is forever my resting-place,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{this is the home of my heart.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{15} will royally bless her provision,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and give bread to her poor in abundance.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Her\V{16} priests I will clothe with salvation;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{her faithful will shout for joy.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{17} will I raise up for David}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a dynasty of power.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I have set my anointed a lamp}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that shall never go out.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Robes\V{18} of shame I will put on his foes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but on his head a glittering crown.” }
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\MSS{Psalm 133 – Family together}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Behold!\C{133} How good and how pleasant}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is the dwelling of kindred together!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{2} precious oil on the head}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that ran down on the beard,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the beard of Aaron, running}
\noindentation \Q{2}{over the collar of his robe:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ like\V{3} the dew upon Hermon which falls}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on the mountains of Zion.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For there has the {\sc Lord} ordained blessing –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{life that is endless. }
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\MSS{Psalm 134 – An Evening Invocation}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Come,\C{134} praise the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all you the {\sc Lord}’s servants,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who stand by night}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the house of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Lift\V{2} your hands to the holy place,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praise the {\sc Lord}.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} {\sc Lord} who made heaven and earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bless you from Zion. }
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\MSS{Psalm 135 – The Lord’s Power Revealed in Nature and History}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{3}{ Hallelujah.\C{135} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{Praise the name of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Praise the {\sc Lord}, you his servants,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{2} stand in the house of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the courts of the house of our God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\V{3} the {\sc Lord}, for the {\sc Lord} is good:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Sing praise to his name it is pleasant.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{4} {\sc Lord} for himself chose Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Israel as his own special treasure.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{5} I know that the {\sc Lord} is great,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that our {\sc Lord} is above all gods.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{6} that he wills he does}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the heavens and on the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the seas and in all the abysses.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Clouds\V{7} he brings up from the ends of the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{lightnings he makes for the rain,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{wind he brings out of his storehouses.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{8} first-born of Egypt he struck,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{both humans and animals.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Signs\V{9} and wonders he sent}
\noindentation \Q{2}{into your midst, O Egypt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{upon Pharaoh and all his servants.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Many\V{10} nations he struck,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{mighty kings he slew}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sihon,\V{11} king of the Amorites,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Og, king of Bashan,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all the kingdoms of Canaan.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{12} gave their land for possession,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{possession to Israel his people.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{13} name, O {\sc Lord}, is forever;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your memorial world without end.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{14} the {\sc Lord} secures right for his people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and takes pity upon his servants.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{15} idols of heathen are silver}
\noindentation \Q{2}{made by human hands.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{16} have mouths, but cannot speak:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they have eyes, but cannot see.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{17} have ears, but cannot hear:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{there is no breath in their mouths.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{18} makers become like them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so do all who trust in them.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ House\V{19} of Israel, praise the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{house of Araon, praise the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ House\V{20} of Levi, praise the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you who fear the {\sc Lord}, praise the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Blest\V{21} be the {\sc Lord} out of Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who lives in Jerusalem.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Hallelujah. }
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\MSS{Psalm 136 – The Lord’s Love Revealed in Nature and History}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\C{136} thanks to the {\sc Lord} for his goodness:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\V{2} thanks to the God of gods:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\V{3} thanks to the Lord of lords:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ To\V{4} him who alone does great wonders:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Whose\V{5} wisdom created the heavens:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{6} spread forth the earth on the waters:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{7} made great lights:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{8} sun to rule over the day:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Moon\V{9} and stars to rule over the night:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{10} struck the first-born of Egypt:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{11} brought Israel out from their midst:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{12} strong hand and outstretched arm:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{13} cut the Red Sea in pieces:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{14} brought Israel right through the midst:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{15} shook Pharaoh with all his host into the sea}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{16} led his people through the desert:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{17} struck down great kings:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{18} slew noble kings:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sihon,\V{19} king of the Amorites:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{20} Og, king of Bashan:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{21} gave their land for possession:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Possession\V{22} to Israel his servant:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{23} remembered our low estate:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{24} rescued us from our foes:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{25} gives to all flesh food:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Give\V{26} thanks to the God of heaven:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his kindness endures forever. }
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\MSS{Psalm 137 – By the Waters of Babylon}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ By\C{137} the waters of Babylon there we sat,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and we wept at the thought of Zion.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{2} on the poplars we hung our harps.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ For\V{3} there our captors called for a song:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{our tormentors, rejoicing, saying:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{4} can we sing the {\sc Lord}’s song}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the foreigner’s land?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ If\V{5} I forget you, Jerusalem,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may my right hand wither.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ May\V{6} my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{if I am unmindful of you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or don’t set Jerusalem}
\noindentation \Q{2}{above my chief joy.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Remember\V{7} the Edomites, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the day of Jerusalem’s fall,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{when they said, “Lay her bare, lay her bare,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{right down to her very foundation.”}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Babylon,\V{8} despoiler,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{happy are those who pay you back}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for all you have done to us.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{9} are they who seize and dash}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your children against the rocks. }
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\MSS{Psalm 138 – The Constancy of the Lord’s Care}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{138} will thank you, O {\sc Lord}, with all my heart:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the sight of the gods I will sing your praise,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{2} prostrate before your holy temple,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will praise your name for your constant love,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you have exulted your promise above all.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{3} I called you, you answered;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you gave me strength, you inspired me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{4} the kings of the earth shall praise you, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{when they shall have heard the words you have uttered;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{5} they shall sing of the ways of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and tell of the {\sc Lord}’s transcendent glory.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For,\V{6} high though the {\sc Lord} is, he looks on the lowly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and strikes down the haughty from far away.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{7} my way be distressful, yet you preserve me:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you lay your hand on my angry foes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your right hand gives me victory.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{8} {\sc Lord} will accomplish all that which concerns me.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Your kindness, O {\sc Lord}, endures forever.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O do not abandon the work of your hands. }
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\MSS{Psalm 139 – The Ever-Present God}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\C{139} {\sc Lord}, you search and know me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ when\V{2} I sit, when I rise you know it,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{you perceive my thoughts from afar.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{3} I walk, when I lie you sift it,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{familiar with all my ways.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{4} is not a word on my tongue,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but see! {\sc Lord}, you know it all.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Behind\V{5} and before you beset me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{upon me you lay your hand.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It’s\V{6} too wonderful for me to know}
\noindentation \Q{2}{too lofty I cannot attain it.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Whither\V{7} shall I go from your spirit?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Or whither shall I flee from your face?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ If\V{8} I climb up to heaven, you are there:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or make Sheol my bed, you are there.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ If\V{9} I lift up the wings of the morning}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and fly to the end of the sea,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ there\V{10} also your hand would grasp me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your right hand take hold of me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ If\V{11} I say, “Let the darkness cover me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and night be the light about me,”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} dark is not dark for you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but night is as light as the day.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{13} you did put me together;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in my mother’s womb you did weave me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{14} give you praise for my fashioning}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so full of awe, so wonderful.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Your works are wonderful.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{You knew me right well;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ my\V{15} bones were not hidden from you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{when I was made in secret,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and woven in the depths of the earth.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{16} eyes saw all my days:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they stood on your book every one}
\noindentation \Q{1}{written down, before they were fashioned,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while none of them yet was mine.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{17} how far, O God, beyond measure}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are your thoughts! How mighty their sum!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Should\V{18} I count, they are more than the sand.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{When I wake, I am still with you.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Will\V{19} you slay the wicked, O God?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And remove from me the bloodthirsty,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{20} maliciously defy you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and take your name in vain.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{21} I not hate those who hate you, {\sc Lord}?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Do I not loathe those who resist you?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{22} perfect hatred I hate them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I count them my enemies.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Search\V{23} me, O God, know my heart:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{test me, and know my thoughts,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{24} see if guile be in me;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and lead me in the way everlasting. }
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\MSS{Psalm 140 – A Prayer for Preservation}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Rescue\C{140} me, {\sc Lord}, from evil people;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the violent guard me}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ from\V{2} those who plot evil in their heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and stir up war continually:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{3} make their tongue as sharp as a serpent’s,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and under whose lips is the poison of adders. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ Preserve\V{4} me, O {\sc Lord}, from the hands of the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the violent guard me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from those who are plotting to trip up my feet.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{5} proud have hidden a trap for me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{cords they have spread as a net for my feet:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{snares they have set at the side of my track. {\em Selah} }
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{6} have said to the {\sc Lord}, “My God are you;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{give ear, {\sc Lord}, to my loud plea.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{7} {\sc Lord} my {\sc Lord}, my savior mighty,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you did cover my head in the day of battle.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Grant\V{8} not, O {\sc Lord}, the desires of the wicked;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and what they have purposed, promote you not.” {\em Selah} }
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{9} them not lift up their heads against me.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{May the mischief they prate bring themselves to destruction,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ may\V{10} he rain upon them coals of fire,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may he strike them down swiftly, to rise no more,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ no\V{11} place in the land may there be for the slanderer:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{may the violent be hunted from sorrow to sorrow.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{12} know that the {\sc Lord} will do right by the weak,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and will execute justice for those who are needy.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Surely\V{13} the righteous shall praise your name,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and they who are upright shall live in your presence. }
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\MSS{Psalm 141 – A Prayer for Protection from Persecutors}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\C{141} }, I call to you: hasten, to me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{give ear to my voice, when I call to you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{2} my prayer be presented as incense before you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my uplifted hands as the evening meal-offering.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Set,\V{3} O {\sc Lord}, a watch on my mouth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{put a guard on the door of my lips.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Incline\V{4} not my heart to an evil matter,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to busy myself in deeds of wickedness,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{in company with workers of evil:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{never may I partake of their dainties.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{5} wound or reproof from a good person in kindness}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is oil which my head shall never refuse.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{In their misfortune my prayer is still with them.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Abandoned\V{6} they are to the hands of their judges:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they shall learn that my words are true.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{7} stones on a country road cleft and broken}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so lie our bones scattered for Death to devour.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{8} my eyes are turned towards you, O {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Do not pour out my life, for in you I take refuge.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Keep\V{9} me safe from the trap they have laid for me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the snares of the workers of trouble.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Into\V{10} their own nets let wicked people fall;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while I pass by in safety. }
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\MSS{Psalm 142 – A Prayer for Deliverance from Persecutors}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Loudly\C{142} I cry to the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the {\sc Lord} plead loudly for mercy,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} pour my complaint before him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I tell my troubles to him.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{3} my spirit is faint within me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my path is known to you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In the way I am wont to walk in,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they have hidden a trap for me.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{4} look to the right and the left;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but not a friend have I.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{No place of refuge is left me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{not a man to care for me.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{5} I cry to you, O {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I say, “My refuge are you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all I have in the land of the living.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Attend\V{6} to my piercing cry,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for very weak am I.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Save me from those who pursue me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for they are too strong for me.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Free\V{7} me from prison,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I may give thanks to your name,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for the righteous are patiently waiting}
\noindentation \Q{2}{till you show your bounty to me. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 143 – A Prayer for Deliverance and Guidance}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Listen,\C{143} O {\sc Lord}, to my prayer;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{give ear to my plea.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In your faithfulness give me answer,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in your righteousness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{2} your servant O enter you not into judgment,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for in your sight can no one alive be justified.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} the enemy persecutes me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{crushing my life to the ground,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{making me live in the darkness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as those who have long been dead.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{4} spirit is faint within me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my heart is bewildered within me.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{5} remember the days of old,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and brood over all you have done,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{musing on all that your hands have wrought.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ I\V{6} spread out my hands to you:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I thirst for you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like parched earth. {\em Selah} }
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Answer\V{7} me soon, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because my spirit is spent.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Hide not your face from me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{else become I like those who go down to the pit.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{8} me learn of your love in the morning,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for my trust is in you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Teach me the way I should go:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for my heart longs for you.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Save\V{9} me, O {\sc Lord}, from my foes:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for to you I have fled for refuge.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Teach\V{10} me to do your will,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you yourself are my God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Guide me by your good spirit,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O {\sc Lord}, on a way that is smooth.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{11} true to your name {\sc Lord}, spare me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bring me out of distress in your faithfulness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{12} your kindness extinguish my enemies,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all those who vex me destroy;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for I am your servant. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 144 – The Warrior’s Song}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Blest\C{144} be the {\sc Lord} my rock,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who trains my hands for war,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my fingers for fighting.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{2} rock and my fortress,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my tower, my deliverer,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{my shield, behind whom I take refuge,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who lays nations low at my feet.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{3} }, what are mortals}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that you care for them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{humans,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that you think of them?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{4} are like a breath,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their days as a shadow that passes.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ {\sc Lord\V{5} }, bow your heavens and come down:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{touch the hills, so that they smoke.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Flash\V{6} forth lightning and scatter them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your arrows send forth and confound them.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Stretch\V{7} out your hand from on high;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{pluck me out of the mighty waters,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{out of the hands of foreigners,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{8} speak with the mouth of falsehood,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and lift their right hand to swear lies.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ O\V{9} God, a new song I would sing you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on a ten-stringed harp make you music.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{10} to kings you give the victory,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and David your servant you save.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Snatch\V{11} me from the cruel sword,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{rescue me from the hand of foreigners,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who speak with the mouth of falsehood,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and lift their right hand to swear lies.}
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Prosperity of the Lord’s People}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{12} our sons in their youth}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be as plants well tended:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{our daughters like cornices}
\noindentation \Q{2}{carved as in palaces.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{13} our barns be bursting}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with produce of all kinds.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In the fields may our sheep bear}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by thousands and ten thousands.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ May\V{14} our cattle be fat,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{our walls unbreached,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{may no cry of distress}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ring in our streets.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Happy\V{15} the people}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who fares so well:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and so fares the people}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whose God is the {\sc Lord}. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 145 – The Kingdom Everlasting}
\par 
\noindentation \par {\startalignment[middle] \em \stopalignment }
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{145} will exalt you, my God, O king:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will praise your name for ever and ever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} will bless you every day:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will praise your name for ever and ever.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Great\V{3} is the {\sc Lord} and worthy all praise,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his greatness is unsearchable.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ One\V{4} age to another shall praise your deeds,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{declaring the mighty things you have done.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Of\V{5} your glorious majesty they shall tell,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will muse of your many wonders.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Of\V{6} the might of your terrible acts they shall speak,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the tale of your great deeds I will tell.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{7} fame of your abundant goodness}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and righteousness they shall pour forth in song.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{8} {\sc Lord} is full of grace and pity,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{patient and rich in loving-kindness.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{9} {\sc Lord} is good to all the world,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his pity is over all things that he made.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{10} your works give you thanks, O {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and you are blessed of those who love you.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{11} shall speak of your glorious kingdom,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and of your might shall they discourse,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ making\V{12} known to all his mighty acts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yours\V{13} is a kingdom that lives through all ages:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{through all generations extends your dominion.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} is faithful in all that he promises,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{gracious is he in all that he does.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{14} {\sc Lord} upholds all who fall;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he lifts up all who are bowed down.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{15} eyes of all look in hope to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and you give them their food in due season.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{16} yourself open your hand,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and fill with your favor all things that live.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{17} {\sc Lord} is righteous in all his ways,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{gracious is he in all that he does.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{18} {\sc Lord} is near to all who call him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to all who call upon him in truth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{19} will fulfil the desires of those who fear him;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he will hear their cry for help and save them.}
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{20} {\sc Lord} is the keeper of all who love him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but all the wicked will he destroy.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{21} mouth will utter the praise of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all life will bless his holy name}
\noindentation \Q{3}{for ever and ever. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 146 – The Great Protector}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\C{146} soul, praise the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ I\V{2} will praise the {\sc Lord}, while I live;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will sing to my God, while I am.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Put\V{3} not your trust in princes}
\noindentation \Q{2}{mortals, in whom is no help.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{4} their breath goes out,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they go back to the dust:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{on that very day}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their purposes perish.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Happy\V{5} those whose help}
\noindentation \Q{2}{is the God of Jacob:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{whose hope is set}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on the {\sc Lord} their God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ the\V{6} Creator of heaven and earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the sea, and all that is in them.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{He remains eternally loyal.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ For\V{7} the wronged he executes justice;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{he gives bread to the hungry;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} releases the prisoners.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{8} {\sc Lord} gives sight to the blind:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} raises those who are bowed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} loves the righteous.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ The\V{9} {\sc Lord} preserves the stranger,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{upholds the widow and orphan,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the wicked he leads to disaster.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{10} {\sc Lord} shall reign forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your God, O Zion, to all generations.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Hallelujah. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 147 – The Lord’s Love and Power Revealed in Nature}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{3}{ Hallelujah.\C{147} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{It is good to sing praise to our God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for praise is sweet and seemly.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{2} {\sc Lord} builds up Jerusalem,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the outcasts of Israel he gathers.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{3} heals the broken in heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and binds up their wounds.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{4} counts the numberless stars,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he gives names to them all.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Great\V{5} is our {\sc Lord}, rich in power,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and measureless is his wisdom.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} {\sc Lord} lifts up the down-trodden,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the wicked he brings to the ground.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sing\V{7} songs of thanks to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and play on the lyre to our God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{8} he covers the sky with clouds,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he prepares rain for the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{makes grass to grow on the mountains.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{9} gives the cattle their food}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the young ravens when they cry.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ His\V{10} pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his joy is not in the speed of a runner;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ but\V{11} the {\sc Lord} has his pleasure in those who fear him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in those who wait for his kindness.}
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\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\V{12} the {\sc Lord}, then, O Jerusalem:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sing praise to your God, O Zion.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{13} he strengthens the bars of your gates,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and blesses your children within you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{14} brings peace to your borders,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and choicest of wheat in abundance.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{15} sends his command to the earth:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his word runs very swiftly.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Snow\V{16} he gives like wool,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{frost he scatters like ashes.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{17} casts forth his ice like morsels:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who can stand before his cold?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{18} sends forth his word, and melts them:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his wind blows the waters flow.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{19} declares his word to Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his statutes and judgments to Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ No\V{20} other nation did he do this for,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they know nothing of his judgments.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Hallelujah. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 148 – The Universal Chorus of Praise}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\C{148} the {\sc Lord} from the heavens,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praise him in the heights.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\V{2} him, all his angels;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praise him, all his hosts.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\V{3} him, sun and moon;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praise him, all stars of light.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\V{4} him, you highest heavens,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and you waters above the heavens.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{5} them praise the name of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for at his command they were made.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{6} he fixed them for ever and ever}
\noindentation \Q{2}{by a law which they dare not transgress.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\V{7} the {\sc Lord} from the earth:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you depths, with your monsters, all.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Fire,\V{8} hail, snow and ice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and stormy wind doing his word.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{9} you mountains and hills,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all you fruit trees and cedars,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ all\V{10} you wild beasts and tame,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{creeping things, birds on the wing.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{11} you kings and nations of earth;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all you princes and judges of earth:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ young\V{12} men and maidens together,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{old men and children together.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{13} them praise the name of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his name alone is exalted.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Over heaven and earth is his glory.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ He\V{14} has lifted his people to honor.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Wherefore this chorus of praise from his saints,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from Israel, the people who stand in his fellowship.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Hallelujah. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 149 – Song of Victory}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{3}{ Hallelujah.\C{149} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{Sing to the {\sc Lord} a new song,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sound his praise where the faithful are gathered.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{2} Israel rejoice in its maker,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sons of Zion exult in their king.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{3} them praise his name in the dance,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{making music with lyre and with timbrel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} the {\sc Lord} delights in his people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{adorning the humble with victory.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{5} the faithful exult and extol him}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with glad ringing cries all night long.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ High\V{6} praises of God in their mouth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and a two-edged sword in their hand:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ on\V{7} the heathen to execute vengeance,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and chastisement sore on the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ binding\V{8} their kings with chains,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their nobles with fetters of iron,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{9} execute on them the doom that is written.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{2}{This is the glory of all his faithful.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Hallelujah. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Psalm 150 – Hallelujah}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hallelujah.\C{150} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{Praise God in his holy place.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Praise him in the sky, his stronghold.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\V{2} him for his deeds of power.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Praise him for his boundless greatness.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\V{3} him with blast of horn;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praise him with harp and lyre.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\V{4} him with timbrel and dance;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praise him with strings and pipe.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Praise\V{5} him with resounding cymbals,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{praise him with clashing cymbals.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{6} all that has breath praise the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Hallelujah.}
\blank[medium] \marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Joel}

\MT{Joel}
 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\C{1} {\sc Lord}’s message that came to Joel, son of Pethuel.}
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Locust plague and drought}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear\V{2} this, elders,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{pay attention, all inhabitants of the land,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Has anything like this happened in your days,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or in the days of your ancestors?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Recount\V{3} it to your children;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let your children tell it to their children,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their children to the generation that follows.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ That\V{4} which the cutting locust has left,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the swarming locust has eaten,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{that which the swarming locust has left,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the hopping locust has eaten,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and that which the hopping locust has left,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the destroying locust has eaten.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Awake,\V{5} drunkards, and weep,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and wail, all drinkers of wine;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the new wine is cut off from your mouth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{6} a nation has come up on my land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{powerful, and numberless;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{its teeth are the teeth of a lion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and its jaw-teeth are like those of a lioness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{7} has laid waste my vines,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and barked my fig-tree;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{it has peeled and cast it away,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bleached are the branches.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Wail\V{8} as a bride, clad in sack-cloth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the husband of her youth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Cut\V{9} off are the cereal and drink-offerings}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the house of the {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{1}{in mourning are the priests,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who minister at the {\sc Lord}’s altar.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{10} fields are blasted,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the land is in mourning,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for ruined is the grain,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the new wine fails}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the oil is dried up.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{11} dismayed, farmers;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{wail, vine-dressers.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For the wheat and the barley;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the harvest is lost from the fields.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} vine fails to bear fruit,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the fig-tree is drooping;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the pomegranate, palm, and apple,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the trees of the field are dried up.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The people’s joy withers.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Put\V{13} on sackcloth, and beat your breasts, priests;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{wail, ministers of the altar;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{come, lie all night in sack-cloth, ministers of God;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for cereal-offering and drink-offering}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are cut off from the house of your God.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sanctify\V{14} a fast,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{summon an assembly,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land}
\noindentation \Q{2}{into the house of the {\sc Lord} your God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{cry to the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Alas\V{15} for the day!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Near at hand is the day of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Is\V{16} not food cut off}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from before us,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{gladness and joy}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from the house of our God?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{17} grains shrivel under their hoes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the storehouses are desolate,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the barns broken down,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the grain is withered.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{18} the herds of cattle bellow in distress,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for they have no pasture!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The flocks of sheep are forlorn.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ To\V{19} you, the {\sc Lord}, I cry.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For fire has devoured}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the pastures of the wilderness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and flame has scorched}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the trees of the field.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{20} wild animals also look up to you longingly,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the water-courses are dried up,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.}
\blank[medium] \blank 
 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Blow\C{2} a horn in Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sound an alarm in my holy mountain,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the day of the {\sc Lord} comes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for near is the\V{2} day of darkness and gloom,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the day of cloud and thick darkness!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{Like the light of dawn scattered over the mountains,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a people great and powerful;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{its like has not been from of old,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{neither will be any more after it,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{even to the years of coming ages.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Before\V{3} them the fire devours,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and behind them a flame burns;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like the garden of Eden is the land before them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and after them it is a desolate desert,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{nothing escapes them.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{4} appearance is as the appearance of horses,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and like horsemen they charge.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{5} the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains they leap,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like the crackle of flames devouring stubble.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like a mighty people preparing for battle.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Peoples\V{6} are in anguish before them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all faces grow pale.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{7} mighty men they run,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like warriors they mount up a wall,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they march each by himself,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they break not their ranks,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ none\V{8} jostles the other.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{They march each in his path.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{They fall upon the weapons without breaking.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{9} scour the city, they run on the wall.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{They climb up into the houses.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Like a thief they enter the windows.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Earth\V{10} trembles before them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the sky quakes,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the sun and moon become dark,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the stars withdraw their shining;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{11} the {\sc Lord} utters his voice before his army,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for his host is exceedingly great.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Mighty is he who performs his word.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{For great is the day of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{it is terrible, who can endure it?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{12} now this is the message of the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Turn to me with all your heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and with fasting and weeping and mourning,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ rend\V{13} your hearts and not your garments,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and turn to the {\sc Lord} your God;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for he indeed is gracious and merciful,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{slow to anger and plenteous in love,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and relents of the evil.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{14} knows but he will turn and relent,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and leave a blessing behind him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a cereal and drink-offering for the {\sc Lord} your God.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Blow\V{15} a horn in Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sanctify a fast, summon an assembly,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ gather\V{16} the people, make holy the congregation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{assemble the elders,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{gather the children,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the infants at the breast.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Let the bridegroom come forth from his chamber,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the bride from her bridal tent.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Between\V{17} the porch and the altar,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{let the priests, the ministers of the {\sc Lord} weep aloud,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{let them say:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Spare, the {\sc Lord}, your people.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Make not your heritage an object of reproach,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the heathen to mock them.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Why should it be said among the nations, ‘Where is their God?’}
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Future blessings}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Then\V{18} the {\sc Lord} became deeply concerned for his land, and took pity upon his people, and\V{19} the {\sc Lord} answered and said to his people:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will send you grain, wine, and oil.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{You will be satisfied.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will not make you again}
\noindentation \Q{2}{an object of scorn among the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{20} will remove far from you the northern foe,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will drive it into a land barren and desolate,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{its front into the eastern sea,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and its rear to the western sea.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And from it a stench will arise.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{He has done great things!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Fear\V{21} not, land, exult.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Rejoice for the {\sc Lord} has done great things!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Fear\V{22} not, animals of the field.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{For the pastures of the wilderness are putting forth new grass,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for the trees bear their fruit,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{fig-tree and vine yield full harvest.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{23} glad, then, children of Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and rejoice in the {\sc Lord} your God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For he has given you the early rain in just measure,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and poured down upon you the winter rain,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and sent the latter rain as before.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{24} threshing floors will be full of grain,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{25} will repay you for the years}
\noindentation \Q{2}{which the swarming locust has eaten.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The hopping, the destroying, and the cutting locusts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my great army which I sent among you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my people will never again be put to shame.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{26} will eat your food and be satisfied,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and praise the name of the {\sc Lord} your God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who has dealt so wonderfully by you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{27} you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I am the {\sc Lord} your God and none else,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my people will never again be put to shame.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Afterwards,\V{28} }
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will pour out my spirit on everyone.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Your sons and your daughters will prophesy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your old men will dream dreams.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Your young men will see visions,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ and\V{29} even on your male and female slaves}
\noindentation \Q{1}{in those days, I will pour out my spirit.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{30} I will show signs in the sky and on earth:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{31} sun will be turned into darkness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the moon into blood}
\noindentation \Q{1}{before the coming of the great and terrible day of the {\sc Lord}.}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  But\V{32} whoever will call upon the name of the {\sc Lord} will be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, even as the {\sc Lord} has said, and among the fugitives those whom the {\sc Lord} calls. 
\par 
\indentation  For,\C{3} in those days and in that time, when I bring back again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I\V{2} will also gather all the nations and bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and there I will enter into judgment with them for my people and my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and divided my land.
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{3} have cast lots for my people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They have traded boys}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for prostitutes,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and sold girls for wine,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and drunk it.}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  What\V{4} are you to me, Tyre and Sidon and all the districts of Philistia? Were you repaying any deed of mine, or were you doing something for me? Quickly will I return your deed upon your heads. You\V{5} who have taken my silver and my gold, and you have brought my goodly jewels into your palaces, you\V{6} have sold the people of Judah and of Jerusalem to the Greeks, so that you might remove them far from their own borders. I\V{7} am about to stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will turn your deeds upon your own head. I\V{8} will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far off, for the {\sc Lord} has spoken.
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Proclaim\V{9} this among the nations, sanctify war.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Arouse the warriors,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{let all the fighting men muster and go up.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Beat\V{10} your ploughshares into swords,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your pruning-hooks into lances;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{let the weak say, I, indeed, am strong.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Bestir\V{11} yourselves and come,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all you nations round about.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Quickly gather yourselves together,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ask the {\sc Lord} to bring his warriors.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{12} the nations rouse themselves}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for there will I sit to judge}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the surrounding nations.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Put\V{13} in the sickle,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the harvest is ripe;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{go in, tread,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the wine press is full.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The vats overflow,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for great is their wickedness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Noisy\V{14} multitudes, noisy multitudes}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the valley of decision}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For near is the {\sc Lord}’s day in the valley of decision!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Sun\V{15} and moon have turned dark,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the stars withdrawn their shining.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Whenever\V{16} the {\sc Lord} roars from Zion}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and utters his voice from Jerusalem,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{earth and sky quake;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but the {\sc Lord} is a refuge to his people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and a fortress to the people of Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{17} you will know that I am the {\sc Lord} your God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and Jerusalem will be holy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and strangers will not pass through her any more.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{18} that day,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the mountains will drop sweet wine,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the hills will flow with milk,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all the channels of Judah will flow with water,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{a fountain will spring from the house of Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and will water the Valley of Shittim.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Egypt\V{19} will become a desolation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and Edom a wilderness,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{because of the violence done to the people of Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because they shed innocent blood in their land,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Judah\V{20} will remain inhabited forever,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and Jerusalem from generation to generation.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{21} will avenge their blood which I have not yet avenged.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} lives in Zion!}
\blank[medium] \marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Obadiah}

\MTT{The Vision of}

\MT{Obadiah}

\MTT{Concerning Edom}
 
\par 
\noindentation  The\C{1} vision of Obadiah; what the {\sc Lord} said about Edom:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{We have heard a report from the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a messenger has been sent among the nations;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Rise up, let us rise against Edom in battle!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} will make you small among the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and despised by all!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{3} proud heart has misled you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you who live in the clefts of the rock,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you who build on high your dwelling.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You say to yourselves,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{‘Who can bring me down to earth?’}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{4} you build high as the eagle,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{though between the stars you set your nest,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from there will I bring you down,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{says the {\sc Lord}.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ If\V{5} thieves had come to you, marauders by night}
\noindentation \Q{2}{would they not have stolen only as much as they needed?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{If grape-gatherers had come to you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{would they not have left some gleanings?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Descendents\V{6} of Esau,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all your treasures are looted.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ To\V{7} your border they have driven you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all your allies have betrayed you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Your avowed friends have overpowered you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they have set a trap for you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Where is your wisdom now?}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  The\V{8} {\sc Lord} says:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{On that day,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will destroy the wise of Edom,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{drive wisdom out of Mount Esau.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{9} warriors will be filled with terror, Teman,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{none will be left alive on Mount Esau.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Because\V{10} of the violence done to your relatives, the people of Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{shame covers you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you are cut off forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{11} the day when you stood aloof,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the day when strangers carried away their wealth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and strangers entered into their gates,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and over Jerusalem cast lots,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{you were as one of those strangers.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{12} should not have gloated over your relatives,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the day of their misfortune.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You should not have exulted over the land of Judah}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the day of their destruction.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You should not have laughed loudly}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at their distress.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{13} should not have entered in at the gate of my people}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the day of their disaster.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You should not have gloated over their calamity,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the day of their disaster,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{nor stretched out your hand after their wealth}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the day of their disaster,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ nor\V{14} stood at the crossroads}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to cut down their fugitives,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{nor should you have betrayed their refugees}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the day of distress.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Near\V{15} at hand is the {\sc Lord}’s day for all the nations.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{As you have done so will it be done to you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Your deeds will come back on your own head.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{16} you have drunk upon my holy mountain,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so all the nations will drink in turn;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They will drink deep}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and be as though they had not been.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{17} on Mount Zion some will escape,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it will be again holy,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and those of the house of Jacob}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will again enter into their possessions.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{18} the house of Jacob will be a fire,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the house of Joseph a flame,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but the house of Esau will become stubble.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{They will kindle and devour it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Not even one of the house of Esau will escape,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for the {\sc Lord} has spoken.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{19} will possess the Negeb and Mount Esau,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the Shephelah of the Philistines.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They will possess the territory of Ephraim and Samaria,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and Benjamin will possess Gilead.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{20} exiles of Israel will possess the land of the Canaanites}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as far as Zarephath.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will possess the cities of the Negreb.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{21} rescued will come up on Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the kingdom will belong to the {\sc Lord}.}
\blank[medium] \marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Jonah}

\MT{Jonah}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Jonah runs away}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  This\C{1} message from the {\sc Lord} came to Jonah, the son of Amittai: “Arise,\V{2} go to that great city, Nineveh, and preach against it; for their wickedness is known to me.” But\V{3} Jonah started to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the {\sc Lord}. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the {\sc Lord}. But\V{4} the {\sc Lord} made a furious wind blow over the sea, and there was such a great storm that the ship was in danger of breaking to pieces. The\V{5} sailors were terrified and each cried for help to his own god. They threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to make the ship lighter. Meanwhile Jonah had gone down into the bottom of the ship and lay fast asleep. The\V{6} captain of the ship went and said to him, “How can you sleep? Call on your god; perhaps that god will think of us, so that we may not be lost.”
\par 
\indentation  The\V{7} sailors said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots to discover on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot indicated Jonah. So\V{8} they said to him, “Are you to blame for this? Tell us, what is your business, and where do you come from? What is your country and to what people do you belong?” He\V{9} replied, “I am a Hebrew, and a worshipper of the {\sc Lord}, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Then\V{10} the men were greatly frightened and said to him, “What have you done?” For they knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the {\sc Lord}, because he had told them.
\par 
 Then\V{11} they said to him, “What should we do to you, to make the sea calm for us?” For the sea grew more and more stormy. He\V{12} said to them, “Take me up and throw me into the sea, and the sea will be calm for you, for I know that it is because of me this fierce storm has overtaken you.”
\par 
 But\V{13} instead the men rowed hard to get back to the land; they could not, however, for the sea grew more and more stormy ahead. So\V{14} they cried to the {\sc Lord} and said, “We beg you, {\sc Lord}, we beg you, don’t let us die for this man’s life, and don’t let us be guilty of shedding innocent blood, for you are the {\sc Lord}; you have done as it pleases you.” And\V{15} they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea became calm. Then\V{16} the men greatly feared the {\sc Lord}, and they offered a sacrifice and made vows to him.
\par 
 But\V{17} the {\sc Lord} arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Jonah’s song}
\par 
 
\par 
\noindentation  Jonah\C{2} prayed to the {\sc Lord} his God, out of the belly of the fish, and\V{2} said:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{I cried out of my distress, to the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ and he answered me;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{out of the midst of Sheol I cried aloud,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and you heard my voice.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{3} you cast me into the deep,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{into heart of the seas,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the great flood rolled about me;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{all your breakers and your waves}
\noindentation \Q{2}{passed over me.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{4} I said, I am driven out,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{away from your sight;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{How will I ever again}
\noindentation \Q{2}{look towards your holy temple?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{5} waters surrounded me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the great deep engulfed me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the sea weeds were wrapped about my head.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{6} went down to the roots of the mountains;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the prison of the earth closed over me forever.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{Yet you brought up my life from destruction,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{O {\sc Lord} my God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{7} my life slipped away,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I remembered the {\sc Lord};}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and my prayer reached you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in your holy temple.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Those\V{8} who worship worthless idols}
\noindentation \Q{2}{abandon their own mercy,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ but\V{9} I will sacrifice to you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with loud thanksgiving!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will pay that which I have vowed.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Salvation is the {\sc Lord}’s.}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  And\V{10} the {\sc Lord} spoke to the fish, and it threw up Jonah upon the dry land. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The message to Nineveh}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  This\C{3} message from the {\sc Lord} came to Jonah the second time, “Arise,\V{2} go to that great city, Nineveh, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So\V{3} Jonah started for Nineveh, as the {\sc Lord} commanded. Now Nineveh was so large a city that it took three days’ journey to cross it. Jonah\V{4} began by going a day’s journey into the city, and he proclaimed, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”
\par 
\indentation  And\V{5} the people of Nineveh believed God; and they ordered a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. And\V{6} when word came to the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his robe, dressed in sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And\V{7} he made this proclamation and published it in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: People, beast, herd, and flock shall not taste anything; let them not eat nor drink water. Let\V{8} both people and animals put on sackcloth and let them cry earnestly to God; let them each turn from their evil ways and from the deeds of violence which they are doing. Who\V{9} knows? God may relent and avert his fierce anger, so that we may not die.”
\par 
 When\V{10} God saw that they turned from their evil course, he relented the evil which he said he would do to them, and did not do it. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Jonah sulks}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  But\C{4} this seemed very wrong to Jonah and he became angry. He\V{2} prayed to the {\sc Lord} and said, “Ah, {\sc Lord}, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? That was why I fled at once to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, patient, and loving and ready to forgive. Therefore,\V{3} {\sc Lord}, I beg you, take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live!” But\V{4} the {\sc Lord} said, “Are you doing right in being angry?”
\par 
\indentation  Then\V{5} Jonah went out of the city and sat down on the east side, and there made a hut for himself and sat under it, waiting to see what would become of the city. And\V{6} the {\sc Lord} arranged for a bush to grow up over Jonah as a shade for his head to make him comfortable. The bush gave Jonah great pleasure; but\V{7} at dawn the next day God arranged for a worm which attacked the bush, so that it wilted. And\V{8} when the sun rose, God arranged a hot east wind. And the sun beat upon Jonah’s head, so that he was faint and begged that he might die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But\V{9} God said to Jonah, “Are you doing right in being angry about the bush?” He replied, “I have every right to be as angry as I could possibly be!”
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Jonah is rebuked}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  The\V{10} {\sc Lord} said, “You care about a bush which has cost you no trouble and which you have not made grow, which came up in a night and wilted in a night. Should\V{11} I not care for the great city Nineveh, in which there are one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left; and many cattle too?”\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Micah}

\MT{Micah}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Superscription to Micah’s Sermons}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  The\C{1} {\sc Lord}’s message which came to Micah of Morsheth in the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The visions he saw about Samaria and Jerusalem.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Lord’s Judgment on Guilty Samaria and Judah}
\par 
\indentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Listen,\V{2} all you peoples!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Pay attention, all you inhabitants of the earth!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For the Lord {\sc God} will be a witness against you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the Lord from his holy temple!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} {\sc Lord} is coming from his holy place,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{he descends and treads on the heights of the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ so\V{4} that the mountains melt beneath}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like wax in the presence of the fire,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the valleys break apart}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like water poured down a steep descent.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{5} this is because of the crime of Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and for the sin of the house of Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{What was the crime of Jacob?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Was it not Samaria?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{What is the sin of Judah?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Is it not Jerusalem?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “I\V{6} will make Samaria a ruin in an open field,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and a place where a vineyard is planted,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will hurl down her stones into the valley,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and lay bare her foundations.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “All\V{7} her images will be shattered,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and all her statues will be burned with fire,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and all her idols I will lay in ruins.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For they were acquired by prostitution,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and to prostitution they will return.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ This\V{8} is why I will mourn and wail,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will go barefoot and naked,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will howl like the jackals}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and mourn like the desert owl.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{9} the blow that Samaria has received is incurable.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{It has spread over Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{it extends even to the gate of my people,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{even to Jerusalem.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Don’t\V{10} tell this in Gath!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Don’t even cry – but sit in the dust at Beth-leaphrah.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Pass\V{11} by, inhabitants of Shaphir, naked and ashamed!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The inhabitants of Zaanan cannot leave their city.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Beth-ezel laments and removes its support from you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{But the {\sc Lord} has sent disaster to the gates of Jerusalem.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Harness\V{13} the horse to the chariot, inhabitants of Lachish.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You led the daughter of Zion, Jerusalem, into sin,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{in you are found the crimes of Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Therefore\V{14} you must give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Beth-achzib will betray the kings of Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{15} will hand you to a conqueror, people of Mareshah,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the leaders of Israel will hide in Adullam Cave!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Shave\V{16} your head in morning for the children you love,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{until you are bald as vultures, because they have left you for exile. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Oppression of the Poor}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Woe\C{2} to those who lie awake planning evil,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who in the light of morning carry out their plan}
\noindentation \Q{1}{because they have the power to do it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{2} covet fields and seize them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{desire houses and take them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they crush householder and his household,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{people and their possessions.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Therefore\V{3} the {\sc Lord} says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“I am planning disaster from which you cannot save your neck,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{nor walk proudly because it will be a terrible time.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{4} that day they will sing a taunt-song to you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{this mocking lament:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘My people’s estate is being measured for sale,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{our captors are dividing our fields.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{We are completely undone.’}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{5} will be no one to measure out land for you}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the {\sc Lord}’s community.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “‘Don’t\V{6} rant!’ they urge, ‘Of such things one does not prophesy!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Shame will not overtake us!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Is\V{7} the {\sc Lord} impatient, or are such things his deeds?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Are not his words favorable to the family of Jacob?’}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{Aren’t my commands good for those who obey them?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{8} you, you stand up as a foe against those who are peaceful;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{you strip the robe from those who pass by quietly, averse to conflict.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Women\V{9} of my people you drive out from their happy homes,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from their young children you take away my glory forever.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Rise\V{10} and begone, for this is no place to rest.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Your uncleanness brings destruction, severe destruction.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ If\V{11} a person walking in wine and falsehood were to say,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘I will prophesy to you of wine and strong drink,’}
\noindentation \Q{1}{then he would be the perfect prophet for this people!”}
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Lord Leading Back His Scattered People}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “I\V{12} will assuredly assemble all of Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will surely gather the survivors of Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will herd them together as sheep in a fold,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like a flock in the pasture,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the land will resound with the sounds of multitudes.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “The\V{13} one who breaks out goes first.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They have broken forth and passed by the gate}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and through it have they gone out.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Their king leads before them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the {\sc Lord} at their head.” }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Crimes of Judah’s Civil and Spiritual Leaders}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{3} also said:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Listen now, leaders of Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{judges of the house of Israel.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Is it not your duty to know what is the right?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Haters\V{2} of that which is good and lovers of evil!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “They\V{3} devour the flesh of my people,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and their hide they strip from off them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and break in pieces and serve up their bones,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like meat in a pot or the cooking-pan!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Then\V{4} they will cry out to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but he will not pay attention to them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He will hide his face from them at that time}
\noindentation \Q{1}{because they have committed such crimes.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Therefore\V{5} the {\sc Lord} says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“To the prophets who lead my people astray,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who when they have food between their teeth declare peace,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but against one who puts nothing in their mouths,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they proclaim an open war!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Night\V{6} will overtake you so that you have no vision,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and darkness so that there will be no divination,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the sun will go down on the prophets,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the day shall be dark over them.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “The\V{7} seers will be ashamed,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the diviners will turn pale,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{all of them will cover their mouths.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For there will be no answer from God.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “But\V{8} I, on the contrary am full of power,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the sense of justice and strength,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to make known to Jacob his crime,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and to Israel his sin.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Hear\V{9} this, leaders of the house of Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{judges of the house of Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{you who spurn justice.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and make all that is straight crooked,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ who\V{10} build Zion with acts of bloodshed,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and Jerusalem with crime.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “The\V{11} leaders render judgment for a bribe,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and her priests give oracles for a reward,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and her prophets divine for silver.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Yet they claim to rely on the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The {\sc Lord}’, they say, ‘is in our midst.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Evil cannot overtake us.’}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Therefore\V{12} for your sakes}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Zion will be plowed as a field,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the temple mount a wooded height.” }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Peace and World-wide Renown of Zion}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\C{4} the days to come}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the mountain of the {\sc Lord} will be established,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the house of our God on the top of the mountain,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{lifted above the hills.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{All the nations will flow to it,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{2} many peoples will go and say,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Come, let us go up to the {\sc Lord}’s mount,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to the house of the God of Jacob,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so that he may instruct us in his ways,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so that we may walk in his paths.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For from Zion proceeds instruction}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the {\sc Lord}’s word from Jerusalem.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{3} will arbitrate between many peoples,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and render decisions for numerous nations,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They will beat their swords into ploughshares,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and their spears into pruning hooks.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Nation will not lift up sword against nation,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they will learn war no more.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{4} will live each under his vine,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and under his fig-tree, with none to terrify them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For the mouth of the {\sc Lord} of hosts has spoken.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Each\V{5} nation trusts in the names of their gods,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but we will worship the {\sc Lord} our God forever.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “On\V{6} that day,” says the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“I will assemble the lame.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will gather exiles I punished.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{7} will restore the lame as a remnant,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the exiles into a great nation.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} will rule over them}
\noindentation \Q{1}{on Mount Zion from that time forever.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{8} you, watchtower for the flock,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{hill of the daughter of Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to you will return your former rule.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{9} why do you now cry aloud? Haven’t you any king?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Or has your counselor perished, so you writhe in pain like a woman in labor?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Writhe\V{10} and scream, daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For now you must leave the city and camp in the open field.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You will be taken to Babylon, but there will be rescued.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{There the {\sc Lord} will save you from the hands of your foes.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{11} now many nations gather against you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They say, “Let her be defiled, we will gloat over Zion.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{12} they do not know the thoughts of the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They do not understand his plan,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for he has gathered them like sheaves for the threshing floor.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Arise,\V{13} thresh, daughter of Zion.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will make your horns iron,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and your hoofs brass,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so you might beat in pieces many peoples,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and devote to the {\sc Lord} their spoil,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and their wealth to the ruler of all the earth.}
\blank[medium] \blank 
 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Now\C{5} cut yourself in bitter grief,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{daughter besieged by soldiers.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They have set a wall around you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They strike the ruler of Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{in the face with a rod.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Bethlehem\V{2} in Ephrathah,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{small among the tribes of Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from you will come a king}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who will rule for me over Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{whose family line goes back to the distant past.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{3} the {\sc Lord} will only abandon Israel to its enemies}
\noindentation \Q{1}{until the woman in labor gives birth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Then the survivors will be reunited with their own people.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{4} he will stand and shepherd by the strength of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In the exalted name of the {\sc Lord} his God;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And they will live in security, for now he will be great,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{even to the ends of the earth.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ This\V{5} will be our peace:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{when Assyria comes into our land}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and treads on our soil,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{we will raise up against him seven shepherds,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{eight leaders of men.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{6} will shepherd Assyria with a sword,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the land of Nimrod with bared blades.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They will deliver us from Assyria,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{when they come into our land,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and tread within our borders.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{7} the survivors of Jacob will be disbursed among the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{in the midst of many peoples}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like dew from the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like showers on the grass,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{which don’t wait for people to come}
\noindentation \Q{1}{or linger for mortals.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{8} the survivors of Jacob will be disbursed among the nations.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{in the midst of many peoples,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like a lion among the beasts of the forest,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like a young lion among the sheep-folds,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who, when he passes through, pounces.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He savages his prey. There is no rescuer.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Let\V{9} your hand triumph over your adversaries,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{let all your enemies be cut off.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{10} that day, says the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“I will slaughter your horses from your midst,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and destroy your chariots.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{11} will devastate the cities in your land,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and tear down your fortresses.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{12} will destroy your magic charms,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and you will have no soothsayers.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{13} will cut down your idols and sacred pillars,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and you will not worship any more the work of your hands.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{14} will uproot your sacred poles,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and destroy your idols.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{15} my wrath and my anger}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will seek vengeance on the nations that ignore me.” }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Israel’s False Conception of the Lord’s Character and Demands}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear\C{6} now what the {\sc Lord} is saying:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Arise, present your complaint before the mountains,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{let the hills hear your voice!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear,\V{2} mountains, the {\sc Lord}’s accusation,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{listen, foundations of the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For the {\sc Lord} has a case against his people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He has a dispute with Israel.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “My\V{3} people, what have I done to you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{How have I displeased you? Answer me!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} I brought you up from the land of Egypt,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the land of slavery I redeemed you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{5} people, what did Balak, king of Moab counsel?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And how did Balaam, the son of Beor, answer him?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Remember now the journey from Shittim to Gilgal,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so that you might realize the just deeds of the {\sc Lord}.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{6} what should I come before the {\sc Lord}?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Bow myself before the God on high?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Should I come before him with burnt-offerings,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{with calves a year old?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Will\V{7} the {\sc Lord} be pleased with thousands of rams,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{With ten thousand streams of oil?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Should I give him my first-born son for my guilt,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{8} {\sc Lord} has told you what is good,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{what he demands of you:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Only to do justice and love mercy,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and to walk humbly with your God.}
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Guilt and Punishment of Jerusalem}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Listen!\V{9} The {\sc Lord} calls to the city!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Listen, tribe and assembly of the city!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Can\V{10} I forget the hoarded treasures in the houses of the wicked,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the accursed scant measure?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Can\V{11} I leave her unpunished because of evil scales,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the bag of false weights?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Whose\V{12} rich people are full of violence,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{her inhabitants liars,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{whose tongues speak deceit?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “But\V{13} I indeed, have begun to punish you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{to lay you in ruins because of your sins.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{14} will eat but not be satisfied,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{your stomach empty within you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You will store up but lose everything,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{because whatever you save I will give to the sword.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{15} will sow but not reap.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You will tread the olives but have no oil for rubbing,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{tread grapes but drink no wine!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “For\V{16} you have followed the commands of Omri,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and all the practices of the house of Ahab.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You have acted in accord with their counsels,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so I will give you up to ruin,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the city’s inhabitants to derision.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The nations will treat you with contempt!” }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Utter Degeneracy of the People}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Woe,\C{7} woe is me, for I have become}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like a field after harvest,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like a vineyard after gathering;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{not a cluster of grapes to eat,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{not a fig that anyone desires.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{2} honest have perished from the land,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{of the upright among people there is none.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{All of them lie in wait to shed blood.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They hunt one another with the net.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{3} hands know well how to do evil,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the officer and judge demands a bribe,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the high official decides as he pleases}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and they conspire to pervert justice.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{4} best of them are like a thorn thicket,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{their most upright like a prickly hedge.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The day of their punishment has come,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{now will be their confusion!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{5} not trust your neighbor,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{do not rely on a friend.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{From the wife who lies in your arms}
\noindentation \Q{1}{guard your tongue.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{6} son insults father,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{daughter rises up against mother,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{daughter-in-law against mother-in-law,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{a man’s enemies are the people of his own household.}
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Zion’s Ultimate Vindication and Exaltation}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{7} I will look to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will wait for the God of my salvation.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{My God will hear me!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Do\V{8} not rejoice over me, my enemy.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{If I have fallen, I will rise.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{If I sit in darkness, the {\sc Lord} is my light.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{9} anger of the {\sc Lord} I will bear,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for against him have I sinned –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{until he champions my cause}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and gives judgment for me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He will bring me into to the light,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will see his justice.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{10} my enemy will see, and shame will cover them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they who said, “Where is the {\sc Lord} your God?”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will look upon them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they will be trampled on like mud in the street!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ It\V{11} is a day for rebuilding your walls,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{this day will your boundary will be extended.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ This\V{12} day they will come to you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and from Egypt even to the Euphrates River,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{13} the land has become a desolation}
\noindentation \Q{1}{because of its inhabitants, because of their deeds.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Shepherd\V{14} your flock with your staff, the flock that belong to you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who live alone in the forest, in the midst of meadows;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so that they may pasture in Bashon and Gilead as in the days of old,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ as\V{15} in the days when you came from Egypt, gave us wonders to see.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Nations\V{16} will see and be ashamed of all their might;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they will put their hands to their mouth, their ears will become deaf,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ they\V{17} will lick the dust like snakes, like creatures that crawl on the earth;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they will come trembling and in terror from their hiding places, in dread and fear.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{18} is a God like you, forgiving iniquity}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and passing by the rebellion of the remnant of your people?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He does not retain his anger forever, but is one who delights in mercy.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{19} will tread under foot our iniquity;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{you will cast into the depths of the sea all our iniquities.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{20} will show faithfulness to Jacob, and loving kindness to Abraham,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{as you have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.}
\blank[medium] \marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Nahum}

\MT{Nahum}
 
\par 
\noindentation  A\C{1} message about Nineveh, a vision which came to Nahum from Elkosh.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{God’s wrath}
\par 
\indentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{2} {\sc Lord} tolerates no rivals.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The {\sc Lord} is vengeful and fierce in wrath.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} does not fail to punish his foes;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} is vengeful against his enemies.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} {\sc Lord} is slow to anger,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{great in power.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The guilty will not escape}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his punishment.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{Storm tempest is his path}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and cloud is the dust of his feet.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{4} rebukes the sea and dries it up}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and makes all the streams run dry.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Bashan and Carmel are languishing}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the bloom of Lebanon is withered.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{5} mountains tremble before him}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the hills dissolve.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The earth heaves before him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the world and all who live in it.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{6} can stand before his wrath?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Who can withstand the heat of his anger?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{His fierce fury pours forth like fire,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he shatters rocks.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{7} {\sc Lord} is good to those who hope in him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a place of refuge in the day of trouble.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ With\V{8} rushing flood an end he makes}
\noindentation \Q{2}{of those who rise against him,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{he drives his enemies into darkness.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\V{9} do you plot against the {\sc Lord}?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{He will end you.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{He only takes vengeance once.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Thorns,\V{10} tangled and drenched,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they are consumed like dry stubble.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Nineveh!\V{11} From you has arisen}
\noindentation \Q{2}{one who plots evil against the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a counsellor of wickedness.}
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Good news for Judah}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  The\V{12} {\sc Lord} says:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Though they are many and strong,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they will pass away and be gone.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Though I have afflicted you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will afflict you no more,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{13} now I will break his yoke from your necks}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and snap your chains.”}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  The\V{14} {\sc Lord} has given this command concerning you, Nineveh:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Your name will no longer be remembered.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will destroy every idol and image}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in the house of your God.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will destroy even your tomb,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you are worthless.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Look!\V{15} On the mountains a messenger}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bringing good news,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{announcing peace!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Celebrate the feasts, Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{fulfill your vows.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Never again will these enemies invade your land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they are destroyed!” }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Destruction of the city}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Nineveh!\C{2} The destroyer has come up against you;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{mount guard upon the rampart;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{watch the road; brace yourselves;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{strengthen your might to the utmost.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{2} the {\sc Lord} is restoring the majesty of Jacob}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and of Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{though the devastators have plundered them}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and destroyed their vines.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} shields of his warriors are dyed red,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{his soldiers are clothed in scarlet,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{his chariots gleam like fire}
\noindentation \Q{2}{on the day he prepares for battle}
\noindentation \Q{2}{spears are shaken.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Chariots\V{4} rush across the fields,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{storm through the squares;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they flame like torches,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they dart like lightening.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{5} leader rallies his nobles,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they hurl themselves forward.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They speed on toward the wall;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the storming-shield is set up.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} water-gates are thrown open,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the palace dissolves in ruins.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{7} queen is stripped,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{she is carried off.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Her maids moan like doves,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{beating upon their breasts.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Like\V{8} a pool of water is Nineveh,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{her waters fast ebbing away.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Stand firm! Stand firm!” someone cries,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but no one turns back.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Loot\V{9} the silver, loot the gold,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for there is no end to the treasure,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the wealth and precious things.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Nineveh\V{10} is empty, desolate, devastated,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with faint heart and knocking knee.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{There is weakness in every limb,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and faces grow pale.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Where\V{11} now is the den of lions?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Where now the lair of their young?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Where the lion used to withdraw,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with his cubs, with none to disturb them?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} lion tore enough for his cubs,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and strangled prey for his lionesses.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He filled his caves with the kill,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he filled his lairs with fresh meat.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “But\V{13} see, I am against you,”}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} of hosts declares,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“I will burn your chariots in smoke and fire.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The sword will devour your young lions.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You will never again prey on the land.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{No more will your messengers be heard.” }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Ruin}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Woe\C{3} to the bloody city!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Full of lies and plunder,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{without end is the spoil.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Hear\V{2} the crack of the whip,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{hear the rattle of wheels.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Galloping horses,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{jolting chariots.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Horsemen\V{3} charging,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{swords flashing.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{spears glittering,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{a multitude of slain,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a heap of bodies,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{no end to the corpses}
\noindentation \Q{2}{over which people stumble!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Because\V{4} you acted like a whore,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bewitching the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{enticing the peoples,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{5} am against you, Nineveh”}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} of hosts declares.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“I will strip your clothes}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and show the nations your nakedness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the kingdoms your shame.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “I\V{6} will fling loathsome filth at you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and make you an object of contempt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a spectacle,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ so\V{7} that everyone who sees you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will flee from you and say:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Nineveh is laid waste,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who will mourn for her?’}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Are\V{8} you any better than Thebes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{which stood on the banks of the Nile,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{with waters around as a rampart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{whose wall was the sea of waters?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Her\V{9} strength was Ethiopia and Egypt.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The Libyans were her helpers,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and Put with its countless people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Yet\V{10} she was exiled}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and made captive.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{On all corners of the streets}
\noindentation \Q{2}{her infants were dashed to pieces.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Lots were cast for her nobles,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all her great ones were bound in chains.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “You\V{11} too, Nineveh, will be drunk with fear;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you too will seek a place of escape from the foe.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ All\V{12} your fortresses are fig-trees with the first ripe figs;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{if shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{13} troops are weak as women before your foes;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the gates of your land are wide open;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your defenses burned down.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Draw\V{14} water for the siege,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{strengthen your forts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Go to the clay pits and tread the clay;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{take up the brick moulds.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{15} the fire will consume you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the sword will cut you down.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{Multiply like the locust}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or a swarm of grasshoppers.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Increase\V{16} the numbers of your merchants}
\noindentation \Q{2}{until they are more than the stars of heaven,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ until\V{17} your watchmen are locusts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and your scribes like grasshoppers,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{which swarm in the hedges on a cold day;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but when the sun rises}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they fly away,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{no one knows where.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “King\V{18} of Assyria:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your princes slumber,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your nobles sleep!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Your people are scattered on the mountains}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with no one to gather them!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{19} is no healing for your hurt,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your wound is incurable.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{All who hear of your fate clap their hands in joy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for who has escaped your limitless cruelty?”}
\blank[medium] \marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Habakkuk}

\MT{Habakkuk}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Habakkuk’s message}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  The\C{1} message seen by the prophet Habakkuk.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{(Habbakuk)}
\par 
\indentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{2} long, {\sc Lord}, have I cried out}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and without you hearing me!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I cry to you, “Violence!,”}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but you do not help.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\V{3} do you make me look upon wickedness}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and behold trouble?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Destruction and violence are before my eyes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and fighting and quarrelling.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Therefore\V{4} the law is weak,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and justice is never rendered;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for the wicked surround the righteous,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so that justice is perverted.}
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{(The Lord)}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Look\V{5} at the nations, look well,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be shocked and amazed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For I am about to do a work in your days;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you will not believe it when it is told.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{6} I am about to raise up the Chaldeans,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a nation grim and quick of action}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who sweep over the whole breadth of the earth}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to seize dwellings not their own.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{7} bring fear and terror.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{They write their own rules.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{8} horses are swifter than leopards,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{quicker than wolves hunting at dusk.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{From afar they come swooping down,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like an eagle attacking its prey.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{9} all come to do violence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a horde like a desert wind,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they gather up captives like sand.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ At\V{10} kings they scoff,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and princes are sport to them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They laugh at every fortress.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and heap up earth to take it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{11} they sweep on like the wind,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Their strength is their god.}
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{(Habbakuk)}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Are\V{12} you not eternal, {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my holy one, who does not die?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{{\sc Lord} you have appointed them to execute judgment,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{my rock, you have established them to punish.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Your\V{13} eyes are too pure to look at evil,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you cannot condone iniquity.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{So why do you regard the treacherous in silence,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while the wicked swallows the upright?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{14} have made people like the fish of the sea,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{like reptiles that have no ruler.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{15} wicked sweep them all into their nets,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and gather them into their drag-nets,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and rejoice and celebrate.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Therefore\V{16} they sacrifice to their net,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and burn offerings to their drag-net;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for by their nets are their portions generous,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their food is rich.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Will\V{17} they empty their nets continually,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{slaughter nations unpityingly?}
\blank[medium] \blank 
 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\C{2} will take my stand on my watch-tower,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and station myself on a turret.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will watch to see what the {\sc Lord} will say to me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{what answer he will make to my complaint.}
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{(The Lord)}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{2} the {\sc Lord} answered me and said:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Inscribe the vision plainly on tablets,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so that even someone running by could read it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{3} the vision waits for the time set,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it hastens to fulfilment and will not fail;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Though it linger long, wait for it.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{For it surely will come and will not be delayed.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{4} the strength of the proud fails,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but the upright lives by their faithfulness.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Wealth\V{5} is treacherous.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the arrogant never have enough,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They makes their desire as wide as Sheol,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are like death, unsatisfied,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For they gather to themselves all the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{bring together to themselves all peoples.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Shouldn’t\V{6} everyone mock them?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{sing a taunt-song against them, and say:}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{Woe to the person who amasses what is not theirs,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and loads them self down with goods taken in pledge!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Won’t\V{7} your creditors suddenly rise,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and those who will overthrow you awake,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and you become their prey?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{8} as you have plundered many peoples,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the survivors will prey upon you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You have shed blood and committed violence}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the earth, peoples and their cities.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Woe\V{9} to you who seeks unjust gain for your dynasty,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who sets your nest on high to be safe from the reach of misfortune!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{10} have planned only shame for your dynasty.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You have destroyed many peoples,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and brought guilt upon yourself;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ the\V{11} stone will cry out from the wall,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the beam from the timber will answer it.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Woe\V{12} to the person who builds a city by bloodshed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and founds a town by crime}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ while\V{13} the peoples toil for what fires will consume,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the nations weary themselves for nothing!}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation This the {\sc Lord} of hosts has said, and\V{14} the earth will be as full of the knowledge of the glory of the {\sc Lord} as the seas are full of water.
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Woe\V{15} to him who in fury gives drink to his neighbor}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to make him drunk, and see him naked.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{16} are filled with shame, not glory;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{drink yourself and be uncovered.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The cup from the {\sc Lord}’s hand}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will pass in turn to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and shame will cover your glory!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{17} the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the destruction of animals will terrify you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{because you shed people’s blood on the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{destroyed people and their cities.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ What\V{18} use is an idol?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{A human made it,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a metal image.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{It cannot speak,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{it cannot teach truth,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Why does its maker trust it?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Woe\V{19} to the person who says to a block, awake!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to a dumb stone, arise!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{What can it teach?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{It may be set with gold and silver,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but there is no breath at all within it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{20} {\sc Lord} is in his holy temple.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Let all the earth be silent before him! }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Habakkuk’s psalm}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  A\C{3} prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to the Shigionoth.
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} have heard, {\sc Lord}, of your fame,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I have seen, {\sc Lord}, your work;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{through the years you have make yourself known,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in wrath you remember mercy.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\V{3} comes from Teman,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the Holy One from the mountain-land of Paran. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{His glory covers the heavens,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and his splendor fills the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Before\V{4} him it is like the light,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{rays he has at his side,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{where his power is hidden.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Before\V{5} him pestilence stalks,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{after him plague follows.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{6} stands, and the earth trembles,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he looks, and the nations melt away,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the mountains of old are scattered,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the everlasting hills bow down.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{These are his ways from of old.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{7} tents of Cushan are afraid,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the curtains of Midian tremble.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Is\V{8} your wrath, {\sc Lord}, with the rivers?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Is your anger against the streams?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Or your rage against the sea?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Is that why you ride on your war-steeds?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Why you mount your chariots of victory?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Why\V{9} you bare your bow?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Why you fill your quiver with shafts?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{You split the earth with torrents.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ The\V{10} mountains see you and writhe.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The tempest of waters sweeps by.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The great deep sends forth its voice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and lifts up its hands.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{11} sun forgets to rise.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The moon stands still in its place.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{Your arrows go forth to give light.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Your glittering spear is as lightning.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{12} rage you stride over the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{In wrath you trample the nations.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{13} go forth to save your people.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{You go to help your anointed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You crush the head of the wicked nation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{laying him bare from thigh to neck. {\em Selah} }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{14} pierced his head with his spears,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as his champions storm out to scatter us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{as they rejoice to devour the poor secretly.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{15} tread the sea with your horses,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while the mighty waters roar.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{16} hear, and my body trembles,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and at the sound my lips quiver.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{My bones begin to decay,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and my footsteps totter beneath me,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{while I long for the day of distress}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to come upon those who attack us.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Though\V{17} the fig-tree bears no fruit,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and there are no grapes on the vines,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{though the olive harvest fails,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the fields produce no food,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{though the flock is cut off from the fold,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and there is no herd in the stalls,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ yet\V{18} I will exult in the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and rejoice in the God who saves me.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{19} Lord {\sc God} is my strength;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he makes my feet as sure as the feet of deer,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and causes me to walk on the heights!}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation To the music director: Use stringed instruments.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Zephaniah}

\MT{Zephaniah}
 
\par 
\indentation  The\C{1} {\sc Lord}’s message, which came to Zephaniah, son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the time of Josiah of Judah who was son of Amon.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Day of Judgment on Judah}
\par 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{2} will utterly destroy everything}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from off the face of the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{says the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{3} will sweep away human and animal,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the birds of the sky}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the fish of the sea.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will cause the wicked to stumble,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will cut off humanity from the face of the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{says the {\sc Lord}.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{4} will stretch out my hand over Judah}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and I will cut off from this place the last remnant of Baal}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the name of the heathen priests,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{5} those who worship on the housetops}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to the stars in the sky,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and those worshippers of the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ who also pay homage to Milcom,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{6} those who turn back}
\noindentation \Q{2}{from following the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And those who do not seek the {\sc Lord}}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ nor strive to find him.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{7} silent before the Lord {\sc God},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for near is the day of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for the {\sc Lord} has prepared a sacrifice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he has sanctified his guests.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{8} the day of the {\sc Lord’s} sacrifice:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will punish the officers and the royal princes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all those who clothe themselves in foreign apparel.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{9} that day:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will punish all who leap over the threshold,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who fill the house of their lord with violence and deceit.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Listen\V{10} on that day, says the {\sc Lord}:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{A cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and a wailing from the New Quarter,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and a great din from the hills.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Those\V{11} who live in the Mortar wail,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for all the traders are silenced,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the money counters wiped out.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{12} will search Jerusalem with a lamp,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will punish those who are at ease,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{who sit comfortably with their wine,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who say to themselves,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“the {\sc Lord} brings neither prosperity nor calamity.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Their\V{13} wealth will become a prey}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their houses a desolation.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Though they build houses,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they will not inhabit them;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{though they plant vineyards,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they will not drink wine from them.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Near\V{14} is the day of the {\sc Lord}!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Near and rapidly approaching!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Near is the bitter day of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the scream of the warrior.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ That\V{15} day is a day of wrath,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a day of trouble and distress,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{a day of destruction and desolation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a day of darkness and gloom,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{a day of clouds and thick darkness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ a\V{16} day of the trumpet and battle-cry,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{against the fortified cities}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and against the high battlements.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{17} I will bring distress upon the people}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and they will walk as the blind,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because they have sinned against the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and their blood will be poured out as dust}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their flesh as dung.}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  Neither\V{18} their silver nor their gold will be able to save them. For in the day of the wrath of the {\sc Lord} and in the fire of his fury the whole earth will be consumed. For he will make a speedy end of all the inhabitants of the earth. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Imminent Judgment upon the Nations}
\par 
\indentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\C{2} ashamed within yourselves, be ashamed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ before\V{2} you become as the drifting chaff,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{before the anger of the {\sc Lord} comes upon you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{before the day of the {\sc Lord}’s wrath comes upon you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Seek\V{3} the {\sc Lord} all you meek of the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you who obey his law;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Seek righteousness, seek meekness;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{perhaps you may be hidden in the day of the {\sc Lord}’s wrath.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{4} Gaza will be forsaken;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Ashkelon a desolation;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Ashdod – by noon will they rout her}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and Ekron be torn up!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Woe\V{5} to those who live by the sea coast,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{people of the Cherethites!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The word of the {\sc Lord} is against you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Canaan, land of the Philistines!}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation I will destroy you so that you will be without inhabitants, and\V{6} you will become shepherds’ cots and folds for flocks. The\V{7} sea coast will belong to the survivors of the house of Judah.They will pasture their flocks there. In the house of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening. The {\sc Lord} their God will be with them and restore their fortunes.
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{8} have heard the taunts of Moab,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the revilings of the Ammonites,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{how they have taunted my people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and spoken boastfully concerning their border.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Therefore\V{9} as I live, says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, the God of Israel:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Moab will be like Sodom,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a breeding-place of nettles, and saltpits,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{and a desolation, forever;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the residue of my people will plunder them,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{and the survivors of my nation will inherit them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ This\V{10} will they have for their pride,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because they have taunted and spoken boastfully}
\noindentation \Q{2}{against the people of the {\sc Lord} of hosts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{11} {\sc Lord} will terrify them;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he will reduce all the gods of the earth;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{then all the peoples of the nations will worship him,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{each in their own land.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You,\V{12} also, Ethiopians,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{slain by his sword are you!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{13} he will stretch out his hand}
\noindentation \Q{2}{against the north and destroy Assyria;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And he will make Nineveh a desolation,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{dry as the wilderness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Herds\V{14} will lie down in it,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{every beast of the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Desert owl and screech owl}
\noindentation \Q{2}{will lodge in its capitals.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The owl will hoot in the window,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the raven on the doorstep,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all stripped bare of cedar.}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  This\V{15} is the exultant city which sat secure. The city who said to herself, I am and there is none else! How has she become a desolation! A lair of beasts! Every passerby hisses at her, shakes their hand. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Jerusalem’s Deep-seated Corruption}
\par 
\indentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Woe\C{3} to the rebellious and unclean city of oppression,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ She\V{2} has not obeyed the voice,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{she has not accepted instruction,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In the {\sc Lord} she has not trusted,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to her God she has not drawn near.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Her\V{3} rulers in her midst are roaring lions.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Her judges are evening wolves,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who leave nothing over until the morning,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Her\V{4} prophets are braggarts, faithless men.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Her priests profane what is holy}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and do violence to the law.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{5} {\sc Lord} is righteous in her midst,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he does no wrong,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Morning by morning}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he establishes his decree,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Light is not lacking,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{an oversight is unknown.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{But the unjust know no shame.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “I\V{6} have cut off nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their turrets are destroyed;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I have laid waste their broad streets,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so that none passes over them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Desolate are their cities without people,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{without inhabitants.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{7} said:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Surely the city will fear me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{she will accept instruction.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Nothing will vanish from her eyes}
\noindentation \Q{2}{that I have impressed upon her;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{But the more zealously have they made all their deeds corrupt.”}
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Future Vindication and Exultation of Jerusalem}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Wait\V{8} for me, is the {\sc Lord}’s message, until the day when I stand up as a witness, for it is my fixed purpose to gather the nations, to collect the kingdoms, to pour upon them my wrath and my hot anger; for by the fire of my fury will all the earth be consumed.
\par 
\indentation  For\V{9} then I will purify the lips of all peoples, so that they will all call on the {\sc Lord}’s name, to serve him with one accord. From\V{10} beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers will bring me offerings.
\par 
 On\V{11} that day you will no longer be ashamed of all your deeds by which you rebelled against me. For I will rid you of your proudly arrogant ones, and you will never again be haughty on my holy mountain. But\V{12} I will leave in your midst a people humble and poor, and the remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the {\sc Lord}. They\V{13} will not do evil, nor speak falsehood, and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth; but they will pasture and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Cry\V{14} out with joy, daughter of Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{shout aloud, Israel!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Rejoice and exult with all your heart,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{daughter of Jerusalem.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{15} {\sc Lord} has put away your adversaries,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he has turned away your foes;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the {\sc Lord} is king in your midst,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{you will fear evil no more.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{16} that day it will be said to Jerusalem:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Fear not!}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Zion, let not your hands grow weak!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{17} {\sc Lord} your God is in your midst,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a victorious hero.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He will rejoice over you with joy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he will renew his love,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{he will exult over you with singing,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ as\V{18} on a day of festival.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will take away from you your disgrace,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and put away from you your reproach.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{19} will destroy at that time}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all who afflict you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will deliver the lame,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and gather the outcast,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will make them an object of renown}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and fame in all the earth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{20} will do good to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{at the time when I gather you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For I will make you an object of fame and renown}
\noindentation \Q{2}{among all the peoples of the earth;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{when I bring back your captivity before your eyes.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{This says the {\sc Lord}.}
\blank[medium] \marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Haggai}

\MTT{The addresses of}

\MT{Haggai}

\MTT{to the temple builders}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The call to rebuild the Temple}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  In\C{1} the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, this message from the {\sc Lord} came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{2} {\sc Lord} of hosts says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The people say that the time has not yet come to rebuild the temple of the {\sc Lord}.}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  Then\V{3} this message from the {\sc Lord} came to Haggai the prophet:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Is\V{4} it a time for you yourselves to live in your own well-roofed houses,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{while this temple lies in ruins?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{5} {\sc Lord} of hosts says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Consider your past experiences.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{6} sow much,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but bring in little;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{you eat,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but you do not have enough;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{you drink,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but are not filled;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{you clothe yourselves,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but not enough to be warm;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and those who earn wages,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{put those wages in a bag with holes.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{7} {\sc Lord} of hosts says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Consider your experiences.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Go\V{8} up to the mountains,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and bring wood}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and rebuild the temple;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{then I will be pleased with it,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will reveal my glory.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{9} looked for much,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and it came to little;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and when you brought the harvest home,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I blew it away.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Why?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} of hosts says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Because my temple lies in ruins,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{while you shelter in your own houses.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{10} heavens withhold the dew,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the earth withholds its fruit,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{11} I have called forth a drought upon the land}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and upon the mountains,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and upon the grain and the new wine and the oil}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and upon that which the ground brings forth,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and upon people and animals,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and upon all the labor of your hands.}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  Then\V{12} Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest, with all the rest of the people, obeyed the command of the {\sc Lord} their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the {\sc Lord} their God had sent him to them. They showed proper respect for the {\sc Lord}.\blank 
 Haggai,\V{13} the prophet of the {\sc Lord}, as the {\sc Lord} commanded him, told the people: “The {\sc Lord} says: I am with you.”
\par 
\indentation  And\V{14} the {\sc Lord} stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people, so that they came and worked on the temple of the {\sc Lord} of hosts, their God, in\V{15} the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The future glory of the new Temple}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation In the second year of Darius the king,  on\C{2} the twenty-first day of the seventh month, this message from the {\sc Lord} came to Haggai the prophet, telling\V{2} him to speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the rest of the people:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{3} is left among you that saw this temple in its former glory?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And how do you see it now?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Doesn’t it seem as though there is nothing there?}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{4} {\sc Lord} says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{be strong, all you people of the land.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Begin the work, for I am with you.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} of hosts says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ When\V{5} your ancestors left Egypt I made a promise to you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I am still with you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Do not be afraid!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} {\sc Lord} of hosts says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In a little while, I will shake the heavens,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the earth, and the sea, and the land.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{7} I will shake all nations,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the precious things of all nations shall come here;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will fill this temple with glory.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} of hosts says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{8} silver is mine,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the gold is mine,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{9} later glory of this temple}
\noindentation \Q{2}{shall be greater than the former.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} of hosts says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In this place I will grant prosperity.}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation This is the message of the {\sc Lord} of hosts.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Former displeasure and the new promise of blessings}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  In\V{10} the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, this message from the {\sc Lord} came to Haggai the prophet: The\V{11} {\sc Lord} of hosts says: “Ask the priests for a ruling: ‘If\V{12} one carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and with that garment touches bread, or stew, or wine, or oil, or any food, will it become holy?’”
\par 
\indentation And the priests answered: “No.”
\par 
 Then\V{13} said Haggai, “If one who is unclean by reason of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?”
\par 
And the priests answered: “It would be unclean.”
\par 
 Haggai\V{14} replied: “So is this people and so is this nation before me, the {\sc Lord} declares, and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. Think\V{15} back from this day, before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the {\sc Lord}. How\V{16} were you? When you came to a heap of grain expecting twenty measures, there were only ten; when you came to the wine vat to draw out fifty vessels, there were only twenty. ‘I\V{17} struck all the work of your hands with blasting and blight, with mildew and with hail. Yet you didn’t turn to me,’ says the {\sc Lord}, ‘Think\V{18} back from this day, think! From the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day when the foundations of the temple of the {\sc Lord} were laid, and consider. The\V{19} seed is in the granary, but the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate and the olive tree have not yet brought forth fruit. From this day will I bless you.’”
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Zerubbabel}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  This\V{20} message from the {\sc Lord} came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Tell\V{21} Zerubbabel, governor of Judah:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will shake the heavens and the earth;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ and\V{22} I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and I will overthrow the chariots,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and those who ride in them;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the horses and their riders shall come down,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{each by the sword of his fellow.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{23} that day,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} of hosts says,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will take you, Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} says,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the {\sc Lord} of hosts says.}
\blank[medium] \marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Zechariah}

\MT{Zechariah}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Lesson from the Past}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  In\C{1} the eighth month in the second year of Darius, this message of the {\sc Lord} came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo:
\par 
\indentation  The\V{2} {\sc Lord} was furious with your ancestors. So\V{3} tell the people this message of the {\sc Lord} of hosts: “Return to me,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, “and I will return to you” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts. “Do\V{4} not be like your ancestors to whom the former prophets cried, ‘The {\sc Lord} of hosts says to turn now from your evil ways, and from your evil deeds’. They did not heed nor listen to me,” says the {\sc Lord}. “Your\V{5} ancestors, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? But\V{6} did not my words and my statutes with which I charged my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors? And they repented and said, ‘Just as the {\sc Lord} of hosts planned to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our deeds, so he has dealt with us.’”
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Lord’s Jealous Love for Zion}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  In\V{7} the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, this message of the {\sc Lord} came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo:
\par 
\indentation  I\V{8} saw in the night a man on a red horse, among the myrtle trees that were in the valley-bottom. Behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white. Then\V{9} said I, “My Lord, what are these?” And the messenger who was talking with me said, “I will show you what they are.” And\V{10} the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, “They are those whom the {\sc Lord} has sent to patrol the earth.” And\V{11} the riders answered the messenger of the {\sc Lord} who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone up and down through the world and behold, all the earth is still and at peace.”
\par 
 Then\V{12} the messenger of the {\sc Lord} said, “{\sc Lord} of hosts, how long will you have no pity for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with which you have been angry for seventy years?” And\V{13} the {\sc Lord} answered the messenger who was talking with me with kind and comforting words. So\V{14} the messenger who was talking with me said to me, “Proclaim now that the {\sc Lord} of hosts says: I am deeply concerned for Jerusalem. But\V{15} I am deeply angry with the arrogant, complacent nations. I was only a little angry with Israel but they made the suffering worse. Therefore,\V{16} says the {\sc Lord}, I am turning to show mercy to Jerusalem. My temple will be rebuilt in it, says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem. Proclaim\V{17} again: Thus says the {\sc Lord} of hosts: My cities will again overflow with prosperity and the {\sc Lord} will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.”
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Destruction of the Heathen Powers}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Now\V{18} I looked up and saw four horns. I\V{19} said to the messenger who was talking with me, “What are these?” He answered, “These are the horns which scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”
\par 
\indentation  Then\V{20} the {\sc Lord} showed me four smiths. I\V{21} said, “What are these coming to do?” He answered, “The horns scattered Judah, so that no one dared lift their head. But the smiths have come to terrify them, to crush the horns of the nations which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter its people.” 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Promise that Jerusalem Will be Gloriously Restored}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Then\C{2} I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. I\V{2} said, “Where are you going?” He replied, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and length.” Then\V{3} the messenger who talked with me stepped forward, and another messenger went out to meet him, and\V{4} said to him, “Run and tell to that young man that Jerusalem will be inhabited like a village without walls, because so many people and cattle will live there. For\V{5} I, says the {\sc Lord}, will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Up!\V{6} Away! Flee from the land of the north, says the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, says the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Up,\V{7} escape to Zion, you who live in Babylon.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ This\V{8} is what the {\sc Lord} of hosts says to the nations which plundered you:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{9} will raise my hand against them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They will be plunder for their own slaves; and you will know that the {\sc Lord} of hosts has sent me.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Sing\V{10} and rejoice, daughter of Zion! I am coming,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will live among you, says the {\sc Lord}.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Many\V{11} nations will join themselves to the {\sc Lord} in that day,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and will be his people, and he will live among you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You will know that the {\sc Lord} of hosts has sent me to you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{12} {\sc Lord} will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He will again choose Jerusalem.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Be\V{13} silent, everyone, in the presence of the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{because he is coming from his holy dwelling.” }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Purification of the Priesthood and Nation}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Then\C{3} he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the messenger of the {\sc Lord} and the Adversary standing at his right hand to accuse him. And\V{2} the messenger of the {\sc Lord} said to the Adversary, “May the {\sc Lord} rebuke you, Adversary! The {\sc Lord}, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a brand plucked out of the fire?” Now\V{3} Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the messenger. The\V{4} messenger said to those who stood before him, “Take off his filthy garments.” Then to Joshua he said, “I have taken your guilt from you and I will clothe you in priestly robes.” And\V{5} he ordered: “Set a clean turban upon his head.” So they set a clean turban on his head, and clothed him with garments. The messenger of the {\sc Lord} was standing by.
\par 
\indentation  And\V{6} the messenger of the {\sc Lord} testified to Joshua: The\V{7} {\sc Lord} of hosts says: “If you walk in my ways, and if you will keep my instructions, then you will rule my house and keep my courts and I will give you a place of access among these that stand by. Hear\V{8} now, Joshua the high priest, you and your associates who sit before me; for they are men who are a sign; for I am going to bring forth my servant the Branch. On\V{9} the stone that I have set before Joshua, on one stone, are seven facets. I will engrave it,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, “and I will remove the guilt of that land in one day. On\V{10} that day,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, “you will each invite your neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.” 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Supporters of the Temple Service}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Then\C{4} the messenger who talked with me came again and woke me, as someone who is woken from sleep. He\V{2} said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see a candlestick, all of gold, with a bowl on its top, and seven lamps on it. There are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are on its top, and\V{3} two olive trees next to it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on its left side.” I\V{4} said to the messenger who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” Then\V{5} the messenger who talked with me answered, “Don’t you know what these are?” And I said. “No, my lord.” He\V{6} said to me, “This is the message of the {\sc Lord} regarding Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, will\V{7} I make the great mountain before Zerubbabel a plain. He will bring forth the top stones with shoutings of, ‘Grace, grace, to it.’” Moreover\V{8} this message of the {\sc Lord} came to me: The\V{9} hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands will also finish it. Then you will know that the {\sc Lord} of hosts has sent me to you. For\V{10} who has despised the day of small things? They will rejoice, and will see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. (The seven lamps are the eyes of the {\sc Lord} that search all around the world.) Again\V{11} I asked, “What are these two olive trees on the right side of the candlestick and on its left side?” Again,\V{12} “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are pouring out the golden oil through the two golden pipes?” He\V{13} answered me, “Don’t you now what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” Then\V{14} he explained, “They are the two anointed ones who attend the Lord of all the earth.” 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Flying Scroll}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Then\C{5} again I looked up and saw a flying scroll. He\V{2} said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll; twenty cubits long, ten cubits wide.” Then\V{3} he said to me, “This is the curse that goes over the whole land. Every thief will be banished according to the writing on one side and everyone who lies under oath shall be banished according to the writing on the other side. I\V{4} have sent it out, says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in the midst of his house and will consume it with its timber and its stones.”
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Woman in an Ephah}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Then\V{5} the messenger who talked with me came forward, and said to me, “Look up and see what is now coming.” I\V{6} said. “What is it?” He said, “It is a measuring basket, full of the guilt of the land.” A\V{7} round leaden cover was lifted up, and there was a woman sitting in the middle of the basket. He\V{8} said, “This is Wickedness.” He thrust her down into the midst of the basket and he pushed the round leaden cover back on its mouth. Then\V{9} I looked up and saw two women, and the wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork and they lifted up the basket between them. Then\V{10} I said to the messenger who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” He\V{11} said to me, “To build her a house in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, they will rest the basket there.” 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The War-Chariots of the Lord}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Again\C{6} I looked up, and saw four chariots come from between two mountains. The mountains were mountains of bronze. The\V{2} first chariot had red horses. The second chariot had black horses, the\V{3} third chariot white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses. Then\V{4} I said to the messenger who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” The\V{5} messenger answered me, “These are the four winds of heaven going out after standing before the {\sc Lord} of all the earth. The\V{6} black horses are going toward the north country and the white toward the west and the dappled toward the south country.” The\V{7} strong horses came out, and were impatient to patrol the earth. So he said, “Go, patrol the earth.” and they did so. Then\V{8} he cried out to me, “The horses that went to the north country will quiet my spirit in the north country.”
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Preparations for the Crowning of Zerubbabel}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Now\V{9} this message of the {\sc Lord} came to me: Take\V{10} the gifts from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah who have come from Babylon and go at once to Josiah the son of Zephaniah. Take\V{11} their silver and gold and make a crown and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak.
\par 
\indentation  Tell\V{12} him: “Thus says the {\sc Lord} of hosts: Behold, the man whose name is the Branch. He will branch out from his place and rebuild the temple of the {\sc Lord}. He\V{13} will rebuild the temple and will sit and rule upon his throne, receiving the honor due to a king. A priest will stand by his throne and they will work together in peace and harmony. The\V{14} crown will be a memorial in the temple of the {\sc Lord} for Heldai and Tobijah and Jedaiah, and Josiah the son of Zephaniah. People\V{15} from far away will come and build in the temple of the {\sc Lord} and you will know that the {\sc Lord} of hosts has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the {\sc Lord} your God.” 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Lord’s Real Demands}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  In\C{7} the fourth year of the reign of King Darius, on the fourth day of Chislev, the ninth month, the message of the {\sc Lord} came to Zechariah. The\V{2} city of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men, to entreat the favor of the {\sc Lord}, and\V{3} to ask the priests of the house of the {\sc Lord} of hosts, and the prophets “Should I continue to mourn in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done for many years?” Then\V{4} this message of the {\sc Lord} of hosts came to me: Tell\V{5} all the people of the land and the priests, “When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, for these seventy years, did you really fast for me? When\V{6} you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? Wasn’t\V{7} it this which the {\sc Lord} proclaimed by the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, and her towns surrounding her and the Negreb and the Shephelah were inhabited?”
\par 
\indentation  The\V{8} {\sc Lord} gave this message to Zechariah: The\V{9} {\sc Lord} of hosts says, execute true judgments. Show kindness and mercy to each other. Do\V{10} not oppress the widow or the orphan, the resident alien or the poor. Let none of you devise evil against another in your hearts.
\par 
 But\V{11} they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears so they wouldn’t hear. They\V{12} made their hearts as hard as stone so they wouldn’t accept the teaching and the words that the {\sc Lord} of hosts had sent by his spirit through the earlier prophets. Great was the anger of the {\sc Lord} of hosts: I\V{13} called and they would not hear, so they call and I do not hear, says the {\sc Lord} of hosts. I\V{14} scattered them by a whirlwind out among nations unknown to them. The land was left desolate behind them, with no one crossing or returning, for they made the pleasant land a desolation. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Promises that the Scattered Exiles Will Return and the Lord’s Rule be Widely Acknowledged}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Now\C{8} this message of the {\sc Lord} of hosts came to me:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{2} {\sc Lord} of hosts says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I passionately care for Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and I am fiercely protective of her.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} {\sc Lord} says, I have returned to Zion,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and Jerusalem will be called, ‘The City of Truth’}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the mountain of the {\sc Lord} of hosts, ‘The Holy Mountain.’}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{4} {\sc Lord} of hosts says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Old men and old women will sit again in the squares of Jerusalem,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{each leaning on a staff because of old age.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{5} the streets of the city will be full of boys,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and of girls playing in its squares.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{6} {\sc Lord} of hosts says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Just because it seems impossible to the remnant of this people in these days,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{is it also impossible for me? says the {\sc Lord} of hosts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{7} {\sc Lord} of hosts says:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will rescue my people}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the land of the east and the land of the west.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{8} will bring them and they will live in Jerusalem,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and they will be my people,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and I will be their God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{in truth and righteousness.}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  The\V{9} {\sc Lord} of hosts says: Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days the words of the prophets spoken when the foundations for the house of the {\sc Lord} of hosts were laid. For\V{10} before those days there were no wages for people or animals. No one could go out or return safe from enemies, because I set each against their neighbor. But\V{11} now I will treat the remnant of the people differently from former days, says the {\sc Lord} of hosts.
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Peace\V{12} will be sown.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The vine will bear its fruit and the ground will yield its produce,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the skies will give their dew.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will give the remnant of this people all these things.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Just\V{13} as you were accursed among the nations,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{house of Judah and house of Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so I will save you and you will be a blessing.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong.}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  For\V{14} the {\sc Lord} of hosts says: As I planned to do evil to you when your ancestors provoked me to anger, says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, and I did not relent, so\V{15} again have I planned in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not be afraid.
\par 
\indentation  These\V{16} are the things that you should do: Speak the truth to each other. Render peaceful decisions in your gates. Let\V{17} none of you devise evil in your heart against one another. Do not love perjury. All these are things I hate, says the {\sc Lord}.
\par 
 And\V{18} this message of the {\sc Lord} of hosts came to me: The\V{19} {\sc Lord} of hosts says: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, will be festivals of joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.
\par 
 The\V{20} {\sc Lord} of hosts says: Peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will come, and\V{21} the inhabitants of one city will go to another, saying, “Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of the {\sc Lord}, and to seek the {\sc Lord} of hosts; I will go also.” Many\V{22} peoples and strong nations will come to seek the {\sc Lord} of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of the {\sc Lord}. The\V{23} {\sc Lord} of hosts says: In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, “We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Conquest of Israel’s Foes}
\par 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ An\C{9} oracle:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The message of the {\sc Lord} concerns the land of Hadrach,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{it rests upon Damascus.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For the capital of Aram belongs to the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{as the tribes of Israel do,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{2} also Hamath which borders on it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Tyre and Sidon, for all their wisdom.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Tyre\V{3} built for herself a fortress.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Heaped up silver as dust,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and gold like the dirt of the streets.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{4} now the Lord will dispossess her,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{cast down her rampart into the sea.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{She will be consumed in fire.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Ashkelon\V{5} will see and fear,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and Gaza writhe in anguish,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Ekron, also for her hope will be put to shame.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The king will perish from Gaza,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Ashkelon will remain uninhabited.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{6} foreign people will settle in Ashdod,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and I will humble the pride of the Philistines.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{7} will take their blood from their mouth,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and their abominations from between their teeth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They also will be a remnant for our God,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like a clan in Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{8} I will encamp as a guard about my house,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so that none will pass through or return,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and no oppressor will pass through them again,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for now I have seen with my own eyes.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Rejoice\V{9} greatly, daughter of Zion!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Shout aloud, daughter of Jerusalem!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Look, your king comes to you.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Vindicated and victorious is he,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{humble, and riding on a donkey,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{on a colt, the foal of a donkey.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{10} will cut off chariots from Ephraim,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and war horses from Jerusalem.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The battle bow will be cut off,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and he will speak peace to the nations.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{His rule will be from sea to sea,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the river to the ends of the earth.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{11} you, too – because of your blood covenant,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I have set free your prisoners from the waterless pit.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ To\V{12} the stronghold will the prisoners of hope return.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{This day I declare, I will restore double to you.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{13} I have bent Judah to me,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like a bow which I have filled with Ephraim like an arrow.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will urge your sons, Zion, against the sons of Greece,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will make you like the sword of a hero.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Then\V{14} the {\sc Lord} will be seen above them}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and his arrow will go forth like lightning.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The {\sc Lord} will blow a blast upon a trumpet,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and travel on the whirlwinds of the south.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{15} {\sc Lord} of hosts will defend them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They will devour and tread down the slingstones,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they will drink their blood like wine,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they will be full like a bowl,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like the crevices of the altar.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{16} the {\sc Lord} their God will save them on that day,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{as the flock of his people,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{as the jewel of a crown}
\noindentation \Q{1}{shining in his land.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ How\V{17} good and how beautiful will it be!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Corn will make the young men flourish}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and new wine the young women! }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Victory and Restoration for the Lord’s Betrayed but Loyal People}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Ask\C{10} from the {\sc Lord} rain,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{at the time of spring rain,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the {\sc Lord} who forms the storm clouds,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the showers of rain he gives to you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and green in the field.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{2} the household gods speak nonsense,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the diviners see lies,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and relate idle dreams.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In vain they offer comfort,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so the people wander like sheep,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They suffer because there is no shepherd.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ My\V{3} wrath is hot against the shepherds,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and on the leaders will I bring punishment.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For the {\sc Lord} cares for his flock,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the house of Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and will make them his splendid war steeds.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{4} Judah will come the cornerstone and the stay,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from them the battle bow,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from them goes forth every commander.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Together\V{5} they will trample on warriors,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{as on the dirt of the streets in battle.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They fight, for the {\sc Lord} is with them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{putting the riders on horses to shame.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{6} will make strong the house of Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will bring deliverance to the house of Joseph,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will bring them back for I have compassion on them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they will be as if I had not driven them away}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For I am the {\sc Lord} their God and will answer them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{7} Ephraimites will be like warriors,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{their hearts will rejoice as with wine,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{their children will see and rejoice.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Their hearts will exult in the {\sc Lord}.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{8} will whistle for them, and gather them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and they will be as many as they once were.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{9} will sow them among the peoples,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but in distant lands they will remember me,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and they will bring up their children and come back.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{10} will bring them home from the land of Egypt,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and from Assyria will I gather them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Into the land of Gilead and Lebanon I will bring them,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{until the land overflows with them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{11} when they pass through the sea of distress,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will strike down the waves of the sea,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and all the deeps of the Nile will be dried up.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The pride of Assyria will be brought low}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the sceptre of Egypt turned aside.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{12} will make them strong in the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they will walk in his name,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{says the {\sc Lord}. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Fate of Judah’s Traitorous Rulers and the Ultimate Deliverance}
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Open\C{11} your doors, Lebanon,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so that fire may devour your cedars.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Wail,\V{2} pine-tree, for the cedar is fallen.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Wail, oaks of Bashan,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for the inaccessible forest has fallen.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Listen\V{3} to the wailing of the shepherds!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Their glory is destroyed.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Listen to the roaring of young lions!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Blasted is the thick forest of the Jordan.}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  The\V{4} {\sc Lord} said to me: shepherd the flock destined for slaughter, whose\V{5} possessors slaughter them, and hold themselves not guilty! The people who sell them say, Blessed be the {\sc Lord}, for I am rich! And their own shepherds have no compassion for them. I\V{6} will no longer have pity on the people of this earth, says the {\sc Lord}. I will turn neighbor against neighbor, and put everyone under the power of a king, and when the land is devastated I will not rescue them. So\V{7} I shepherded the flock of slaughter for the sheep-merchants. I took two staffs: one I called Mercy and the other I called Union. So I shepherded the sheep. I\V{8} set aside three of the shepherds in one month; for I was indignant against them, and they also were displeased at me. I\V{9} said, I will not shepherd you. What is dead, let it die. What is set aside, let it be set aside. And let those who are left devour one another’s flesh. And\V{10} I took my staff, Mercy, and broke it, so as to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.
\par 
\indentation  In\V{11} that day it was broken, and the sheep-merchants who watched me knew that it was the {\sc Lord}’s message. And\V{12} I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wage. If not, don’t.” So they weighed out my wage, thirty pieces of silver. And\V{13} the {\sc Lord} said to me, Cast it into the treasury – the precious wage that at which I was valued by them! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them into the house of the {\sc Lord}, into the treasury.
\par 
 Then\V{14} I broke my second staff called Union so as to dissolve the brotherhood between Judah and Jerusalem. And\V{15} the {\sc Lord} said to me: Take again the implements of a worthless shepherd. For\V{16} I am about to appoint a shepherd over the land. Those who are thrust down he will not visit. Those who are scattered he will not seek out. The wounded he will not heal, the sick he will not make whole, but the flesh of the fat he will devour and even their hoofs he will tear.
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Woe\V{17} to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{May the sword strike his arm and his right eye.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{May his arm completely wither.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And his right eye be blinded. }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Jerusalem’s Deliverance from Heathen Attack}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  An\C{12} oracle. This is the message of the {\sc Lord} about Israel. The {\sc Lord} who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the human spirit within people says:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Look!\V{2} I am about to make Jerusalem}
\noindentation \Q{1}{a cup of drunkenness for all the surrounding peoples.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{There will be a siege of Jerusalem.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{3} that day that I will make Jerusalem}
\noindentation \Q{1}{a stone to be lifted up by all the peoples.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{All who lift it up will surely hurt themselves!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\V{4} that day, says the {\sc Lord}, I will strike}
\noindentation \Q{1}{every horse with panic and its rider with madness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{But over the house of Judah I will keep watch,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{though I strike every horse belonging to the peoples with blindness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{5} the chieftains of Judah will say to themselves,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“The strength of the inhabitants is in the {\sc Lord} of hosts their God.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{6} that day I will make the chieftains of Judah}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like a pan of fire in the woods,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{like a torch among sheaves,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{they will devour right and left all the surrounding peoples.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{But Jerusalem will abide on its own site.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{7} the {\sc Lord} will first give victory to the tents of Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so that the glory of the house of David, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not exalted above Judah.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{8} that day the {\sc Lord} will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the feeblest among them will in that day be like David,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the house of David like God, like the messenger of the {\sc Lord} before them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{9} in that day I will seek to destroy all the nations who have come up against Jerusalem.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{10} I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the spirit of pity and compassion. They will look on him whom they have pierced}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and they will lament for him as one laments for an only son.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They will bitterly grieve for him as one grieves for the first-born.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{11} that day mourning will be as great in Jerusalem}
\noindentation \Q{1}{as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{12} the land will mourn, each family by itself:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the family of the house of David by itself,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and their wives by themselves,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the family of the house of Nathan by itself,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and their wives by themselves,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{13} the family of the house of Levi by itself,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and their wives by themselves,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the family of the Shimeites by itself,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and their wives by themselves,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{14} all the families who are left, each by itself,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and their wives by themselves. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ On\C{13} that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{2} it will be on that day, says the {\sc Lord} of hosts,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will cut off the names of the idols from the land and they will be remembered no more.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And the prophets and the unclean spirit I will banish from the land.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ If\V{3} any man prophesy any more,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{his father and his mother who bore him, will say to him,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“You will not live, for you speak falsehood in the name of the {\sc Lord}.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And his father and his mother who bore him will stab him through when he is seized by the prophetic frenzy.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{4} it will be in that day that the prophets will be ashamed, each of his vision,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and will not wear the hairy mantle in order to deceive.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Each\V{5} will say, “I am not a prophet,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{a tiller of the ground am I, for the ground is my possession from my youth.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{6} they will say to him, “What are these scars on your back?”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And he will say, “The scars which I received in the house of my friends.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Awake,\V{7} sword, against my shepherd,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{against the man who stands near to me,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{says the {\sc Lord} of hosts.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will strike the shepherd so that the sheep may be scattered,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will turn my hand against the little ones.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\V{8} all the land, says the {\sc Lord},}
\noindentation \Q{1}{two-thirds in it will be cut off and die,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{but a third will be left in it.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ I\V{9} will bring the third into the fire,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and melt it as one melts silver,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and test it as one tests gold.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Then they will call on my name,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and I myself will answer them.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{I will say, “They are my people.”}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They will say, “The {\sc Lord} is our God.” }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Judgment upon the Heathen and the Exaltation of the Lord}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  A\C{14} day is coming for the {\sc Lord}, when your plundered possessions will be divided while you watch. And\V{2} all the nations will gather to Jerusalem, to fight against it. The city will be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city will go into captivity, and the rest of the people left in the ruins. Then\V{3} the {\sc Lord} will go forth and fight against these nations, as once he fought in the day of battle. On\V{4} that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, (which is opposite Jerusalem, on the east). The Mount of Olives will be split into halves, from east to west, by an exceedingly great valley; and half of the mountain will slide northwards and half southwards. You\V{5} will escape through my valley – the valley between the hills will extend as far as Azel, and you will flee as you fled from before the earthquake, in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. But the {\sc Lord} your God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
\par 
\indentation  And\V{6} in that day, there will be no heat nor cold nor frost, but\V{7} it will be constant day – it is known to the {\sc Lord} – with neither day nor night. Even at evening time there will be light. And\V{8} on that day living waters will flow from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; in both summer and winter. The\V{9} {\sc Lord} will be king over all the earth. On that day the {\sc Lord} will be one, and his name one. The\V{10} land will be changed to plain, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, but Jerusalem will be high and inhabited as it stands, from the Benjamin Gate up to the place of the first gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate, and as far as the king’s winepresses. Jerusalem\V{11} will be inhabited, for never again will it be doomed to destruction, and its people will abide in security.\blank 

\par 
 This\V{12} is the plague with which the {\sc Lord} will strike all the peoples who array themselves against Jerusalem: he will make their flesh rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouth. On\V{13} that day a great panic sent by the Lord will fall on them. Everyone will seize their neighbours and attack them. Even\V{14} Judah will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of the surrounding nations will be gathered up – gold and silver and piles of clothing. Plague\V{15} will fall upon the horses, mules, camels, and asses, and on all the animals in all those camps.
\par 
 All\V{16} who are left of all the nations which fought against Jerusalem will come up from year to year to worship the King, the {\sc Lord} of hosts, and to keep the pilgrim-feast of tabernacles. Whoever\V{17} of all the peoples of the earth will not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the {\sc Lord} of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If\V{18} the family of Egypt does not go up nor enter in, on them also will come the plague with which the {\sc Lord} will strike the nations. This\V{19} will be the punishment for the sin of Egypt and the punishment for the sin of all nations which do not come up to keep the feast of the tabernacles.
\par 
 On\V{20} that day there will be inscribed upon the bells of the horses, ‘Holy to the {\sc Lord}’ and the pots in the house of the {\sc Lord} will be as holy as the sacrificial bowls before the altars. Every\V{21} pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the {\sc Lord} of hosts and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and cook the sacrifices in them. There will be no more traffickers in the house of the {\sc Lord} of hosts in that day.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Malachi}

\MT{Malachi}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Lord’s Love for Israel}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  An\C{1} oracle. The message of the {\sc Lord} to Israel through Malachi.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  “I\V{2} have loved you,” says the {\sc Lord}. “But you ask, ‘How have you shown love to us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” explains the {\sc Lord} of hosts, “yet I loved Jacob, but\V{3} hated Esau, and made his mountains a desolation, and transformed his ancestral land into a wilderness. When\V{4} Edom says, ‘We are beaten down, but we will return and rebuild the ruined places’” the {\sc Lord} of hosts says, “They may build, but I will throw down. They will be called, ‘The border land of wickedness,’ the people against whom the {\sc Lord} is angry forever. Your\V{5} own eyes will see this, and you will say, ‘the {\sc Lord}’s greatness reaches beyond the border of Israel.’” 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Against the Priests}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation “A\V{6} son honors his father and servant their master. If I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is the one who fears me? So says the {\sc Lord} to you, priests who despise my name. You ask, ‘How have we despised your name?’ You\V{7} offer on my altar bread that is polluted. You ask, ‘How have we polluted it?’ Because you say, ‘The table of the {\sc Lord} is contemptible.’ When\V{8} you offer the blind animal for sacrifice, ‘It doesn’t matter!’ And when you offer the lame and the sick ‘It doesn’t matter!’ Give an animal like that to your governor; will he be pleased with it? Will he receive you favorably?” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts. Now,\V{9} plead for the favor of God with such an offering, so that he may be gracious to us. “Would I receive any of you favorably?” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts.
\par 
\indentation  “If\V{10} only one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you could not kindle useless fires on my altar! I have no pleasure in you,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, “Nor will I accept an offering from your hand. For\V{11} from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place they offer to my name a pure offering. For my name is great among the nations,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts.
\par 
 “But\V{12} you profane me when you say, ‘The table of the {\sc Lord} is polluted, and its food is contemptible.’ You\V{13} say also, ‘How tired we are of all this!’ and you sniff contemptuously at it. You have brought the blind, the lame and the sick as offerings. Should I accept this from your hand?” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts. “Cursed\V{14} be the cheat, who has in his flock a valuable male, but vows and sacrifices to the Lord a blemished animal! For I am a great king,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, “and my name is feared among the nations.” 
\par 
 “Now,\C{2} you priests, this command is for you. If\V{2} you will not hear, and if you do not take it to heart, to give glory to my name,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, “Then I will lay a curse on you. I will turn your blessings into curses. Indeed I have already done so, because you pay no attention. I\V{3} will punish your descendants! I will spread offal upon your faces, even the offal of your pilgrim feasts, you will be discarded. You\V{4} will then know that I have sent this command to you, so that my covenant with Levi may be preserved,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts.
\par 
 “My\V{5} covenant with him was to give life and peace. I gave them to him so that he might revere me. He revered me, and stood in awe of my name. The\V{6} true instruction was in his mouth, and injustice was not found in his lips; He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity. For\V{7} the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the {\sc Lord} of hosts.
\par 
 “But\V{8} you have turned aside from that way. You have caused many to stumble in the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts. “So\V{9} I have I made you contemptible and degraded before all the people, because you have not kept my ways, and have had no respect for me in imparting the law.” 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Unfaithfulness}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation Don’t\V{10} we have all one father? Didn’t one God created us? Why do we deal faithlessly with one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors? Judah\V{11} is treacherous, and abominations are committed in Israel and in Jerusalem because Judah has profaned the holy things loved by the {\sc Lord}, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. May\V{12} the {\sc Lord} banish from the community of Jacob anyone who does this, anyone awaking, testifying, and making an offering to the {\sc Lord} of hosts. And\V{13} you also do this: You cover the altar of the {\sc Lord} with tears, because he doesn’t accept the offering any more, doesn’t accept it from your hand. Yet\V{14} you ask, “Why?” Because the {\sc Lord} is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young. You have been unfaithful to her, even though she is your companion, and your legal wife.
\par 
\indentation  Did\V{15} not the one God make everyone, so that all both flesh and spirit is his? And what does that one God seek but godly children? Therefore keep watch over your spirit, and let none of you deal faithlessly with the wife of your youth. “A\V{16} man who divorces or puts away his wife,” says {\sc Lord}, the God of Israel, “overwhelms her with cruelty.” The {\sc Lord} of hosts says: “Keep watch over your spirit, do not be unfaithful.”
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Lord’s Coming Judgment}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  You\V{17} have wearied the {\sc Lord} with your words. You ask, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the {\sc Lord}, and he delights in them.” Or, “Where is the God of justice?” 
\par 
\indentation  “I\C{3} am about to send my messenger and he will clear a path before me: And the {\sc Lord}, who you are seeking, will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant who you long for is already coming, says the {\sc Lord} of hosts. But\V{2} who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand firm when he appears? He is like a refiner’s fire, and like a launderer’s soap, and\V{3} he will sit as a refiner and purifier. He will purify the descendants of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, until they are fit to bring offerings to the {\sc Lord}. Then\V{4} will the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to the {\sc Lord}, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
\par 
 “I\V{5} will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against the sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers, those who cheat workers, or widows, or orphans, deny justice to immigrants, and do not fear me,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts. “For\V{6} I, the {\sc Lord}, do not change; and you have not ceased to be descendants of Jacob.”
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Paying the Tithe}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  “From\V{7} the days of your ancestors, you have turned aside from my statutes, and you have not kept them. Turn to me and I will turn to you,” says the {\sc Lord}. “You say, ‘How should we turn?’ Can\V{8} a human rob God? Yet you robbed me. You ask, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and gifts! You\V{9} – your entire nation – are all cursed, because you rob me.
\par 
\indentation  “Bring\V{10} the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there is food in my house. Test me in this way. See if I will not open to you the windows of the sky, and pour you out a blessing, until there is more than enough. I\V{11} will rebuke for your sakes the devouring locust and he will not destroy your crops, nor will the vine fail to ripen its fruit in the field, says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, and\V{12} all nations will call you happy, for you will be a delightful land,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Future Reward of the Godless and Faithful}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation “You\V{13} have said terrible things about me,” says the {\sc Lord}. “You ask, ‘What have we said about you?’ You\V{14} have said, ‘It is useless to serve God, and what do we gain from the {\sc Lord} of hosts by keeping his commands, and walking mournfully in funeral garb before him? So\V{15} now we call the proud happy, evildoers thrive: they dare God and escape unharmed.’”
\par 
\indentation  Such\V{16} things those who revered the {\sc Lord} spoke to one another, and the {\sc Lord} took notice, and a record was written before him of those who revered the {\sc Lord} and those who keep in mind his name. “They\V{17} will be mine,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, “my special possession on that day that I am preparing. I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Once\V{18} again my people will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between the person who serves God and the person who does not.” 
\par 
 “The\C{4} day is coming that will burn like a furnace, and all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will burn them up,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts, “leaving neither root nor branch. But\V{2} to you who revere my name there will arise the sun of righteousness with healing in its wings, and you will run free like calves let out from their stall. In\V{3} the day when I act you will tread down the wicked, they will be as ashes under the soles of your feet,” says the {\sc Lord} of hosts.
\par 
 “Remember\V{4} the law of Moses my servant, statutes and judgments which I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. I\V{5} am about to send to you Elijah the prophet, before the great and terrible day of the {\sc Lord} comes. He\V{6} will turn fathers’ hearts to their sons and sons’ hearts to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgement.”\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Matthew}

\MTT{The}

\MTT{Good News According to}

\MT{Matthew}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Birth, Parentage and Infancy}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  A\C{1} genealogy of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David and Abraham. Abraham\V{2} was the father of Isaac, Isaac of Jacob, Jacob of Judah and his brothers, Judah\V{3} of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez of Hezron, Hezron of Aram, Aram\V{4} of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, Salmon\V{5} of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed of Jesse, Jesse\V{6} of David the King. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother was Uriah’s widow, Solomon\V{7} of Rehoboam, Rehoboam of Abijah, Abijah of Asa, Asa\V{8} of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat of Joram, Joram of Uzziah, Uzziah\V{9} of Jotham, Jotham of Ahaz, Ahaz of Hezekiah, Hezekiah\V{10} of Manasseh, Manasseh of Amon, Amon of Josiah, Josiah\V{11} of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the Exile to Babylon. After\V{12} the Exile to Babylon – Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, Salathiel of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel\V{13} of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, Eliakim of Azor, Azor\V{14} of Zadok, Zadok of Achim, Achim of Eliud, Eliud\V{15} of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, Matthan of Jacob, Jacob\V{16} of Joseph, the husband of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus, who is called ‘Christ’. So\V{17} the whole number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen; from David to the Exile to Babylon fourteen; and from the Exile to Babylon to the Christ fourteen.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  This\V{18} is how Jesus Christ was born:
\par 
His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but, before the marriage took place, she found herself to be pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Her\V{19} husband, Joseph, was a just man and, since he did not want to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to put an end to their engagement privately. He\V{20} had been thinking this over, when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.
\par 
“Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary for your wife, for her child has been conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. She\V{21} will give birth to a son; name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
\par 
 All\V{22} this happened in fulfillment of these words of the Lord through the prophet, where he says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘The\V{23} virgin will conceive and will give birth to a son, and they will give him the name Immanuel’}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft] – a word which means ‘God is with us.’ When\V{24} Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord had directed him. He\V{25} made Mary his wife, but they did not sleep together before the birth of her son; and to this son he gave the name Jesus. \stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  After\C{2} the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem in Judea, in the reign of King Herod, some astrologers from the East arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where\V{2} is the newborn king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.” When\V{3} King Herod heard of this, he was much troubled, and so too was all Jerusalem. He\V{4} called together all the chief priests and teachers of the Law in the nation, and questioned them as to where the Christ was to be born.
\par 
\indentation  “At\V{5} Bethlehem in Judea,” was their answer, “for it is said in the prophet –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘And\V{6} you, Bethlehem in Judah’s land,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{are in no way least among the chief cities of Judah,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for out of you will come a ruler –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{who will shepherd my people Israel.’”}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  Then\V{7} Herod secretly sent for the astrologers. He found out from them the time of the appearance of the star. Sending\V{8} them to Bethlehem he said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. When you have found him, bring word back to me, so that I, too, can go and worship him.” The\V{9} astrologers heard what the king had to say, and then continued their journey. The star which they had seen in the east led them on, until it reached and stood over the place where the child was. At\V{10} the sight of the star they were filled with joy. Entering\V{11} the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and fell at his feet and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests, and offered to the child presents of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But\V{12} afterward, having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another road.
\par 
\indentation  After\V{13} they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and seek refuge in Egypt; and stay there until I tell you to return, for Herod is about to search for the child, to put him to death.” Joseph\V{14} woke up, and taking the child and his mother by night, went into Egypt, and\V{15} there he stayed until Herod’s death; in fulfillment of these words of the Lord in the prophet, where he says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Out of Egypt I called my Son.’}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  When\V{16} Herod found out that the astrologers had tricked him, he flew into a rage. He sent and put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and the whole of that region, who were two years old or under, guided by the time which he had learned from the astrologers. Then\V{17} were fulfilled these words spoken in the prophet Jeremiah, where he says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘A\V{18} voice was heard in Ramah,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{weeping and mourning loudly;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Rachel, weeping for her children,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{refusing all comfort for they were dead.’}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  But,\V{19} on the death of Herod, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, “Get\V{20} up, take the child and his mother, and go into the Land of Israel, for those who sought to take the child’s life are dead.” He\V{21} woke up, and taking the child and his mother, went into the Land of Israel. But,\V{22} hearing that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go back there; and having been warned in a dream, he went into the part of the country called Galilee. There\V{23} he settled in the town of Nazareth, in fulfillment of these words in the prophets – ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’ 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Preparation}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  About\C{3} that time John the Baptist first appeared, proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea: “Repent,\V{2} for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” John\V{3} was the one who was spoken of in the prophet Isaiah, where he says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The voice of one crying aloud in the wilderness:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Make ready the way of the Lord,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{make his paths straight.”’}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  John’s\V{4} clothes were made of camels’ hair, with a leather strap around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. At\V{5} that time Jerusalem, and all Judea, as well as the whole district of the Jordan, went out to him and\V{6} were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
\par 
\indentation  But\V{7} when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to receive his baptism, he said to them, “You children of snakes! Who has prompted you to seek refuge from the coming judgment? Let\V{8} your life, then, prove your repentance; and\V{9} do not think that you can say among yourselves ‘Abraham is our ancestor,’ for I tell you that out of these stones God is able to raise descendants for Abraham! Already\V{10} the axe is lying at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that fails to bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I,\V{11} indeed, baptize you with water to teach repentance; but he who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not fit even to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His\V{12} winnowing-fan is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor, and store his grain in the barn, but the chaff he will burn with a fire that cannot be put out.”
\par 
 Then\V{13} Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan, to John, to be baptized by him. But\V{14} John tried to prevent him.
\par 
“I need to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why have you come to me?”
\par 
  “This\V{15} is the way it should be for now,”  Jesus answered,  “because we should do everything that God requires.”  So John agreed.
\par 
 After\V{16} the baptism of Jesus, and just as he came up from the water, the heavens opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on him, and\V{17} from the heavens there came a voice which said, “This is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy.” \blank 

\par 
 Then\C{4} Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. And,\V{2} after he had fasted for forty days and forty nights, he became hungry. The\V{3} Tempter came to him, and said:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{“If you are God’s Son, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft]  But\V{4} Jesus answered,  “Scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘It is not on bread alone that a person is to live, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” \stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Then\V{5} the devil took him to the Holy City, and, placing him on the parapet of the temple, said to him, “If\V{6} you are God’s Son, throw yourself down, for scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘He will give his angels commands about you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and on their hands they will lift you up,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{so you do not even strike your foot against a stone.’”\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft]   “Scripture\V{7} also says,”  answered Jesus,
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “‘You must not tempt the Lord your God.’” \stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft]  The\V{8} third time, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain, and, showing him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor, said to him:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “All\V{9} these I will give you, if you will fall at my feet and worship me.”\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Then\V{10} Jesus said to him,  “Go away, Satan! For scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You must worship the Lord your God, and worship him only.’” \stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Then\V{11} the devil left him alone, and angels came and helped him.\stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Work in Galilee}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  When\V{12} Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he returned to Galilee. Afterward,\V{13} leaving Nazareth, he went and settled at Capernaum, which is by the side of the sea, within the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali; in\V{14} fulfillment of these words in the prophet Isaiah –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘The\V{15} land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{the land of the Road by the sea, and beyond the Jordan,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{with Galilee of the Gentiles –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{16} people who were living in darkness}
\noindentation \Q{2}{have seen a great light,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and, for those who were living in the shadow-land of death,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a light has dawned!’}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\par 
\noindentation  At\V{17} that time Jesus began to proclaim –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” }
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  As\V{18} Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers – Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew – casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
\par 
\indentation   “Come\V{19} and follow me,”  Jesus said,  “and I will teach you to fish for people.”  The\V{20} two men left their nets at once and followed him. Going\V{21} further on, he saw two other men who were also brothers, James, Zebedee’s son, and his brother John, in their boat with their father, mending their nets. Jesus called them, and\V{22} they at once left their boat and their father, and followed him.
\par 
 Jesus\V{23} went all through Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people; and\V{24} his fame spread all through Syria. They brought to him all who were ill with any form of disease, or who were suffering pain – any who were either possessed by demons, or were lunatic, or paralyzed; and he cured them. He\V{25} was followed by large crowds from Galilee, the district of the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. 
\par 
 On\C{5} seeing the crowds of people, Jesus went up the hill; and, when he had taken his seat, his disciples came up to him; and\V{2} he began to teach them, saying:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{  “Blessed\V{3} are the poor in spirit, }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Blessed\V{4} are the mourners, }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ for they will be comforted. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Blessed\V{5} are the gentle, }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ for they will inherit the earth. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Blessed\V{6} are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ for they will be satisfied. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Blessed\V{7} are the merciful, }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ for they will find mercy. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Blessed\V{8} are the pure in heart, }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ for they will see God. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Blessed\V{9} are the peacemakers, }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ for they will be called children of God. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Blessed\V{10} are those who have been persecuted in the cause of righteousness, }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. }
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft]   “Blessed\V{11} are you when people insult you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil lies about you because of me.   Be\V{12} glad and rejoice, because your reward in heaven will be great; this is the way they persecuted the prophets who lived before you. \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation   “You\V{13} are salt for the world. But if salt becomes tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown away, and trampled underfoot.   It\V{14} is you who are the light of the world. A town that stands on a hill cannot be hidden.   People\V{15} do not light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp-stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.   Let\V{16} your light so shine before the eyes of others so that, seeing your good actions, they will praise your Father who is in heaven. 
\par 
\indentation   “Do\V{17} not think that I have come to do away with the Law or the prophets; I have not come to do away with them, but to complete them.   For\V{18} I tell you, until the heavens and the earth disappear, not even the smallest letter, nor one stroke of a letter, will disappear from the Law until all is done.   Whoever,\V{19} therefore, breaks one of these commandments, even the least of them, and teaches others to do so, will be the least esteemed in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps them, and teaches others to do so, will be esteemed great in the kingdom of heaven.   Indeed\V{20} I tell you that, unless you obey God’s commands better than of the teachers of the Law, and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 
\par 
  “You\V{21} have heard that to our ancestors it was said – ‘You must not commit murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder will be brought to trial.’   But\V{22} I say to you that anyone who is angry at their brother or sister will be brought to trial; and whoever insults their brother or sister will be brought before the High Council, while whoever calls them a fool will be in danger of the fires of Gehenna.   Therefore,\V{23} when presenting your gift at the altar, if even there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,   leave\V{24} your gift there, before the altar, go and be reconciled to them, first, then come and present your gift.   Be\V{25} ready to make friends with your opponent, even when you meet them on your way to the court; otherwise they might hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the judicial officer, and you will be thrown into prison.   I\V{26} tell you, you will not come out until you have paid the last cent. 
\par 
  “You\V{27} have heard that it was said – ‘You must not commit adultery.’   But\V{28} I say to you that anyone who looks at a woman and desires her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.   If\V{29} your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away. It would be best for you to lose one part of your body, and not to have the whole of it thrown into Gehenna.   And,\V{30} if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It would be best for you to lose one part of your body, and not to have the whole of it go down to Gehenna. 
\par 
  “It\V{31} was also said – ‘Let anyone who divorces his wife serve her with a notice of separation.’   But\V{32} I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of some serious sexual sin, leads to her committing adultery; while anyone who marries her after her divorce is guilty of adultery.   Again,\V{33} you have heard that our ancestors were told – ‘Do not break your oaths, keep your vows to the Lord.’   But\V{34} I say to you that you must not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God’s throne,   or\V{35} by the earth, since that is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the Great King.   Nor\V{36} should you swear by your head, since you cannot make a single hair either white or black.   Let\V{37} your words be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from what is evil. 
\par 
  “You\V{38} have heard that it was said – ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’   But\V{39} I say to you that you must not resist those who wrong you; but, if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to them also.   If\V{40} someone sues you for your shirt, let them have your cloak as well.   If\V{41} you are forced to carry a soldier’s pack for one mile, carry it two.   Give\V{42} to anyone who asks and, if someone wants to borrow from you, do not turn them away. 
\par 
  You\V{43} have heard that it was said – ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’   But\V{44} what I tell you is this: love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you,   so\V{45} that you may become children of your Father who is in heaven; for he causes his sun to rise on bad and good alike, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.   For,\V{46} if you love only those who love you, what reward will you have? Even the tax-gatherers do this!   And,\V{47} if you only welcome your brothers and sisters, what are you doing more than others? Even the Gentiles do this!   You,\V{48} then, must become perfect – as your heavenly Father is perfect.  
\par 
  “Take\C{6} care not to perform your religious duties in public in order to be seen by others; if you do, your Father who is in heaven has no reward for you.   Therefore,\V{2} when you do acts of charity, do not have a trumpet blown in front of you, as hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that people will praise them. There, I tell you, is their reward!   But,\V{3} when you do acts of charity, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,   so\V{4} that your charity may be secret; and your Father, who sees what is in secret, will reward you. 
\par 
  “And,\V{5} when you pray, you are not to behave as hypocrites do. They like to pray standing in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets, so that people will see them. There, I tell you, is their reward!   But,\V{6} when one of you prays, they should go into their own room, shut the door, and pray to their Father who dwells in secret; and their Father, who sees what is secret, will reward them.   When\V{7} praying, do not repeat the same words over and over again, as is done by the Gentiles, who think that by using many words they will obtain a hearing.   Do\V{8} not imitate them; for God, your Father, knows what you need before you ask him.   You,\V{9} therefore, should pray like this – 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, }
\noindentation \Q{1}{ may your name be held holy, }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  your\V{10} kingdom come, your will be done – }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ on earth, as in heaven. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Give\V{11} us today }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ the bread that we will need; }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  and\V{12} forgive us our wrong-doings, }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ as we have forgiven those who have wronged us; }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  and\V{13} take us not into temptation, }
\noindentation \Q{2}{ but deliver us from evil.’ }
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft]   For,\V{14} if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also;   but,\V{15} if you do not forgive others their offenses, not even your Father will forgive your offenses. \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation   “And,\V{16} when you fast, do not put on gloomy looks, as hypocrites do who disfigure their faces so that they may be seen by people to be fasting. That, I tell you, is their reward!   But,\V{17} when one of you fasts, they should anoint their head and wash their face,   so\V{18} that they may not be seen by people to be fasting, but by their Father who dwells in secret; and their Father, who sees what is secret, will reward them. 
\par 
\indentation   “Do\V{19} not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.   But\V{20} store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.   For\V{21} where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.   The\V{22} lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is unclouded, your whole body will be lit up;   but,\V{23} if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be darkened. And, if the inner light is darkness, how intense must that darkness be!   No\V{24} one can serve two masters, for either they will hate one and love the other, or else they will attach themselves to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. 
\par 
  “This\V{25} is why I say to you, Do not be anxious about your life – what you can get to eat or drink, or about your body – what you can get to wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?   Look\V{26} at the wild birds – they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and yet your heavenly Father feeds them! Aren’t you more precious than they?   But\V{27} which of you, by being anxious, can prolong their life a single moment?   And\V{28} why be anxious about clothing? Study the wild lilies, and how they grow. They neither toil nor spin;   yet\V{29} I tell you that even Solomon in all his splendor was not robed like one of these.   If\V{30} God so clothes even the grass of the field, which is living today and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you of little faith?   Do\V{31} not then ask anxiously ‘What can we get to eat?’ or ‘What can we get to drink?’ or ‘What can we get to wear?’   All\V{32} these are the things for which the nations are seeking, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.   But\V{33} first seek his kingdom and the righteousness that he requires, and then all these things will be added for you.   Therefore\V{34} do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own anxieties. Every day has trouble enough of its own.  
\par 
  “Do\C{7} not judge and you will not be judged.   For,\V{2} just as you judge others, you will yourselves be judged, and the standard that you use will be used for you.   Why\V{3} do you look at the speck of sawdust in your friend’s eye, while you pay no attention at all to the plank of wood in yours?   How\V{4} will you say to your friend ‘Let me take out the speck from your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own?   Hypocrite!\V{5} Take out the plank from your own eye first, and then you will see clearly how to take out the speck from your friend’s. 
\par 
  “Do\V{6} not give what is sacred to dogs; they will turn and maul you. Do not throw your pearls before pigs; they will trample them underfoot.   Ask,\V{7} and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.   For\V{8} the person who asks receives, the person who searches finds, and to the door will be opened to the person who knocks.   Who\V{9} among you, when their child asks them for bread, will give them a stone,   or\V{10} when they ask for a fish, will give them a snake?   If\V{11} you, then, wicked though you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him! 
\par 
  “Do\V{12} to others whatever you would wish them to do to you; for that is the teaching of both the Law and the prophets.   Go\V{13} in by the small gate. The road that leads to destruction is broad and spacious, and many go in by it.   For\V{14} the gate is small, and the road narrow, that leads to life, and there are few who find it. 
\par 
  “Beware\V{15} of false teachers – people who come to you in the guise of sheep, but at heart they are ravenous wolves.   By\V{16} the fruit of their lives you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?   So,\V{17} too, every sound tree bears good fruit, while a worthless tree bears bad fruit.   A\V{18} sound tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a worthless tree bear good fruit.   Every\V{19} tree that fails to bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.   So\V{20} it is by the fruit of their lives that you will know such people.   Not\V{21} everyone who says to me ‘Master! Master!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.   On\V{22} ‘that day’ many will say to me ‘Master, Master, was not it in your name that we taught, and in your name that we drove out demons, and in your name that we did many miracles?’   And\V{23} then I will say to them plainly ‘I never knew you. Go from my presence, you who live in sin.’ 
\par 
  “Everyone,\V{24} therefore, who listens to this teaching of mine and acts on it may be compared to a prudent person, who built their house on the rock.   The\V{25} rain poured down, the rivers rose, the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, for its foundations were on the rock.   Everyone\V{26} who listens to this teaching of mine and does not act on it may be compared to a foolish person, who built their house on the sand.   The\V{27} rain poured down, the rivers rose, the winds blew and struck against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” 
\par 
 By\V{28} the time that Jesus had finished speaking, the crowd was filled with amazement at his teaching. For\V{29} he taught them like one who had authority, and not like their teachers of the Law. \blank 

\par 
 When\C{8} Jesus had come down from the hill, great crowds followed him. He\V{2} saw a leper who came up, and bowed to the ground before him, and said, “Master, if only you are willing, you are able to make me clean.” Stretching\V{3} out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying as he did so,  “I am willing; become clean.”  Instantly he was made clean from his leprosy; and\V{4} then Jesus said to him,  “Be careful not to say a word to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift directed by Moses, as evidence of your cure.”  After\V{5} Jesus had entered Capernaum, a captain in the Roman army came up to him, entreating his help. “Sir,”\V{6} he said, “my manservant is lying ill at my house with a stroke of paralysis, and is suffering terribly.”
\par 
  “I\V{7} will come and cure him,”  answered Jesus. “Sir,”\V{8} the captain went on, “I am unworthy to receive you under my roof; but only speak, and my manservant will be cured. For\V{9} I myself am a man under the orders of others, with soldiers under me; and, if I say to one of them ‘Go,’ he goes, and to another ‘Come,’ he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this,’ he does it.” Jesus\V{10} was surprised to hear this, and said to those who were following him,  “Never I tell you, in any Israelite have I met with such faith as this!   Yes,\V{11} and many will come in from East and West and take their places beside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven;   while\V{12} the heirs to the kingdom will be banished into the darkness outside; there, there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”  Then\V{13} Jesus said to the captain,  “Go now, and it will be according to your faith.”  And the man was cured that very hour.
\par 
 When\V{14} Jesus went into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law prostrated with fever. On\V{15} his taking her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and began to take care of him. In\V{16} the evening the people brought to Jesus many who were possessed by demons; and he drove out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were ill, in\V{17} fulfillment of these words in the prophet Isaiah – ‘He took our infirmities on himself, and bore the burden of our diseases.’
\par 
 Seeing\V{18} a crowd around him, Jesus gave orders to go across. A\V{19} teacher of the Law came up to him, and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
\par 
  “Foxes\V{20} have holes,”  answered Jesus,  “and wild birds their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”  “Master,”\V{21} said another, who was a disciple, “let me first go and bury my father.” But\V{22} Jesus answered,  “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.”  Then\V{23} he got into the boat, followed by his disciples. Suddenly\V{24} so great a storm came up on the sea, that the waves broke right over the boat. But Jesus was asleep; and\V{25} the disciples came and roused him. “Master,” they cried, “save us; we are lost!”
\par 
  “Why\V{26} are you so timid?”  he said.  “You of little faith!”  Then Jesus rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and a great calm followed. The\V{27} men were amazed, and exclaimed, “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!”
\par 
 On\V{28} getting to the other side – the region of the Gadarenes – Jesus met two men who were possessed by demons, coming out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one was able to pass that way. Suddenly\V{29} they shrieked out, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before our time?” A\V{30} long way off, there was a drove of many pigs, feeding; and\V{31} the foul spirits began begging Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the drove of pigs.”
\par 
  “Go,”\V{32}   he said. The spirits came out, and entered the pigs; and the whole drove rushed down the steep slope into the sea, and died in the water. At\V{33} this the men who tended them ran away and went to the town, carrying the news of all that had occurred, and of what had happened to the possessed men. At\V{34} the news the whole town went out to meet Jesus, and, when they saw him, they entreated him to go away from their region. 
\par 
 Afterward\C{9} Jesus got into a boat, and, crossing over, came to his own city. There\V{2} some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man,  “Courage, child! Your sins are forgiven.”  Then\V{3} some of the teachers of the Law said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!” Knowing\V{4} their thoughts, Jesus exclaimed,  “Why do your cherish such wicked thoughts?   Which,\V{5} I ask, is the easier? – to say ‘Your sins are forgiven’? Or to say ‘Get up, and walk’?   But\V{6} to show you that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”  – then he said to the paralyzed man –  “Get up, take up your bed, and return to your home.”  The\V{7} man got up and went to his home. When\V{8} the crowd saw this, they were awe-struck, and praised God for giving such power to human beings.
\par 
 As\V{9} Jesus went along, he saw a man, called Matthew, sitting in the tax office, and said to him,  “Follow me.”  Matthew got up and followed him.
\par 
 And,\V{10} later on, when he was having dinner in the house, a number of tax-gatherers and outcasts came in and took their places at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When\V{11} the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat in the company of tax-gatherers and outcasts?” On\V{12} hearing this, Jesus said,  “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill.   Go\V{13} and learn what this means – ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice’; for I did not come to call the religious, but the outcast.”  Then\V{14} John’s disciples came to Jesus, and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast while your disciples do not?” Jesus\V{15} answered,  “Can the groom’s friends mourn as long as the groom is with them? But the days will come, when the groom will be taken away from them, and they will fast then.   Nobody\V{16} ever puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for such a patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.   Nor\V{17} do people put new wine into old wine-skins; for, if they do, the skins burst, and the wine runs out, and the skins are lost; but they put new wine into fresh skins, and so both are preserved.” 
\par 
 While\V{18} Jesus was saying this, a synagogue leader came up and bowed to the ground before him. “My daughter,” he said, “has just died; but come and place your hand on her, and she will be restored to life.” So\V{19} Jesus rose and followed him, and his disciples went also. But\V{20} meanwhile a woman, who had been suffering from hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind and touched the tassel of his cloak. “If\V{21} I only touch his cloak,” she said to herself, “I will get well.” Turning\V{22} and seeing her, Jesus said,  “Courage, daughter! Your faith has delivered you.”  And at that very moment she became well. When\V{23} Jesus reached the leader’s house, seeing the flute players, and a number of people all in confusion, he\V{24} said,  “Go away, the little girl is not dead; she is asleep.”  They began to laugh at him; but,\V{25} when the people had been sent out, Jesus went in, and took the little girl’s hand, and she rose. The\V{26} report of this spread through all that part of the country.
\par 
 As\V{27} Jesus was passing on from there, he was followed by two blind men, who kept calling out, “Take pity on us, Son of David!” When\V{28} he had gone indoors, the blind men came up to him; and Jesus asked them,  “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”  “Yes, Master!” they answered. Then\V{29} he touched their eyes, and said,  “It will be according to your faith.”  Then\V{30} their eyes were opened. Jesus sternly cautioned them.  “See that no one knows of it,”  he said. But\V{31} the men went out, and spread the news about him through all that part of the country. Just\V{32} as they were going out, some people brought up to Jesus a dumb man who was possessed by a demon; and,\V{33} as soon as the demon had been driven out, the dumb man spoke. The people were astonished at this, and exclaimed, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!” But\V{34} the Pharisees said, “He drives out the demons by the help of the chief of the demons.”
\par 
 Jesus\V{35} went around all the towns and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. But,\V{36} when he saw the crowds, his heart was moved with compassion for them, because they were distressed and harassed, like sheep without a shepherd; and\V{37} he said to his disciples,  “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few.   Therefore\V{38} pray to the owner of the harvest to send laborers to gather in his harvest.”  
\par 
 Calling\C{10} his twelve Disciples to him, Jesus gave them authority over foul spirits, so that they could drive them out, as well as the power of curing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. The\V{2} names of the twelve apostles are these, First Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip\V{3} and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-gather; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon\V{4} the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot – the apostle who betrayed him.
\par 
 These\V{5} twelve Jesus sent out as his messengers, after giving them these instructions –  “Do not go to the Gentiles, nor enter any Samaritan town,   but\V{6} make your way rather to the lost sheep of Israel.   On\V{7} your way proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.   Cure\V{8} the sick, raise the dead, make the lepers clean, drive out demons. You have received free of cost, give free of cost.   Do\V{9} not provide yourselves with gold, or silver, or coins in your purses;   not\V{10} even with a bag for the journey, or a change of clothes, or sandals, or even a staff; for the worker is worth his food.   Whatever\V{11} town or village you visit, find out who is worthy in that place, and remain there until you leave.   As\V{12} you enter the house, greet it.   Then,\V{13} if the house is worthy, let your blessing rest on it, but, if it is unworthy, let your blessing return on yourselves.   If\V{14} no one welcomes you, or listens to what you say, as you leave that house or that town, shake off its dust from your feet.   I\V{15} tell you, the doom of the land of Sodom and Gomorrah will be more bearable in the day of judgment than the doom of that town. 
\par 
  “Remember,\V{16} I am sending you out as my messengers like sheep among wolves. So be as wise as snakes, and as blameless as doves.   Be\V{17} on your guard against others, for they will betray you to courts of law, and scourge you in their synagogues;   and\V{18} you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake so that you may witness for me before them and the nations.   Whenever\V{19} they betray you, do not be anxious as to how you will speak or what you will say, for what you will say will be given you at the moment;   for\V{20} it will not be you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaks within you.   Brother\V{21} will betray brother to death, and the father his child; and children will turn against their parents, and cause them to be put to death;   and\V{22} you will be hated by everyone because of me. Yet the person who endures to the end will be saved.   But,\V{23} when they persecute you in one town, escape to the next; for, I tell you, you will not have come to the end of the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.   A\V{24} student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.   It\V{25} is enough for a student to be treated like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!   Do\V{26} not, therefore, be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed which will not be revealed, nor anything hidden which will not become known.   What\V{27} I tell you in the dark, say again in the light; and what is whispered in your ear, proclaim on the housetops.   Do\V{28} not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; rather be afraid of him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.   Are\V{29} not two sparrows sold for a one copper coin? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.   While\V{30} as for you, even the hairs of your head are numbered.   Do\V{31} not, therefore, be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.   Everyone,\V{32} therefore, who will publicly acknowledge me, I, too, will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven;   but,\V{33} if anyone publicly disowns me, I, too, will disown him before my Father who is in heaven. 
\par 
  “Do\V{34} not imagine that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have come to bring, not peace, but the sword.   For\V{35} I have come to set – a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.   A\V{36} person’s enemies will be the members of their own household.   Anyone\V{37} who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.   Anyone\V{38} who does not take their cross and follow in my steps is not worthy of me.   The\V{39} person who has found their life will lose it, while the person who, for my sake, has lost their life will find it. 
\par 
  “Anyone\V{40} who welcomes you is welcoming me; and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming him who sent me as his messenger.   The\V{41} person who welcomes a prophet, because they are a prophet, will receive a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a good person, because they are a good person, will receive a good person’s reward.   And,\V{42} if anyone gives but a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because they are a disciple, I tell you that they will assuredly not lose their reward.”  
\par 
 After\C{11} Jesus had finished giving directions to his twelve Disciples, he left that place in order to teach and preach in their towns.
\par 
 Now\V{2} John had heard in prison what the Christ was doing, and he sent a message by his disciples, and\V{3} asked – “Are you ‘the coming one,’ or are we to look for someone else?” The\V{4} answer of Jesus to the question was –  “Go and report to John what you hear and see –   the\V{5} blind recover their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are made clean and the deaf hear, the dead, too, are raised to life, and the good news is told to the poor.   Blessed\V{6} is the person who finds no hindrance in me.” 
\par 
 While\V{7} John’s disciples were going back, Jesus began to say to the crowds with reference to John,  “What\V{8} did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed waving in the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man richly dressed? Why, those who wear rich things are to be found in the courts of kings!   What,\V{9} then, did you go for? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet.   This\V{10} is the man of whom scripture says – ‘I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’   I\V{11} tell you, no one born of a woman has yet appeared who is greater than John the Baptist; and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.   From\V{12} the time of John the Baptist to this very hour, the kingdom of heaven has been taken by force, and people using force have been seizing it.   For\V{13} the teaching of all the prophets and of the Law continued until the time of John;   and\V{14} – if you are ready to accept it – John is himself the Elijah who was destined to come.   If\V{15} you have ears, listen.   But\V{16} to what will I compare the present generation? It is like little children sitting in the market-places and calling out to their playmates –   We\V{17} have played the flute for you, but you have not danced; We have wailed, but you have not mourned.   For,\V{18} when John came, neither eating nor drinking, people said ‘He has a demon in him’;   and\V{19} now that the Son of Man has come, eating and drinking, they are saying ‘Here is a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax-gatherers and outcasts!’ And yet wisdom is vindicated by her actions.” 
\par 
 Then\V{20} Jesus began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been done, because they had not repented,  “Alas\V{21} for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For, if the miracles which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.   Yet,\V{22} I tell you, the doom of Tyre and Sidon will be more bearable in the day of judgment than yours.   And\V{23} you, Capernaum! Will you exalt yourself to heaven? You will be flung down to Hades! For, if the miracles which have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing to this day.   Yet,\V{24} I tell you, the doom of Sodom will be more bearable in the day of judgment than yours.”  At\V{25} that same time Jesus uttered the words,  “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that, though you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to the child-like!   Yes,\V{26} Father, I thank you that this has seemed good to you.   Everything\V{27} has been committed to me by my Father; nor does anyone fully know the Son, except the Father, or fully know the Father, except the Son and those to whom the Son may choose to reveal him.   Come\V{28} to me, all you who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest!   Take\V{29} my yoke on you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest for your souls;   for\V{30} my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  
\par 
 About\C{12} the same time Jesus walked through the cornfields one Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and began to pick some ears of wheat and eat them. But,\V{2} when the Pharisees saw this, they said, “Look! Your disciples are doing what it is not allowable to do on a Sabbath!”
\par 
  “Haven’t\V{3} you read,”  replied Jesus,  “what David did, when he and his companions were hungry –   how\V{4} he went into the house of God, and how they ate the consecrated bread, through it was not allowable for him or his companions to eat it, but only for the priests?   And\V{5} haven’t you read in the law that, on the Sabbath, the priest in the Temple break the Sabbath and yet are not guilty?   Here,\V{6} however, I tell you, there is something greater than the Temple!   Had\V{7} you learned the meaning of the words – ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned those who are not guilty.   For\V{8} the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” 
\par 
 Passing\V{9} on, Jesus went into their synagogue, and\V{10} there he saw a man with a withered hand. Some people asked Jesus whether it was allowable to work a cure on the Sabbath – so that they might have a charge to bring against him. But\V{11} Jesus said to them,  “Which of you, if he had only one sheep, and that sheep fell into a pit on the Sabbath, would not lay hold of it and pull it out?   How\V{12} much more precious a person is than a sheep! Therefore it is allowable to do good on the Sabbath.”  Then\V{13} he said to the man.  “Stretch out your hand.”  The man stretched it out; and it had become as sound as the other. On\V{14} coming out, the Pharisees plotted against Jesus, to put him to death.
\par 
 Jesus,\V{15} however, became aware of it, and went away from that place. A number of people followed him, and he cured them all; but\V{16} he warned them not to make him known, in\V{17} fulfillment of these words in the prophet Isaiah – ‘Here\V{18} is my chosen servant, who I love and who pleases me! I will breathe my spirit on him, and he will announce a time of judgment to the Gentiles. He\V{19} will not contend, nor cry aloud, Neither will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a\V{20} bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he has brought the judgment to a victorious issue, and\V{21} on his name will the Gentiles rest their hopes.’
\par 
 Then\V{22} some people brought to Jesus a possessed man, who was blind and dumb; and he cured him, so that the man who had been dumb both talked and saw. At\V{23} this all the people were astounded. “Is it possible that this is the son of David?” they exclaimed. But\V{24} the Pharisees heard of it and said, “He drives out demons only by the help of Beelzebul the chief of the demons.” Jesus,\V{25} however, was aware of what was passing in their minds, and said to them,  “Any kingdom divided against itself becomes a desolation, and any town or household divided against itself will not last.   So,\V{26} if Satan drives Satan out, he must be divided against himself; and how, then, can his kingdom last?   And,\V{27} if it is by Beelzebul’s help that I drive out demons, by whose help is it that your own sons drive them out? Therefore they will themselves be your judges.   But,\V{28} if it is by the help of the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God must already be upon you.   How,\V{29} again, can anyone get into a strong man’s house and carry off his goods, without first securing him? Not until then will he plunder his house.   Anyone\V{30} who is not with me is against me, and the person who does not help me to gather is scattering.   Therefore,\V{31} I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and slander; but slander against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.   Whoever\V{32} speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in the present age, or in the age to come. 
\par 
  “You\V{33} must assume either that both tree and fruit are good, or that both tree and fruit are worthless; since it is by its fruits that a tree is known.   You\V{34} children of snakes! How can you, evil as you are, say anything good? For what fills the heart will rise to the lips.   A\V{35} good person, from his good stores, produces good things; while an evil person, from his evil stores, produces evil things.   I\V{36} tell you that for every careless thing that people say, they must answer on the ‘day of judgment.’   For\V{37} it is by your words that you will be acquitted, and by your words that you will be condemned.” 
\par 
 At\V{38} this point, some teachers of the Law and Pharisees spoke up. “Teacher,” they said, “we want to see some sign from you.”
\par 
  “It\V{39} is a wicked and unfaithful generation,”  answered Jesus,  “that is asking for a sign, and no sign will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.   For,\V{40} just as Jonah was inside the sea-monster three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.   At\V{41} the judgment, the people of Nineveh will stand up with this generation, and will condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s proclamation; and here is more than a Jonah!   At\V{42} the judgment the Queen of the South will rise up with the present generation, and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and here is more than a Solomon!   No\V{43} sooner does a foul spirit leave a person, than it passes through places where there is no water, in search of rest, and does not find it.   Then\V{44} it says ‘I will go back to the home which I left’; but, on coming there, it finds it unoccupied, and swept, and put in order.   Then\V{45} it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in, and make their home there; and the last state of that man proves to be worse than the first. So, too, will it be with this wicked generation.” 
\par 
 While\V{46} he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside, asking to speak to him. Someone\V{47} told him this, and Jesus replied,  “Who\V{48} is my mother? And who are my brothers?”  Then,\V{49} stretching out his hands towards his disciples, he said,  “Here are my mother and my brothers!   For\V{50} anyone who does the will of my Father who is in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  
\par 
 That\C{13} same day, when Jesus had left the house and was sitting by the sea, such\V{2} great crowds gathered around him, that he got into a boat, and sat in it, while all the people stood on the beach. Then\V{3} he told them many truths in parables.  “The sower,”  he began,  “went out to sow; and,   as\V{4} they were sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.   Some\V{5} fell on rocky places, where it had not much soil, and, because the soil wasn’t deep, sprang up at once.   As\V{6} soon as the sun had risen, it was scorched, and, because their roots were not deep enough, withered away.   Some,\V{7} again, fell into the brambles; but the brambles shot up and choked it.   Some,\V{8} however, fell on good soil, and yielded a return, sometimes one hundred, sometimes sixty, sometimes thirty fold.   Let\V{9} those who have ears hear.” 
\par 
 Afterward\V{10} his disciples came to him, and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
\par 
  “To\V{11} you,”  answered Jesus,  “the knowledge of the hidden truths of the kingdom of heaven has been imparted, but not to those.   For,\V{12} to all who have, more will be given, and they will have abundance; but, from all who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.   That\V{13} is why I speak to them in parables, because, though they have eyes, they do not see, and though they have ears, they do not hear or understand.   In\V{14} them is being fulfilled that prophecy of Isaiah which says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You will hear with your ears without ever understanding,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and, though you have eyes, you will see without ever perceiving, }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  for\V{15} the mind of this nation has grown dense,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and their ears are dull of hearing,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{their eyes also have they closed;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Otherwise some day they might perceive with their eyes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and with their ears they might hear,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and in their mind they might understand,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and might turn –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and I might heal them.’ }
\blank[medium] \blank 
  “But\V{16} blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear;   for\V{17} I tell you that many prophets and good people have longed for the sight of the things which you are seeing, yet never saw them, and to hear the things which you are hearing, yet never heard them. 
\par 
\noindentation   “Listen,\V{18} then, yourselves to the parable of the sower.   When\V{19} anyone hears the message of the kingdom without understanding it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in their mind. This is the person meant by the seed which was sown along the path.   By\V{20} the seed which was sown on rocky places is meant the person who hears the message, and at once accepts it joyfully;   but,\V{21} as they have no root, they stand for only a short time; and, when trouble or persecution arises because of the message, they fall away at once.   By\V{22} the seed which was sown among the brambles is meant the person who hears the message, but the cares of life and the glamour of wealth completely choke the message, so that it gives no return.   But\V{23} by the seed which was sown on the good ground is meant the person who hears the message and understands it, and really yields a return, sometimes one hundred, sometimes sixty, sometimes thirty fold.” 
\par 
\indentation  Another\V{24} parable which Jesus told them was this –  “The kingdom of heaven is compared to a person who sowed good seed in their field.   But,\V{25} while everyone was asleep, their enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.   So,\V{26} when the blades of corn shot up, and came into ear, the weeds made their appearance also.   The\V{27} owner’s servants came to them, and said ‘Was not it good seed that you sowed in your field? Where, then, do the weeds in it come from?’   ‘An\V{28} enemy has done this,’ was the owner’s answer. ‘Do you wish us, then,’ they asked, ‘to go and gather them together?’   ‘No,’\V{29} said he, ‘because while you are pulling up the weeds you might uproot the wheat with them.   Let\V{30} both grow side by side until harvest; and then I will say to the reapers, Gather the weeds together first, and tie them in bundles for burning; but bring all the wheat into my barn.’” 
\par 
 Another\V{31} parable which he told them was this –  “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a person took and sowed in his field.   This\V{32} seed is smaller than all other seeds, but, when it has grown up, it is larger than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that ‘the wild birds come and roost in its branches.’” 
\par 
 This\V{33} was another parable which Jesus related –  “The kingdom of heaven is like some yeast which a woman took and covered up in three pecks of flour, until the whole had risen.”  Of\V{34} all this Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables; indeed to them he used never to speak at all except in parables, in\V{35} fulfillment of these words in the prophet – ‘I will speak to them in parables; I will utter things kept secret since the foundation of the world.’
\par 
 Then\V{36} Jesus left the crowd, and went into the house. Presently his disciples came to him, and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He\V{37} answered,  “The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man.   The\V{38} field is the world. By the good seed is meant the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the wicked,   and\V{39} the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest time is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels.   And,\V{40} just as the weeds are gathered and burnt, so it will be at the close of the age.   The\V{41} Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all that hinders and those who live in sin,   and\V{42} will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.   Then\V{43} will the righteous shine, like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. If you have ears, listen. 
\par 
  “The\V{44} kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a person found and hid again, and then, in their delight, went and sold everything that they had, and bought that field. 
\par 
  “Again,\V{45} the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of choice pearls.   Finding\V{46} one of great value, they went and sold everything that they had, and bought it.   Or\V{47} again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was cast into the sea, and caught fish of all kinds.   When\V{48} it was full, they hauled it up on the beach, and sat down and sorted the good fish into baskets, but threw the worthless ones away.   So\V{49} will it be at the close of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous,   and\V{50} will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. 
\par 
  “Have\V{51} you understood all this?”  Jesus asked. “Yes,” they answered. Then\V{52} he added,  “So every teacher of the Law, who has received instruction about the kingdom of heaven, is like a householder who produces from his stores things both new and old.” 
\par 
 When\V{53} Jesus had finished these parables, he withdrew from that place. Going\V{54} to his own part of the country, he taught the people in their synagogue in such a manner that they were deeply impressed. “Where did he get this wisdom?” they said, “and the miracles? Isn’t\V{55} he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? And\V{56} his sisters, too – are not they all living among us? Where, then did he get all this?” These\V{57} things proved a hindrance to their believing in him. But Jesus said,  “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house.”  He\V{58} did not work many miracles there, because of their want of faith. 
\par 
 At\C{14} that time Prince Herod heard of the fame of Jesus, and\V{2} said to his attendants, “This must be John the Baptist; he must be risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are active in him.” For\V{3} Herod had arrested John, put him in chains, and shut him up in prison, to please Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother Philip. For\V{4} John had said to him ‘You have no right to be living with her.’ Yet,\V{5} though Herod wanted to put him to death, he was afraid of the people, because they looked on John as a prophet. But,\V{6} when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before his guests, and so pleased Herod, that\V{7} he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted\V{8} by her mother, the girl said ‘Give me here, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist.’ The\V{9} king was distressed at this; yet, because of his oath and of the guests at his table, he ordered it to be given her. He\V{10} had John beheaded in the prison and\V{11} his head was brought on a dish and given to the girl, and she took it to her mother. Then\V{12} John’s disciples came, and took the body away, and buried it; and went and told Jesus.
\par 
 When\V{13} Jesus heard of it, he left privately in a boat to a lonely spot. The people, however, heard of his going, and followed him in crowds from the towns on foot. On\V{14} getting out of the boat, Jesus saw a great crowd, and his heart was moved at the sight of them; and he cured all the sick among them. In\V{15} the evening the disciples came up to him, and said, “This is a lonely spot, and the day is now far advanced; send the crowds away so that they can to the villages, and buy themselves food.” But\V{16} Jesus said,  “They need not go away, it is for you to give them something to eat.”  “We\V{17} have nothing here,” they said, “except five loaves and two fish.”
\par 
  “Bring\V{18} them here to me,”  was his reply. Jesus\V{19} ordered the people to take their seats on the grass; and, taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and said the blessing, and, after he had broken the loaves, gave them to his disciples; and they gave them to the crowds. Everyone\V{20} had sufficient to eat, and they picked up enough of the broken pieces that were left to fill twelve baskets. The\V{21} men who ate were about five thousand in number, without counting women and children. Immediately\V{22} afterward Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and cross over in advance of him, while he dismissed the crowds. After\V{23} dismissing the crowds, he went up the hill by himself to pray; and, when evening fell, he was there alone. The\V{24} boat was by this time some miles from shore, laboring in the waves, for the wind was against her. Three\V{25} hours after midnight, however, Jesus came towards the disciples, walking on the water. But,\V{26} when they saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they exclaimed, and cried out in fear. But\V{27} Jesus at once spoke to them.  “Courage!”  he said,  “It is I; do not be afraid!”  “Master,”\V{28} Peter exclaimed, “if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus\V{29} said,  “Come.”  So Peter got down from the boat, and walked on the water, and went towards Jesus; but,\V{30} when he felt the wind, he was frightened, and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Master! Save me!” Instantly\V{31} Jesus stretched out his hand, and caught hold of him.  “You of little faith!”  he said,  “Why did you falter?”  When\V{32} they had got into the boat, the wind dropped. But\V{33} the men in the boat threw themselves on their faces before him, and said, “You are indeed God’s Son.”
\par 
 When\V{34} they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. But\V{35} the people of that place, recognizing Jesus, sent out to the whole country around, and brought to him all who were ill, begging\V{36} him merely to let them touch the tassel of his cloak; and all who touched were made perfectly well. 
\par 
 Then\C{15} some Pharisees and teachers of the Law came to Jesus, and said, “How\V{2} is it that your disciples break the traditions of our ancestors? For they do not wash their hands when they eat food.” His\V{3} reply was,  “How is it that you on your side break God’s commandments out of respect for your own traditions?   For\V{4} God said – ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who abuses his father or mother shall suffer death,’   but\V{5} you say ‘Whenever anyone says to his father or mother “Whatever of mine might have been of service to you is set apart for God,”   he\V{6} is in no way bound to honor his father.’ In this way you have nullified the words of God for the sake of your traditions.   Hypocrites!\V{7} It was well said by Isaiah when he prophesied about you –   ‘This\V{8} is a people that honor me with their lips, While their hearts are far removed from me;   but\V{9} vainly do they worship me, For they teach but human precepts.’”  Then\V{10} Jesus called the people to him, and said,  “Listen, and mark my words.   It\V{11} is not what enters a person’s mouth that defiles them, but what comes out from their mouth – that does defile them!”  His\V{12} disciples came up to him, and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees were shocked on hearing what you said?”
\par 
  “Every\V{13} plant,”  Jesus replied,  “that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.   Leave\V{14} them be; they are but blind guides; and, if one blind person guides another, both of them will fall into a ditch.”  Peter\V{15} spoke up, “Explain this saying to us.”
\par 
  “What,\V{16} do even you understand nothing yet?”  Jesus exclaimed.  “Don’t\V{17} you see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is afterward expelled?   But\V{18} the things that come out of the mouth proceed from the heart, and it is these that defile a person;   for\V{19} out of the heart proceed evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, perjury, slander.   These\V{20} are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.” 
\par 
 On\V{21} going away from that place, Jesus went to the country around Tyre and Sidon. There,\V{22} a Canaanite woman of that district came out and began calling to Jesus, “Take pity on me, Master, Son of David; my daughter is grievously possessed by a demon.” But\V{23} Jesus did not answer her a word; and his disciples came up and begged him to send her away. “She keeps calling out after us,” they said.  “I\V{24} was not sent,”  replied Jesus,  “to anyone except the lost sheep of Israel.”  But\V{25} the woman came, and, bowing to the ground before him, said, “Master, help me.”
\par 
  “It\V{26} is not fair,”  replied Jesus,  “to take the children’s food and throw it to dogs.”  “Yes,\V{27} Master,” she said, “for even dogs do feed on the scraps that fall from their owners’ table.”
\par 
  “Your\V{28} faith is great,”  was his reply to the woman;  “it will be as you wish!”  And her daughter was cured that very hour.
\par 
 On\V{29} leaving that place, Jesus went to the shore of the Sea of Galilee; and then went up the hill, and sat down. Great\V{30} crowds of people came to him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, or dumb, and many others. They put them down at his feet, and he cured them; and\V{31} the crowds were astonished, when they saw the dumb talking, the cripples made sound, the lame walking about, and the blind with their sight restored; and they praised the God of Israel. Afterward\V{32} Jesus called his disciples to him, and said,  “My heart is moved at the sight of all these people, for they have already been with me three days and they have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away hungry; they might faint on the way home.”  “Where\V{33} can we,” his disciples asked, “in a lonely place find enough bread for such a crowd as this?”
\par 
  “How\V{34} many loaves have you?”  said Jesus. “Seven,” they answered, “and a few small fish.” Telling\V{35} the crowd to sit down on the ground, Jesus\V{36} took the seven loaves and the fish, and, after saying the thanksgiving, broke them, and gave them to the disciples; and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Everyone\V{37} had sufficient to eat, and they picked up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left. The\V{38} men who ate were four thousand in number without counting women and children. Then,\V{39} after dismissing the crowds, Jesus got into the boat, and went to the region of Magadan. 
\par 
 Here\C{16} the Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and, to test Jesus, requested him to show them some sign from the heavens. But\V{2} Jesus answered,  “In the evening you say ‘It will be fine weather, for the sky is as red as fire.’   But\V{3} in the morning you say ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is as red as fire and threatening.’ You learn to read the sky; yet you are unable to read the signs of the times!   A\V{4} wicked and unfaithful generation is asking for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”  So he left them and went away.
\par 
 Now\V{5} the disciples had crossed to the opposite shore, and had forgotten to take any bread. Presently\V{6} Jesus said to them, “Take care and be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” But\V{7} the disciples began talking among themselves about their having brought no bread. On\V{8} noticing this, Jesus said,  “Why are you talking among yourselves about your being short of bread, you of little faith?   Don’t\V{9} you yet see, nor remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took away?   Nor\V{10} yet the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you took away?   How\V{11} is it that you do not see that I was not speaking about bread? Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  Then\V{12} they understood that he had told them to be on their guard, not against the leaven of bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
\par 
 On\V{13} coming into the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples this question –  “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  “Some\V{14} say John the Baptist,” they answered, “Others, however, say that he is Elijah, while others again say Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
\par 
  “But\V{15} you,”  he said,  “who do you say that I am?”  To\V{16} this Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
\par 
  “Blessed\V{17} are you, Simon, Son of Jonah,”  Jesus replied.  “For no human being has revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.   Yes,\V{18} and I say to you, your name is ‘Peter’ – a Rock, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail over it.   I\V{19} will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be held in heaven to be forbidden, and whatever you allow on earth will be held in heaven to be allowed.”  Then\V{20} he charged his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
\par 
 At\V{21} that time Jesus Christ began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, and undergo much suffering at the hands of the elders, and chief priests, and teachers of the Law, and be put to death, and rise on the third day. But\V{22} Peter took Jesus aside, and began to rebuke him. “Master,” he said, “please God that will never be your fate!” Jesus,\V{23} however, turning to Peter, said,  “Out of my way, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you look at things, not as God does, but as person does.”  Then\V{24} Jesus said to his disciples,  “If anyone wishes to walk in my steps, they must renounce self, and take up their cross, and follow me.   For\V{25} whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, and whoever, for my sake, loses his life will find it.   What\V{26} good will it do a person to gain the whole world, if he forfeits his life? Or what will a person give that is of equal value with his life?   For\V{27} the Son of Man is to come in his Father’s glory, with his angels, and then he will give to everyone what his actions deserve.   I\V{28} tell you, some of those who are standing here will not know death until they have seen the Son of Man coming into his kingdom.”  
\par 
 Six\C{17} days later, Jesus took with him Peter, and the brothers James and John, and led them up a high mountain alone. There\V{2} his appearance was transformed before their eyes; his face shown like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. All\V{3} at once Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus. “Master,”\V{4} exclaimed Peter, interposing, “it is good to be here; if you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While\V{5} he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and there was a voice from the cloud that said – “This is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy; listen to him.” The\V{6} disciples, on hearing this, fell on their faces, greatly afraid. But\V{7} Jesus came and touched them, saying as he did so,  “Rise up, and do not be afraid.”  When\V{8} they raised their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus himself alone. As\V{9} they were going down the mountain side, Jesus gave them this warning –  “Do not speak of this vision to anyone, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”  “How\V{10} is it,” his disciples asked, “that our teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?”
\par 
  “Elijah\V{11} indeed does come,”  Jesus replied,  “and will restore everything;   and\V{12} I tell you that Elijah has already come, and people have not recognized him, but have treated him just as they pleased. In the same way, too, the Son of Man is destined to undergo suffering at people’s hands.”  Then\V{13} the disciples understood that it was of John the Baptist that he had spoken to them.
\par 
 When\V{14} they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, and, kneeling down before him, said, “Master,\V{15} take pity on my son, for he is epileptic and suffers terribly; indeed, he often falls into the fire and into the water; I\V{16} brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
\par 
  “Faithless\V{17} and perverse generation!”  Jesus exclaimed,  “how long must I be among you? How long must I have patience with you? Bring the boy here to me.”  Then\V{18} Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy; and he was cured from that very hour. Afterward\V{19} the disciples came up to Jesus, and asked him privately, “Why was it that we could not drive it out?”
\par 
  “Because\V{20} you have so little faith,”  he answered;  “for, I tell you, if your faith were only like a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain ‘Move from this place to that!’ and it would be moved; and nothing would be impossible to you.”  \footnote{\V{21}  17:21    Some later manuscripts add: But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.} 
\par 
 While\V{22} Jesus and his disciples were together in Galilee, he said to them,  “The Son of Man is destined to be betrayed into human hands,   and\V{23} they will put him to death, but on the third day he will rise.”  The disciples were greatly distressed.
\par 
 After\V{24} they had reached Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple-rate came up to Peter, and said, “Does not your Master pay the Temple-rate?”
\par 
 “Yes,”\V{25} answered Peter. But, on going into the house, before he could speak, Jesus said,  “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings take taxes or tribute? From their sons, or from others?”  “From\V{26} others,” answered Peter.  “Well then,”  continued Jesus,  “their sons go free.   Still,\V{27} so we don’t offend them, go and throw a line into the sea; take the first fish that rises, open its mouth, and you will find in it a piece of money. Take that, and give it to the collectors for both of us.”  
\par 
 On\C{18} the same occasion the disciples came to Jesus, and asked him, “Who is really the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus\V{2} called a little child to him, and placed it in the middle of them, and then said,  “I\V{3} tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven at all.   Therefore,\V{4} anyone who will humble themselves like this child – that person will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.   And\V{5} anyone who, for the sake of my name, welcomes even one little child like this, is welcoming me.   But,\V{6} if anyone puts temptation in the way of one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be best for them to be sunk in the depths of the sea with a great millstone hung around their neck.   Alas\V{7} for the world because of such temptations! There cannot but be temptations but sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! 
\par 
  “If\V{8} your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off, and throw it away. It would be better for you to enter the life maimed or lame, than to have both hands, or both feet, and be thrown into the fire that never goes out.   If\V{9} your eye causes you to sin, take it out, and throw it away. It would be better for you to enter the life with only one eye, than to have both eyes and be thrown into the fires of Gehenna.   Beware\V{10} of despising one of these little ones, for in heaven, I tell you, their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.  \footnote{\V{11}  18:11     Some later manuscripts add, For the Son of Mana has come to save the lost.} 
\par 
  “What\V{12} think you? If a person owns a hundred sheep, and one of them strays, will the person not leave the ninety-nine on the hills, and go and search for the one that is straying?   And,\V{13} if they succeed in finding it, I tell you that they rejoice more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine which did not stray.   So,\V{14} too, it is the will of my Father who is in heaven that not one of these little ones should be lost. 
\par 
  “If\V{15} your brother or sister does wrong, go to them and convince them of their fault when you are both alone. If they listen to you, you have won them over.   But,\V{16} if they do not listen to you, take with you one or two others, so that on the evidence of two or three witnesses, every word may be put beyond dispute.   If\V{17} they refuse to listen to them, speak to the church; and, if they also refuse to listen to the church, treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax-gatherer. 
\par 
  “I\V{18} tell you, all that you forbid on earth will be held in heaven to be forbidden, and all that you allow on earth will be held in heaven to be allowed.   Again,\V{19} I tell you that, if but two of you on earth agree as to what they will pray for, whatever it be, it will be granted them by my Father who is in heaven.   For\V{20} where two or three have come together in my name, I am present with them.” 
\par 
 Then\V{21} Peter came up, and said to Jesus, “Master, how often am I to forgive someone who wrongs me? As many as seven times?” But\V{22} Jesus answered,  “Not seven times, but seventy times seven.   Therefore\V{23} the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.   When\V{24} he had begun to do so, one of them was brought to him who owed him ten thousand bags of gold;   and,\V{25} as he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold towards the payment of the debt, together with his wife, and his children, and everything that he had.   The\V{26} servant threw himself down on the ground before him and said ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’   The\V{27} master was moved with compassion; and he let him go, and forgave him the debt.   But,\V{28} on going out, that same servant came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. Seizing him by the throat, he said ‘Pay what you owe me.’   His\V{29} fellow servant threw himself on the ground and begged for mercy. ‘Have patience with me,’ he said, ‘and I will pay you.’   But\V{30} the other would not, but went and put him in prison until he should pay his debt.   When\V{31} his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and went to their master and laid the whole matter before him.   So\V{32} the master sent for the servant, and said to him ‘You wicked servant! When you begged me for mercy, I forgave you the whole of that debt.   Shouldn’t\V{33} you, also, to have shown mercy to your fellow servant, just as I showed mercy to you?’   Then\V{34} his master, in anger, handed him over to the jailers, until he should pay the whole of his debt.   So,\V{35} also, will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”  
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Journey to Jerusalem}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  At\C{19} the conclusion of this teaching, Jesus withdrew from Galilee, and went into that district of Judea which is on the other side of the Jordan. Great\V{2} crowds followed him, and he cured them there. Presently\V{3} some Pharisees came up to him, and, to test him, said, “Has a man the right to divorce his wife for every cause?”
\par 
\indentation   “Haven’t\V{4} you read,”  replied Jesus,  “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’   and\V{5} said – ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife, and the man and his wife will become one’?   So\V{6} that they are no longer two, but one. What God himself, then, has yoked together people must not separate.”  “Why,\V{7} then,” they said, “did Moses direct that a man should serve his wife with a notice of separation and divorce her?”
\par 
  “Moses,\V{8} owing to the hardness of your hearts,”  answered Jesus,  “permitted you to divorce your wives, but that was not so at the beginning.   But\V{9} I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of some serious sexual sin, and marries another woman, is guilty of adultery.”  “If\V{10} that,” said the disciples, “is the position of a man with regard to his wife, it is better not to marry.”
\par 
  “It\V{11} is not everyone,”  replied Jesus,  “who can accept this teaching, but only those who have been enabled to do so.   Some\V{12} men, it is true, have from birth been disabled for marriage, while others have been disabled by their fellow men, and others again have disabled themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Accept this if you can.” 
\par 
 Then\V{13} some little children were brought to Jesus, for him to place his hands on them, and pray; but the disciples found fault with those who had brought them. Jesus,\V{14} however, said,  “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for it is to the childlike that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”  So\V{15} he placed his hands on them, and then went on his way.
\par 
 A\V{16} man came up to Jesus, and said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to obtain eternal life?”
\par 
  “Why\V{17} ask me about goodness?”  answered Jesus.  “There is but One who is good. If you want to enter the life, keep the commandments.”  “What\V{18} commandments?” asked the man.  “These,”  answered Jesus, –  “‘You must not kill. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not say what is false about others.   Honor\V{19} your father and your mother.’ And ‘You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.’”  “I\V{20} have observed all these,” said the young man. “What is still wanting in me?”
\par 
  “If\V{21} you wish to be perfect,”  answered Jesus,  “go and sell your property, and give to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven; then come and follow me.”  On\V{22} hearing these words, the young man went away distressed, for he had great possessions. At\V{23} this, Jesus said to his disciples,  “I tell you that a rich person will find it hard to enter the kingdom of heaven!   I\V{24} say again, it is easier for a camel to get through a needle’s eye than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!”  On\V{25} hearing this, the disciples exclaimed in great astonishment, “Who then can possibly be saved?” But\V{26} Jesus looked at them, and said,  “With people this is impossible, but with God everything is possible.”  Then Peter turned and said to Jesus, “But\V{27} we – we left everything, and followed you; what, then, will we have?”
\par 
  “I\V{28} tell you,”  answered Jesus,  “that at the new creation, when the Son of Man takes his seat on his throne of glory, you who followed me will be seated on twelve thrones, as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel.   Everyone\V{29} who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or land, for my sake, will receive many times as much, and will gain eternal life.   But\V{30} many who are first now will then be last, and those who are last will be first.    For\C{20} the kingdom of heaven is like an employer who went out in the early morning to hire laborers for his vineyards.   He\V{2} agreed with the laborers to pay them the standard daily rate of two silver coins, and sent them into his vineyard.   On\V{3} going out again, about nine o’clock, he saw some others standing in the marketplace, doing nothing.   ‘You\V{4} also may go into my vineyard,’ he said, ‘and I will pay you what is fair.’   So\V{5} they went. Going out again about midday and about three o’clock, he did as before.   When\V{6} he went out about five, he found some others standing there, and said to them ‘Why have you been standing here all day long, doing nothing?’   ‘Because\V{7} no one has hired us,’ they answered. ‘You also may go into my vineyard,’ he said.   In\V{8} the evening the owner of the vineyard said to his steward ‘Call the laborers, and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, and ending with the first.’   Now\V{9} when those who had been hired about five o’clock went up, they received two silver coins each.   So,\V{10} when the first went up, they thought that they would receive more, but they also received two silver coins each;   at\V{11} which they began to grumble at their employer.   ‘These\V{12} last,’ they said, ‘have done only one hour’s work, and yet you have put them on the same footing with us, who have borne the brunt of the day’s work, and the heat.’   ‘My\V{13} friend,’ was his reply to one of them, ‘I am not treating you unfairly. Didn’t you agree with me for two silver coins?   Take\V{14} what belongs to you, and go. I choose to give to this last man the same as to you.   Don’t\V{15} I have the right to do as I choose with what is mine? Are you envious because I am liberal?’   So\V{16} those who are last will be first, and the first last.” 
\par 
 When\V{17} Jesus was on the point of going up to Jerusalem, he gathered the twelve disciples around him by themselves, and said to them as they were on their way,  “Listen!\V{18} We are going up to Jerusalem; and there the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the Law, and they will condemn him to death,   and\V{19} give him up to the Gentiles for them to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify; and on the third day he will rise.” 
\par 
 Then\V{20} the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to him with her sons, bowing to the ground, and begging a favor.  “What\V{21} is it that you want?”  he asked. “I want you to say,” she replied, “that in your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right, and the other on your left.”
\par 
  “You\V{22} do not know what you are asking,”  was Jesus’ answer.  “Can you drink the cup that I am to drink?”  “Yes,” they exclaimed, “we can.”
\par 
  “You\V{23} will indeed drink my cup,”  he said,  “but as to a seat at my right and at my left – that is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”  On\V{24} hearing of this, the ten others were very indignant about the two brothers. Jesus,\V{25} however, called the ten to him, and said,  “The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them as you know, and their high officials oppress them.   Among\V{26} you it is not so.   No,\V{27} whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to take the first place among you, must be your slave;   just\V{28} as the Son of Man came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 
\par 
 As\V{29} they were going out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. Two\V{30} blind men who were sitting by the roadside, hearing that Jesus was passing, called out, “Take pity on us, Master, Son of David!” The\V{31} crowd told them to be quiet; but the men only called out the louder, “Take pity on us, Master, Son of David!” Then\V{32} Jesus stopped and called them.  “What do you want me to do for you?”  he said. “Master,”\V{33} they replied, “we want our eyes to be opened.” So\V{34} Jesus, moved with compassion, touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight, and followed him. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Last Days}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  When\C{21} they had almost reached Jerusalem, having come as far as Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent on two disciples.  “Go\V{2} to the village facing you,”  he said,  “and you will immediately find an ass tethered, with a foal by her side; untie her, and lead her here for me.   And,\V{3} if anyone says anything to you, you are to say this – ‘The Master wants them’; and he will send them at once.”  This\V{4} happened in fulfillment of these words in the prophet – ‘Say\V{5} to the people of Zion – “Your King is coming to you, gentle, and riding on an ass, and on the foal of a beast of burden.”’
\par 
\indentation  So\V{6} the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They\V{7} led the ass and the foal back, and, when they had put their cloaks on them, he seated himself on them. The\V{8} immense crowd of people spread their cloaks in the road, while some cut branches off the trees, and spread them on the road. The\V{9} crowds that led the way, as well as those that followed behind, kept shouting, “God save the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! God save him from on high!” When\V{10} he had entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred, and asked – “Who\V{11} is this?”, to which the crowd replied – “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
\par 
 Jesus\V{12} went into the Temple Courts, and drove out all those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers, and the seats of the pigeon-dealers, and\V{13} said to them,  “Scripture says ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.”  While\V{14} he was still in the Temple Courts, some blind and some lame people came up to him, and he cured them. But,\V{15} when the chief priests and the teachers of the Law saw the wonderful things that Jesus did, and the boys who were calling out in the Temple Courts “God save the Son of David!”, they were indignant, and\V{16} said to him, “Do you hear what these boys are saying?”
\par 
 “Yes,”  answered Jesus;  “but did you never read the words – ‘Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings you have called forth perfect praise’?” 
\par 
 Then\V{17} he left them, and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
\par 
 The\V{18} next morning, in returning to the city, Jesus became hungry; and,\V{19} noticing a solitary fig tree by the roadside, he went up to it, but found nothing on it but leaves. So he said to it,  “Never again will fruit be gathered off you.”  And suddenly the fruit tree withered up. When\V{20} the disciples saw this, they exclaimed in astonishment, “How suddenly the fig tree withered up!”
\par 
  “I\V{21} tell you,”  replied Jesus,  “if you have faith, without ever a doubt, you will do what not only what has been done to the fig tree, but, even if you should say to this hill ‘Be lifted up and hurled into the sea!’ it would be done.   And\V{22} whatever you ask for in your prayers will, if you have faith, be granted you.” 
\par 
 After\V{23} Jesus had come into the Temple Courts, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “What authority have you to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
\par 
  “I,\V{24} too,”  said Jesus in reply,  “will ask you one question; if you will give me an answer to it, then I, also, will tell you what authority I have to act as I do.   It\V{25} is about John’s baptism. What was its origin? Divine or human?” But they began arguing among themselves, “If we say ‘divine,’ he will say to us ‘Why then didn’t you believe him?’  But\V{26} if we say ‘human,’ we are afraid of the people, for everyone regards John as a prophet.” So\V{27} the answer they gave Jesus was – “We do not know.”
\par 
 “Then I,”  he said,  “refuse to tell you what authority I have to do these things.   What\V{28} do you think of this? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the elder and said ‘Go and work in the vineyard today my son.’   ‘Yes,\V{29} sir,’ he answered; but he did not go.   Then\V{30} the father went to the second son, and said the same. ‘I will not,’ he answered; but afterward he was sorry and went.   Which\V{31} of the two sons did as his father wished?”  “The second,” they said.  “I tell you,”  added Jesus,  “that tax-gatherers and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God before you.   For\V{32} when John came to you, walking in the path of righteousness, you did not believe him, but tax-gatherers and prostitutes did; and yet you, though you saw this, even then were not sorry, nor did you believe him. 
\par 
  “Listen\V{33} to another parable. A man, who was an employer, once planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, built a tower, and then let it out to tenants and went abroad.   When\V{34} the time for the grape harvest drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to receive his share of the produce.   But\V{35} the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.   A\V{36} second time the owner sent some servants, a larger number than before, and the tenants treated them in the same way.   As\V{37} a last resource he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.   But\V{38} the tenants, on seeing his son, said to each other ‘Here is the heir! Come, let us kill him, and get his inheritance.’   So\V{39} they seized him, and threw him outside the vineyard, and killed him.   Now,\V{40} when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”  “Miserable\V{41} wretches!” they exclaimed, “he will put them to a miserable death, and he will let out the vineyard to other tenants, who will pay him his share of the produce at the proper times.” Then\V{42} Jesus added,  “Have you never read in the scriptures? – ‘The stone which the builders despised – has now itself become the corner-stone. This corner-stone has come from the Lord, and is marvelous in our eyes.’   That,\V{43} I tell you, is why the kingdom of God will be taken from you, and given to a nation that does produce the fruit of the kingdom.   Yes,\V{44} and he who falls on this stone will be dashed to pieces, while anyone on whom it falls – it will scatter him as dust.” 
\par 
 After\V{45} listening to these parables, the chief priests and the Pharisees saw that it was about them that he was speaking; yet,\V{46} although eager to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds, who regarded him as a prophet. 
\par 
 Once\C{22} more Jesus spoke to them in parables.  “The\V{2} kingdom of heaven,” he said, “may be compared to a king who gave a banquet in honor of his son’s wedding.   He\V{3} sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the banquet, but they were unwilling to come.   A\V{4} second time he sent some servants, with orders to say to those who had been invited ‘I have prepared my breakfast, my cattle and fat beasts are killed and everything is ready; come to the banquet.’   They,\V{5} however, took no notice, but went off, one to their farm, another to their business;   while\V{6} the rest, seizing his servants, ill-treated them and killed them.   The\V{7} king, in anger, sent his troops, put those murderers to death, and set their city on fire.   Then\V{8} he said to his servants ‘The banquet is prepared, but those who were invited were not worthy.   So\V{9} go to the cross-roads, and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’   The\V{10} servants went out into the roads and collected all the people whom they found, whether bad or good; and the bridal-hall was filled with guests.   But,\V{11} when the king went in to see his guests, he noticed there a man who had not put on a wedding-robe.   So\V{12} he said to him ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding-robe?’ The man was speechless.   Then\V{13} the king said to the attendants ‘Tie him hand and foot, and put him out into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’   For\V{14} many are called, but few chosen.” 
\par 
 Then\V{15} the Pharisees went away and conferred together as to how they might lay a trap for Jesus in the course of conversation. They\V{16} sent their disciples, with the Herodians, to say to him, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest person, and that you teach the way of God honestly, and are not afraid of anyone; for you pay no regard to a person’s position. Tell\V{17} us, then, what you think. Are we right in paying taxes to the Emperor, or not?” Perceiving\V{18} their malice, Jesus answered,  “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?   Show\V{19} me the coin with which the tax is paid.”  And, when they had brought him a coin, he\V{20} asked,  “Whose head and title are these?”  “The\V{21} Emperor’s,” they answered, at which he said to them,  “Then pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and to God what belongs to God.”  They\V{22} wondered at his answer, and left him alone and went away.
\par 
 That\V{23} same day some Sadducees came up to Jesus, maintaining that there is no resurrection. Their question was this, – “Teacher,\V{24} Moses said – ‘should a man die without children, the man’s brother will become the husband of the widow, and raise a family for his brother.’ Now\V{25} we had living among us seven brothers; of whom the eldest married and died, and, as he had no family, left his wife for his brother. The\V{26} same thing happened to the second and the third brothers, and indeed to all the seven. The\V{27} woman herself died last of all. At\V{28} the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be out of the seven, all of them having been married to her?”
\par 
  “Your\V{29} mistake,”  replied Jesus,  “is due to your ignorance of the scriptures, and of the power of God.   For\V{30} at the resurrection there is no marrying or being married, but all who rise are as angels in heaven.   As\V{31} to the resurrection of the dead, have you not read these words of God –   ‘I\V{32} am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of dead people, but of living.”  The\V{33} crowds, who had been listening to him, were greatly struck with his teaching.
\par 
 When\V{34} the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they collected together. Then\V{35} one of them, a Student of the Law, to test him, asked this question – “Teacher,\V{36} what is the greatest commandment in the Law?” His\V{37} answer was,  “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.   This\V{38} is the great first commandment.   The\V{39} second, which is like it, is this – You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.   On\V{40} these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets.”  Before\V{41} the Pharisees separated, Jesus put this question to them –  “What\V{42} do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”  “David’s,” they said.  “How\V{43} is it, then,”  Jesus replied,  “that David, speaking under inspiration, calls him ‘lord,’ in the passage –   ‘The\V{44} Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies beneath your feet’?   Since,\V{45} then, David calls him ‘lord,’ how is he David’s son?”  No\V{46} one could say a word in answer; nor did anyone after that day venture to question him further. 
\par 
 Then\C{23} Jesus speaking to the crowds and to his disciples, said,  “The\V{2} teachers of the Law and the Pharisees now occupy the chair of Moses.   Therefore\V{3} practice and lay to heart everything that they tell preach but do not practice.   While\V{4} they make up heavy loads and pile them on other people’s shoulder’s they decline, themselves, to lift a finger to move them.   All\V{5} their actions are done to attract attention. They widen their phylacteries, and increase the size of their tassels,   and\V{6} like to have the place of honor at dinner, and the best seats in the synagogues,   and\V{7} to be greeted in the markets with respect, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ for everybody.   But\V{8} do not allow yourselves to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and you yourselves are all brothers and sisters.   And\V{9} do not call anyone on the earth your ‘Father,’ for your have only one Father, the heavenly Father.   Nor\V{10} must you allow yourselves to be called ‘leaders,’ for you have only one leader, the Christ.   The\V{11} person who wants to be the greatest among you must be your servant.   Whoever\V{12} exalts themselves will be humbled, and whoever humbles themselves will be exalted.   But\V{13} alas for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You turn the key of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you do not go in yourselves, and do not allow those who try to go in to do so.  \footnote{\V{14}  23:14     Some later manuscripts add: Alas for you teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ property, and pray long prayers just for show! This is why you will receive a more severe punishment.}   Alas\V{15} for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You scour land and sea to make a single convert, and, when they are gained, you make them twice as deserving of Gehenna as you are yourselves.   Alas\V{16} for you, you blind guides! You say ‘if any answer by the Temple, their oath counts for nothing; but, if anyone swears by the gold of the Temple, their oath is binding them’!   Fools\V{17} that you are and blind! Which is the more important? The gold? Or the Temple which has given sacredness to the gold?   You\V{18} say, too, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, their oath counts for nothing, but, if anyone swears by the offering placed on it, their oath is binding on them’!   Blind\V{19} indeed! Which is the more important? The offering? Or the altar which gives sacredness to the offering?   Therefore\V{20} a person, swearing by the altar, swears by it and by all that is on it,   and\V{21} a person, swearing by the Temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it,   while\V{22} a person, swearing by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.   Alas\V{23} for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You pay tithes on mint, fennel, and caraway seed, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, and good faith. These last you ought to have put into practice, without neglecting the first.   You\V{24} blind guides, to strain out a gnat and to swallow a camel!   Alas\V{25} for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are filled with the results of greed and self-indulgence.   You\V{26} blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.   Alas\V{27} for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed look fair outside, while inside they are filled with dead people’s bones and all kinds of filth.   It\V{28} is the same with you. Outwardly, and to others, you have the look of religious people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and sin.   Alas\V{29} for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the monuments of religious people,   and\V{30} say ‘Had we been living in the days of our ancestors, we should have taken no part in their murder of the prophets!’   By\V{31} doing this you are furnishing evidence against yourselves that you are true children of the people who murdered the prophets.   Go\V{32} on then, finish what your ancestors began!   You\V{33} snakes and children of snakes! How can you escape being sentenced to Gehenna?   That\V{34} is why I send you prophets, wise people, and teachers of the Law, some of whom you will crucify and kill, and some of whom you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from town to town;   in\V{35} order the blood on your heads may fall every drop of innocent blood split on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel down to that of Zechariah, Barachiah’s son, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar.   All\V{36} this, I tell you, will come home to the present generation.   Jerusalem!\V{37} Jerusalem! She who slays the prophets and stones the messengers sent to her – Oh, how often have I wished to gather your children around me, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not come!   Verily,\V{38} your house is left to you desolate!   For\V{39} nevermore, I tell you, will you see me, until you say – ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”  
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 Leaving\C{24} the Temple Courts, Jesus was walking away, when his disciples came up to draw his attention to the Temple buildings.  “Do\V{2} you see all these things?”  was his answer.  “I tell you, not a single stone will be left here on another, which will not be thrown down,”  so,\V{3} while Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came up to him privately and said, “Tell us when this will be, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the close of the age.” Jesus\V{4} replied to them,  “See that no one leads you astray;   for,\V{5} many will take my name, and come saying ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray.   You\V{6} will hear of wars and rumors of wars; take care not to be alarmed, for such things must occur; but the end is not yet here.   For\V{7} nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.   All\V{8} this, however, will be but the beginning of the birth pangs!   When\V{9} that time comes, they will give you up to persecution, and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.   And\V{10} then many will fall away, and will betray one another, and hate one another.   Many\V{11} false prophets, also, will appear and lead many astray;   and,\V{12} owing to the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.   Yet\V{13} the person who endures to the end will be saved.   This\V{14} good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a witness to all nations; and then will come the end.   As\V{15} soon, then, as you see ‘the Foul Desecration,’ mentioned by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy place,”  (the reader must consider what this means)  “then\V{16} those of you who are in Judea must take refuge in the mountains;   and\V{17} a man on the housetop must not go down to get the things that are in his house;   nor\V{18} must one who is on their farm turn back to get his cloak.   Alas\V{19} for pregnant women, and for those who are nursing infants in those days!   Pray,\V{20} too, that your flight may not take place in winter, nor on a Sabbath;   for\V{21} that will be a time of great distress, the like of which has not occurred from the beginning of the world down to the present time – no, nor ever will again.   Had\V{22} not those days been limited, not a single soul would escape; but for the sake of God’s people a limit will be put to them.   At\V{23} that time, if anyone should say to you ‘Look! Here is the Christ!’ or ‘Here he is!’, do not believe it;   for\V{24} false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will display great signs and marvels, so that, were it possible, even God’s people would be led astray.   Remember,\V{25} I have told you beforehand.   Therefore,\V{26} if people say to you ‘He is in the wilderness!’, do not go out there; or ‘He is in an inner room!’, do not believe it;   for,\V{27} just as lightning will start from the east and flash across to the west, so will it be with the coming of the Son of Man.   Wherever\V{28} a dead body lies, there will the vultures flock.   Immediately\V{29} after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give her light, the stars will fall from the heavens, and the forces of the heavens will be convulsed.   Then\V{30} will appear the sign of the Son of Man in the heavens; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn, when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the heavens, with power and great glory;   and\V{31} he will send his angels, with a great trumpet, and they will gather his people around him from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 
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  “Learn\V{32} the lesson taught by the fig tree. As soon as its branches are full of sap, and it is bursting into leaf, you know that summer is near.   And\V{33} so may you, as soon as you see all these things, know that he is at your doors.   I\V{34} tell you, even the present generation will not pass away, until all these things have taken place.   The\V{35} heavens and the earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.   But\V{36} about that day and hour, no one knows – not even the angels of heaven, not even the Son – but only the Father himself.   For,\V{37} just as in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.   In\V{38} those days before the flood they went on eating and drinking, marrying and being married, up to the very day on which Noah entered the ark,   taking\V{39} not notice until the flood came and swept them one and all away; and so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.   At\V{40} that time, of two men on a farm one will be taken and one left;   of\V{41} two women grinding with a hand-mill one will be taken and one left.   Therefore\V{42} watch; for you cannot be sure on what day your Master is coming.   But\V{43} this you do know, that, had the owner of the house known at what time of night the thief was coming, they would have been on the watch, and would not have allowed their house to be broken into.   Therefore,\V{44} you must also prepare, since it is just when you are least expecting him that the Son of Man will come.   Who,\V{45} then is that trustworthy, careful servant, who has been placed by their master over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?   Happy\V{46} will that servant be whom their master, when he comes home, will find doing this.   I\V{47} tell you that their master will put them in charge of the whole of his property.   But,\V{48} should the servant be a bad servant, and say to themselves ‘My master is a long time in coming,’   and\V{49} begin to beat their fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards,   that\V{50} servant’s master will come on a day when they do not expect him, and at an hour of which they are unaware,   and\V{51} will flog the servant severely, and assign them their place among the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.  
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  “Then\C{25} the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom.   Five\V{2} of them were foolish, and five were prudent.   The\V{3} foolish ones took their lamps, but took no oil with them;   while\V{4} the prudent ones, besides taking their lamps, took oil in their jars.   As\V{5} the groom was late in coming, they all became drowsy, and slept.   But\V{6} at midnight a shout was raised – ‘The groom is coming! Come out to meet him!’   Then\V{7} all the bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps,   and\V{8} the foolish said to the prudent ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’   But\V{9} the prudent ones answered ‘No, There may not be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell it, and buy for yourselves.’   But\V{10} while they were on their way to buy it, the groom came; and the bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the banquet, and the door was shut.   Afterward\V{11} the other bridesmaids came. ‘Sir, Sir,’ they said, ‘open the door to us!’   But\V{12} the groom answered ‘I tell you, I do not know you.’   Therefore\V{13} watch, since you know neither the day nor the hour. 
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  “For\V{14} it is as though a man, going on his travels, called his servants, and gave his property into their charge.   He\V{15} gave five bags of gold to one, two to another, and one bag to a third, in proportion to the ability of each. Then he set out on his travels.   The\V{16} servant who had received the five bags of gold went at once and traded with it, and made another five bags.   So,\V{17} too, the servant who had received the two bags of gold made another two bags.   But\V{18} the servant who had received the one bag went and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.   After\V{19} a long time the master of those servants returned, and settled accounts with them.   The\V{20} servant who had received the five bags of gold came up and brought five bags more. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold; look, I have made another five bags!’   ‘Well\V{21} done, good, trustworthy servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been trustworthy with a small sum; now I will place a large one in your hands; come and share your master’s joy!’   Then\V{22} the one who had received the two bags of gold came up and said ‘Sir, you entrusted me with two bags pounds; look, I have made another two!’   ‘Well\V{23} done, good, trustworthy servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been trustworthy with a small sum; now I will place a large one in your hands; come and share your master’s joy!’   The\V{24} man who had received the single bag of gold came up, too, and said ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man; you reap where you have not sown, and gather up where you have not winnowed;   and,\V{25} in my fear, I went and hid your money in the ground; look, here is what belongs to you!’   ‘You\V{26} lazy, worthless servant!’ was his master’s reply. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather up where I have not winnowed?   Then\V{27} you ought to have placed my money in the hands of bankers, and I, on my return, should have received my money, with interest.   Therefore,’\V{28} he continued, ‘take away from him the one bag of gold, and give it to the one who has the ten bags.   For,\V{29} to him who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but, as for him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away from him.   As\V{30} for the useless servant, put him out into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’ 
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  “When\V{31} the Son of Man has come in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory;   and\V{32} all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people – just as a shepherd separates sheep from goats –   placing\V{33} the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left.   Then\V{34} the king will say to those on his right ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, enter into possession of the kingdom prepared for you ever since the beginning of the world.   For,\V{35} when I was hungry, you gave me food; when I was thirsty, you gave me drink; when I was a stranger, you took me to your homes;   when\V{36} I was naked, you clothed me; when I fell ill, you visited me; and when I was in prison, you came to me.’   Then\V{37} the righteous will answer ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you? Or thirsty, and give you a drink?   When\V{38} did we see you a stranger, and take you to our homes? Or naked, and clothe you?   When\V{39} did we see you ill, or in prison, and come to you?’   And\V{40} the king will reply ‘I tell you, as often as you did it to one of these my brothers or sisters, however unimportant they seemed, you did it to me.’   Then\V{41} he will say to those on his left ‘Go from my presence, accursed, into the permanent fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.   For,\V{42} when I was hungry, you gave me no food; when I was thirsty, you gave me no drink;   when\V{43} I was a stranger, you did not take me to your homes; when I was naked, you did not clothe me; and, when I was ill and in prison, you did not visit me.’   Then\V{44} they, in their turn, will answer ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or ill, or in prison, and did not supply your wants?’   And\V{45} then he will reply ‘I tell you, as often as you failed to do it to one of these, however unimportant, you failed to do it to me.’   And\V{46} these last will go away into lasting correction, but the righteous into lasting life.”  
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 When\C{26} Jesus had finished teaching all of that, he said to his disciples,  “You\V{2} know that in two days time the Festival of the Passover will be here; and that the Son of Man is to be given up to be crucified.”  Then\V{3} the chief priests and the elders of the people met in the house of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and\V{4} plotted together to arrest Jesus by stealth and put him to death; but\V{5} they said, “Not during the Festival, or the people may riot.”
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 After\V{6} Jesus had reached Bethany, and while he was in the house of Simon the leper, a\V{7} woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of very costly perfume, and poured the perfume on his head as he sat at the table. The\V{8} disciples were indignant at seeing this. “What is this waste for?” they exclaimed. “It\V{9} could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to poor people.”
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  “Why\V{10} are you troubling the woman?”  Jesus said, when he noticed it.  “For this is a beautiful deed that she has done to me.   You\V{11} always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.   In\V{12} pouring this perfume on my body, she has done it for my burying.   I\V{13} tell you, wherever, in the whole world, this good news is proclaimed, what this woman has done will be told in memory of her.” 
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 It\V{14} was then that one of the Twelve, named Judas Iscariot, made his way to the chief priests, and\V{15} said “What are you willing to give me, if I betray Jesus to you?” The Priests weighed him out thirty pieces of silver as payment. So\V{16} from that time Judas looked for an opportunity to betray Jesus.
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 On\V{17} the first day of the Festival of the unleavened bread, the disciples came up to Jesus, and said, “Where do you wish us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
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  “Go\V{18} into the city to a certain man,”  he answered,  “and say to him ‘The teacher says – My time is near. I will keep the Passover with my disciples at your house.’”  The\V{19} disciples did as Jesus directed them, and prepared the Passover. In\V{20} the evening Jesus took his place with the twelve disciples, and,\V{21} while they were eating, he said,  “I tell you that one of you will betray me.”  In\V{22} great grief they began to say to him, one by one, “Can it be I, Master?”
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  “The\V{23} one who dipped his bread beside me in the dish,”  replied Jesus,  “is the one who will betray me.   True,\V{24} the Son of Man must go, as scripture says of him, yet alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is being betrayed! For that man it would be better never to have been born!”  Judas,\V{25} who was betraying him, turned to him and said, “Can it be I, Rabbi?”
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 “It is,”  answered Jesus.
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 While\V{26} they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and, after saying the blessing, broke it and, as he gave it to his disciples, said,  “Take it and eat it; this is my body.”  Then\V{27} he took a cup, and, after saying the thanksgiving, gave it to them, with the words,  “Drink from it, all of you;   for\V{28} this is my covenant blood, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.   I\V{29} tell you that I will never, after this, drink of this juice of the grape, until that day when I will drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father.” 
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 They\V{30} then sang a hymn, and went out to the Mount of Olives. Then\V{31} Jesus said to them,  “Even you will all fall away from me tonight. Scripture says – ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’   But,\V{32} after I have risen, I will go before you into Galilee.”  “If\V{33} everyone else falls away from you,” Peter answered, “I will never fall away!”
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  “I\V{34} tell you,”  replied Jesus,  “that this very night, before the cock crows, you will disown me three times!”  “Even\V{35} if I must die with you,” Peter exclaimed, “I will never disown you!” All the disciples spoke in the same way.
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 Then\V{36} Jesus came with them to a garden called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples,  “Sit down here while I go and pray over there.”  Taking\V{37} with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to show signs of sadness and deep distress of mind.  “I\V{38} am sad at heart,”  he said,  “sad even to death; wait here and watch with me.”  Going\V{39} on a little further, he threw himself on his face in prayer.  “My Father,”  he said,  “if it is possible, let me be spared this cup; only, not as I will, but as you will.”  Then\V{40} he came to his disciples, and found them asleep.  “What!”  he said to Peter,  “could none of you watch with me for one hour?   Watch\V{41} and pray so that you don’t fall into temptation. True, the spirit is eager, but human nature is weak.”  Again,\V{42} a second time, he went away, and prayed.  “My Father,”  he said,  “if I cannot be spared this cup, but must drink it, your will be done!”  And\V{43} coming back again he found them asleep, for their eyes were heavy. So\V{44} he left them, and went away again, and prayed a third time, again saying the same words. Then\V{45} he came to the disciples, and said,  “Sleep on now, and rest yourselves. Look – my time is close at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of wicked people.   Up,\V{46} and let us be going. Look! My betrayer is close at hand.”  And,\V{47} while he was still speaking, Judas, who was one of the Twelve, came in sight; and with him was a great crowd of people, with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now\V{48} the betrayer had arranged a signal with them. “The man whom I kiss,” he had said, “will be the one; arrest him.” So\V{49} he went up to Jesus at once, and exclaimed, “Welcome, Rabbi!” and kissed him; at\V{50} which Jesus said to him,  “Friend, do what you have come for.”  The men went up, seized Jesus, and arrested him. Suddenly\V{51} one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and striking the high priest’s servant, cut off his ear.  “Sheathe\V{52} your sword,”  Jesus said,  “for all who draw the sword will be put to the sword.   Do\V{53} you think that I cannot ask my Father for help, when he would at once send to my aid more than twelve legions of angels?   But\V{54} in that case how would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say that this must be?”  Jesus\V{55} at the same time said to the crowds,  “Have you come out, as if after a robber, with swords and clubs, to take me? I have sat teaching day after day in the Temple Courts, and yet you did not arrest me.”  The\V{56} whole of this occurred in fulfillment of the Prophetic scriptures. Then the disciples all forsook him and fled.
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 Those\V{57} who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the Law and elders had assembled. Peter\V{58} followed him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the offices, to see the end. Meanwhile\V{59} the chief priests and the whole of the High Council were trying to get such false evidence against Jesus, as would warrant putting him to death, but\V{60} they did not find any, although many came forward with false evidence. Later on, however, two men came forward and said, “This\V{61} man said ‘I am able to destroy the Temple of God, and to build it in three days.’” Then\V{62} the high priest stood up, and said to Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is this evidence which these men are giving against you?” But\V{63} Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I order you, by the living God, to tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
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  “It\V{64} is true,”  Jesus answered;  “Moreover I tell you all that hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the Almighty, and coming on the clouds of the heavens.”  Then\V{65} the high priest tore his robes. “This is blasphemy!” he exclaimed. “Why do we want any more witnesses? You have just heard his blasphemy! What\V{66} is your decision?” They answered, “He deserves death.” Then\V{67} they spat in his face, and struck him, while others dealt blows at him, saying as they did so, “Now\V{68} play the prophet for us, you Christ! Who was it that struck you?” Peter,\V{69} meanwhile, was sitting outside in the courtyard; and a maidservant came up to him, and exclaimed, “Why, you were with Jesus the Galilean!” But\V{70} Peter denied it before them all. “I do not know what you mean,” he replied. When\V{71} he had gone out into the gateway, another maid saw him, and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth!” Again\V{72} he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man!” But\V{73} soon afterward those who were standing by came up and said to Peter, “You also are certainly one of them; why, even your way of speaking proves it!” Then\V{74} Peter said, “I swear that I do not know the man! May God punish me if I am lying!” At that moment a cock crowed; and\V{75} Peter remembered the words which Jesus had said –  ‘Before a cock has crowed, you will disown me three times’;  and he went outside, and wept bitterly. 
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 At\C{27} daybreak all the chief priests and the elders of the people consulted together against Jesus, to bring about his death. They\V{2} put him in chains and led him away, and gave him up to the Roman Governor, Pilate. Then\V{3} Judas, who betrayed him, seeing that Jesus was condemned, repented of what he had done, and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. “I\V{4} did wrong in betraying a good man to his death,” he said. “What has that to do with us?” they replied. “You must see to that yourself.” Judas\V{5} flung down the pieces of silver in the Temple, and left; and went away and hanged himself. The\V{6} chief priests took the pieces of silver, but they said, “We must not put them into the Temple treasury, because they are blood-money.” So,\V{7} after consultation, they bought with them the ‘Potter’s Field’ for a burial-ground for foreigners; and\V{8} that is why that field is called the ‘Field of Blood’ to this very day. Then\V{9} it was that these words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled – ‘They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him who was valued, whom some of the people of Israel valued, and\V{10} gave them for the Potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.’ Meanwhile\V{11} Jesus was brought before the Roman Governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked the Governor.  “It is true,”  answered Jesus. While\V{12} charges were being brought against him by the chief priests and elders, Jesus made no reply. Then\V{13} Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear how many accusations they are making against you?” Yet\V{14} Jesus made no reply – not even a single word; at which the Governor was greatly astonished. Now,\V{15} at the feast, the Governor was accustomed to grant the people the release of any one prisoner whom they might choose. At\V{16} that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So,\V{17} when the people had collected, Pilate said to them, “Which do you wish me to release for you? Barabbas? Or Jesus who is called ‘Christ’?” For\V{18} he knew that it was out of jealousy that they had given Jesus up to him. While\V{19} he was still on the Bench, his wife sent this message to him – “Do not have anything to do with that good man, for I have been very unhappy today in a dream because of him.” But\V{20} the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas, and to kill Jesus. The\V{21} Governor, however, said to them, “Which of these two do you wish me to release for you?”
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“Barabbas,” they answered. “What\V{22} then,” Pilate asked, “should I do with Jesus who is called ‘Christ?’” “Crucify him,” they all replied. “Why,\V{23} what harm has he done?” he asked. But they kept shouting furiously, “Crucify him!” When\V{24} Pilate saw that his efforts were unavailing, but that, on the contrary, a riot was beginning, he took some water, and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying as he did so, “I am not answerable for this bloodshed; you must see to it yourselves.” And\V{25} all the people answered, “His blood be on our heads and on our children’s!” The\V{26} Pilate released Barabbas to them; but Jesus he scourged, and gave him up to be crucified.
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 After\V{27} that, the Governor’s soldiers took Jesus with them into the Government house, and gathered the whole garrison around him. They\V{28} stripped him, and put on him a red military cloak, and\V{29} having twisted some thorns into a crown, put it on his head, and a rod in his right hand, and then, going down on their knees before him, they mocked him. “Long life to you, king of the Jews!” they said. They\V{30} spat at him and, taking the rod, kept striking him on the head; and,\V{31} when they had left off mocking him, they took off the military cloak, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to be crucified.
\par 
 As\V{32} they were on their way out, they came upon a man from Cyrene of the name of Simon; and they compelled him to go with them to carry the cross. On\V{33} reaching a place named Golgotha (a place named from its likeness to a skull), they\V{34} gave him some wine to drink which had been mixed with gall; but after tasting it, Jesus refused to drink it. When\V{35} they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among them by casting lots. Then\V{36} they sat down, and kept watch over him there. Above\V{37} his head they fixed the accusation against him written out – ‘THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.’ At\V{38} the same time two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right, the other on the left. The\V{39} passers-by railed at him, shaking their heads as they said, “You\V{40} who ‘destroy the Temple and build one in three days,’ save yourself! If you are God’s Son, come down from the cross!” In\V{41} the same way the chief priests, with the Teaches of the Law and elders, said in mockery, “He\V{42} saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the ‘king of Israel’! Why doesn’t he come down from the cross now, then we will believe in him. He\V{43} has trusted in God; if God wants him, let him deliver him now; for he said ‘I am God’s Son.’” Even\V{44} the robbers, who were crucified with him, insulted him in the same way. After\V{45} midday a darkness came over all the country, lasting until three in the afternoon. About\V{46} three Jesus called out loudly,  “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabacthani”  – that is to say,  ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’  Some\V{47} of those standing by heard this, and said, “The man is calling for Elijah!” One\V{48} of them immediately ran and took a sponge, and, filling it with common wine, put it on the end of a rod, and offered it to him to drink. But\V{49} the rest said, “Wait and let us see if Elijah is coming to save him.”\footnote{  27:49     Some later manuscripts add: However another man took a spear, and pierced his side; and water and blood flowed from it.}  But\V{50} Jesus, uttering another loud cry, gave up his spirit. Suddenly\V{51} the Temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth shook, the rocks were torn asunder, the\V{52} tombs opened, and the bodies of many of God’s people who had fallen asleep rose, and\V{53} they, leaving their tombs, went, after the resurrection of Jesus, into the Holy City, and appeared to many people. The\V{54} Roman captain, and the men with him who were watching Jesus, on seeing the earthquake and all that was happening, became greatly frightened and exclaimed, “This must indeed have been God’s Son!” There\V{55} were many women there, watching from a distance, who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee and had been attending on him. Among\V{56} them were Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
\par 
 When\V{57} evening had fallen, there came a rich man belonging to Ramah, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. He\V{58} went to see Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate ordered it to be given him. So\V{59} Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen sheet, and\V{60} laid it in his newly made tomb which he had cut in the rock; and, before he left, he rolled a great stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary\V{61} of Magdala and the other Mary remained behind, sitting in front of the grave.
\par 
 The\V{62} next day – that is, the day following the Preparation-day – the chief priests and Pharisees came in a body to Pilate, and said, “Sir,\V{63} we remember that, during his lifetime, that impostor said  ‘I will rise after three days.’  So\V{64} order the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal him, and then say to the people ‘He has risen from the dead,’ when the latest imposture will be worse than the first.”
\par 
 “You\V{65} may have a guard,” was Pilate’s reply; “go and make the tomb as secure as you can.” So\V{66} they went and made the tomb secure, by sealing the stone, in presence of the guard. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Risen Life}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  After\C{28} the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary had gone to look at the grave, when\V{2} suddenly a great earthquake occurred. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and seated himself on it. His\V{3} appearance was as dazzling as lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow; and,\V{4} in their terror of him, the men on guard trembled violently and became like dead men. But\V{5} the angel, addressing the women, said, “You need not be afraid. I know that it is Jesus, who was crucified, for whom you are looking. He\V{6} is not here; for he has risen, as he said he would. Come, and see the place where he was lying; and\V{7} then go quickly and say to his disciples ‘He has risen from the dead, and is going before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Remember, I have told you.” They\V{8} left the tomb quickly, in awe and great joy, and ran to tell the news to the disciples. Suddenly\V{9} Jesus met them.  “Welcome!”  he said. The women went up to him, and clasped his feet, bowing to the ground before him. Then Jesus said to them,  “Do\V{10} not be afraid; go and tell my brothers and sisters to set out for Galilee, and they will see me there.”  While\V{11} they were still on their way, some of the guard came into the city, and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. So\V{12} they and the elders met and, after holding a consultation, gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and\V{13} told them to say that his disciples came in the night, and stole him while they were asleep; “And\V{14} should this matter come before the Governor,” they added, “we will satisfy him, and see that you have nothing to fear.” So\V{15} the soldiers took the money, and did as they were instructed. This story spread widely; the people of Judea still tell it today.
\par 
\indentation  The\V{16} eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus told them to meet him; and,\V{17} when they saw him, they bowed to the ground before him; although some felt doubtful. Then\V{18} Jesus came up, and spoke to them, saying,  “All authority in heaven and on the earth has been given to me.   Therefore\V{19} go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the faith of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,   and\V{20} teaching them to lay to heart all the commands that I have given you; and, remember, I myself am with you every day until the close of the age.” \marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Mark}

\MTT{The}

\MTT{Good News According to}

\MT{Mark}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Preparation}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  The\C{1} beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ.
\par 
\indentation  It\V{2} is said in the prophet Isaiah –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘I am sending my messenger ahead of you;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he will prepare your way.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{3} voice of one crying aloud in the wilderness:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“Prepare the road for the Lord,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{make a straight path for him.”’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  John\V{4} the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism on repentance, for the forgiveness of sins. The\V{5} whole of Judea, as well as all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, went out to him; and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  John\V{6} wore clothes made of camels’ hair, with a leather strap around his waist, and lived on locusts and wild honey; and\V{7} he proclaimed – “After me is coming someone more powerful than I am, and I am not fit even to stoop down and unfasten his sandals. I\V{8} have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
\par 
\indentation  Now\V{9} about that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just\V{10} as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens split open and the Spirit coming down to him like a dove, and\V{11} from the heavens came a voice – “You are my dearly loved son; you bring me great joy.”
\par 
 Immediately\V{12} afterward the Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness; and\V{13} he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and among the wild beasts, while the angels helped him.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Work in Galilee}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  After\V{14} John had been arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God –  “The\V{15} time has come, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe the good news.” 
\par 
\indentation  As\V{16} Jesus was going along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net in the sea, for they were fishermen.  “Come\V{17} and follow me,”  Jesus said,  “and I will teach you to fish for people.”  They\V{18} left their nets at once, and followed him.
\par 
 Going\V{19} on a little further, he saw James, Zebedee’s son, and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Jesus\V{20} called them at once, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the crew, and went after him.
\par 
 They\V{21} walked to Capernaum. On the next Sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The\V{22} people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught them like one who had authority, and not like the teachers of the Law. Now\V{23} there was in their synagogue at the time a man under the power of a foul spirit, who called out, “What\V{24} do you want with us, Jesus the Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” But\V{25} Jesus rebuked the spirit,  “Be silent! Come out from him.”  The\V{26} foul spirit threw the man into a fit, and with a loud cry came out from him. They\V{27} were all so amazed that they kept asking each other, “What is this? What is this, a new kind of teaching? He gives his commands with authority even to the foul spirits, and they obey him!” His\V{28} fame spread at once in all directions, through the whole region of Galilee.
\par 
 As\V{29} soon as they had left the synagogue, they went to the house of Simon and Andrew, along with James and John. Now\V{30} Simon’s mother-in-law was lying ill with a fever, and they at once told Jesus about her. Jesus\V{31} went up to her and, grasping her hand, raised her up; the fever left her, and she began to take care of them.
\par 
 In\V{32} the evening, after sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who were ill or possessed by demons; and\V{33} the whole city was gathered around the door. Jesus\V{34} cured many who were ill with various diseases, and drove out many demons, and would not permit them to speak, because they knew him to be the Christ.
\par 
 In\V{35} the morning, long before daylight, Jesus got up and went out to a lonely spot, and there he began to pray. But\V{36} Simon and his companions went out searching for him; and,\V{37} when they found him, they exclaimed, “Everyone is looking for you!” But\V{38} Jesus said to them,  “Let us go somewhere else, into the country towns nearby so that I can make my proclamation in them also; for that was why I came.”  And\V{39} he went about making his proclamation in their synagogues all through Galilee, and driving out the demons.
\par 
 One\V{40} day a leper came to Jesus and, falling on his knees, begged him for help. “If only you are willing,” he said, “you are able to make me clean.” Moved\V{41} with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying as he did so,  “I am willing; become clean.”  Instantly\V{42} the leprosy left the man, and he became clean; and\V{43} then Jesus, after sternly warning him, immediately sent him away, and said to him,  “Be\V{44} careful not to say anything to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offerings for your cleansing directed by Moses, as evidence of your cure.”  The\V{45} man, however, went away, and began to speak about it publicly, and to spread the story so widely, that Jesus could no longer go openly into a town, but stayed outside in lonely places; and people came to him from every direction. 
\par 
 Some\C{2} days later, when Jesus came back to Capernaum, the news spread that he was in a house there; and\V{2} so many people collected together, that after a while there was no room for them even around the door; and he began to tell them his message. Some\V{3} people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, who was being carried by four of them. Being,\V{4} however, unable to get him near to Jesus, owing to the crowd, they removed the roofing above Jesus; and, when they had made an opening, they let down the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying. When\V{5} Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man,  “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 
\par 
 But\V{6} some of the teachers of the Law who were sitting there were debating in their minds, “Why\V{7} does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins except God?” Jesus,\V{8} at once intuitively aware that they were debating with themselves in this way, said to them,  “Why are you debating in your minds about this?   Which\V{9} is easier? – to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’? Or to say ‘Get up, and take up your mat, and walk’?   But\V{10} so you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins on earth”  – here he said to the paralyzed man –  “To\V{11} you I say, Get up, take up your mat, and return to your home.”  The\V{12} man got up, and immediately took up his mat, and went out before them all; at which they were amazed, and, as they praised God, they said, “We have never seen anything like this!”
\par 
 Jesus\V{13} went out again to the sea; and all the people came to him, and he taught them. As\V{14} he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting in the tax office, and said to him,  “Follow me.”  Levi got up and followed him.
\par 
 Later\V{15} on he was in his house having dinner, and a number of tax-gatherers and outcasts took their places at the table with Jesus and his disciples; for many of them were following him. When\V{16} the teachers of the Law belonging to the party of the Pharisees saw that he was eating in the company of such people, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with the tax-gatherers and outcasts?” Hearing\V{17} this, Jesus said,  “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. I did not come to call the religious, but the outcast.” 
\par 
 Now\V{18} John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and people came and asked Jesus, “Why is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, while yours do not?” Jesus\V{19} answered,  “Can the groom’s friends fast, while the groom is with them? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast.   But\V{20} the days will come, when the groom will be taken away from them, and they will fast then – when that day comes.” 
\par 
  “No\V{21} one ever sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if they do, the patch tears away from it – the new from the old – and a worse tear is made.   And\V{22} no one ever puts new wine into old wine-skins; if they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are lost. But new wine is put into fresh skins.” 
\par 
 One\V{23} Sabbath, as Jesus was walking through the cornfields, his disciples began to pick the ears of wheat as they went along. “Look!”\V{24} the Pharisees said to him, “why are they doing what is not allowed on the Sabbath?”
\par 
  “Have\V{25} you never read,”  answered Jesus,  “what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and his companions –   how\V{26} he went into the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which only the priests are allowed to eat, and gave some to his comrades as well?” 
\par 
 Then\V{27} Jesus added,  “The Sabbath was made for people, and not people for the Sabbath;   so\V{28} the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”  
\par 
 On\C{3} another occasion Jesus went in to a synagogue, where there was a man whose hand was withered. And\V{2} they watched Jesus closely, to see if he would cure the man on the Sabbath, so that they might have a charge to bring against him.  “Stand\V{3} out in the middle,”  Jesus said to the man with the withered hand; and\V{4} to the people he said,  “Is it allowable to do good at the Sabbath – or harm? To save a life, or destroy it?”  As\V{5} they remained silent, Jesus looked around at them in anger, grieving at the hardness of their hearts, and said to the man,  “Stretch out your hand.”  The man stretched it out; and his hand had become sound. Immediately\V{6} on leaving the synagogue, the Pharisees and the Herodians united in laying a plot against Jesus, to put him to death.\blank 

\par 
 Then\V{7} Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea, followed by a great number of people from Galilee. A\V{8} great number, hearing of all that he was doing, came to him from Judea, from Jerusalem, from Edom, from beyond the Jordan, and from the country around Tyre and Sidon. So\V{9} Jesus told his disciples to keep a small boat close by, so that the crowd would not crush him. For\V{10} he had cured many of them, and so people kept crowding around him, so all who were sick might touch him. The\V{11} foul spirits, too, whenever they caught sight of him, flung themselves down before him, and screamed out, “You are the Son of God”! But\V{12} he repeatedly warned them not to make him known.
\par 
 Jesus\V{13} made his way up the hill, and called those whom he wished; and they went to him. He\V{14} appointed twelve – whom he also named ‘apostles’ – so that they might be with him, and that he might send them out as his messengers, to preach, and\V{15} with power to drive out demons. So\V{16} he appointed the Twelve – Peter (which was the name that Jesus gave to Simon), James,\V{17} the son of Zebedee, and his brother John (to whom he gave the name of Boanerges, which means the Thunderers), Andrew,\V{18} Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and\V{19} Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed him.
\par 
 Jesus\V{20} went into a house; and again a crowd collected, so that they were not even able to eat their food. When\V{21} his relatives heard of it, they went to take charge of him, for they said that he was out of his mind.
\par 
 The\V{22} teachers of the Law, who had come down from Jerusalem, said, “He has Beelzebul in him! He drives the demons out by the help of their chief.” So\V{23} Jesus called them to him, and answered them in parables,  “How can Satan drive out Satan?   When\V{24} a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot last;   and\V{25} when a household is divided against itself, it will not be able to last.   So,\V{26} if Satan is in revolt against himself and is divided, he cannot last – his end has come! 
\par 
  “No\V{27} man who has broken into a strong man’s house can carry off his goods, without first tying him up; and not until then will he plunder his house.   I\V{28} tell you that people will be forgiven everything – their sins, and all the slanders that they utter;   but\V{29} whoever slanders the Holy Spirit remains unforgiven to the end; he has to answer for an enduring sin.”  This\V{30} was said in reply to the charge that he had a foul spirit in him. His\V{31} mother and his brothers came, and stood outside, and sent to ask him to come to them. There\V{32} was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and some of them said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.”
\par 
  “Who\V{33} is my mother? And my brothers?”  was his reply. Then\V{34} he looked around on the people sitting in a circle around him, and said,  “Here are my mother and my brothers!   Whoever\V{35} does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”  \blank 

\par 
 Jesus\C{4} again began to teach by the sea; and, as an immense crowd was gathering around him, he got into a boat, and sat in it on the sea, while all the people were on the shore at the water’s edge.
\par 
 Then\V{2} he taught them many truths in parables; and in the course of his teaching he said to them:
\par 
  “Listen!\V{3} The sower went out to sow;   and\V{4} presently, as he was sowing, some of the seed fell along the path; and the birds came, and ate it up.   Some\V{5} fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and, because the soil wasn’t deep, sprang up at once;   but,\V{6} when the sun rose, it was scorched, and, because their roots were not deep enough, withered away.   Some\V{7} of the seed fell among brambles; but the brambles shot up and completely choked it, and it yielded no return.   Some\V{8} fell into good soil, and, shooting up and growing, yielded a return, amounting to thirty, sixty, and even a hundred fold.”  And\V{9} Jesus said,  “Let anyone who has ears to hear with hear.” 
\par 
 Afterward,\V{10} when he was alone, his followers and the Twelve asked him about his parables; and\V{11} he said,  “To you the hidden truth of the kingdom of God has been imparted; but to those who are outside it all teaching takes the form of parables so that –   ‘Though\V{12} they have eyes, they may see without perceiving; and though they have ears, they may hear without understanding; otherwise some day they might turn and be forgiven.’” 
\par 
  “You\V{13} do not know the meaning of this parable?”  he went on;  “Then how will you understand all the other parables?   The\V{14} sower sows the message.   The\V{15} people meant by the seed that falls along the path are these – where the message is sown, but, as soon as they have heard it, Satan immediately comes and carries away the message that has been sown in them.   So,\V{16} too, those meant by the seed sown on the rocky places are the people who, when they have heard the message, at once accept it joyfully;   but,\V{17} as they have no root, they stand only for a short time; and so, when trouble or persecution arises because of the message, they fall away at once.   Those\V{18} meant by the seed sown among the brambles are different; they are the people who hear the message,   but\V{19} the cares of life, and the glamour of wealth, and cravings for many other things come in and completely choke the message, so that it gives no return.   But\V{20} the people meant by the seed sown on the good ground are those who hear the message, and welcome it, and yield a return, thirty, sixty, and even a hundred fold.” 
\par 
 Jesus\V{21} said to them,  “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under the couch, instead of being put on the lamp-stand?   There\V{22} is nothing hidden that will not come to light and nothing is concealed that will not be brought into the open.   Let\V{23} all who have ears to hear with hear. 
\par 
  “Take\V{24} care what you listen to,”  said Jesus.  “The standard you use will be used for you, and more will be added for you.   For,\V{25} to those who have, more will be given; while, from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” 
\par 
 Jesus\V{26} also said,  “This is what the kingdom of God is like – like a man who has scattered seed on the ground,   and\V{27} then sleeps by night and rises by day, while the seed is shooting up and growing – he knows not how.   The\V{28} ground bears the crop of itself – first the blade, then the ear, and then the full grain in the ear;   but,\V{29} as soon as the crop is ready, immediately he puts in the sickle because harvest has come.” 
\par 
 Jesus\V{30} also said,  “To what can we liken the kingdom of God?   By\V{31} what can we illustrate it? Perhaps by the growth of a mustard seed. This seed, when sown in the ground, though it is smaller than all other seeds,   yet,\V{32} when sown, shoots up, and becomes larger than any other herb, and puts out great branches, so that even the wild birds can roost in its shelter.” 
\par 
 With\V{33} many such parables Jesus used to speak to the people of his message, as far as they were able to receive it; and\V{34} to them he never used to speak except in parables; but in private to his own disciples he explained everything.\blank 

\par 
 In\V{35} the evening of the same day, Jesus said to them,  “Let us go across.”  So,\V{36} leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them, just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him. A\V{37} violent squall came on, and the waves kept dashing into the boat, so that the boat was actually filling. Jesus\V{38} was in the stern asleep on the cushion; and the disciples roused him and cried, “Teacher! Is it nothing to you that we are lost?” Jesus\V{39} rose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,  “Hush! Be still!”  Then the wind dropped, and a great calm followed.  “Why\V{40} are you so timid?”  he exclaimed.  “Have you no faith yet?”  But\V{41} they were struck with great awe, and said to one another, “Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey him?” 
\par 
 They\C{5} came to the other side of the sea – the region of the Gerasenes; and,\V{2} as soon as Jesus had got out of the boat, he met a man coming out of the tombs, who was under the power of a foul spirit, and\V{3} who made his home in the tombs. No one had ever been able to secure him, even with a chain; for,\V{4} though he had many times been left secured with fetters and chains, he had snapped the chains and broken the fetters to pieces, and no one could master him. Night\V{5} and day alike, he was continually shrieking in the tombs and among the hills, and cutting himself with stones. Catching\V{6} sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed to the ground before him, shrieking\V{7} out in a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? For God’s sake do not torment me!” For\V{8} Jesus had said,  “Come out from the man, you foul spirit.”  And\V{9} he asked him,  “What is your name?”  “My name,” he said, “is Legion, for there are many of us;” and\V{10} he begged Jesus again and again not to send them away out of that country.
\par 
 There\V{11} was a large drove of pigs close by, feeding on the hillside; and\V{12} the spirits begged Jesus, “Send us into the pigs so that we can take possession of them.” Jesus\V{13} gave them leave. They came out, and entered into the pigs; and the drove – about two thousand in number – rushed down the steep slope into the sea and were drowned in the sea.
\par 
 Then\V{14} the men who tended them ran away, and carried the news to the town, and to the country around; and the people went to see what had happened. When\V{15} they came to Jesus, they found the possessed man sitting there, clothed and in his right mind – the man who had had the ‘Legion’ in him – and they were awe-struck. Then\V{16} those who had seen it related to them all that had happened to the possessed man, as well as about the pigs; so\V{17} they began to beg Jesus to leave their region.
\par 
 As\V{18} Jesus was getting into the boat, the possessed man begged him to let him stay with him. But\V{19} Jesus refused.  “Go back to your home, to your own people,”  he said,  “and tell them of all that the Lord has done for you, and how he took pity on you.”  So\V{20} the man went, and began to proclaim in the district of the Ten Towns all that Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
\par 
 By\V{21} the time Jesus had recrossed in the boat to the opposite shore, a great number of people had gathered to meet him, and were standing by the sea. One\V{22} of the leaders of the synagogue, whose name was Jairus, came and, as soon as he saw Jesus, threw himself at his feet and begged him repeatedly, saying,\V{23} “My little daughter is at death’s door. Please come and place your hands on her so that she may recover and live.” So\V{24} Jesus went with him. A great number of people followed Jesus, and kept pressing around him.
\par 
 Meanwhile\V{25} a woman who for twelve years had suffered from hemorrhage, and\V{26} undergone much at the hands of many doctors, (spending all she had without obtaining any relief, but, on the contrary, growing worse), heard\V{27} about Jesus, came behind in the crowd, and touched his cloak. “If\V{28} I can only touch his clothes,” she said, “I will get well!” At\V{29} once her bleeding stopped, and she felt in herself that she was cured of her affliction. Jesus\V{30} at once became aware of the power that had gone out from him, and, turning around in the crowd, he said,  “Who touched my clothes?” 
\par 
 “You\V{31} see the people pressing around you,” exclaimed his disciples, “and yet you say  ‘Who touched me?’”  But\V{32} Jesus looked about to see who had done it. Then\V{33} the woman, in fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and threw herself down before him, and told him the whole truth.  “Daughter,”\V{34}   he said,  “your faith has delivered you. Go, and peace be with you; be free from your affliction.” 
\par 
 Before\V{35} he had finished speaking, some people from the house of the synagogue leader came and said, “Your daughter is dead! Why should you trouble the teacher further?” But\V{36} Jesus, overhearing what they were saying, said to the synagogue leader,  “Do not be afraid; only have faith.”  And\V{37} he allowed no one to accompany him, except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. Presently\V{38} they reached the leader’s house, where Jesus saw a scene of confusion – people weeping and wailing incessantly.  “Why\V{39} this confusion and weeping?”  he said on entering.  “The little child is not dead; she is asleep.”  They\V{40} began to laugh at him; but he sent them all out, and then, with the child’s father and mother and his companions, went into the room where she was lying. Taking\V{41} her hand, Jesus said to her,  “Talitha, koum!”  – which means  ‘little girl, I am speaking to you – Rise!’  The\V{42} little girl stood up at once, and began to walk about; for she was twelve years old. And, as soon as they saw it, they were overwhelmed with amazement; but\V{43} Jesus repeatedly cautioned them not to let anyone know of it, and told them to give her something to eat. 
\par 
 On\C{6} leaving that place, Jesus, followed by his disciples, went to his own part of the country. When\V{2} the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue; and the people, as they listened, were deeply impressed. “Where did he get this?” they said, “and what is this wisdom that has been given him? And these miracles which he is doing? Isn’t\V{3} he the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters, too, living here among us?” This proved a hindrance to their believing in him; at\V{4} which Jesus said,  “A prophet is not without honor, except in his home town, and among his own relatives, and in his own home.”  And\V{5} he could not work any miracle there, beyond placing his hands on a few infirm persons, and curing them; and\V{6} he wondered at the want of faith shown by the people. Jesus went around the villages, one after another, teaching.\blank 

\par 
 He\V{7} called the Twelve to him, and began to send them out as his messengers, two and two, and gave them authority over foul spirits. He\V{8} instructed them to take nothing but a staff for the journey – not even bread, or a bag, or coins in their purse; but\V{9} they were to wear sandals, and not to put on a second coat.  “Whenever\V{10} you go to stay at a house,”  he said,  “remain there until you leave that place;   and\V{11} if a place does not welcome you, or listen to you, as you go out of it shake off the dust that is on the soles of your feet, as a protest against them.”  So\V{12} they set out, and proclaimed the need of repentance. They\V{13} drove out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were infirm, and cured them.
\par 
 Now\V{14} King Herod heard of Jesus; for his name had become well known. People were saying – “John the Baptizer must have risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are active in him.” Others\V{15} again said – “He is Elijah,” and others – “He is a prophet, like one of the great prophets.” But\V{16} when Herod heard of him, he said – “The man whom I beheaded – John – he must be risen!”
\par 
 For\V{17} Herod himself had sent and arrested John, and put him in prison, in chains, to please Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because Herod had married her. For\V{18} John had said to Herod – “You have no right to be living with your brother’s wife.” So\V{19} Herodias was incensed against John, and wanted to put him to death, but was unable to do so, because\V{20} Herod stood in fear of John, knowing him to be an upright and holy man, and protected him. He had listened to John, but still remained much perplexed, and yet he found pleasure in listening to him.
\par 
 A\V{21} suitable opportunity, however, occurred when Herod, on his birthday, gave a dinner to his high officials, and his generals, and the foremost men in Galilee. When\V{22} his daughter – that is, the daughter of Herodias – came in and danced, she delighted Herod and those who were dining with him. “Ask me for whatever you like,” the king said to the girl, “and I will give it to you”; and\V{23} he swore to her that he would give her whatever she asked him – up to half his kingdom. The\V{24} girl went out, and said to her mother “What must I ask for?”
\par 
“The head of John the Baptizer,” answered her mother. So\V{25} she went in as quickly as possible to the king, and made her request. “I want you,” she said, “to give me at once, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist.” The\V{26} king was much distressed; yet, because of his oath and of the guests at his table, he did not like to refuse her. He\V{27} immediately dispatched one of his bodyguard, with orders to bring John’s head. The man went and beheaded John in the prison, and,\V{28} bringing his head on a dish, gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
\par 
 When\V{29} John’s disciples heard of it, they came and took his body away, and laid it in a tomb.
\par 
 When\V{30} the apostles came back to Jesus, they told him all that they had done and all that they had taught.  “Come\V{31} by yourselves privately to some lonely spot,”  he said,  “and rest for a while”  – for there were so many people coming and going that they had not time even to eat. So\V{32} they set off privately in their boat for a lonely spot. Many\V{33} people saw them going, and recognized them, and from all the towns they flocked together to the place on foot, and got there before them. On\V{34} getting out of the boat, Jesus saw a great crowd, and his heart was moved at the sight of them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When\V{35} it grew late, his disciples came up to him, and said, “This is a lonely spot, and it is already late. Send\V{36} the people away, so that they may go to the farms and villages around and buy themselves something to eat.” But\V{37} Jesus answered,  “It is for you to give them something to eat.”  “Are we to go and spend almost a year’s wages on bread,” they asked, “to give them to eat?”
\par 
  “How\V{38} many loaves have you?”  he asked;  “Go, and see.”  When they had found out, they told him, “Five, and two fish.” Jesus\V{39} directed them to make all the people take their seats on the green grass, in parties; and\V{40} they sat down in groups – in hundreds, and in fifties. Taking\V{41} the five loaves and the two fish, Jesus looked up to heaven, and said the blessing; he broke the loaves into pieces, and gave them to his disciples for them to serve out to the people, and he divided the two fish also among them all. Everyone\V{42} had sufficient to eat; and\V{43} they picked up enough broken pieces to fill twelve baskets, as well as some of the fish. The\V{44} people who ate the bread were five thousand in number.
\par 
 Immediately\V{45} afterward Jesus made his disciples get into the boat, and cross over in advance, in the direction of Bethsaida, while he himself was dismissing the crowd. After\V{46} he had taken leave of the people, he went away up the hill to pray. When\V{47} evening fell, the boat was out in the middle of the sea, and Jesus on the shore alone. Seeing\V{48} them laboring at the oars – for the wind was against them – about three hours after midnight Jesus came towards them, walking on the water, intending to join them. But,\V{49} when they saw him walking on the water, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out; for\V{50} all of them saw him, and were terrified. But Jesus at once spoke to them.  “Courage!”  he said,  “it is I; do not be afraid!”  Then\V{51} he got into the boat with them, and the wind dropped. The disciples were utterly amazed, for\V{52} they had not understood about the loaves, their minds being slow to learn. When\V{53} they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret, and moored the boat. But\V{54} they had no sooner left her than the people, recognizing Jesus, hurried\V{55} over the whole country-side, and began to carry about on mats those who were ill, wherever they heard he was. So\V{56} wherever he went – to villages, or towns, or farms – they would lay their sick in the market-places, begging him to let them touch only the tassel of his cloak; and all who touched were made well. \blank 

\par 
 One\C{7} day the Pharisees and some of the teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. They\V{2} had noticed that some of his disciples ate their food with their hands ‘defiled,’ by which they meant unwashed. (For\V{3} the Pharisees, and indeed all strict Jews, will not eat without first scrupulously washing their hands, holding in this to the traditions of their ancestors. When\V{4} they come from market, they will not eat without first sprinkling themselves; and there are many other customs which they have inherited and hold to, such as the ceremonial washing of cups, and jugs, and copper pans). So\V{5} the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked Jesus this question – “How is it that your disciples do not follow the traditions of our ancestors, but eat their food with defiled hands?” His\V{6} answer was,  “It was well said by Isaiah when he prophesied about you hypocrites in the words – ‘This is a people who honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far removed from me;   but\V{7} vainly do they worship me, For they teach but human precepts.’   You\V{8} neglect God’s commandments and hold to human traditions.   Wisely\V{9} do you set aside God’s commandments,”  he exclaimed,  “to keep your own traditions!   For\V{10} while Moses said ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Let anyone who abuses their father or mother suffer death,’   you\V{11} say ‘If a person says to their father or mother “Whatever of mine might have been of service to you is Corban”’  (which means ‘Set apart for God’) –  why,\V{12} then you do not allow them to do anything further for their father or mother!   In\V{13} this way you nullify the words of God by your traditions, which you hand down; and you do many similar things.” 
\par 
 Then\V{14} Jesus called the people to him again, and said,  “Listen to me, all of you, and mark my words.   There\V{15} is nothing external to a person, which by going into them can defile them; but the things that come out of a person are the things that defile them.”  \footnote{\V{16}  7:16    Some later manuscripts add, Let anyone with ears to hear, listen.} 
\par 
 When\V{17} Jesus went indoors, away from the crowd, his disciples began questioning him about this saying.  “What,\V{18} do even you understand so little?”  exclaimed Jesus.  “Don’t you see that there is nothing external to a person, which by going into a person, can defile them,   because\V{19} it does not pass into his heart, but into his stomach, and is afterward got rid of?” – in saying this Jesus pronounced all food clean.   “It\V{20} is what comes out from a person,”  he added,  “that defiles them,   for\V{21} it is from within, out of the hearts of people, that there come evil thoughts – sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,   greed,\V{22} wickedness, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, haughtiness, folly;   all\V{23} these wicked things come from within, and do defile a person.” 
\par 
 On\V{24} leaving that place, Jesus went to the district of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house, and did not wish anyone to know it, but could not escape notice. For\V{25} a woman, whose little daughter had a foul spirit in her, heard of him immediately, and came and threw herself at his feet – the\V{26} woman was a foreigner, from Syrian Phoenicia – and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.  “Let\V{27} the children be satisfied first,”  answered Jesus.  “For it is not fair to take the children’s food, and throw it to dogs.” 
\par 
 “Yes,\V{28} Master,” she replied; “even the dogs under the table do feed on the children’s crumbs.”
\par 
  “For\V{29} saying that,”  he answered,  “you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”  The\V{30} woman went home, and found the child lying on her bed, and the demon gone.
\par 
 On\V{31} returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went, by way of Sidon, to the Sea of Galilee, across the district of the Ten Towns. Some\V{32} people brought to him a man who was deaf and almost dumb, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. Jesus\V{33} took him aside from the crowd quietly, put his fingers into the man’s ears, and touched his tongue with saliva. Then,\V{34} looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to the man,  “Ephphatha!”  which means  ‘Be opened.’  The\V{35} man’s ears were opened, the string of his tongue was freed, and he began to talk plainly. Jesus\V{36} insisted on their not telling anyone; but the more he insisted, the more perseveringly they made it known, and\V{37} a profound impression was made on the people. “He has done everything well!” they exclaimed. “He makes even the deaf hear and the dumb speak!” \blank 

\par 
 About\C{8} that time, when there was again a great crowd of people who had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him, and said,  “My\V{2} heart is moved at the sight of all these people, for they have already been with me three days and they have nothing to eat;   and\V{3} if I send them away to their homes hungry, they will break down on the way; and some of them have come a long distance.” 
\par 
 “Where\V{4} will it be possible,” his disciples answered, “to get sufficient bread for these people in this lonely place?”
\par 
  “How\V{5} many loaves have you?”  he asked. “Seven,” they answered. Jesus\V{6} told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, and, after saying the thanksgiving, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to serve out; and they served them out to the crowd. They\V{7} had also a few small fish; and, after he had said the blessing, he told the disciples to serve out these as well. The\V{8} people had sufficient to eat, and they picked up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left. There\V{9} were about four thousand people. Then Jesus dismissed them. Immediately\V{10} afterward, getting into the boat with his disciples, Jesus went to the district of Dalmanutha.
\par 
 Here\V{11} the Pharisees came out, and began to argue with Jesus, asking him for some sign from the heavens, to test him. Sighing\V{12} deeply, Jesus said,  “Why does this generation ask for a sign? I tell you, no sign will be given it.”  So\V{13} he left them to themselves, and, getting into the boat again, went away to the opposite shore.
\par 
 Now\V{14} the disciples had forgotten to take any bread with them, one loaf being all that they had in the boat. So\V{15} Jesus gave them this warning.  “Take care,”  he said,  “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”  They\V{16} began talking to one another about their being short of bread; and,\V{17} noticing this, Jesus said to them,  “Why are you talking about your being short of bread? Don’t you yet see or understand? Are your minds still so slow or comprehension?   Though\V{18} you have eyes, do you not see? And though you have ears, do you not hear? Don’t you remember,   when\V{19} I broke up the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets of broken pieces you picked up?” 
\par 
“Twelve,” they said.  “And\V{20} when the seven for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you pick up?” 
\par 
“Seven,” they said.  “Don’t\V{21} you understand now?”  he repeated.
\par 
 They\V{22} came to Bethsaida. There some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and begged him to touch him. Taking\V{23} the blind man’s hand, Jesus led him to the outskirts of the village, and, when he had put saliva on the man’s eyes, he placed his hands on him, and asked him,  “Do you see anything?”  The\V{24} man looked up, and said, “I see the people, for, as they walk about, they look to me like trees.” Then\V{25} Jesus again placed his hands on the man’s eyes; and the man saw clearly, his sight was restored, and he saw everything with perfect distinctness. Jesus\V{26} sent him to his home, and said,  “Do not go even into the village.” \blank 

\par 
 Afterward\V{27} Jesus and his disciples went into the villages around Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples this question –  “Who do people say that I am?” 
\par 
 “John\V{28} the Baptist,” they answered, “but others say Elijah, while others say one of the prophets.”
\par 
  “But\V{29} you,”  he asked,  “who do you say that I am?”  To this Peter replied, “You are the Christ.” At\V{30} which Jesus charged them not to say this about him to anyone. Then\V{31} he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo much suffering, and that he must be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law, and be put to death, and rise again after three days. He\V{32} said all this quite openly. But Peter took Jesus aside, and began to rebuke him. Jesus,\V{33} however, turning around and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter.  “Out of my sight, Satan!”  he exclaimed.  “For you look at things, not as God does, but as people do.” 
\par 
 Calling\V{34} the people and his disciples to him, Jesus said,  “If anyone wishes to walk in my steps, they must renounce self, take up their cross, and follow me.   For\V{35} whoever wishes to save their life will lose it, and whoever, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, will lose their life will save it.   What\V{36} good is it to a person to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?   For\V{37} what could a person give that is of equal value with their life?   Whoever\V{38} is ashamed of me and of my teaching, in this unfaithful and wicked generation, of them will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”  
\par 
  “I\C{9} tell you,”  he added,  “that some of those who are standing here will not know death until they have seen the kingdom of God come in power.” 
\par 
 Six\V{2} days later, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain alone by themselves. There his appearance was transformed before their eyes, and\V{3} his clothes became whiter than any launderer in the whole world could bleach them. And\V{4} Elijah appeared to them, in company with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. “Rabbi,”\V{5} said Peter, interposing, “it is good to be here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” For\V{6} he did not know what to say, because they were much afraid. Then\V{7} a cloud came down and enveloped them; and from the cloud there came a voice – “This is my dearly loved son; listen to him.” And\V{8} suddenly, on looking around, they saw that there was now no one with them but Jesus alone.
\par 
 As\V{9} they were going down the mountainside, Jesus cautioned them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They\V{10} seized on these words and discussed with one another what this ‘rising from the dead’ meant. “How\V{11} is it,” they asked Jesus, “that our teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?”
\par 
  “Elijah\V{12} does indeed come first,”  answered Jesus,  “and re-establish everything; and does not scripture speak, with regard to the Son of Man, of his undergoing much suffering and being utterly despised?   But\V{13} I tell you that Elijah has come, and people have treated him just as they pleased, as scripture says of him.” 
\par 
 When\V{14} they came to the other disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some teachers of the Law arguing with them. But,\V{15} as soon as they saw Jesus, all the people, in great astonishment, ran up and greeted him.  “What\V{16} are you arguing about with them?”  Jesus asked. “Teacher,”\V{17} answered a man in the crowd, “I brought my son to see you, as he has a spirit in him that makes him mute; and,\V{18} wherever it seizes him, it dashes him down; he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth, and he is pining away. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they failed.”
\par 
  “Faithless\V{19} generation!”  exclaimed Jesus.  “How long must I be with you? How long must I have patience with you? Bring the boy to me.”  They\V{20} brought him to Jesus; but no sooner did the boy see him than the spirit threw him into convulsions; and he fell on the ground, and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.  “How\V{21} long has he been like this?”  Jesus asked the boy’s father. “From\V{22} his childhood,” he answered; “and it has often thrown him into fire and into water to put an end to his life; but, if you can possibly do anything, take pity on us, and help us!”  “Why\V{23} say ‘possibly’?”  Jesus replied.  “Everything is possible for one who has faith.”  The\V{24} boy’s father immediately cried out, “I have faith; help my want of faith!” But,\V{25} when Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly collecting, he rebuked the foul spirit,  “Deaf and dumb spirit, it is I who command you. Come out from him and never enter him again.”  With\V{26} a loud cry the spirit threw the boy into repeated convulsions, and then came out from him. The boy looked like a corpse, so that most of them said that he was dead. But\V{27} Jesus took his hand, and lifted him; and he stood up.
\par 
 When\V{28} Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
\par 
  “A\V{29} spirit of this kind,”  he said,  “can be driven out only by prayer.” \blank 

\par 
 Leaving\V{30} that place, Jesus and his disciples went on their way through Galilee; but he did not wish anyone to know it, for\V{31} he was instructing his disciples, and telling them –  “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of his fellow men, and they will put him to death, but, when he has been put to death, he will rise again after three days.”  But\V{32} the disciples did not understand his meaning and were afraid to question him.
\par 
 They\V{33} came to Capernaum. When Jesus had gone into the house, he asked them,  “What were you discussing on the way?”  But\V{34} they were silent; for on the way they had been arguing with one another which was the greatest. Sitting\V{35} down, Jesus called the Twelve and said,  “If anyone wishes to be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all.”  Then\V{36} Jesus took a little child, and placed it in the middle of them. Taking it in his arms, he said to them,  “Anyone\V{37} who, for the sake of my name, welcomes even a little child like this is welcoming me, and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming not me, but him who sent me as his messenger.” 
\par 
 “Teacher,”\V{38} said John, “we saw a man driving out demons by using your name, and we tried to prevent him, because he did not follow us.”
\par 
  “None\V{39} of you must prevent the man,”  answered Jesus,  “for no one will use my name in working a miracle, and yet find it easy to speak evil of me.   He\V{40} who is not against us is for us.   If\V{41} anyone gives you a cup of water because you belong to Christ, I tell you, he will assuredly not lose his reward. 
\par 
  “And,\V{42} if anyone puts temptation in the way of one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be far better for him if he had been thrown into the sea with a great millstone around his neck.   If\V{43} your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It would be better for you to enter the life maimed, than to have both your hands and go into Gehenna, into the fire that cannot be put out.  \footnote{\V{44}  9:44    Some later manuscripts add here or at verse 46: where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.}   If\V{45} your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It would be better for you to enter the life lame, than to have both your feet and be thrown into Gehenna.  \footnote{\V{46}  9:46    See the note on verse 44.}   If\V{47} your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It would be better for you to enter the kingdom of God with only one eye, than to have both eyes and be thrown into Gehenna,   where\V{48} their worm does not die, and the fire is not put out. 
\par 
  For\V{49} it is by fire that everyone will be salted. 
\par 
  Salt\V{50} is good, but, if the salt should lose its saltiness, what will you use to season it? 
\par 
 You must have salt in yourselves, and live at peace with one another.”  
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Journey to Jerusalem}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  On\C{10} leaving that place, Jesus went into the district of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. Crowds gathered about him again; and again, as usual, he began teaching them. Presently\V{2} some Pharisees came up and, to test him, asked, “Has a husband the right to divorce his wife?”
\par 
\indentation   “What\V{3} direction did Moses give you?”  replied Jesus. “Moses,”\V{4} they said, “permitted a man to draw up in writing a notice of separation and divorce his wife.”
\par 
  “It\V{5} was owing to the hardness of your hearts,”  said Jesus,  “that Moses gave you this direction;   but,\V{6} at the beginning of the Creation, ‘God made them male and female.’   ‘For\V{7} this reason a man will leave his father and mother,   and\V{8} the man and his wife will become one;’ so that they are no longer two, but one.   What\V{9} God himself, then, has yoked together no one must separate.” 
\par 
 When\V{10} they were indoors, the disciples asked him again about this, and\V{11} he said,  “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman is guilty of adultery against his wife;   and,\V{12} if the woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she is guilty of adultery.” 
\par 
 Some\V{13} of the people were bringing little children to Jesus, for him to touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who had brought them. When,\V{14} however, Jesus saw this, he was indignant.  “Let the little children come to me,”  he said,  “do not hinder them; for it is to the childlike that the kingdom of God belongs.   I\V{15} tell you, unless a person receives the kingdom of God like a child, they will not enter it at all.”  Then\V{16} he embraced the children, and, placing his hands on them, gave them his blessing.
\par 
 As\V{17} Jesus was resuming his journey, a man came running up to him, and threw himself on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to gain eternal life?”
\par 
  “Why\V{18} do you call me good?”  answered Jesus.  “No one is good but God.   You\V{19} know the commandments – ‘Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not say what is false about others. Do not cheat. Honor your father and your mother.’” 
\par 
 “Teacher,”\V{20} he replied, “I have observed all these from my childhood.” Jesus\V{21} looked at the man, and his heart went out to him, and he said,  “There is still one thing wanting in you; go and sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven; then come and follow me.”  But\V{22} the man’s face clouded at these words, and he went away distressed, for he had great possessions.
\par 
 Then\V{23} Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples,  “How hard it will be for people of wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”  The\V{24} disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again,  “My children, how hard a thing it is to enter the kingdom of God!   It\V{25} is easier for a camel to get through a needle’s eye, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 
\par 
 “Then\V{26} who can be saved?” they exclaimed in the greatest astonishment. Jesus\V{27} looked at them, and answered,  “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for everything is possible with God.” 
\par 
 “But\V{28} we,” began Peter, “we left everything and have followed you.”
\par 
  “I\V{29} tell you,”  said Jesus,  “there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or land, for my sake and for the good news,   who\V{30} will not receive a hundred times as much, even now in the present – houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and land, though not without persecutions – and in the age that is coming, eternal life.   But\V{31} many who are first now will then be last, and the last will be first.” \blank 

\par 
 One\V{32} day, when they were on their way, going up to Jerusalem, Jesus was walking in front of the apostles, who were filled with misgivings; while those who were following behind were alarmed. Gathering the Twelve around him once more, Jesus began to tell them what was about to happen to him.  “Listen!”\V{33}   he said.  “We are going up to Jerusalem; and there the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, and they will condemn him to death, and they will give him up to the Gentiles,   who\V{34} will mock him, spit on him, and scourge him, and put him to death; and after three days he will rise again.” 
\par 
 James\V{35} and John, the two sons of Zebedee, went to Jesus, and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
\par 
  “What\V{36} do you want me to do for you?”  he asked. “Grant\V{37} us this,” they answered, “to sit, one on your right, and the other on your left, when you come in glory.”
\par 
  “You\V{38} do not know what you are asking,”  Jesus said to them.  “Can you drink the cup that I am to drink? Or receive the baptism that I am to receive?” 
\par 
 “Yes,”\V{39} they answered, “we can.”
\par 
 “You will indeed drink the cup that I am to drink,”  Jesus said,  “and receive the baptism that I am to receive,   but\V{40} as to a seat at my right or at my left – that is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 
\par 
 On\V{41} hearing of this, the ten others were at first very indignant about James and John. But\V{42} Jesus called the ten to him, and said,  “Those who are regarded as ruling among the Gentiles lord it over them, as you know, and their great men oppress them.   But\V{43} among you it is not so. No, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,   and\V{44} whoever wants to take the first place among you must be the servant of all;   for\V{45} even the Son of Man came, not be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 
\par 
 They\V{46} came to Jericho. When Jesus was going out of the town with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. Hearing\V{47} that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to call out, “Jesus, Son of David, take pity on me.” Many\V{48} of the people kept telling him to be quiet; but the man continued to call out all the louder, “Son of David, take pity on me.” Then\V{49} Jesus stopped.  “Call him,”  he said. So they called the blind man. “Have courage!” they exclaimed. “Get up; he is calling you.” The\V{50} man threw off his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.  “What\V{51} do you want me to do for you?”  said Jesus, addressing him. “Rabboni,” the blind man answered, “I want to recover my sight.”
\par 
  “You\V{52} may go,”  Jesus said;  “your faith has delivered you.”  Immediately he recovered his sight, and began to follow Jesus along the road. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Last Days}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  When\C{11} they had almost reached Jerusalem, as far as Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent on two of his disciples.  “Go\V{2} to the village facing you,”  he said;  “and, as soon as you get there, you will find a foal tethered, which no one has ever ridden; untie it, and bring it.   And,\V{3} if anyone says to you ‘Why are you doing that?’, say ‘The Master wants it, and will be sure to send it back here at once.’”  The\V{4} two disciples went, and, finding a foal tethered outside a door in the street, they untied it. Some\V{5} of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the foal?” And\V{6} the two disciples answered as Jesus had told them; and they allowed them to go. Then\V{7} they brought the foal to Jesus, and, when they had laid their cloaks on it, he seated himself on it. Many\V{8} of the people spread their cloaks on the road, while some strewed boughs which they had cut from the fields; and\V{9} those who led the way, as well as those who followed, kept shouting, “God save him! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed\V{10} is the coming kingdom of our father David! God save him from on high!”
\par 
\indentation  Jesus\V{11} entered Jerusalem, and went into the Temple Courts; and, after looking around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
\par 
 The\V{12} next day, after they had left Bethany, Jesus became hungry; and,\V{13} noticing a fig-tree at a distance in leaf, he went to it to see if by any chance he could find something on it; but, on coming up to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. So,\V{14} addressing the tree, he exclaimed,  “May no one ever again eat of your fruit!”  And his disciples heard what he said.
\par 
 They\V{15} came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the Temple Courts, and began to drive out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers, and the seats of the pigeon-dealers, and\V{16} would not allow anyone to carry anything across the Temple Courts. Then\V{17} he began to teach.  “Does not scripture say,”  he asked,  “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”  Now\V{18} the chief priests and the teachers of the Law heard this and began to look for some way of putting Jesus to death; for they were afraid of him, since all the people were greatly impressed by his teaching. As\V{19} soon as evening fell, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
\par 
 As\V{20} they passed by early in the morning, they noticed that the fig-tree was withered up from the roots. Then\V{21} Peter recalled what had occurred. “Look, Rabbi,” he exclaimed, “the fig-tree which you doomed is withered up!”
\par 
  “Have\V{22} faith in God!”  replied Jesus.  “I\V{23} tell you that if anyone should say to this hill ‘Be lifted up and hurled into the sea!’, without ever a doubt in his mind, but in the faith that what he says will be done, he would find that it would be.   And\V{24} therefore I say to you ‘Have faith that whatever you ask for in prayer is already granted you, and you will find that it will be.’ 
\par 
  “And,\V{25} whenever you stand up to pray, forgive any grievance that you have against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven also may forgive you your offenses.”  \footnote{\V{26}  11:26    Some later manuscripts add: But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your offenses.} \blank 

\par 
 They\V{27} came to Jerusalem again. While Jesus was walking about in the Temple Courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the elders came up to him. “What\V{28} authority have you to do these things?” they said. “Who gave you the authority to do them?”
\par 
  “I\V{29} will put one question to you,”  said Jesus.  “Answer me that, and then I will tell you what authority I have to act as I do.   It\V{30} is about John’s baptism. Was it of divine or human origin? Answer me that.”  They\V{31} began arguing together; “If we say ‘divine,’ he will say ‘Why then didn’t you believe him?’ Yet\V{32} can we say ‘human’?” – They were afraid of the people, for everyone regarded John as undoubtedly a prophet. So\V{33} their answer to Jesus was – “We do not know.”
\par 
 “Then I,”  replied Jesus,  “refuse to tell you what authority I have to do these things.”  
\par 
 Jesus\C{12} began to speak to them in parables,  “A man once planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine-press, built a tower, and then let it out to tenants and went abroad.   At\V{2} the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants, to receive from them a share of the produce of the grape harvest;   but\V{3} they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.   A\V{4} second time the owner sent a servant to them; this man, too, the tenants struck on the head, and insulted.   He\V{5} sent another, but him they killed; and so with many others – some they beat and some they killed.   He\V{6} had still one son, who was very dear to him; and him he sent to them last of all. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.   But\V{7} those tenants said to one another ‘Here is the heir! Come, let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.’   So\V{8} they seized him, and killed him, and threw his body outside the vineyard.   What\V{9} will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put the tenants to death, and he will let the vineyard to others. 
\par 
  “Have\V{10} you never read this passage of scripture? – ‘The stone which the builders despised has now itself become the corner-stone;   this\V{11} corner-stone has come from the Lord, and is marvelous in our eyes.’” 
\par 
 After\V{12} this his enemies were eager to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd; for they saw that it was at them that he had aimed the parable. So they left him alone, and went away.\blank 

\par 
 Afterward\V{13} they sent to Jesus some of the Pharisees and Herodians, to set a trap for him in the course of conversation. These\V{14} men came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man, and are not afraid of anyone, for you pay no regard to a person’s position, but teach the way of God honestly; are we right in paying taxes to the Emperor, or not? Should\V{15} we pay, or should we not pay?” Knowing their hypocrisy, Jesus said to them,  “Why are you testing me? Bring me a coin to look at.”  And,\V{16} when they had brought it, he asked,  “Whose head and title are these?” 
\par 
“The Emperor’s,” they said; and\V{17} Jesus replied,  “Pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and to God what belongs to God.”  And they wondered at him.
\par 
 Next\V{18} came some Sadducees – the men who maintain that there is no resurrection. Their question was this – “Teacher,\V{19} in our scriptures Moses decreed that, should a man’s brother die, leaving a widow but no child, the man should take the widow as his wife, and raise up a family for his brother. There\V{20} were once seven brothers. The eldest married, but died and left no family; and\V{21} the second married his widow, and died without family; and so did the third. All\V{22} the seven died and left no family. The woman herself died last of all. At\V{23} the resurrection whose wife will she be, all seven brothers having had her as their wife?”
\par 
  “Is\V{24} not the reason of your mistake,”  answered Jesus,  “your ignorance of the scriptures and of the power of God?   When\V{25} people rise from the dead, there is no marrying or being married; but they are as angels in heaven. 
\par 
  “As\V{26} to the dead, and the fact that they rise, have you never read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush, how God spoke to him saying – ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?   He\V{27} is not God of dead people, but of living. You are greatly mistaken.” 
\par 
 Then\V{28} came up one of the teachers of the Law who had heard their discussions. Knowing that Jesus had answered them wisely, he asked him this question, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
\par 
  “The\V{29} most important,”  answered Jesus,  “is – ‘Hear, Israel; the Lord our God is the one Lord;   and\V{30} you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’   The\V{31} second is this – ‘You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” 
\par 
 “Wisely\V{32} answered, teacher!” exclaimed the teacher of the Law. “It is true, as you say, that there is one God, and that there is no other besides him; and\V{33} to love him with all one’s heart, and with all one’s understanding, and with all one’s strength, and to love one’s neighbor as one loves oneself is far beyond all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Seeing\V{34} that he had answered with discernment, Jesus said to him,  “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” 
\par 
After that no one ventured to question him further.
\par 
 While\V{35} Jesus was teaching in the Temple Courts, he asked,  “How is it that the teachers of the Law say that the Christ is to be David’s son?   David\V{36} said himself, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – ‘The Lord said to my lord: Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies beneath your feet.’   David\V{37} himself calls him ‘lord,’ how comes it, then, that he is to be his son?” 
\par 
The mass of the people listened to Jesus with delight. In\V{38} the course of his teaching, Jesus said,  “See that you are on your guard against the teachers of the Law, who delight to walk about in long robes, and to be greeted in the streets with respect,   and\V{39} to have the best seats in the synagogues, and places of honor at dinner.   They\V{40} are the men who rob widows of their homes, and make a pretense of saying long prayers. Their sentence will be all the heavier.” 
\par 
 Then\V{41} Jesus sat down opposite the chests for the Temple offerings, and watched how the people put money into them. Many rich people were putting in large sums; but\V{42} one poor widow came and put in two small coins, worth very little. Then,\V{43} calling his disciples to him, Jesus said,  “I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others who were putting money into the chests;   for\V{44} everyone else put in something from what he had to spare, while she, in her need, put in all she had – everything that she had to live on.”  \blank 

\par 
 As\C{13} Jesus was walking out of the Temple Courts, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look what fine stones and buildings these are!”
\par 
  “Do\V{2} you see these great buildings?”  asked Jesus.  “Not a single stone will be left here on another, which will not be thrown down.” 
\par 
 When\V{3} Jesus had sat down on the Mount of Olives, facing the Temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew questioned him privately, “Tell\V{4} us when this will be, and what will be the sign when all this is drawing to its close.”
\par 
 Then\V{5} Jesus began,  “See that no one leads you astray.   Many\V{6} will take my name, and come saying ‘I am He’, and will lead many astray. 
\par 
  “And,\V{7} when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; such things must occur; but the end is not yet.   For\V{8} nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This will be but the beginning of the birth-pangs. 
\par 
  “See\V{9} to yourselves! They will betray you to courts of law; and you will be taken to synagogues and beaten; and you will be brought up before governors and kings for my sake, so that you can bear witness before them.   But\V{10} the good news must first be proclaimed to every nation.   Whenever\V{11} they betray you and hand you over for trial, do not be anxious beforehand as to what you will say, but say whatever is given you at the moment; for it will not be you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.   Brother\V{12} will betray brother to death, and the father his child; and children will turn against their parents, and cause them to be put to death;   and\V{13} you will be hated by everyone because of me. Yet the person who endures to the end will be saved. 
\par 
  “As\V{14} soon, however, as you see ‘the Foul Desecration’ standing where it ought not”  (the reader must consider what this means)  “then those of you who are in Judea must take refuge in the mountains;   and\V{15} a person on the house-top must not go down, or go in to get anything out of their house:   nor\V{16} must one who is on their farm turn back to get their cloak.   And\V{17} alas for pregnant women, and for those who are nursing infants in those days!   Pray,\V{18} too, that this may not occur in winter.   For\V{19} those days will be a time of distress, the like of which has not occurred from the beginning of God’s creation until now – and never will again.   And,\V{20} had not the Lord put a limit to those days, not a single soul would escape; but, for the sake of God’s own chosen people, he did limit them. 
\par 
  “And\V{21} at that time if anyone should say to you ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ ‘Look, there he is!’, do not believe it;   for\V{22} false Christs and false prophets will arise, and display signs and marvels, to lead astray, were it possible, even God’s people.   But\V{23} see that you are on your guard! I have told you all this beforehand. 
\par 
  “In\V{24} those days, after that time of distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give her light,   the\V{25} stars will be falling from the heavens, and the forces that are in the heavens will be convulsed.   Then\V{26} will be seen the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory;   and\V{27} then he will send the angels, and gather his people from the four winds, from one end of the world to the other. 
\par 
  “Learn\V{28} the lesson taught by the fig-tree. As soon as its branches are full of sap, and it is bursting into leaf, you know that summer is near.   And\V{29} so may you, as soon as you see these things happening, know that he is at your doors.   I\V{30} tell you that even the present generation will not pass away, until all these things have taken place.   The\V{31} heavens and the earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 
\par 
  “But\V{32} about that day, or the hour, no one knows – not even the angels in heaven, not even the Son – but only the Father. 
\par 
  “See\V{33} that you are on the watch; for you do not know when the time will be.   It\V{34} is like a man going on a journey, who leaves his home, puts his servants in charge – each having their special duty – and orders the porter to watch.   Therefore\V{35} watch, for you cannot be sure when the Master of the house is coming – whether in the evening, at midnight, at daybreak, or in the morning –   otherwise\V{36} he might come suddenly and find you asleep.   And\V{37} what I say to you I say to all – Watch!”  \blank 

\par 
 It\C{14} was now two days before the Festival of the Passover and the unleavened bread. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law were looking for an opportunity to arrest Jesus by stealth, and to put him to death; for\V{2} they said, “Not during the Festival, or the people may riot.”
\par 
 When\V{3} Jesus was still at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, while he was sitting at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of choice spikenard perfume of great value. She broke the jar, and poured the perfume on his head. Some\V{4} of those who were present said to one another indignantly, “Why has the perfume been wasted like this? This\V{5} perfume could have been sold for more than a year’s wages, and the money given to the poor.”
\par 
  “Leave\V{6} her alone,”  said Jesus, as they began to find fault with her,  “why are you troubling her? This is a beautiful deed that she has done for me.   You\V{7} always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you will not always have me.   She\V{8} has done what she could; she has perfumed my body beforehand for my burial.   And\V{9} I tell you, wherever, in the whole world, the good news is proclaimed, what this woman has done will be told in memory of her.” 
\par 
 After\V{10} this, Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests, to betray Jesus to them. They\V{11} were glad to hear what he said, and promised to pay him. So he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.\blank 

\par 
 On\V{12} the first day of the Festival of the unleavened bread, when it was customary to kill the Passover lambs, his disciples said to Jesus, “Where do you wish us to go and make preparations for your eating the Passover?” Jesus\V{13} sent forward two of his disciples and said to them,  “Go into the city, and there a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you; follow him;   and,\V{14} wherever he goes in, say to the owner of the house ‘The teacher says – Where is my room where I am to eat the Passover with my disciples?’   He\V{15} will himself show you a large upstairs room, set out ready; and there make preparations for us.”  So\V{16} the disciples set out and went into the city, and found everything just as Jesus had told them; and they prepared the Passover.
\par 
 In\V{17} the evening he went there with the Twelve, and\V{18} when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said,  “I tell you that one of you is going to betray me – one who is eating with me.”  They\V{19} were grieved at this, and began to say to him, one after another, “Can it be I?”
\par 
  “It\V{20} is one of you Twelve,”  said Jesus,  “the one who is dipping his bread beside me into the dish.   True,\V{21} the Son of Man must go, as scripture says of him, yet alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is being betrayed! For that man it would be better never to have been born!” 
\par 
 While\V{22} they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and, after saying the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said,  “Take it; this is my body.”  Then\V{23} he took a cup, and, after saying the thanksgiving, gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  “This\V{24} is my covenant-blood,”  he said,  “which is poured out on behalf of many.   I\V{25} tell you that I will never again drink of the juice of the grape, until that day when I will drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 
\par 
 They\V{26} then sang a hymn, and went out up the Mount of Olives, presently\V{27} Jesus said to them,  “All of you will fall away; for scripture says – ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’   Yet,\V{28} after I have risen, I will go before you into Galilee.” 
\par 
 “Even\V{29} if everyone else falls away,” said Peter, “I will not.”
\par 
  “I\V{30} tell you,”  answered Jesus,  “that you yourself today – yes, this very night – before the cock crows twice, will disown me three times.”  But\V{31} Peter vehemently protested, “Even if I must die with you, I will never disown you!” And they all said the same.\blank 

\par 
 Presently\V{32} they came to a garden known as Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples  “Sit down here while I pray.”  He\V{33} took with him Peter, James, and John; and began to show signs of great dismay and deep distress of mind.  “I\V{34} am sad at heart,”  he said,  “sad even to death; wait here, and watch.”  Going\V{35} on a little further, he threw himself on the ground, and began to pray that, if it were possible, he might be spared that hour.  “Abba,\V{36} Father,”  he said,  “all things are possible to you; take away this cup from me; yet, not what I will, but what you will.” 
\par 
 Then\V{37} he came and found the three apostles asleep.  “Simon,”  he said to Peter,  “are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch for one hour?   Watch\V{38} and pray,” he said to them all, “so that you may not fall into temptation. True, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Again\V{39} he went away, and prayed in the same words; and\V{40} coming back again he found them asleep, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to say to him.
\par 
 A\V{41} third time he came, and said to them,  “Sleep on now, and rest yourselves. Enough! My time has come. Look, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of wicked people.   Up,\V{42} and let us be going. Look! My betrayer is close at hand.” 
\par 
 And\V{43} just then, while he was still speaking, Judas, who was one of the Twelve, came up; and with him a crowd of people, with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the elders. Now\V{44} the betrayer had arranged a signal with them. “The man whom I kiss,” he had said, “will be the one; arrest him and take him away safely.” As\V{45} soon as Judas came, he went up to Jesus at once, and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. Then\V{46} the men seized Jesus, and arrested him.
\par 
 One\V{47} of those who were standing by drew his sword, and struck at the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear. But\V{48} Jesus spoke up, and said to the men,  “Have you come out, as if after a robber, with swords and clubs, to take me?   I\V{49} have been among you day after day in the Temple Courts teaching, and yet you did not arrest me; but this is in fulfillment of the scriptures.”  And\V{50} all the apostles deserted him and fled. One\V{51} young man did indeed follow him, wrapped only in a linen sheet. They tried to arrest him; but\V{52} he left the sheet in their hands, and fled naked.\blank 

\par 
 Then\V{53} they took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, elders, and the teachers of the Law assembled. Peter,\V{54} who had followed Jesus at a distance into the courtyard of the high priest, was sitting there among the police officers, warming himself at the blaze of the fire.
\par 
 Meanwhile\V{55} the chief priest and the whole of the High Council were trying to get such evidence against Jesus as would warrant his being put to death, but they could not find any; for,\V{56} though there were many who gave false evidence against him, yet their evidence did not agree. Presently\V{57} some men stood up, and gave this false evidence against him – “We\V{58} ourselves heard him say ‘I will destroy this Temple made with hands, and in three days build another made without hands.’” Yet\V{59} not even on that point did their evidence agree.
\par 
 Then\V{60} the high priest stood forward, and questioned Jesus. “Have you no answer to make?” he asked. “What is this evidence which these men are giving against you?” But\V{61} Jesus remained silent, and made no answer.
\par 
A second time the high priest questioned him. “Are you,” he asked, “the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”
\par 
  “I\V{62} am,”  replied Jesus,  “and you will all see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the Almighty, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”  At\V{63} this the high priest tore his vestments. “Why do we want any more witnesses?” he exclaimed. “You\V{64} heard his blasphemy? What is your verdict?” They all condemned him, declaring that he deserved death.
\par 
 Some\V{65} of those present began to spit at him, and to blindfold his eyes, and strike him, saying, as they did so, “Now play the prophet!” and even the police officers received him with blows.
\par 
 While\V{66} Peter was in the courtyard down below, one of the high priest’s maidservants came up; and,\V{67} seeing Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him, and exclaimed, “Why, you were with Jesus, the Nazarene!” But\V{68} Peter denied it. “I do not know or understand what you mean,” he replied. Then he went out into the porch; and\V{69} there the maidservant, on seeing him, began to say again to the bystanders, “This is one of them!” But\V{70} Peter again denied it.
\par 
Soon afterward the bystanders again said to him, “You certainly are one of them; why you are a Galilean!” But\V{71} he said to them, “I swear that I do not know the man you are talking about! May God punish me if I am lying!” At\V{72} that moment, for the second time, a cock crowed; and Peter remembered the words that Jesus had said to him –  ‘Before a cock has crowed twice, you will disown me three times’;  and, as he thought of it, he began to weep. \blank 

\par 
 As\C{15} soon as it was daylight, the chief priests, after holding a consultation with elders and teachers of the Law – that is to say, the whole High Council – put Jesus in chains, and took him away, and gave him up to Pilate. “Are\V{2} you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.  “It is true,”  replied Jesus. Then\V{3} the chief priests brought a number of charges against him. So\V{4} Pilate questioned Jesus again. “Have you no reply to make?” he asked. “Listen, how many charges they are bringing against you.” But\V{5} Jesus still made no reply whatever; at which Pilate was astonished.
\par 
 Now,\V{6} at the feast, Pilate used to grant the people the release of any one prisoner whom they might ask for. A\V{7} man called Barabbas was in prison, with the rioters who had committed murder during a riot. So,\V{8} when the crowd went up and began to ask Pilate to follow his usual custom, he\V{9} answered, “Do you want me to release the ‘king of the Jews’ for you?” For\V{10} he was aware that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had given Jesus up to him. But\V{11} the chief priests incited the crowd to get Barabbas released instead. Pilate,\V{12} however, spoke to them again, “What should I do then with the man whom you call the ‘king of the Jews’?” Again\V{13} they shouted, “Crucify him!”
\par 
 “Why,\V{14} what harm has he done?” Pilate kept saying to them. But they shouted furiously, “Crucify him!” And\V{15} Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them, and, after scourging Jesus, gave him up to be crucified.
\par 
 The\V{16} soldiers then took Jesus away into the courtyard – that is the Government house – and they called the whole garrison together. They\V{17} dressed him in a purple robe, and, having twisted a crown of thorns, put it on him, and\V{18} then began to salute him. “Long life to you, king of the Jews!” they said. And\V{19} they kept striking him on the head with a rod, spitting at him, and bowing to the ground before him – going down on their knees; and,\V{20} when they had left off mocking him, they took off the purple robe, and put his own clothes on him.\blank 

\par 
 They\V{21} led Jesus out to crucify him; and they compelled a passer-by, Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them to carry his cross.
\par 
 They\V{22} brought Jesus to the place which was known as Golgotha – a name which means ‘place of a Skull.’ There\V{23} they offered him drugged wine; but Jesus refused it. Then\V{24} they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots for them, to settle what each should take.
\par 
 It\V{25} was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The\V{26} words of the charge against him, written up over his head, read – ‘THE KING OF THE JEWS.’ And\V{27} with him they crucified two robbers, one on the right, and the other on the left. \footnote{\V{28}  15:28    Some later manuscripts add: And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘He was counted among outlaws.’} 
\par 
 The\V{29} passers-by railed at him, shaking their heads, as they said, “Ah! You who would destroy the Temple and build one in three days, come\V{30} down from the cross and save yourself!” In\V{31} the same way the chief priests, with the teachers of the Law, said to one another in mockery, “He\V{32} saved others, but he cannot save himself! Let the Christ, the ‘king of Israel,’ come down from the cross now so that we can see it and believe.” Even the men who had been crucified with Jesus insulted him.
\par 
 At\V{33} midday, a darkness came over the whole country, lasting until three in the afternoon. And,\V{34} at three, Jesus called out loudly,  “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani?”  which means  ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’  Some\V{35} of those standing around heard this, and said, “Listen! He is calling for Elijah!” And\V{36} a man ran, and, soaking a sponge in common wine, put it on the end of a rod, and offered it to him to drink, saying as he did so, “Wait and let us see if Elijah is coming to take him down.” But\V{37} Jesus, giving a loud cry, breathed his last. The\V{38} Temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. The\V{39} Roman officer, who was standing facing Jesus, on seeing the way in which he breathed his last, exclaimed, “This man must indeed have been God’s son!”\blank 

\par 
 There\V{40} were some women also watching from a distance, among them being Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James the Little and of Joseph, and Salome – all\V{41} of whom used to accompany Jesus when he was in Galilee, and give him support – besides many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
\par 
 The\V{42} evening had already fallen, when, as it was the Preparation day – the day before the Sabbath – Joseph\V{43} from Ramah, a councillor of good position, who was himself living in expectation of the kingdom of God, came and ventured to go in to see Pilate, and to ask for the body of Jesus. But\V{44} Pilate was surprised to hear that he had already died. So he sent for the officer, and asked if he were already dead; and,\V{45} on learning from the officer that it was so, he gave the corpse to Joseph. Joseph,\V{46} having bought a linen sheet, took Jesus down, and wound the sheet around him, and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of the rock; and then rolled a stone up against the entrance of the tomb. Mary\V{47} of Magdala and Mary, the mother of Joseph, were watching to see where he was laid. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Risen Life Announced}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  When\C{16} the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought some spices, so that they might go and anoint the body of Jesus. Very\V{2} early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb, after sunrise. They\V{3} were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” But,\V{4} on looking up, they saw that the stone had already been rolled back; it was a very large one. Going\V{5} into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on their right, in a white robe, and they were dismayed; but he said to them, “Do\V{6} not be dismayed; you are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified; he has risen, he is not here! Look! Here is the place where they laid him. But\V{7} go, and say to his disciples and to Peter ‘He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.’” They\V{8} went out, and fled from the tomb, for they were trembling and bewildered; and they did not say a word to anyone, for they were frightened.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{A late appendix}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{(Inserted in some manuscripts from an ancient source)}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\indentation  After\V{9} his rising again, early on the first day of the week, Jesus appeared first of all to Mary of Magdala, from whom he had driven out seven demons. She\V{10} went and told the news to those who had been with him and who were now in sorrow and tears; yet\V{11} even they, when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, did not believe it. Afterward,\V{12} altered in appearance, he made himself known to two of them, as they were walking, on their way into the country. They\V{13} also went and told the rest, but they did not believe even them. Later\V{14} on, he made himself known to the Eleven themselves as they were at a meal, and reproached them with their want of faith and their stubbornness, because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen from the dead. Then\V{15} he said to them,  “Go into all the world, and proclaim the good news to all creation.   He\V{16} who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who refuses to believe will be condemned.   Moreover\V{17} these signs will attend those who believe. In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages;   they\V{18} will take up snakes in their hands; and, if they drink any poison, it will not hurt them; they will place their hands on sick people and they will recover.”  So\V{19} the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God. But\V{20} they set out, and made the proclamation everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the message by the signs which attended it.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Another appendix}
\par 
But all that had been revealed to them they reported briefly to Peter and his companions. Afterward Jesus himself sent them out, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Luke}

\MTT{The}

\MTT{Good News According to}

\MT{Luke}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Dedication}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  To\C{1} his Excellency, Theophilus.
\par 
\indentation Many attempts have been already made to draw up an account of those events which have reached their conclusion among us, just\V{2} as they were reported to us by those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses, and afterward became bearers of the message. And,\V{3} therefore, I also, since I have investigated all these events with great care from their very beginning, have resolved to write a connected history of them for you, in\V{4} order that you may be able to satisfy yourself of the accuracy of the story which you have heard from the lips of others.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Birth, Parentage, Infancy and Boyhood}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  In\V{5} the reign of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the division called after Abijah. His wife, whose name was Elizabeth, was also a descendant of Aaron. They\V{6} were both righteous people, who lived blameless lives, guiding their steps by all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. But\V{7} they had no child, Elizabeth being barren; and both of them were advanced in years.
\par 
\indentation  One\V{8} day, when Zechariah was officiating as priest before God, during the turn of his division, it\V{9} fell to him by lot, in accordance with the practice among the priests, to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense; and,\V{10} as it was the Hour of Incense, the people were all praying outside. And\V{11} an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the Altar of Incense. Zechariah\V{12} was startled at the sight and was awe-struck. But\V{13} the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, whom you will call by the name John. He\V{14} will be to you a joy and a delight; and many will rejoice over his birth. For\V{15} he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he will not drink any wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the very hour of his birth, and\V{16} will reconcile many of the Israelites to the Lord their God. He\V{17} will go before him in the spirit and with the power of Elijah, to reconcile fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and so make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”
\par 
 “How\V{18} can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”
\par 
 “I\V{19} am Gabriel,” the angel answered, “who stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And\V{20} now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when this takes place, because you did not believe what I said, though my words will be fulfilled in due course.”
\par 
 Meanwhile\V{21} the people were watching for Zechariah, wondering at his remaining so long in the Temple. When\V{22} he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision there. But Zechariah kept making signs to them, and remained dumb. And,\V{23} as soon as his term of service was finished, he returned home. After\V{24} this his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and lived in seclusion for five months. “The\V{25} Lord has done this for me,” she said, “he has shown me kindness and taken away the public disgrace of childlessness under which I have been living.”\blank 

\par 
 Six\V{26} months later the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to\V{27} a maiden there who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. Her name was Mary. Gabriel\V{28} came into her presence and greeted her, saying, “You have been shown great favor – the Lord is with you.”
\par 
 Mary\V{29} was much disturbed at his words, and was wondering to herself what such a greeting could mean, when\V{30} the angel spoke again, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And\V{31} now, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will give him the name Jesus. The\V{32} child will be great and will be called ‘Son of the Most High,’ and the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David, and\V{33} he will reign over the descendants of Jacob for ever; And to his kingdom there will be no end.”
\par 
 “How\V{34} can this be?” Mary asked the angel. “For I have no husband.”
\par 
 “The\V{35} Holy Spirit will descend on you,” answered the angel, “and the Power of the Most High will overshadow you; and therefore the child will be called ‘holy,’ and ‘Son of God.’ And\V{36} Elizabeth, your cousin, is herself also expecting a son in her old age; and it is now the sixth month with her, though she is called barren; for\V{37} no promise from God will fail to be fulfilled.”
\par 
 “I\V{38} am the servant of the Lord,” exclaimed Mary; “let it be with me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
\par 
 Soon\V{39} after this Mary set out, and made her way quickly into the hill-country, to a town in Judah; and\V{40} there she went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. When\V{41} Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child moved within her, and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit, and\V{42} cried aloud, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is your unborn child! But\V{43} how have I this honor, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For,\V{44} as soon as your greeting reached my ears, the child moved within me with delight! Happy\V{45} indeed is she who believed that the promise which she received from the Lord would be fulfilled.”
\par 
 And\V{46} Mary said:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{“My soul exalts the Lord,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ and\V{47} my spirit delights in God my Savior,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{48} he has looked with favor on his humble servant girl.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{From now on all generations will call me blessed!}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “For\V{49} the Almighty has done great things for me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and holy is his name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{50} has mercy on those who revere him}
\noindentation \Q{2}{in every generation.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Mighty\V{51} are the deeds of his arm;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{he has scattered the self-satisfied proud,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ he\V{52} has cast down the mighty from their thrones,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he uplifts the humble,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ he\V{53} has filled the hungry with good things,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the rich he has sent away empty.}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “He\V{54} has stretched out his hand to his servant Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ever mindful of his mercy,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ as\V{55} he promised to our ancestors}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for Abraham and his descendants for ever.”}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Mary\V{56} stayed with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned to her home. When\V{57} Elizabeth’s time came, she gave birth to a son; and\V{58} her neighbors and relatives, hearing of the great goodness of the Lord to her, came to share her joy. A\V{59} week later they met to circumcise the child, and were about to call him Zechariah after his father, when\V{60} his mother spoke up, “No, he is to be called John.”\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  “You\V{61} have no relation of that name!” they exclaimed; and\V{62} they made signs to the child’s father, to find out what he wished the child to be called. Asking\V{63} for a writing-tablet, he wrote the words – ‘His name is John.’ Everyone was surprised and\V{64} immediately Zechariah recovered his voice and the use of his tongue, and began to bless God. All\V{65} their neighbors were awe-struck at this, and throughout the hill-country of Judea the whole story was much talked about. All\V{66} who heard it kept it in mind, asking one another – “What can this child be destined to become?” For the Power of the Lord was with him.
\par 
\indentation  Then\V{67} his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and, speaking under inspiration, said:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Blessed\V{68} is the Lord, the God of Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Who has visited his people and wrought their deliverance,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{69} has raised up for us the Strength of our salvation}
\noindentation \Q{2}{In the house of his servant David –}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{70} he promised by the lips of his holy prophets of old –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ salvation\V{71} from our enemies and from the hands of all who hate us,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ showing\V{72} mercy to our ancestors,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And mindful of his sacred covenant.\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ This\V{73} was the oath which he swore to our ancestor Abraham –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ That\V{74} we should be rescued from the hands of our enemies,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{75} should serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{In his presence all our days.\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{76} you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{For you will go before the Lord to make ready his way,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{77} give his people the knowledge of salvation}
\noindentation \Q{2}{In the forgiveness of their sins,\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ through\V{78} the tender mercy of our God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Whereby the Dawn will break on us from heaven,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ to\V{79} give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And guide our feet into the way of peace.”\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  The\V{80} child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the Wilds until the time came for his appearance before Israel. \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  About\C{2} that time an edict was issued by the Emperor Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole Empire. (This\V{2} was the first census taken while Quirinius was Governor of Syria). And\V{3} everyone went to his own town to be registered. Among\V{4} others Joseph went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem, the town of David, in Judea – because he belonged to the family and house of David – To\V{5} be registered with Mary, his engaged wife, who was about to become a mother. While\V{6} they were there her time came, and\V{7} she gave birth to her first child, a son. And because there was no room for them in the inn, she swathed him around and laid him in a manger. In\V{8} that same country-side were shepherds out in the open fields, watching their flocks that night, when\V{9} an angel of the Lord suddenly stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were seized with fear. “Have\V{10} no fear,” the angel said. “For I bring you good news of a great joy in store for all the nation. This\V{11} day there has been born to you, in the town of David, a Savior, who is Christ and Lord. And\V{12} this will be the sign for you. You will find the infant swathed, and lying in a manger.”
\par 
\indentation  Then\V{13} suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly Host, praising God, and singing –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “glory\V{14} to God on high,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And on earth peace among those in whom he finds pleasure.”}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Now,\V{15} when the angels had left them and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go at once to Bethlehem, and see this thing that has happened, of which the Lord has told us.” So\V{16} they went quickly, and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in a manger; and,\V{17} when they saw it, they told of all that had been said to them about this child. All\V{18} who heard the shepherds were astonished at their story, while\V{19} Mary treasured up all that they said, and thought about it often in her thoughts. And\V{20} the shepherds went back, giving glory and praise to God for all that they had heard and seen. It had all happened as they had been told.\stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Eight\V{21} days after the birth of the child, when it was time to circumcise him, he received the name Jesus – the name given him by the angel before his conception.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  When\V{22} the period of purification of mother and child, required by the Law of Moses, came to an end, his parents took the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, in\V{23} compliance with the Law of the Lord that every first-born male will be dedicated to the Lord, and\V{24} also to offer the sacrifice required by the Law of the Lord – a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.
\par 
 There\V{25} was at that time in Jerusalem a man named Simeon, a righteous and devout man, who lived in constant expectation of the Consolation of Israel, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It\V{26} had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved\V{27} by the Spirit, Simeon came into the Temple Courts, and, when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the Law, Simeon\V{28} himself took the child in his arms, and blessed God, and said:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Now,\V{29} Lord, you will let your servant go,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{According to your word, in peace,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{30} my eyes have seen the salvation}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Which\V{31} you have prepared in the sight of all nations –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ A\V{32} light to bring light to the Gentiles,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And to be the glory of your people Israel.”}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  While\V{33} the child’s father and mother were wondering at what was said about him, Simeon\V{34} gave them his blessing, and said to Mary, the child’s mother, “This child is appointed to be the cause of the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign much spoken against – Yes,\V{35} the sword will pierce your own heart – and so the thoughts in many minds will be disclosed.”
\par 
\indentation  There\V{36} was also a prophet named Hannah, a daughter of Phanuel and of the tribe of Asher. She was far advanced in years, having lived with her husband for seven years after marriage, and\V{37} then a widow, until she had reached the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple Courts, but, fasting and praying, worshiped God night and day. At\V{38} that moment she came up, and began publicly to thank God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the deliverance of Jerusalem.
\par 
 When\V{39} the child’s parents had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. The\V{40} child grew and became strong and wise, and the blessing of God was on him.\blank 

\par 
 Every\V{41} year the child’s parents used to go to Jerusalem at the Passover Festival. When\V{42} Jesus was twelve years old, they went according to custom to Jerusalem, and\V{43} had finished their visit; but, when they started to return, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, without their knowing it. Thinking\V{44} that he was with their fellow travelers, they went one day’s journey before searching for him among their relatives and acquaintances; and\V{45} then, as they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching everywhere for him. It\V{46} was not until the third day that they found him in the Temple Courts, sitting among the teachers, now listening to them, now asking them questions. All\V{47} who listened to him marveled at his intelligence and his answers.
\par 
 His\V{48} parents were amazed when they saw him, and his mother said to him, “My child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”
\par 
  “What\V{49} made you search for me?”  he answered.  “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”  His\V{50} parents did not understand what he meant. However\V{51} he went down with them to Nazareth, and submitted himself to their control; and his mother treasured all that was said in her heart. And\V{52} Jesus grew in wisdom as he grew in years, and gained the blessing of God and people. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Preparation}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  In\C{3} the fifteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was Governor of Judea, Herod Ruler of Galilee, his brother Philip Ruler of the territory comprising Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias Ruler of Abilene, and\V{2} when Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, a command from God came to John, the son of Zechariah, while he was in the wilderness. And\V{3} John went through the whole district of the Jordan, proclaiming baptism on repentance, for the forgiveness of sins. This\V{4} was in fulfillment of what is said in the writings of the prophet Isaiah –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The voice of one crying aloud in the wilderness:}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Make ready the way of the Lord,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Make his paths straight.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Every\V{5} chasm will be filled,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Every mountain and hill will be leveled,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The winding ways will be straightened,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The rough roads made smooth,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{ and\V{6} everyone will see the salvation of God.”’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{7} John said to the crowds that went to be baptized by him, “You children of snakes! Who has prompted you to seek refuge from the coming judgment? Let\V{8} your lives, then, prove your repentance; and do not begin to say among yourselves ‘Abraham is our ancestor,’ for I tell you that out of these stones God is able to raise descendants for Abraham! Already,\V{9} indeed, the axe is lying at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that fails to bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  “What\V{10} are we to do then?” the people asked. “Let\V{11} anyone who has two coats,” answered John, “share with the person who has none; and anyone who has food do the same.”
\par 
\indentation  Even\V{12} tax-gatherers came to be baptized, and said to John, “Teacher, what are we to do?”
\par 
 “Do\V{13} not collect more than you have authority to demand,” John answered. And\V{14} when some soldiers on active service asked “And we – what are we to do?” he said, “Never use violence, or exact anything by false accusation; and be content with your pay.”
\par 
 Then,\V{15} while the people were in suspense, and were all debating with themselves whether John could be the Christ, John,\V{16} addressing them all, said, “I, indeed, baptize you with water; but there is coming one more powerful than I, and I am not fit even to unfasten his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His\V{17} winnowing-fan is in his hand so that he may clear his threshing-floor, and store the grain in his barn, but the chaff he will burn with a fire that cannot be put out.”
\par 
 And\V{18} so with many different appeals John told his good news to the people. But\V{19} Prince Herod, being rebuked by John respecting Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother, and for all the evil things that he had done, crowned\V{20} them all by shutting John up in prison.\blank 

\par 
 Now\V{21} after the baptism of all the people, and when Jesus had been baptized and was still praying, the heavens opened, and\V{22} the Holy Spirit came down on him in the form of a dove, and from the heavens came a voice – “You are my dearly loved son; you bring me great joy.”
\par 
 When\V{23} beginning his work, Jesus was about thirty years old. He was regarded as the son of Joseph, whose ancestors were –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{Eli, Mattith,\V{24} Levi, Melchiah, Janna, Joseph, Mattithiah,\V{25} Amos, Nahum, Azaliah, Nogah, Mattith,\V{26} Mattithiah, Shimei, Joseph, Josheh, Johanan,\V{27} Rhesa, Zerubbabel, Salathiel, Neriah, Melchiah,\V{28} Addi, Cosam, Elmodam, Er, Joshua,\V{29} Eliezer, Joram, Mattith, Levi, Simeon,\V{30} Judah, Joseph, Jonam, Eliakim, Meleah,\V{31} Menan, Mattithiah, Nathan, David, Jesse,\V{32} Obed, Boaz, Salah, Nahshon, Aminadab,\V{33} Arni, Hezron, Perez, Judah, Jacob,\V{34} Isaac, Abraham, Terah, Nahor, Serug,\V{35} Reu, Peleg, Eber, Shelah, Kenan,\V{36} Arpachshad, Shem, Noah, Lamech, Methuselah,\V{37} Enoch, Jared, Mahalalel, Kenan, Enosh,\V{38} Seth and Adam the son of God.}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]   On\C{4} returning from the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led by the power of the Spirit through the wilderness for forty days, tempted by the devil.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  All\V{2} that time he ate nothing; and, when it was over, he became hungry. So\V{3} the devil said to him, “If you are God’s Son, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” And\V{4} Jesus answered him,  “Scripture says – ‘It is not on bread alone that a person is to live.’” 
\par 
\indentation  And\V{5} the devil led Jesus up, and showing him in a single moment all the kingdoms of the earth, said to him, “I\V{6} will give you all this power, and the splendor of them; for it has been given into my hands and I give it to whom I wish. If\V{7} you worship me, it will all be yours.” And\V{8} Jesus answered him,  “Scripture says – ‘You should worship the Lord your God, and worship him only.’” 
\par 
 The\V{9} devil next led him into Jerusalem, and, placing him on the parapet of the Temple, said, “If you are God’s Son throw yourself down from here, for\V{10} scripture says – ‘He will give his angels commands about you, to guard you safely,’ And\V{11} ‘On their hands they will lift you up, otherwise you might strike your foot against a stone.’” But\V{12} Jesus answered him,  “It is said – ‘You must not tempt the Lord your God.’” 
\par 
 When\V{13} he had tried every kind of temptation, the devil left Jesus, until another opportunity.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Work in Galilee}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Moved\V{14} by the power of the Spirit, Jesus returned to Galilee. Reports about him spread through all that region; and\V{15} he began to teach in their synagogues, and was honored by everyone.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Coming\V{16} to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, Jesus, as was his custom, went on the Sabbath into the synagogue, and stood up to read the scriptures. He\V{17} was given the book of the prophet Isaiah; and Jesus opened the book and found the place where it says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{2}{  ‘The\V{18} Spirit of the Lord is on me,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For he has consecrated me to bring good news to the poor,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and restoration of sight to the blind,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{To set the oppressed at liberty, }
\noindentation \Q{3}{  to\V{19} proclaim the accepted year of the Lord.’ }
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Then,\V{20} closing the book and returning it to the attendant, he sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him, and\V{21} Jesus began,\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  “This very day this passage has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 
\par 
\indentation  All\V{22} who were present spoke well of him, and were astonished at the beautiful words that fell from his lips. “Isn’t Joseph’s son?” they asked.  “Doubtless,”\V{23}   said Jesus,  “you will remind me of the saying – ‘Doctor, cure yourself;’ and you will say ‘Do here in your own country all that we have heard that has been done at Capernaum.’   I\V{24} tell you,”  he continued,  “that no prophet is acceptable in his own country.   There\V{25} were, doubtless, many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the heavens were closed for three years and six months, and a severe famine prevailed throughout the country;   and\V{26} yet it was not to one of them that Elijah was sent, but to a widow at Zarephath in Sidonia.   And\V{27} there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, yet it was not one of them who was made clean, but Naaman the Syrian.”  All\V{28} the people in the synagogue, as they listened to this, became enraged. Starting\V{29} up, they drove Jesus out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town stood, intending to hurl him down. But\V{30} he passed through the middle of the crowd and went on his way.\blank 

\par 
 Then\V{31} Jesus went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee. On the Sabbath he taught the people. They\V{32} were amazed at his teaching, because his words were spoken with authority. In\V{33} the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of a foul demon in him, who called out loudly, “Stop!\V{34} What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” But\V{35} Jesus rebuked the demon.  “Be silent! Come out from him,”  he said. The demon flung the man down in the middle of the people, and then came out from him, without causing him further harm. And\V{36} they were all lost in amazement, and kept saying to one another, “What words are these? For he gives his commands to the foul spirits with a marvelous authority, and they come out.” And\V{37} rumors about Jesus traveled through every place in the region.
\par 
 On\V{38} leaving the synagogue, Jesus went into Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a severe attack of fever, and they asked Jesus to cure her. Bending\V{39} over her, he rebuked the fever; the fever left her, and she immediately got up and began to take care of them. At\V{40} sunset, all who had friends suffering from various diseases took them to Jesus; and he placed his hands on everyone of them and cured them. And\V{41} even demons came out from many people, screaming ‘You are the Son of God.’ Jesus rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
\par 
 At\V{42} daybreak, Jesus went out and walked to a lonely spot. But crowds of people began to look for him; and they came to where he was and tried to detain him and prevent his leaving them. Jesus,\V{43} however, said to them,  “I must take the good news of the kingdom of God to the other town also, for that was why I was sent.”  And\V{44} he continued to make his proclamation in the synagogues of Judea. \blank 

\par 
 Once,\C{5} when the people were pressing around Jesus as they listened to God’s message, he happened to be standing by the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats close to the shore. The\V{2} fishermen had gone away from them and were washing the nets. So,\V{3} getting into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, Jesus asked him to push off a little way from the shore, and then sat down and taught the people from the boat. When\V{4} he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,  “Push off into deep water, and throw out your nets for a haul.” 
\par 
 “We\V{5} have been hard at work all night, Sir,” answered Simon, “and have not caught anything, but, at your bidding, I will throw out the nets.” They\V{6} did so, and enclosed such a great shoal of fish that their nets began to break. So\V{7} they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; and they came and filled both the boats so full of fish that they were almost sinking. When\V{8} Simon Peter saw this, he threw himself down at Jesus’ knees, exclaiming, “Master, leave me, for I am a sinful man!” For\V{9} he and all who were with him were lost in amazement at the haul of fish which they had made; and\V{10} so, too, were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners.  “Do not be afraid,”  Jesus said to Simon;  “from today you will catch people.”  And,\V{11} when they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything, and followed him.\blank 

\par 
 On\V{12} one occasion Jesus was staying in a town, when he saw a man who was covered with leprosy. When the leper saw Jesus, he threw himself on his face and implored his help, “Master, if only you are willing, you are able to make me clean.” Stretching\V{13} out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying as he did so,  “I am willing; become clean.” 
\par 
Instantly the leprosy left the man; and\V{14} then Jesus impressed on him that he was not to say a word to anyone,  “but,”  he added,  “set out and show yourself to the priest, and make the offerings for your cleansing, in the manner directed by Moses, as evidence of your cure.”  However,\V{15} the story about Jesus spread all the more, and great crowds came together to listen to him, and to be cured of their illnesses; but\V{16} Jesus used to withdraw to lonely places and pray.
\par 
 On\V{17} one of those days, when Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and Doctors of the Law were sitting near by. (They had come from all the villages in Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was on Jesus, so that he could work cures.) And\V{18} there some men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed. They tried to get him in and lay him before Jesus; but,\V{19} finding no way of getting him in owing to the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him through the tiles, with his pallet, into the middle of the people and in front of Jesus. When\V{20} he saw their faith, Jesus said,  “Friend, your sins have been forgiven you.”  The\V{21} teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began debating about this. “Who is this man who speaks so blasphemously?” they asked. “Who can forgive sins except God?”
\par 
 When\V{22} Jesus became aware of the way in which they were debating, he turned to them and exclaimed,  “What are you debating with yourselves?   Which\V{23} is the easier? – to say ‘Your sins have been forgiven you’? Or to say ‘Get up, and walk’?   But\V{24} so that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”  – he spoke to the paralyzed man –  “To you I say, Get up, and take up your pallet, and go to your home.”  Instantly\V{25} the man stood up before their eyes, took up what he had been lying on, and went to his home, praising God. The\V{26} people, one and all, were lost in amazement, and praised God; and in great awe they said, “We have seen marvelous things today!”\blank 

\par 
 After\V{27} this, Jesus went out; and he noticed a tax-gatherer, named Levi, sitting in the tax office, and said to him,  “Follow me.”  Levi\V{28} left everything and got up and followed him. And\V{29} Levi gave a great entertainment at his house, in honor of Jesus; and a large number of tax-gatherers and others were having dinner with them.
\par 
 The\V{30} Pharisees and the teachers of the Law belonging to their party complained of this to the disciples of Jesus. In\V{31} answer Jesus said,  “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are ill.   I\V{32} have not come to call the religious, but the outcast, to repent.” 
\par 
 “John’s\V{33} disciples,” they said to Jesus, “Often fast and say prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, while yours are eating and drinking!”
\par 
 But\V{34} Jesus answered them,  “Can you make the groom’s friends fast while the groom is with them?   But\V{35} the days will come – a time when the groom will be taken away from them; and they will fast then, when those days come.”  Then,\V{36} as an illustration, Jesus said to them,  “No one ever tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old one; for, if they do, they will not only tear the new garment, but the piece from the new one will not match the old.   And\V{37} no one puts new wine into old wine-skins; for, if they do, the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine itself will run out, and the skins be lost.   But\V{38} new wine must be put into fresh skins.   No\V{39} one after drinking old wine wishes for new. ‘No,’ they say, ‘the old is excellent.’”  \blank 
 One\C{6} Sabbath Jesus was walking through cornfields, and his disciples were picking the ears of wheat, and rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. “Why\V{2} are you doing what it is not allowable to do on the Sabbath?” asked some of the Pharisees. Jesus’\V{3} answer was,  “Haven’t you read even of what David did, when he was hungry, he and his companions –   That\V{4} he went into the house of God, and took the consecrated bread and ate it, and gave some to his companions, though only the priests are allowed to eat it?”  Then\V{5} Jesus added,  “The Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” 
\par 
 On\V{6} another Sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The\V{7} teachers of the Law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely, to see if he would work cures on the Sabbath, so that they might find a charge to bring against him. Jesus,\V{8} however, knew what was in the their minds, and said to the man whose hand was withered,  “Stand up and come out into the middle.”  The man stood up; and\V{9} Jesus said to them,  “I ask you, is it allowable to do good on the Sabbath – or harm? To save a life, or let it perish?”  Then,\V{10} looking around at them all, he said to the man,  “Stretch out your hand.”  The man did so; and his hand had become sound. But\V{11} the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were mad with rage, and consulted together what they could do to Jesus.
\par 
 Now\V{12} about that time, Jesus went out, up the hill, to pray, and spent the whole night in prayer to God. When\V{13} day came, he summoned his disciples, and chose twelve of them, whom he also named ‘apostles.’ They\V{14} were Simon (whom Jesus also named Peter), and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,\V{15} Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon known as the Zealot, Judas\V{16} son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who proved a traitor. Afterward\V{17} Jesus came down the hill with them and took his stand on a level place. With him were a large crowd of his disciples, and great numbers of people from the whole of Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast district of Tyre and Sidon, who\V{18} had come to hear him and to be restored to health. Those, too, who were troubled with foul spirits were cured; and\V{19} everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him, because a power went out from him which restored them all.
\par 
 Then,\V{20} raising his eyes and looking at his disciples, Jesus said:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Blessed\V{21} are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Blessed\V{22} are you when people hate you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and when they expel you from among them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and insult you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and reject your name as an evil thing –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{because of the Son of Man. }
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Then\V{23} indeed you may be glad and dance for joy, for be sure that your reward in heaven will be great; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.   But\V{24} \stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{alas for you who are rich,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you have had your comforts in full. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Alas\V{25} for you who are sated now,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you will hunger.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Alas for you who laugh now,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for you will mourn and weep. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Alas\V{26} for you when everyone speaks well of you;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for this is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. \stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{  But\V{27} to you who hear I say – love your enemies, show kindness to those who hate you,   bless\V{28} those who curse you, pray for those who insult you.   When\V{29} someone gives one of you a blow on the cheek, offer the other cheek as well; and, when anyone takes away your cloak, do not keep back your coat either.   Give\V{30} to everyone who asks of you; and, when anyone takes away what is yours, do not demand its return.   Do\V{31} to others as you wish them to do to you. \stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{  If\V{32} you love only those who love you, what thanks will be due to you? Why, even the outcast love those who love them!   For,\V{33} if you show kindness only to those who show kindness to you, what thanks will be due to you? Even the outcast do that!   If\V{34} you lend only to those from whom you expect to get something, what thanks will be due to you? Even the outcast lend to the outcast in the hope of getting as much in return!   But\V{35} love your enemies, and show them kindness, and lend to them, never despairing. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the thankless and the bad. \stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Learn\V{36} to be merciful – even as your Father is merciful.   Do\V{37} not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.   Give,\V{38} and others will give to you. A generous measure, pressed and shaken down, and running over, will they pour into your lap; For The standard you use will be the standard used for you.” \stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]   Then,\V{39} speaking in parables, Jesus said, “Can one blind person guide another? Will they not both fall into a ditch?   A\V{40} student is not above their teacher; yet every finished student will be like their teacher.   And\V{41} why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone’s eye, while you pay no attention at all to the plank of wood in your own?   How\V{42} can you say to your friend ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ while you yourself do not see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take out the plank from your own eye first, and then you will see clearly how to take out the speck in your friend’s.   There\V{43} is no such thing as a good tree bearing worthless fruit, or, on the other hand, a worthless tree bearing good fruit.   For\V{44} every tree is known by its own fruit. People do not gather figs off thorn bushes, nor pick a bunch of grapes off a bramble.   A\V{45} good person, from the good stores of their heart, brings out what is good; while a bad person, from their bad stores, brings out what is bad. For what fills someone’s heart will rise to their lips.   Why\V{46} do you call me ‘Master! Master!’ and yet fail to do what I tell you?   Everyone\V{47} who comes to me and listens to my teaching and acts on it – I will show you to whom they may be compared.   They\V{48} may be compared to a person building a house, who dug, and went deep, and laid the foundation on the rock. Then, when a flood came, the river swept down on that house, but had no power to shake it, because it had been built well.   But\V{49} those who have listened and not acted on what they have heard may be compared to a person who built a house on the ground without any foundation. The river swept down on it, and the house immediately collapsed; and great was the crash that followed.”  \stopalignment }\blank 
 When\C{7} Jesus had brought to a conclusion all that he had then had to say to the people, he entered Capernaum.
\par 
\noindentation  A\V{2} captain in the Roman army had a slave whom he valued, and who was seriously ill – almost at the point of death. And,\V{3} hearing about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, with the request that he would come and save his slave’s life. When\V{4} they found Jesus, they earnestly implored him to do so. “He deserves the favor from you,” they said, “For\V{5} he is devoted to our nation, and himself built our synagogue for us.” So\V{6} Jesus went with them. But, when he was no great distance from the house, the captain sent some friends with the message – “Do not trouble yourself, Sir; for I am unworthy to receive you under my roof. That\V{7} was why I did not even venture to come to you myself; but speak, and let my manservant be cured. For\V{8} I myself am a man under the orders of others, with soldiers under me; and if I say to one of them ‘Go,’ he goes, and to another ‘Come,’ he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this,’ he does it.” Jesus\V{9} was surprised to hear these words from him; and, turning to the crowd which was following him, he said,  “I tell you, nowhere in Israel have I met with such faith as this!”  And,\V{10} when the messengers returned to the house, they found the slave recovered.
\par 
\indentation  Shortly\V{11} after, Jesus went to a town called Nain, his disciples and a great crowd going with him. Just\V{12} as he approached the gate of the town, there was a dead man being carried out for burial – an only son, and his mother was a widow. A large number of the people of the town were with her. When\V{13} he saw her, the Master was moved with compassion for her, and he said to her,  “Do not weep.”  Then\V{14} he went up and touched the bier, and the bearers stopped; and Jesus said,  “Young man, I am speaking to you – Rise!”  The\V{15} dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus restored him to his mother. Everyone\V{16} was awe-struck and began praising God. “A great prophet has arisen among us,” they said; “and God has visited his people.”
\par 
 And\V{17} this story about Jesus spread all through Judea, and in the neighboring countries as well.\blank 

\par 
 All\V{18} these events were reported to John by his disciples. So\V{19} he summoned two of them, and sent them to the Master to ask – “Are you ‘the coming one,’ or are we to look for someone else?”
\par 
 When\V{20} these men found Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask – Are you ‘the coming one,’ or are we to look for somebody else?” At\V{21} that very time Jesus had cured many people of diseases, afflictions, and wicked spirits, and had given many blind people their sight. So\V{22} his answer to the question was,  “Go and report to John what you have witnessed and heard – the blind recover their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the good news is told to the poor.   And\V{23} blessed is the person who finds no hindrance in me.” 
\par 
 When\V{24} John’s messengers had left, Jesus, speaking to the crowds, began to say with reference to John,  “What\V{25} did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed waving in the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in rich clothing? Why, those who are accustomed to fine clothes and luxury live in royal palaces.   What\V{26} then did you go to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet.   This\V{27} is the man of whom scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘I am sending my messenger ahead of you,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and he will prepare your way before you.’ }
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]   There\V{28} is, I tell you, no one born of a woman who is greater than John; and yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  (All\V{29} the people, when they heard this, and even the tax-gatherers, having accepted John’s baptism, acknowledged the justice of God. But\V{30} the Pharisees and the students of the Law, having rejected John’s baptism, frustrated God’s purpose in regard to them.)
\par 
\indentation   “To\V{31} what then,”  Jesus continued,  “should I compare the people of the present generation? What are they like?   They\V{32} are like some little children who are sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another – ‘We have played the flute for you, but you have not danced; We have wailed, but you have not wept!’   For\V{33} now that John the Baptist has come, not eating bread or drinking wine, you are saying ‘He has a demon in him’;   and\V{34} now that the Son of Man has come, eating and drinking, you are saying ‘Here is a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax-gatherers and outcasts.’   And\V{35} yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” \blank 
 One\V{36} of the Pharisees asked Jesus to dine with him, so Jesus went to his house and took his place at the table. Just\V{37} then a woman, who was an outcast in the town, having heard that Jesus was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and\V{38} placed herself behind Jesus, near his feet, weeping. Then she began to make his feet wet with her tears, and she dried them with the hair of her head, repeatedly kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume.
\par 
 When\V{39} the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, “Had this man been ‘the prophet,’ he would have known who, and what sort of woman, this is who is touching him, and that she is an outcast.” But,\V{40} addressing him, Jesus said,  “Simon, I have something to say to you.” 
\par 
“Pray do so, teacher,” Simon answered; and Jesus began,  “There\V{41} were two people who were in debt to a moneylender; one owed five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty.   As\V{42} they were unable to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them, do you think, will love him the more?” 
\par 
 “I\V{43} suppose,” answered Simon, “it will be the man to whom he forgave the greater debt.”
\par 
 “You are right,”  said Jesus, and\V{44} then, turning to the woman, he said to Simon,  “Do you see this woman? I came into your house – you gave me no water for my feet, but she has made my feet wet with her tears and dried them with her hair.   You\V{45} did not give me one kiss, but she, from the moment I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet.   You\V{46} did not anoint even my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume.   So\V{47} I tell you, her great love shows that her sins, many as they are, have been pardoned. One who is pardoned little loves little.”  Then\V{48} he said to the woman,  “Your sins have been pardoned.”  The\V{49} other guests began to say to one another, “Who is this man who even pardons sins?” But\V{50} Jesus said to the woman,  “Your faith has delivered you; go, and peace be with you.”  \blank 

\par 
 Shortly\C{8} afterward, Jesus went on a journey through the towns and villages, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. With him went the Twelve, as\V{2} well as some women who had been cured of wicked spirits and of infirmities. They were Mary, known as Mary of Magdala (from whom seven demons had been expelled), and\V{3} Joanna (the wife of Herod’s steward, Chuza), and Susannah, and many others – all of whom provided for Jesus and his apostles out of their own resources.
\par 
 Once,\V{4} when a great crowd was collecting, and, when the people of town after town were flocking to Jesus, he spoke to them in the form of a parable,  “The\V{5} sower went out to sow his seed; and, as he was sowing, some of the seed fell along the path and was trodden on; and the wild birds ate it up.   Other\V{6} seed fell on rock, and, as soon as it began to grow, because it had no moisture, it withered away.   Other\V{7} seed fell in the middle of brambles, but the brambles grew up with it and choked it entirely.   Other\V{8} seed fell into rich soil, and grew, and gave a hundredfold return.”  After saying this, Jesus cried aloud,  “Let those who have ears to hear with hear.” 
\par 
 His\V{9} disciples asked Jesus the meaning of this parable.  “To\V{10} you,”  he said,  “the knowledge of the hidden truths of the kingdom of God has been imparted, but to others in parables only, so that though they have eyes they may not see, and though they have ears, they may not understand.   This\V{11} is the parable – The seed is God’s message.   By\V{12} the seed which fell along the path are meant those who hear the message; but then comes the devil and carries away the message from their minds, to prevent their believing it and being saved.   By\V{13} the seed which fell on the rock are meant those who, as soon as they hear the message, welcome it joyfully; but they have no root, and believe it only for a time, and, when the time of temptation comes, they draw back.   By\V{14} that which fell among the brambles are meant those who hear the message, but who, as they go on their way, are completely choked by this world’s cares and wealth and pleasures, and bring nothing to perfection.   But\V{15} by that in the good ground are meant those who, having heard the message, keep it in the good, rich soil of their hearts, and patiently yield a return. 
\par 
  “No\V{16} one sets light to a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or puts it underneath a couch, but they put it on a lamp-stand, so that anyone who comes in may see the light.   Nothing\V{17} is hidden which will not be brought into the light of day, not ever kept hidden which will not some day become known and come into the light of day.   Take\V{18} care, then, how you listen. For, to all those who have, more will be given; while, from all those who have nothing, even what they seem to have will be taken away.” \blank 
 Presently\V{19} Jesus’ mother and brothers came where he was, but they were not able to join him because of the crowd. So\V{20} word was brought to him – ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.’ His\V{21} reply, spoken to them all, was,  “My mother and my brothers are those who listen to God’s teaching and do what it says.” 
\par 
 One\V{22} day about that time, Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them,  “Let us go across the lake.”  So\V{23} they put off. While they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. A squall swept down on the lake, and their boat was filling and they were in danger. So\V{24} the disciples came and roused him. “Sir, Sir,” they cried, “we are lost!” Jesus rose and rebuked the wind and the rushing waves, and they fell, and a calm followed.  “Where\V{25} is your faith?”  he exclaimed. But in great awe and amazement they said to one another, “Who can this be, who commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey him?”
\par 
 And\V{26} they reached the region of the Gerasenes, which is on the opposite side to Galilee; and,\V{27} on getting ashore, Jesus met a man, who had demons in him, coming out of the town. For a long time this man had worn no clothing, and he had not lived in a house, but in the tombs. Catching\V{28} sight of Jesus, he shrieked out and threw himself down before him, and in a loud voice exclaimed, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torment me.” For\V{29} Jesus was commanding the foul spirit to come out of the man. On many occasions it had seized him, and, even when secured with chains and fetters, and watched, he would break through anything that bound him, and be driven by the demon into the Wilds.
\par 
  “What\V{30} is your name?”  Jesus asked.
\par 
“Legion,” he answered (for many demons had taken possession of him); and\V{31} the demons begged Jesus not to order them away into the bottomless pit. There\V{32} was a drove of many pigs close by feeding on the hill-side; and the demons begged Jesus to give them leave to enter into them. Jesus gave them leave. They\V{33} came out from the man and took possession of the pigs; and the drove rushed down the steep slope into the lake and were drowned. When\V{34} the men who tended them saw what had happened, they ran away, and carried the news to the town, and to the country around. The\V{35} people went out to see what had happened, and, when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting, clothed and in his right mind, at Jesus’ feet; and they were awe-struck. Those\V{36} who had seen it told them how the possessed man had been delivered. Then\V{37} all the people in the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, for they were terrified. Jesus got into a boat and returned. The\V{38} man from whom the demons had gone out begged Jesus to let him be with him; but Jesus sent him away.  “Go\V{39} back to your home,”  he said,  “and relate the story of all that God has done for you.” So the man went through the whole town and proclaimed, as he went, all that Jesus had done for him. \blank 

\par 
 On\V{40} his return, Jesus was welcomed by the people; for everyone was looking out for him. And\V{41} a man named Jairus, who was a synagogue leader, came to Jesus, and threw himself at Jesus’ feet, with entreaties that he would come to his house, because\V{42} his only daughter, who was about twelve years old, was dying. As Jesus was going, the people were pressing closely around him. And\V{43} a woman, who had suffered from hemorrhage for twelve years, and whom no one could cure, came\V{44} up behind and touched the tassel of his cloak. Instantly the hemorrhage ceased.
\par 
  “Who\V{45} touched me?”  Jesus asked; and, while everyone was denying having done so, Peter exclaimed, “Why, Sir, the people are crowding around you and pressing against you!”
\par 
  “Somebody\V{46} touched me,”  said Jesus;  “for I felt that power had gone out from me.”  Then\V{47} the woman, when she saw that she was discovered, came forward trembling, and threw herself down before him; and, in the presence of all the people, she told him her reason for touching him, and that she had been cured instantly.
\par 
  “Daughter,”\V{48}   he said,  “your faith has delivered you. Go, and peace be with you.” 
\par 
 Before\V{49} he had finished speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue leader and said, “Your daughter is dead! Do not trouble the teacher further.” But\V{50} Jesus, hearing this, spoke to the leader,  “Do not be afraid; only have faith, and she will yet be delivered.”  When\V{51} he reached the house, he did not allow anyone to go in with him, except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. And\V{52} everyone was weeping and mourning for her.
\par 
 “Do not weep,”  Jesus said,  “she is not dead; she is asleep.”  They\V{53} began to laugh at him, for they knew that she was dead. But,\V{54} taking her by the hand, Jesus said in a loud voice,  “Child, rise!”  The\V{55} child’s spirit returned to her, and she instantly stood up; and Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat. Her\V{56} parents were amazed, but Jesus impressed on them that they were not to tell anyone what had happened. \blank 

\par 
 Jesus\C{9} called the Twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all demons, as well as to cure diseases. He\V{2} sent them out as his messengers, to proclaim the kingdom of God, and to work cures.  “Do\V{3} not,”  he said to them,  “take anything for your journey; not even a staff, or a bag, or bread, or any silver, or a change of clothes with you.   Whatever\V{4} house you go to stay in, remain there, and leave from that place.   If\V{5} people do not welcome you, as you leave that town, shake even the dust off your feet, as a protest against them.”  Then\V{6} they set out and went from village to village, telling the good news and curing people everywhere.
\par 
 Prince\V{7} Herod heard of all that was happening, and was perplexed, because it was said by some that John must be risen from the dead. Some\V{8} again said that Elijah had appeared, and others that one of the old prophets had risen again. But\V{9} Herod himself said, “John I beheaded; but who is this of whom I hear such things?” And he endeavored to see him.
\par 
 When\V{10} the apostles returned, they related to Jesus all that they had done. Then Jesus went privately to a town called Bethsaida, taking the apostles with him. But\V{11} the people recognized him and followed him in crowds; and Jesus welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, while he cured those who were in need of help. The\V{12} day was drawing to a close, when the twelve came up to him, and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may make their way to the villages and farms around about, and find themselves lodgings and provisions, for we are in a lonely spot here.” But\V{13} Jesus said,  “It is for you to give them something to eat.” 
\par 
“We have not more than five loaves and two fish,” they answered; “unless indeed we are to go and buy food for all these people.” (For\V{14} the men among them were about five thousand.)  “Get them seated in companies,”  was his reply,  “about fifty in each.”  This\V{15} they did, and got all the people seated. Taking\V{16} the five loaves and the two fish, Jesus looked up to heaven and said the blessing over them. Then he broke them in pieces, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. Everyone\V{17} had sufficient to eat, and what was left of the broken pieces was picked up – twelve baskets.
\par 
 Afterward,\V{18} when Jesus was alone, praying, his disciples joined him, and he asked them this question –  “Who do the people say that I am?” 
\par 
 “John\V{19} the Baptist,” was their answer; “others, however, say that you are Elijah, while others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”
\par 
  “But\V{20} you,”  he went on,  “who do you say that I am?”  And to this Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
\par 
 Jesus,\V{21} however, strictly charged them not to say this to anyone; he\V{22} told them that the Son of Man must undergo much suffering, and be rejected by the elders, and chief priests, and teachers of the Law, and be put to death, and rise on the third day. And\V{23} to all present he said,  “If any one wishes to walk in my steps, they must renounce self, and take up their cross daily, and follow me.   For\V{24} whoever wishes to save their life will lose it, and whoever, for my sake, loses his life – that person will save it.   What\V{25} good does it do someone if, when they has gained the whole world, they has lost or forfeited themselves?   Whoever\V{26} is ashamed of me and of my teaching, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them, when he comes in his glory and the glory of the father and of the holy angels.   Indeed,\V{27} I tell you, some who are standing before me will not know death, until they have seen the kingdom of God.” \blank 
 About\V{28} eight days after speaking these words, Jesus went up the mountain to pray, taking with him Peter, John, and James. As\V{29} he was praying, the aspect of his face was changed, and his clothing became of a glittering whiteness. And\V{30} all at once two men were talking with Jesus; they were Moses and Elijah, who\V{31} appeared in a glorified state, and spoke of his departure, which was destined to take place at Jerusalem. Peter\V{32} and his companions had been overpowered by sleep but, suddenly becoming wide awake, they saw Jesus glorified and the two men who were standing beside him.
\par 
 And,\V{33} as Moses and Elijah were passing away from Jesus, Peter exclaimed, “Sir, it is good to be here; let us make three tents, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what he was saying; and,\V{34} while he was speaking, a cloud came down and enveloped them; and they were afraid, as they passed into the cloud; and\V{35} from the cloud came a voice which said – “This is my Son, the Chosen One; him you must hear.” And,\V{36} as the voice ceased, Jesus was found alone. The apostles kept silence, and told no one about any of the things that they had seen.\blank 

\par 
 The\V{37} next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met Jesus. And\V{38} just then a man in the crowd shouted out, “Teacher, I entreat you to look at my son, for he is my only child; all\V{39} at once a spirit will seize him, suddenly shriek out, and throw him into convulsions until he foams, and will leave him only when he is utterly exhausted. I\V{40} entreated your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not.”
\par 
  “Faithless\V{41} and perverse generation!”  Jesus exclaimed;  “how long must I be with you and have patience with you? Lead your son here.”  While\V{42} the boy was coming up to Jesus, the demon dashed him down and threw him into convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the foul spirit, and cured the boy, and gave him back to his father. And\V{43} all present were struck with awe at the majesty of God.
\par 
In the midst of the general astonishment at all that Jesus was doing, he said to his disciples,  “Listen\V{44} carefully to my words. For the Son of Man is destined to be betrayed into the hands of his fellow men.”  But\V{45} the disciples did not understand the meaning of this; it had been concealed from them so that they did not see it, and they were afraid to question him as to what he meant.
\par 
 A\V{46} discussion arose among the disciples as to which of them was the greatest; and\V{47} Jesus, knowing of the discussion that was occupying their thoughts, took hold of a little child, and placed it beside him, and\V{48} then said to them,  “Anyone who, for the sake of my name, welcomes even this little child is welcoming me; and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming him who sent me as his messenger. For whoever is least among you all – that person is great.” 
\par 
 John\V{49} said, “Sir, we saw a man driving out demons by using your name, and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow you with us.”
\par 
  “None\V{50} of you must prevent him,”  Jesus said to John;  “whoever’s not against you is for you.” 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Journey to Jerusalem}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  As\V{51} the days before his being taken up to heaven were growing few, Jesus set his face resolutely in the direction of Jerusalem; and he sent on messengers in advance. On\V{52} their way, they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but\V{53} the people there did not welcome him, because his face was set in the direction of Jerusalem. When\V{54} James and John saw this, they said, “Master, do you wish us to call for fire to come down from the heavens and consume them?” But\V{55} Jesus turned and rebuked them.  And\V{56} they made their way to another village. \blank 
 And,\V{57} while they were on their way, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
\par 
\indentation   “Foxes\V{58} have holes,”  he replied,  “and wild birds their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”  To\V{59} another man Jesus said,  “Follow me.” 
\par 
“Let me first go and bury my father,” said the man. But\V{60} Jesus said,  “Leave the dead to bury their dead; but go yourself and carry far and wide the news of the kingdom of God.” 
\par 
 “Master,”\V{61} said another, “I will follow you; but first let me say goodbye to my family.” But\V{62} Jesus answered,  “No one who looks back, after putting their hand to the plow, is fitted for the kingdom of God.”  \blank 

\par 
 After\C{10} this, the Master appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them on as his messengers, two and two, in advance, to every town and place that he was himself intending to visit.
\par 
  “The\V{2} harvest,”  he said,  “is abundant, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray to the owner of the harvest to send laborers to gather in his harvest.   Now,\V{3} go. Remember, I am sending you out as my messengers like lambs among wolves.   Do\V{4} not take a purse with you, or a bag, or sandals; and do not stop to greet anyone on your journey.   Whatever\V{5} house you go to stay at, begin by praying for a blessing on it.   Then,\V{6} if anyone there is deserving of a blessing, your blessing will rest on him; but if not, it will come back on yourselves.   Remain\V{7} at that same house, and eat and drink whatever they offer you; for the worker is worth their wages. Do not keep changing from one house to another.   Whatever\V{8} town you visit, if the people welcome you, eat what is set before you;   cure\V{9} the sick there, and tell people that the kingdom of God is close at hand.   But,\V{10} whatever town you go to visit, if the people do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say   ‘We\V{11} wipe off the dust of your town which has clung to Our feet; still, be assured that the kingdom of God is close at Hand.’   I\V{12} tell you that the doom of Sodom will be more bearable on that day than the doom of that town.   Alas\V{13} for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For, if the Miracles which have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have sat in sackcloth and ashes and repented long ago.   Yet\V{14} the doom of Tyre and Sidon will be more bearable at the judgment than yours.   And\V{15} you, Capernaum! Will you exalt yourself to heaven? You will be flung down to Hades.   Anyone\V{16} who listens to you is listening to me, and anyone who rejects you is rejecting me; while the person who rejects me is rejecting him who sent me as his messenger.” 
\par 
 When\V{17} the seventy-two returned, they exclaimed joyfully, “Master, even the demons submit to us when we use your name.” And\V{18} Jesus replied,  “I have had visions of Satan, fallen, like lightning from the heavens.   Remember,\V{19} I have given you the power to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to meet all the strength of the Enemy. Nothing will ever harm you in any way.   Yet\V{20} do not rejoice in the fact that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names have been enrolled in heaven.” 
\par 
 At\V{21} that same time, moved to exultation by the Holy Spirit, Jesus said:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that, though you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to the childlike! Yes, Father, I thank you that this has seemed good to you. }
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Everything\V{22} has been committed to me by my Father; nor does anyone know who the Son is, except the Father, or who the Father is, except the Son and those to whom the Son may choose to reveal him.” \stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Then,\V{23} turning to his disciples, Jesus said to them alone,  “Blessed are the eyes that see what you are seeing;   for,\V{24} I tell you, many prophets and kings wished for the sight of the things which you are seeing, yet never heard them.” \stopalignment }\blank 
 Just\V{25} then a Student of the Law came forward to test Jesus further. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do if I am to gain eternal life?”
\par 
\noindentation   “What\V{26} is said in the Law?”  answered Jesus.  “What do you read there?”  His\V{27} reply was –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as you love yourself.”}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]   “You\V{28} have answered right,”  said Jesus;  “do that, and you will live.”  But\V{29} the man, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  To\V{30} which Jesus replied,  “A man was once going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him of everything, and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.   As\V{31} it chanced, a priest was going down by that road. He saw the man, but passed by on the opposite side.   A\V{32} Levite, too, did the same; he came up to the spot, but, when he saw the man, passed by on the opposite side.   But\V{33} a Samaritan, traveling that way, came upon the man, and, when he saw him, he was moved with compassion.   He\V{34} went to him and bound up his wounds, dressing them with oil and wine, and then put him on his own mule, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.   The\V{35} next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he said, ‘and whatever more you may spend I will myself repay you on my way back.’   Now\V{36} which, do you think, of these three men,” asked Jesus, “proved himself a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 
\par 
\indentation  “The\V{37} one that took pity on him,” was the answer; at which Jesus said,  “Go and do the same yourself.” \blank 

\par 
 As\V{38} they continued their journey, Jesus came to a village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him to her house. She\V{39} had a sister called Mary, who seated herself at the Master’s feet, and listened to his teaching; but\V{40} Martha was distracted by the many preparations that she was making. So she went up to Jesus and said, “Master, do you approve of my sister’s leaving me to make preparations alone? Tell her to help me.”
\par 
  “Martha,\V{41} Martha,”  replied the Master,  “you are anxious and trouble yourself about many things;   but\V{42} only a few are necessary, or rather one. Mary has chosen the good part, and it will not be taken away from her.”  
\par 
 One\C{11} day Jesus was at a certain place praying, and, when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Master, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”
\par 
  “When\V{2} you pray,”  Jesus answered,  “say –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Father,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{May your name be held holy,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{your kingdom come. }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  Give\V{3} us each day the bread that we will need; }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  and\V{4} forgive us our sins,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for we ourselves forgive everyone who wrongs us;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and take us not into temptation.’” }
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Jesus\V{5} also said to them,  “Suppose that one of you who has a friend were to go to him in the middle of the night and say ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,   for\V{6} a friend of mine has arrived at my house after a journey, and I have nothing to offer him;’   And\V{7} suppose that the other should answer from inside ‘Do not trouble me; the door is already fastened, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything’;   I\V{8} tell you that, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is a friend, yet because of his persistence he will rouse himself and give him what he wants. \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation   “And\V{9} so I say to you – Ask, and your prayer will be granted, search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.   For\V{10} the person who asks receives, everyone who searches finds, and to the person who knocks the door will be opened.   What\V{11} father among you, if his son asks him for a fish, will give him a snake instead,   or,\V{12} if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?   If\V{13} you, then, naturally wicked though you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” \blank 

\par 
\indentation  Once\V{14} Jesus was driving out a dumb demon, and, when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke. The people were amazed at this; but\V{15} some of them said, “He drives out demons by the help of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons”; while\V{16} others, to test him, asked him for some sign from the heavens. Jesus\V{17} himself, however, was aware of what they were thinking, and said to them,  “Any kingdom wholly divided against itself becomes a desolation; and a divided house falls.   So,\V{18} too, if Satan is wholly divided against himself, how can his kingdom last? Yet you say that I drive out demons by the help of Beelzebul.   But,\V{19} if it is by Beelzebul’s help that I drive out demons, by whose help is it that your own sons drive them out? Therefore they will themselves be your judges.   But,\V{20} if it is by the hand of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God must already be upon you.   When\V{21} a strong man is keeping guard, fully armed, over his own mansion, his property is in safety;   but,\V{22} when one still stronger has attacked and overpowered him, he takes away all the weapons on which the other had relied, and divides his spoil.   Whoever\V{23} who is not with me is against me, and the person who does not help me to gather is scattering.   No\V{24} sooner does a foul spirit leave someone, than it passes through places where there is no water, in search of rest; and finding none, it says ‘I will go back to the home which I left’;   but,\V{25} on coming there, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.   Then\V{26} it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in, and make their home there; and the last state of that person proves to be worse than the first.”  As\V{27} Jesus was saying this, a woman in the crowd, raising her voice, exclaimed, “Happy was the mother who bore you and nursed you!” But\V{28} Jesus replied,  “Rather, happy are those who listen to God’s message and keep it.” \blank 
 As\V{29} the crowds increased, Jesus began to speak,  “This generation is a wicked generation. It is asking a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah.   For,\V{30} as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.   At\V{31} the judgment the Queen of the South will rise up with the people of this generation, and will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and here is more than a Solomon!   At\V{32} the judgment the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation, and will condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s proclamation; and here is more than a Jonah!   No\V{33} one sets light to a lamp, and then puts it in the cellar or under a basket, but he puts it on the lamp-stand, so that anyone who comes in may see the light.   The\V{34} lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is unclouded, your whole body, also, is lit up; but, as soon as your eye is diseased, your body, also, is darkened.   Take\V{35} care, therefore, that the inner light is not darkness.   If,\V{36} then, your whole body is lit up, and no corner of it darkened, the whole will be lit up, just as when a lamp gives you light by its brilliance.” \blank 
 As\V{37} Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee asked him to breakfast with him, and Jesus went in and took his place at the table. The\V{38} Pharisee noticed, to his astonishment, that Jesus omitted the ceremonial washing before breakfast. But\V{39} the Master said to him,  “You Pharisees do, it is true, clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside you yourselves are filled with greed and wickedness.   Fools!\V{40} Did not the maker of the outside make the inside too?   Only\V{41} give away what is in them in charity, and at once you have the whole clean.   But\V{42} alas for you Pharisees! You pay tithes on mint, rue, and herbs of all kinds, and pass over justice and love to God. These last you ought to have put into practice without neglecting the first.   Alas\V{43} for you Pharisees! You delight to have the front seat in the synagogues, and to be greeted in the markets with respect.   Alas\V{44} for you! You are like unsuspected graves, over which men walk unawares.” 
\par 
 Here\V{45} one of the students of the Law interrupted him by saying, “Teacher, when you say this, you are insulting us also.” But\V{46} Jesus went on,  “Alas for you, too, you students of the Law! You load people with loads that are too heavy to carry, but do not, yourselves, touch them with one of your fingers.   Alas\V{47} for you! You build the monuments of the prophets whom your ancestors killed.   You\V{48} are actually witnesses to your ancestors’ acts and show your approval of them, because, while they killed the prophets, you build tombs for them.   That\V{49} is why the wisdom of God said – ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles,   some\V{50} of whom they will persecute and kill, in order that the blood of all the prophets that has been spilt since the creation of the world may be exacted from this generation –   from\V{51} the blood of Abel down to the blood of Zechariah, who was slain between the altar and the house of God.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be exacted from this generation.   Alas\V{52} for you students of the Law! You have taken away the key of the door of knowledge. You have not gone in yourselves and you have hindered those who try to go in.” 
\par 
 When\V{53} Jesus left the house, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to press him hard and question him closely on many subjects, laying\V{54} traps for him, so as to seize on anything that he might say. \blank 

\par 
 Meanwhile\C{12} the people had gathered in thousands, so that they trod on one another, when Jesus, addressing himself to his disciples, began by saying to them,  “Be on your guard against the leaven – that is, the hypocrisy – of the Pharisees.   There\V{2} is nothing, however covered up, which will not be uncovered, nor anything kept secret which will not become known.   So\V{3} all that you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear, within closed doors, will be proclaimed on the housetops.   To\V{4} you who are my friends I say, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but after that can do no more.   I\V{5} will show you of whom you should be afraid. Be afraid of him who, after killing you, has the power to fling you into Gehenna. Yes, I say, be afraid of him.   Are\V{6} not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? Yet not one of them has escaped God’s notice.   No,\V{7} even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.   Everyone,\V{8} I tell you, who publicly acknowledges me, the Son of Man, also, will acknowledge before God’s angels;   but\V{9} the person who publicly disowns me will be altogether disowned before God’s angels.   Everyone\V{10} who will say anything against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but for the person who slanders the Holy Spirit there will be no forgiveness.   Whenever\V{11} they take you before the synagogue Courts or the magistrates or other authorities, do not be anxious as to how you will defend yourselves, or what your defense will be, or what you will say;   for\V{12} the Holy Spirit will show you at the moment what you ought to say.” 
\par 
 “Teacher,”\V{13} a man in the crowd said to Jesus, “tell my brother to share the property with me.” But\V{14} Jesus said to him,  “Man, who made me a judge or an arbiter between you?”  And\V{15} then he added,  “Take care to keep yourselves free from every form of covetousness; for even in the height of their prosperity a person’s true life does not depend on what they have.” 
\par 
 Then\V{16} Jesus told them this parable –  “There was once a rich man whose land was very fertile;   and\V{17} he began to ask himself ‘What will I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?   This\V{18} is what I will do,’ he said; ‘I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them;   and\V{19} I will say to myself, Now you have plenty of good things put by for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’   But\V{20} God said to the man ‘Fool! This very night your life is being demanded; and as for all you have prepared – who will have it?’   So\V{21} it is with those who lay by wealth for themselves and are not rich to the glory of God.” 
\par 
 And\V{22} Jesus said to his disciples,  “That is why I say to you, Do not be anxious about the life here – what you can get to eat; or about your body – what you can get to wear.   For\V{23} life is more than food, and the body than its clothes.   Think\V{24} of the ravens – they neither sow nor reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn; and yet God feeds them! And how much more precious are you than birds!   But\V{25} which of you, by being anxious, can prolong your life a moment?   And,\V{26} if you cannot do even the smallest thing, why be anxious about other things?   Think\V{27} of the lilies, and how they grow. They neither toil nor spin; yet, I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendor was not robed like one of these.   If,\V{28} even in the field, God so clothes the grass which is living today and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith!   And\V{29} you – do not be always seeking what you can get to eat or what you can get to drink; and do not waver.   These\V{30} are the things for which all the nations of the world are seeking, and your Father knows that you need them.   No,\V{31} seek his kingdom, and these things will be added for you.   So\V{32} do not be afraid, my little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 
\par 
  “Sell\V{33} what belongs to you, and give in charity. Make yourselves purses that will not wear out – an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, or moth works ruin.   For\V{34} where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.   Make\V{35} yourselves ready, with your lamps alight;   and\V{36} be like servants who are waiting for their Master’s return from his wedding, so that, when he comes and knocks, they may open the door for him at once.   Happy\V{37} are those servants whom, on his return, the Master will find watching. I tell you that he will make himself ready, and have them take their places at the table, and will come and serve them.   Whether\V{38} it is late at night, or in the early morning that he comes, if he finds all as it should be, then happy are they.   This\V{39} you do know, that, had the owner of the house known at what time the thief was coming, he would have been on the watch, and would not have let his house be broken into.   You\V{40} must also prepare, for when you are least expecting him the Son of Man will come.” 
\par 
 “Master,”\V{41} said Peter, “are you telling this parable with reference to us or to everyone?”
\par 
  “Who,\V{42} then,”  replied the Master,  “is that trustworthy steward, the careful man, who will be placed by his master over his establishment, to give them their rations at the proper time?   Happy\V{43} will that servant be whom his master, when he comes home, will find doing this.   His\V{44} master, I tell you, will put him in charge of the whole of his property.   But\V{45} should that servant say to himself ‘My master is a long time coming,’ and begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,   that\V{46} servant’s master will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour of which he is unaware, and will flog him severely and assign him his place among the untrustworthy.   The\V{47} servant who knows his master’s wishes and yet does not prepare and act accordingly will receive many lashes;   while\V{48} one who does not know his master’s wishes, but acts so as to deserve a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone to whom much has been given much will be expected, and from the man to whom much has been entrusted the more will be demanded.   I\V{49} came to cast fire on the earth; and what more can I wish, if it is already kindled?   There\V{50} is a baptism that I must undergo, and how great is my distress until it is over!   Do\V{51} you think that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but to cause division.   For\V{52} from this time, if there are five people in a house, they will be divided, three against two, and two against three.   Father\V{53} will be opposed to son and son to father, mother to daughter and daughter to mother, mother-in-law to her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law.” 
\par 
 And\V{54} to the people Jesus said,  “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once ‘There is a storm coming,’ and come it does.   And\V{55} when you see that the wind is in the south, you say ‘It will be burning hot,’ and so it proves.   Hypocrites!\V{56} You know how to judge of the earth and the sky; how is it, then, that you cannot judge of this time?   Why\V{57} don’t you yourselves decide what is right?   When,\V{58} for instance, you are going with your opponent before a magistrate, on your way to the court do your best to be quit of him; otherwise he might drag you before the judge, then the judge will hand you over to the bailiff of the court, and the bailiff throw you into prison.   You\V{59} will not, I tell you, come out until you have paid the very last cent.”  \blank 
 Just\C{13} at that time some people had come to tell Jesus about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.  “Do\V{2} you suppose,”  replied Jesus,  “that, because these Galileans have suffered in this way, they were worse sinners than any other Galileans?   No,\V{3} I tell you; but, unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.   Or\V{4} those eighteen men at Siloam on whom the tower fell, killing them all, do you suppose that they were worse offenders than any other inhabitants of Jerusalem?   No,\V{5} I tell you; but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same manner.” 
\par 
 And\V{6} Jesus told them this parable –  “A man, who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, came to look for fruit on it, but could not find any.   So\V{7} he said to his gardener ‘Three years now I have come to look for fruit on this fig tree, without finding any! Cut it down. Why should it rob the soil?’   ‘Leave\V{8} it this one year more, Sir,’ the man answered, ‘until I have dug around it and manured it.   Then,\V{9} if it bears in future, well and good; but if not, you can have it cut down.’” \blank 

\par 
 Jesus\V{10} was teaching on a Sabbath in one of the synagogues, and\V{11} he saw before him a woman who for eighteen years had suffered from weakness owing to her having an evil spirit in her. She was bent double, and was wholly unable to raise herself. When\V{12} Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said,  “Woman, you are released from your weakness.”  He\V{13} placed his hands on her, and she was instantly made straight, and began to praise God. But\V{14} the synagogue leader, indignant that Jesus had worked the cure on the Sabbath, intervened and said to the people, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come to be cured on one of those, and not on the Sabbath.”
\par 
  “You\V{15} hypocrites!”  the Master answered him.  “Does not everyone of you let your ox or your ass loose from its manger, and take it out to drink, on the Sabbath?   But\V{16} this woman, a daughter of Abraham, who has been kept in bondage by Satan for now eighteen years, ought not she to have been released from her bondage on the Sabbath?”  As\V{17} he said this, his opponents all felt ashamed; but all the people rejoiced to see all the wonderful things that he was doing.
\par 
 So\V{18} Jesus said,  “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what can I liken it?   It\V{19} is like a mustard seed which a man took and put in his garden. The seed grew and became a tree, and the wild birds roosted in its branches.”  And\V{20} again Jesus said,  “To what can I liken the kingdom of God?   It\V{21} is like some yeast which a woman took and covered in three pecks of flour, until the whole had risen.” 
\par 
 Jesus\V{22} went through towns and villages, teaching as he went, and making his way towards Jerusalem. “Master,”\V{23} someone asked, “are there but few in the path of salvation?” And Jesus answered,  “Strive\V{24} to go in by the small door. Many, I tell you, will seek to go in, but they will not be able,   when\V{25} once the master of the house has got up and shut the door, while you begin to say, as you stand outside and knock, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ His answer will be – ‘I do not know where you come from.’   Then\V{26} you will begin to say ‘We have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets,’ and his reply will be –   ‘I\V{27} do not know where you come from. Leave my presence, all you who are living in wickedness.’   There,\V{28} there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, while you yourselves are being driven outside.   People\V{29} will come from East and West, and from North and South, and take their places at the banquet in the kingdom of God.   there\V{30} are some who are last now who will then be first, and some who are first now who will then be last!” 
\par 
 Just\V{31} then some Pharisees came up to Jesus and said, “Go away and leave this place, for Herod wants to kill you.” But\V{32} Jesus answered,  “Go and say to that fox ‘Look you, I am driving out demons and will be completing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will have done.’   But\V{33} today and tomorrow and the day after I must go on my way, because it cannot be that a prophet should meet his end outside Jerusalem.   Jerusalem!\V{34} Jerusalem! You who slays the prophets and stones the messengers sent to you – Oh, how often have I wished to gather your children around me, as a hen takes her brood under her wings, and you would not come!   Verily\V{35} your house is left to you desolate! And never, I tell you, will you see me, until you say –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’” }
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  \stopalignment }\blank 
 On\C{14} one occasion, as Jesus was going, on a Sabbath into the house of one of the leading Pharisees to dine, they were watching him closely. There\V{2} he saw before him a man who was suffering from dropsy.  “Is\V{3} it allowable,”  said Jesus, addressing the students of the Law and the Pharisees,  “to work a cure on the Sabbath, or is it not?”  They\V{4} remained silent. Jesus took hold of the man and cured him, and sent him away. And\V{5} he said to them,  “Which of you, finding that your son or your ox has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull them out on the Sabbath day?”  And\V{6} they could not make any answer to that.
\par 
\noindentation  Observing\V{7} that the guests were choosing the best places for themselves, Jesus told them this parable –  “When\V{8} you are invited by anyone to a wedding banquet, do not seat yourself in the best place. Someone of higher rank might have been invited by your host;   and\V{9} the host who invited you both will come and say to you ‘Make room for this person,’ and then you will begin in confusion to take the lowest place.   No,\V{10} when you are invited, go and take the lowest place, so that, when the host who has invited you comes, he may say to you ‘Friend, come higher up’; and then you will be honored in the eyes of all your fellow guests.   For\V{11} everyone who exalts themselves will be humbled, and everyone who humbles themselves will be exalted.” 
\par 
\indentation  Then\V{12} Jesus went on to say to the man who had invited him,  “When you give a breakfast or a dinner, do not ask your friends, or your brothers or sisters, or your relatives, or rich neighbors, because they might invite you in return, and so you should be repaid.   No,\V{13} when you entertain, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;   and\V{14} then you will be happy indeed, since they cannot reward you; for you will be rewarded at the resurrection of the good.” 
\par 
 One\V{15} of the guests heard what he said and exclaimed, “Happy will be the person who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But\V{16} Jesus said to him,  “A man was once giving a great dinner. He invited many people,   and\V{17} sent his servant, when it was time for the dinner, to say to those who had been invited ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’   They\V{18} all with one accord began to ask to be excused. The first said to the servant ‘I have bought a field and am obliged to go and look at it. I must ask you to consider me excused.’   The\V{19} next said ‘I have bought five pairs of bullocks, and I am on my way to try them. I must ask you to consider me excused’;   while\V{20} the next said ‘I am just married, and for that reason I am unable to come.’   On\V{21} his return the servant told his master all these answers. Then in anger the owner of the house said to his servant ‘Go out at once into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in here the poor, and the crippled, and the blind, and the lame.’   Presently\V{22} the servant said ‘Sir, your order has been carried out, and still there is room.’   ‘Go\V{23} out,’ the master said, ‘into the roads and hedgerows, and make people come in, so that my house may be filled;   for\V{24} I tell you all that not one of those people who were invited will taste my dinner.’” 
\par 
 One\V{25} day, when great crowds of people were walking with Jesus, he turned and said to them,  “If\V{26} any one comes to me and does not hate their father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes and even their life, he can be no disciple of mine.   Whoever\V{27} does not carry their own cross, and walk in my steps, can be no disciple of mine.   Why,\V{28} which of you, when you want to build a tower, does not first sit down and reckon the cost, to see if you have enough to complete it? –   Otherwise,\V{29} if you have laid the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will laugh at you,   and\V{30} say ‘Here is a person who began to build and was not able to finish!’   Or\V{31} what king, when he is setting out to fight another king, does not first sit down and consider if with ten thousand men he is able to meet one who is coming against him with twenty thousand?   And\V{32} if he cannot, then, while the other is still at a distance, he sends envoys and asks for terms of peace.   And\V{33} so with everyone of you who does not bid farewell to all you have – you cannot be a disciple of mine.   Yes,\V{34} salt is good; but, if the salt itself should lose its strength, what will be used to season it?   It\V{35} is not fit either for the land or for the manure heap. People throw it away. Let those who have ears to hear with hear!”  \blank 

\par 
 The\C{15} tax-gatherers and the outcasts were all drawing near to Jesus to listen to him; but\V{2} the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law found fault.
\par 
“This man always welcomes outcasts, and takes meals with them!” they complained.
\par 
 So\V{3} Jesus told them this parable –  “Who\V{4} among you who has a hundred sheep, and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine out in the open country, and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?   And,\V{5} when he has found it, he puts in on his shoulders rejoicing;   and,\V{6} on reaching home, he calls his friends and his neighbors together, and says ‘Come and rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.’   So,\V{7} I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one outcast who repents, than over ninety-nine religious people, who have no need to repent.   Or\V{8} again, what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?   And,\V{9} when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, and says ‘Come and rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I lost.’   So,\V{10} I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of God’s angels over one outcast who repents.” 
\par 
 Then\V{11} Jesus continued,  “A man had two sons;   and\V{12} the younger of them said to his father ‘Father, give me my share of the inheritance.’ So the father divided the property between them.   A\V{13} few days later the younger son got together all that he had, and went away into a distant land; and there he squandered his inheritance by leading a dissolute life.   After\V{14} he has spent all that he had, there was a severe famine through all that country, and he began to be in actual want.   So\V{15} he went and engaged himself to one of the people of that country, who sent him into his fields to tend pigs.   He\V{16} even longed to satisfy his hunger with the bean-pods on which the pigs were feeding; and no one gave him anything.   But,\V{17} when he came to himself, he said ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more bread than they can eat, while here am I starving to death!   I\V{18} will get up and go to my father, and say to him “Father, I sinned against heaven and against you;   I\V{19} am no longer fit to be called your son; make me one of your hired servants.”’   And\V{20} he got up and went to his father. But, while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was deeply moved; he ran and threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.   ‘Father,’\V{21} the son said, ‘I sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer fit to be called your son; make me one of your hired servants.’   But\V{22} the father turned to his servants and said ‘Be quick and fetch a robe – the very best – and put it on him; give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet;   and\V{23} bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry;   for\V{24} here is my son who was dead, and is alive again, was lost, and is found.’ So they began making merry.   Meanwhile\V{25} the elder son was out in the fields; but, on coming home, when he got near the house, he heard music and dancing,   and\V{26} he called one of the servants and asked what it all meant.   ‘Your\V{27} brother has come back,’ the servant told him, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has him back safe and sound.’   This\V{28} made him angry, and he would not go in. But his father came out and begged him to do so.   ‘No,’\V{29} he said to his father, ‘look at all the years I have been serving you, without ever once disobeying you, and yet you have never given me even a young goat, so that I might have a merrymaking with my friends.   But,\V{30} no sooner has this son of yours come, who has eaten up your property in the company of prostitutes, than you have killed the fattened calf for him.’   ‘Child,’\V{31} the father answered, ‘you are always with me, and everything that I have is yours.   We\V{32} could but make merry and rejoice, for here is your brother who was dead, and is alive; who was lost, and is found.’”  
\par 
 Jesus\C{16} said to his disciples,  “There was a rich man who had a steward; and this steward was maliciously accused to him of wasting his estate.   So\V{2} the master called him and said ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give in your accounts, for you cannot act as steward any longer.’   ‘What\V{3} am I to do,’ the steward asked himself, ‘now that my master is taking the steward’s place away from me? I have not strength to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.   I\V{4} know what I will do, so that, as soon as I am turned out of my stewardship, people may welcome me into their homes.’   One\V{5} by one he called up his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked of the first.   ‘Four\V{6} hundred and forty gallons of oil,’ answered the man. ‘Here is your agreement,’ he said; ‘sit down at once and make it two hundred and twenty.’   And\V{7} you, the steward said to the next, ‘how much do you owe?’ ‘Seventy quarters of wheat,’ he replied. ‘Here is your agreement,’ the steward said; ‘make it fifty-six.’   His\V{8} master complimented this dishonest steward on the shrewdness of his action. And indeed men of the world are shrewder in dealing with their fellow men than those who have the light.   And\V{9} I say to you ‘Win friends for yourselves with your dishonest money,’ so that, when it comes to an end, there may be a welcome for you into the Eternal Home.   The\V{10} person who is trustworthy in the smallest matter is trustworthy in a great one also; and the person who is dishonest in the smallest matter is dishonest in a great one also.   So,\V{11} if you have proved untrustworthy with the dishonest money, who will trust you with the true?   And,\V{12} if you have proved untrustworthy with what does not belong to us, who will give you what is really our own?   No\V{13} servant can serve two masters, for, either they will hate one and love the other, or else they will attach themselves to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” 
\par 
 All\V{14} this was said within hearing of the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, and they began to sneer at Jesus.
\par 
  “You,”\V{15}   said Jesus,  “are the ones who justify themselves before the world, but God can read your hearts; and what is highly esteemed among people may be an abomination in the sight of God.   The\V{16} Law and the prophets sufficed until the time of John. Since then the good news of the kingdom of God has been told, and everybody has been forcing their way into it.   It\V{17} would be easier for the heavens and the earth to disappear than for one stroke of a letter in the Law to be lost.   Everyone\V{18} who divorces his wife and marries another woman is an adulterer, and the man who marries a divorced woman is an adulterer.   There\V{19} was once a rich man, who dressed in purple robes and fine linen, and feasted every day in great splendor.   Near\V{20} his gateway there had been laid a beggar named Lazarus, who was covered with sores,   and\V{21} who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.   After\V{22} a time the beggar died, and was taken by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.   In\V{23} Hades he looked up in his torment, and saw Abraham at a distance and Lazarus at his side.   So\V{24} he called out ‘Pity me, Father Abraham, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering agony in this flame.’   ‘Child,’\V{25} answered Abraham, ‘remember that you in your lifetime received what you thought desirable, just as Lazarus received what was not desirable; but now he has his consolation here, while you are suffering agony.   And\V{26} not only that, but between you and us there lies a great chasm, so that those who wish to pass from here to you cannot, nor can they cross from there to us.’   ‘Then,\V{27} Father,’ he said, ‘I beg you to send Lazarus to my father’s house –   For\V{28} I have five brothers to warn them, so that they may not come to this place of torture also.’   ‘They\V{29} have the writings of Moses and the prophets,’ replied Abraham; ‘let them listen to them.’   ‘But,\V{30} Father Abraham,’ he urged, ‘if someone from the dead were to go to them, they would repent.’   ‘If\V{31} they do not listen to Moses and the prophets,’ answered Abraham, ‘they will not be persuaded, even if someone were to rise from the dead.’”  \blank 
 Jesus\C{17} said to his disciples,  “It is inevitable that there should be temptations but sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting!   It\V{2} would be good for them if they had been flung into the sea with a millstone around their neck, rather than that they should prove a trap even one of these little ones.   Be\V{3} on your guard! If your brother or sister does wrong, rebuke them; but if they repent, forgive them.   Even\V{4} if they wrong you seven times a day, but turns to you every time and says ‘I am sorry,’ you must forgive them.” 
\par 
 “Give\V{5} us more faith,” said the apostles to the Master; but\V{6} the Master said,  “If your faith were only like a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.   Which\V{7} of you, if he had a servant ploughing, or tending the sheep, would say to him, when he came in from the fields, ‘Come at once and take your place at the table,’   Instead\V{8} of saying ‘Prepare my dinner, and then make yourself ready and serve me while I am eating and drinking, and after that you will eat and drink yourself’?   Does\V{9} he feel grateful to his servant for doing what he is told?   And\V{10} so with you – when you have done all that you have been told, still say ‘We are but useless servants; we have done no more than we ought to have done.’” \blank 

\par 
 On\V{11} the way to Jerusalem Jesus passed between Samaria and Galilee. As\V{12} he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. Standing\V{13} still, some distance off, they called out loudly, “Jesus! Sir! Pity us!” When\V{14} Jesus saw them, he said,  “Go and show yourselves to the priest.”  And, as they were on their way, they were made clean. One\V{15} of them, finding he was cured, came back, praising God loudly, and\V{16} threw himself on his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done; and this man was a Samaritan.  “Were\V{17} not all the ten made clean?  exclaimed Jesus.  But the nine – where are they?   Were\V{18} there none to come back and praise God except this foreigner?   Get\V{19} up,”  he said to him,  “and go on your way. Your faith has delivered you.” \blank 

\par 
 Being\V{20} once asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was to come, Jesus answered,  “The kingdom of God does not come in a way that can be seen,   nor\V{21} will people say ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’; for the kingdom of God is within you!   The\V{22} day will come,”  he said to his disciples,  “when you will long to see but one of the days of the Son of Man, and will not see it.   People\V{23} will say to you ‘There he is!’ Or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go and follow them.   For,\V{24} just as lightning will lighten and flare from one side of the heavens to the other, so will it be with the Son of Man.   But\V{25} first he must undergo much suffering, and he must be rejected by the present generation.   As\V{26} it was in the days of Noah, so will it be again in the days of the Son of Man.   They\V{27} were eating and drinking and marrying and being married, up to the very day on which Noah entered the ark, and then the flood came and destroyed them all.   So,\V{28} too, in the days of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building;   but,\V{29} on the very day on which Lot came out of Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the skies and destroyed them all.   It\V{30} will be the same on the day on which the Son of Man reveals himself.   On\V{31} that day, if a person is on their house-top and their goods in the house, they must not go down to get them; nor again must one who is on the farm turn back.   Remember\V{32} Lot’s wife.   Whoever\V{33} is eager to get the most out of their life will lose it; but whoever will lose it will preserve it.   On\V{34} that night, I tell you, of two people on the same bed, one will be taken and the other left;   of\V{35} two women grinding grain together, one will be taken and the other left.”  \footnote{\V{36}  17:36    Some later manuscripts add: There will be two in the field; one will be taken and the other left.} 
\par 
 “Where\V{37} will it be, Master?” asked the disciples.  “Where there is a body,”  said Jesus,  “there will the vultures flock.”  \blank 

\par 
 Jesus\C{18} told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never despair.  “There\V{2} was,”  he said,  “in a certain town a judge, who had no fear of God nor regard for people.   In\V{3} the same town there was a widow who went to him again and again, and said ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’   For\V{4} a time the judge refused, but afterward he said to himself ‘Although I am without fear of God or regard for people,   yet,\V{5} as this widow is so troublesome, I will grant her justice, to stop her from plaguing me with her endless visits.’”  Then\V{6} the Master added,  “Listen to what this iniquitous judge says!   And\V{7} God – won’t he see that his own people, who cry to him night and day, have justice done them – though he holds his hand?   He\V{8} will, I tell you, give them justice soon enough! Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” \blank 
 Another\V{9} time, speaking to people who were satisfied that they were religious, and who regarded everyone else with scorn, Jesus told this parable –  “Two\V{10} men went up into the Temple Courts to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer.   The\V{11} Pharisee stood forward and began praying to himself in this way – ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men – thieves, rogues, adulterers – or even like this tax-gatherer.   I\V{12} fast twice a week, and give a tenth of everything I get to God.’   Meanwhile\V{13} the tax-gatherer stood at a distance, not venturing even to raise his eyes to heaven, but he kept striking his breast and saying ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’   This\V{14} man, I tell you, went home pardoned, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, while everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.” \blank 

\par 
 Some\V{15} of the people were bringing even their babies to Jesus, for him to touch them; but, when the disciples saw it, they began to find fault with those who had brought them. Jesus,\V{16} however, called the little children to him.  “Let the little children come to me,”  he said,  “and do not hinder them, for it is to the childlike that the kingdom of God belongs.   I\V{17} tell you, unless a man receives the kingdom of God like a child, he will not enter it at all.” \blank 
 And\V{18} one of the leaders asked Jesus this question – “Good teacher, what must I do if I am to gain eternal life?”
\par 
  “Why\V{19} do you call me good?”  answered Jesus.  “No one is good but God.   You\V{20} know the commandments – Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not say what is false about others, Honor your father and your mother.” 
\par 
 “I\V{21} have observed all these,” he replied, “from childhood.” Hearing\V{22} this, Jesus said to him,  “There is one thing still lacking in you; sell everything that you have, and distribute to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven; then come and follow me.”  But\V{23} the man became greatly distressed on hearing this, for he was extremely rich. Seeing\V{24} this, Jesus said to his disciples,  “How hard it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!   It\V{25} is easier, indeed, for a camel to get through a needle’s eye than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God!” 
\par 
 “Then\V{26} who can be saved?” asked those who heard this. But\V{27} Jesus said,  “What is impossible with people is possible with God.” 
\par 
 “But\V{28} we,” said Peter, “we left what belonged to us and followed you.”
\par 
  “I\V{29} tell you,”  he answered,  “that there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,   who\V{30} will not receive many times as much in the present, and in the age that is coming eternal life.” \blank 
 Gathering\V{31} the Twelve around him, Jesus said to them,  “Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem; and there everything that is written in the prophets will be done to the Son of Man.   For\V{32} he will be given up to the Gentiles, mocked, insulted and spat on;   they\V{33} will scourge him, and then put him to death; and on the third day he will rise again.”  The\V{34} apostles did not comprehend any of this. His meaning was unintelligible to them and they did not understand what he was saying.\blank 

\par 
 As\V{35} Jesus was getting near Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside, begging. Hearing\V{36} a crowd going by, the man asked what was the matter; and,\V{37} when people told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing, he\V{38} shouted out, “Jesus, Son of David, take pity on me!” Those\V{39} who were in front kept telling him to be quiet, but he continued to call out the louder, “Son of David, take pity on me!” Then\V{40} Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. And, when he had come close up to him, Jesus asked him,  “What\V{41} do you want me to do for you?” 
\par 
“Master,” he said, “I want to recover my sight.” And\V{42} Jesus said,  “Recover your sight, your faith has delivered you.”  Instantly\V{43} he recovered his sight, and began to follow Jesus, praising God. And all the people, on seeing it, gave glory to God. \blank 

\par 
 Jesus\C{19} entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There\V{2} was a man there, known by the name of Zacchaeus, who was a commissioner of taxes and a rich man. He\V{3} tried to see what Jesus was like; but, being short, he was unable to do so because of the crowd. So\V{4} he ran on ahead and climbed into a mulberry tree, to see Jesus, for he knew that he must pass that way. When\V{5} Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him,  “Zacchaeus, be quick and come down, for I must stop at your house today.”  So\V{6} Zacchaeus got down quickly, and joyfully welcomed him. On\V{7} seeing this, everyone began to complain, “He has gone to stay with a man who is an outcast.” But\V{8} Zacchaeus stood forward and said to the Master, “Listen, Master! I will give half my property to the poor, and, if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give him back four times as much.”
\par 
  “Salvation\V{9} has come to this house today,”  answered Jesus,  “for even this man is a son of Abraham.   The\V{10} Son of Man has come to search for those who are lost and to save them.” 
\par 
 As\V{11} the people were listening to this, Jesus went on to tell them a parable. He did so because he was near Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to be proclaimed at once. He\V{12} said,  “A nobleman once went to a distant country to receive his appointment to a kingdom and then return.   He\V{13} called ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds of silver each, and told them to trade with them during his absence.   But\V{14} his subjects hated him and sent envoys after him to say ‘We will not have this man as our king.’   On\V{15} his return, after having been appointed king, he directed that the servants to whom he had given his money should be summoned, so that he might learn what amount of trade they had done.   The\V{16} first came up, and said ‘Sir, your ten pounds have made a hundred.’   ‘Well\V{17} done, good servant!’ exclaimed the master. ‘As you have proved trustworthy in a very small matter, I appoint you governor over ten towns.’   When\V{18} the second came, he said ‘Your ten pounds, Sir, have produced fifty.’   So\V{19} the master said to him ‘And you I appoint over five towns.’   Another\V{20} servant also came and said ‘Sir, here are your ten pounds; I have kept them put away in a handkerchief.   For\V{21} I was afraid of you, because you are a stern man. You take what you have not planted, and reap what you have not sown.’   The\V{22} master answered ‘Out of your own mouth I judge you, you worthless servant. You knew that I am a stern man, that I take what I have not planted, and reap what I have not sown?   Then\V{23} why didn’t you put my money into a bank? And I, on my return, could have claimed it with interest.   Take\V{24} away from him the ten pounds,’ he said to those standing by, ‘and give them to the one who has the hundred.’   ‘But,\V{25} Sir,’ they said, ‘he has a hundred pounds already!’   ‘I\V{26} tell you,’ he answered, ‘that, to him who has, more will be given, but, from him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.   But\V{27} as for my enemies, these men who would not have me as their king, bring them here and put them to death in my presence.’” 
\par 
 After\V{28} saying this, Jesus went on in front, going up to Jerusalem.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Last Days}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  It\V{29} was when Jesus had almost reached Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, that he sent on two of the disciples.  “Go\V{30} to the village facing us,”  he said,  “and, when you get there, you will find a foal tethered, which no one has yet ridden; untie it and lead it here.   And,\V{31} if anybody asks you ‘Why are you untying it?,’ you are to say this – ‘The Master wants it.’”  So\V{32} the two who were sent went and found it as Jesus had told them. While\V{33} they were untying the foal, the owners asked them – “Why are you untying the foal?” And\V{34} the two disciples answered – “The Master wants it.” Then\V{35} they led it back to Jesus, and threw their cloaks on the foal and put Jesus on it. As\V{36} he went along, the people kept spreading their cloaks in the road. When\V{37} he had almost reached the place where the road led down the Mount of Olives, everyone of the many disciples began in their joy to praise God loudly for all the miracles that they had seen:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Blessed\V{38} is He who comes –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Our king – in the name of the Lord!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Peace in heaven,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And glory on high.”}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Some\V{39} of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, restrain your disciples.” But\V{40} Jesus answered,  “I tell you that if they are silent, the stones will call out.” \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  When\V{41} he drew near, on seeing the city, he wept over it, and said,  “If\V{42} only you had known, while yet there was time – even you – the things that make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your sight.   For\V{43} a time is coming when your enemies will surround you with earthworks, and encircle you, and hem you in on all sides;   they\V{44} will trample you down and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone on another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” 
\par 
\indentation  Jesus\V{45} went into the Temple Courts and began to drive out those who were selling, saying\V{46} as he did so,  “Scripture says – ‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.” \blank 

\par 
 Jesus\V{47} continued to teach each day in the Temple Courts; but the chief priests and teachers of the Law were eager to take his life, and so also were the leaders of the people. Yet\V{48} they could not see what to do, for the people all hung on his words. \blank 

\par 
 On\C{20} one of these days, when Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple Courts and telling the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, joined by the elders, confronted him, and\V{2} addressing him, said, “Tell us what authority you have to do these things. Who is it who has given you this authority?”
\par 
  “I,\V{3} too,”  said Jesus in reply,  “will ask you one question. Give me an answer to it.   It\V{4} is about John’s baptism – was it of divine or of human origin?”  But\V{5} they began arguing together, “If we say ‘divine,’ he will say ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But,\V{6} if we say ‘human,’ the people will all stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” So\V{7} they answered that they did not know its origin.  “Then\V{8} I,”  said Jesus,  “refuse to tell you what authority I have to do these things.” 
\par 
 But\V{9} Jesus began to tell the people this parable –  “A man once planted a vineyard, and then let it out to tenants, and went abroad for a long while.   At\V{10} the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they could give him a share of the produce of the vineyard. The tenants, however, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.   The\V{11} owner afterward sent another servant; but the tenants beat and insulted this man too, and sent him away empty-handed.   He\V{12} sent a third; but they wounded this man also, and threw him outside.   ‘What\V{13} should I do?’ said the owner of the vineyard. ‘I will send my son, who is very dear to me. Perhaps they will respect him.’   But,\V{14} on seeing him, the tenants consulted with one another. ‘Here is the heir!’ they said. ‘Let us kill him, and then the inheritance will become ours.’   So\V{15} they threw him outside the vineyard and killed him. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?   He\V{16} will come and put those tenants to death, and will let the vineyard to others.” 
\par 
“heaven forbid!” they exclaimed when they heard it. But\V{17} Jesus looked at them and said,  “What then is the meaning of this passage? –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The stone which the builders despised has now itself become the corner-stone.’ }
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]   Everyone\V{18} who falls on that stone will be dashed to pieces, while anyone on whom it falls – it will scatter him as dust.” \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  After\V{19} this the teachers of the Law and the chief priest were eager to lay hands on Jesus then and there, but they were afraid of the people; for they saw that it was at them that he had aimed this parable. Having\V{20} watched their opportunity, they afterward sent some spies, who pretended to be good men, to catch Jesus in the course of conversation, and so enable them to give him up to the Governor’s jurisdiction and authority. These\V{21} spies asked Jesus a question. They said, “Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and that you do not take any account of a person’s position, but teach the way of God honestly; are\V{22} we right in paying tribute to the Emperor or not?” Seeing\V{23} through their deceitfulness, Jesus said to them,  “Show\V{24} me a coin. Whose head and title are on it?” 
\par 
\indentation  “The\V{25} Emperor’s,” they said; and Jesus replied,  “Well then, pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and to God what belongs to God.”  They\V{26} could not lay hold of this answer before the people; and, in their wonder at his reply, they held their tongues.\blank 

\par 
 Presently\V{27} there came up some Sadducees, who maintain that there is no resurrection. Their question was this – “Teacher,\V{28} Moses laid down for us in his writings that –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Should a man’s married brother die, and should he be childless, the man should take the widow as his wife, and raise up a family for his brother.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Well,\V{29} there were once seven brothers; of whom the eldest, after taking a wife, died childless. The\V{30} second and third brothers both took her as their wife; and\V{31} so, too, did all seven – dying without children. The\V{32} woman herself was the last to die. About\V{33} the woman, then – at the resurrection, whose wife is she to be, all seven brothers having had her as their wife?”\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation   “The\V{34} men and women of this world,”  said Jesus,  “marry and are given in marriage;   but,\V{35} for those who are thought worthy to attain to that other world and the resurrection from the dead, there is no marrying or being married,   nor\V{36} indeed can they die again, for they are like angels and, having shared in the resurrection, they are God’s children.   As\V{37} to the fact that the dead rise, even Moses indicated that, in the passage about the Bush, when he calls the Lord –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ }
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]   Now\V{38} he is not God of dead people, but of living. For in his sight all are alive.” \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  “Well\V{39} said, teacher!” exclaimed some of the teachers of the Law, for\V{40} they did not venture to question him any further. But\V{41} Jesus said to them,  “How is it that people say that the Christ is to be David’s son?   For\V{42} David, in the book of Psalms, says himself –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The Lord said to my lord: Sit at my right hand, }
\noindentation \Q{1}{  until\V{43} I put your enemies as a stool for your feet.’ }
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]   David,\V{44} then, calls him ‘lord,’ so how is he David’s son?” \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  While\V{45} all the people were listening, Jesus said to the disciples,  “Be\V{46} on your guard against the teachers of the Law, who delight to walk about in long robes, and like to be greeted in the streets with respect, and to have the best seats in the synagogues, and places of honor at dinner.   These\V{47} are the men who rob widows of their houses, and make a pretense of saying long prayers. Their sentence will be all the heavier.”  
\par 
\indentation  Looking\C{21} up, Jesus saw the rich people putting their gifts into the chests for the Temple offerings. He\V{2} saw, too, a widow in poor circumstances putting two small coins into them.  “I\V{3} tell you” , he said  “that this poor widow has put in more than all the others;   for\V{4} everyone else here put in something from what he had to spare, while she, in her need, has put in all she had to live on.” \blank 

\par 
 When\V{5} some of them spoke about the Temple being decorated with beautiful stones and offerings, Jesus said,  “As\V{6} for these things that you are looking at, a time is coming when not one stone will be left on another here. Every one will be thrown down.”  So\V{7} the disciples questioned Jesus, “But, teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when this is near?”
\par 
 And\V{8} Jesus said,  “See that you are not led astray; for many will take my name, and come saying ‘I am He,’ and ‘The time is close at hand.’ Do not follow them.   And,\V{9} when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified, for these things must occur first; but the end will not be at once.”  Then\V{10} he said to them,  “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom,   and\V{11} there will be great earthquakes, and plagues and famines in various places, and there will be terrible appearances and signs in the heavens.   Before\V{12} all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you, and they will betray you to synagogues and put you in prison, when you will be brought before kings and governors for the sake of my name.   Then\V{13} will be your opportunity of witnessing for me.   Make\V{14} up your minds, therefore, not to prepare your defense;   for\V{15} I will myself give you words, and a wisdom which all your opponents together will be unable to resist or defy.   You\V{16} will be betrayed even by your parents and brothers and sisters and sisters and relatives and friends, and they will cause some of you to be put to death,   and\V{17} you will be hated by everyone because of me my name.   Yet\V{18} not a single hair of your heads will be lost!   By\V{19} your endurance you will win yourselves life.   As\V{20} soon, however, as you see Jerusalem surrounded by armed camps, then you may know that the hour of her desecration is at hand.   Then\V{21} those of you who are in Judea must take refuge in the mountains, those who are in Jerusalem must leave at once, and those who are in the country places must not go into it.   For\V{22} these are to be the days of vengeance, when all that scripture says will be fulfilled.   Alas\V{23} for pregnant women, and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great suffering in the land, and anger against this people.   They\V{24} will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be taken prisoners to every land, and Jerusalem will be under the heel of the Gentiles, until their day is over – as it will be.   There\V{25} will be signs, too, in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth despair among the nations, in their dismay at the roar of the sea and the surge.   People’s\V{26} hearts will fail them through dread of what is coming upon the world; for the forces of the heavens will be convulsed.   Then\V{27} will be seen the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.   And,\V{28} when these things begin to occur, look upwards and lift your heads, for your deliverance will be at hand.” 
\par 
 Then\V{29} he taught them a lesson, saying –  “Look at the fig tree and all the other trees.   As\V{30} soon as they shoot, you know, as you look at them, without being told, that summer is near.   And\V{31} so may you, as soon as you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.   I\V{32} tell you that even the present generation will not pass away until all has taken place.   The\V{33} heavens and the earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.   Be\V{34} on your guard or your minds will become dulled by debauches or drunkenness or the anxieties of life, and ’that day’ will close on you suddenly like a trap.   For\V{35} come it will on all who are living upon the face of the whole earth.   Be\V{36} on the watch at all times, and pray that you may have strength to escape all that is destined to happen, and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man.” \blank 

\par 
 During\V{37} the days, Jesus continued to teach in the Temple Courts, but he went out and spent the nights on the hill called the ‘Mount of Olives.’ And\V{38} all the people would get up early in the morning and come to listen to him in the Temple Courts. \blank 

\par 
 The\C{22} feast of the unleavened bread, known as the Passover, was near. The\V{2} chief priest and the teachers of the Law were looking for an opportunity of destroying Jesus, for they were afraid of the people.
\par 
 Now\V{3} Satan took possession of Judas, who was known as Iscariot, and who belonged to the Twelve; and\V{4} he went and discussed with the chief priests and officers in charge at the Temple the best way of betraying Jesus to them. They\V{5} were glad of this, and agreed to pay him. So\V{6} Judas assented, and looked for an opportunity to betray Jesus to them, in the absence of a crowd.
\par 
 When\V{7} the day of the Festival of the unleavened bread came, on which the Passover lambs had to be killed, Jesus\V{8} sent forward Peter and John, saying to them,  “Go and make preparations for our eating the Passover.” 
\par 
 “Where\V{9} do you wish us to make preparations?” they asked.  “Listen,”\V{10}   he answered,  “when you have got into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you; follow him into whatever house he enters;   and\V{11} you will say to the owner of the house ‘The teacher says to you – Where is the room where I am to eat the Passover with my disciples?’   The\V{12} man will show you a large upstairs room, set out; there make preparations.” 
\par 
 So\V{13} Peter and John went on, and found everything just as Jesus had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
\par 
 When\V{14} the time came, Jesus took his place at the table, and the apostles with him.  “I\V{15} have most earnestly wished,”  he said,  “to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.   For\V{16} I tell you that I will not eat it again, until it has had its fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”  Then,\V{17} on receiving a cup, after saying the thanksgiving, he said,  “Take this and share it among you.   For\V{18} I tell you that I will not, after today, drink of the juice of the grape, until the kingdom of God has come.”  Then\V{19} Jesus took some bread, and, after saying the thanksgiving, broke it and gave to them, with the words,  “This is my body.  \footnote{\V{20}  22:20    Some later manuscripts add: which is now to be given on your behalf. Do this in memory of me. And in the same way with the cup, after supper, saying: “This cup is the New Covenant made by my blood which is being poured out on your behalf.”}   Yet\V{21} see! The hand of the man who is betraying me is beside me on the table!   True,\V{22} the Son of Man is passing, by the way ordained for him, yet alas for that man by whom he is being betrayed!”  Then\V{23} they began questioning one another which of them it could be who was going to do this.
\par 
 And\V{24} a dispute arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. Jesus,\V{25} however, said,  “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their oppressors are styled ‘Benefactors.’   But\V{26} with you it must not be so. No, let the greatest among you become like the youngest, and him who leads like him who serves.   Which\V{27} is the greater – the master at the table or his servant? Is not it the master at the table? Yet I myself am among you as one who serves.   You\V{28} are the men who have stood by me in my trials;   and,\V{29} just as my Father has assigned me a kingdom, I assign you places,   so\V{30} that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and be seated on twelve thrones as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel.   Simon!\V{31} Simon! listen. Satan demanded leave to sift you all like wheat,   but\V{32} I prayed for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. And you, when you have returned to me, are to strengthen the others.” 
\par 
 “Master,”\V{33} said Peter, “with you I am ready to go both to prison and to death.”
\par 
  “I\V{34} tell you, Peter,”  replied Jesus,  “the cock will not crow today until you have disowned all knowledge of me three times.”  Then\V{35} he said to them all,  “When I sent you out as my messengers, without either purse, or bag, or sandals, were you in need of anything?” 
\par 
“No; nothing,” they answered.  “Now,\V{36} however,”  he said,  “he who has a purse must take it and his bag as well; and he who has not must sell his cloak and buy a sword.   For,\V{37} I tell you, that passage of scripture must be fulfilled in me, which says – ‘He was counted among the godless’; indeed all that refers to me is finding its fulfillment.” 
\par 
 “Master,”\V{38} they exclaimed, “look, here are two swords!”
\par 
 “Enough!”  said Jesus.\blank 

\par 
 Jesus\V{39} then went out, and made his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, followed by his disciples. And,\V{40} when he reached the spot, he said to them,  “Pray that you may not fall into temptation.”  Then\V{41} he withdrew about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and began to pray.  “Father,”\V{42}   he said,  “if it is your pleasure, spare me this cup; only, not my will but your be done.”  Presently\V{43} there appeared to him an angel from heaven, who strengthened him.\footnote{  22:43    Some later manuscripts do not contain verses 43 or 44.}  And,\V{44} as his anguish became intense, he prayed still more earnestly, while his sweat was like great drops of blood falling on the ground. Then\V{45} he rose from praying, and came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow.  “Why\V{46} are you asleep?”  he asked them.  “Rise and pray so that you don’t fall into temptation.”  While\V{47} he was still speaking, a crowd appeared in sight, led by the man called Judas, who was one of the Twelve. Judas approached Jesus, to kiss him; at\V{48} which Jesus said to him,  “Judas, is it by a kiss that you betray the Son of Man?”  But\V{49} when those who were around Jesus saw what was going to happen, they exclaimed, “Master, should we use our swords?” And\V{50} one of them struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear; at\V{51} which Jesus said,  “Let me at least do this”; and, touching his ear, he healed the wound.  Then,\V{52} turning to the chief priests and officers in charge at the Temple and the elders, who had come for him, he said,  “Have you come out, as if after a robber, with swords and clubs?   When\V{53} I was with you day after day in the Temple Courts, you did not lay hands on me; but now your time has come, and the power of darkness.” \blank 
 Those\V{54} who had taken Jesus prisoner took him away into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. But,\V{55} when they had lit a fire in the centre of the courtyard and had all sat down there, Peter seated himself in the middle of them. Presently\V{56} a maidservant saw him sitting near the blaze of the fire. She looked carefully at him and said, “Why, this man was one of his companions!” But\V{57} Peter denied it. “I do not know him,” he replied. A\V{58} little while afterward someone else – a man – saw him and said, “Why, you are one of them!”
\par 
“No,” Peter said, “I am not.” About\V{59} an hour later another man declared positively, “This man also was certainly with him. Why, he is a Galilean!” But\V{60} Peter said, “I do not know what you are speaking about.” Instantly, while he was still speaking, a cock crowed. And\V{61} the Master turned and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the words that the Master had said to him –  “Before a cock has crowed today, you will disown me three times”;  and\V{62} he went outside and wept bitterly.\blank 

\par 
 The\V{63} men who held Jesus kept making sport of him and beating him. They\V{64} blindfolded him and then questioned him. “Now play the prophet,” they said; “who was it that struck you?” And\V{65} they heaped many other insults on him.\blank 

\par 
 At\V{66} daybreak the the assembly of the elders of the people met – both the chief priests and the teachers of the Law – and took Jesus before their High Council. “If\V{67} you are the Christ,” they said, “tell us so.”
\par 
 “If I tell you,”  replied Jesus,  “you will not believe me;   and,\V{68} if I question you, you will not answer.   But\V{69} from this hour the Son of Man will be seated on the right hand of God Almighty.” 
\par 
 “Are\V{70} you, then, the Son of God?” they all asked.  “It is true,”  answered Jesus,  “I am.”  At\V{71} this they exclaimed, “Why do we want any more evidence? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!” 
\par 
 Then\C{23} they all rose in a body and led Jesus before Pilate. And\V{2} they began to accuse him, “This is a man whom we found misleading our people, preventing them from paying taxes to the Emperor, and giving out that he himself is ‘Christ, a king.’”
\par 
 “Are\V{3} you the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked him.  “It is true,”  replied Jesus. But\V{4} Pilate, turning to the chief priests and the people, said, “I do not see anything to find fault with in this man.” But\V{5} they insisted, “He is stirring up the people by his teaching all through Judea; he began with Galilee and has now come here.” Hearing\V{6} this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean; and,\V{7} having satisfied himself that Jesus came under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who also was at Jerusalem at the time. When\V{8} Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly pleased, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, having heard a great deal about him; and he was hoping to see some sign given by him. So\V{9} he questioned him at some length, but Jesus made no reply. Meanwhile\V{10} the chief priests and the teachers of the Law stood by and vehemently accused him. And\V{11} Herod, with his soldiers, treated Jesus with scorn; he mocked him by throwing a gorgeous robe around him, and then sent him back to Pilate. And\V{12} Herod and Pilate became friends that very day, for before that there had been ill-will between them.
\par 
 So\V{13} Pilate summoned the chief priests, and the leading men, and the people, and\V{14} said to them, “You brought this man before me charged with misleading the people; and yet, for my part, though I examined him before you, I did not find this man to blame for any of the things of which you accuse him; nor\V{15} did Herod either; for he has sent him back to us. And, as a fact, he has not done anything deserving death; so\V{16} I will have him scourged, and then release him.” \footnote{\V{17}  23:17    Some later manuscripts add: He had to release someone to them at the feast.}  But\V{18} they began to shout as one man, “Kill this fellow, but release Barabbas for us.” (Barabbas\V{19} was a man who had been put in prison for a riot that had broken out in the city and for murder.) Pilate,\V{20} however, wanting to release Jesus, called to them again; but\V{21} they kept calling out, “Crucify, crucify him!”
\par 
 “Why,\V{22} what harm has this man done?” Pilate said to them for the third time. “I have found nothing in him for which he could be condemned to death. So I will have him scourged, and then release him.” But\V{23} they persisted in loudly demanding his crucifixion; and their clamor gained the day. Pilate\V{24} decided that their demand should be granted. He\V{25} released the man who had been put in prison for riot and murder, as they demanded, and gave Jesus up to be dealt with as they pleased.\blank 

\par 
 And,\V{26} as they were leading Jesus away, they laid hold of Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and they put the cross on his shoulders, for him to carry it behind Jesus. There\V{27} was a great crowd of people following him, many being women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. So\V{28} Jesus turned and said to them,  “Women of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.   A\V{29} time, I tell you, is coming, when it will be said – ‘Happy are the women who are barren, and those who have never borne children or nursed them!’   At\V{30} that time people will begin to say to the mountains ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills ‘Cover us.’   If\V{31} what you see is done while the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”  There\V{32} were two others also, criminals, led out to be executed with Jesus. When\V{33} they had reached the place called ‘The Skull,’ there they crucified Jesus and the criminals, one on the right, and one on the left. Then\V{34} Jesus said,  “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.”  His clothes they divided among them by casting lots. Meanwhile\V{35} the people stood looking on. Even the leading men said with a sneer, “He saved others, let him save himself, if he is God’s Christ, his chosen one.” The\V{36} soldiers, too, came up in mockery, bringing him common wine, and\V{37} saying as they did so, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” Above\V{38} him were the words –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  One\V{39} of the criminals who were hanging beside Jesus railed at him. “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us,” he said. But\V{40} the other rebuked him. “Haven’t you,” he said, “any fear of God, now that you are under the same sentence? And\V{41} we justly so, for we are only reaping our deserts, but this man has not done anything wrong. Jesus,”\V{42} he went on, “do not forget me when you have come to your kingdom.” And\V{43} Jesus answered,  “I tell you, this very day you will be with me in Paradise.” \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  It\V{44} was nearly midday, when a darkness came over the whole country, lasting until three in the afternoon, the\V{45} sun being eclipsed; and the Temple curtain was torn down the middle. Then\V{46} Jesus, with a loud cry, said,  “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”  And with these words he expired. The\V{47} Roman captain, on seeing what had happened, praised God, exclaiming, “This must have been a good man!” All\V{48} the people who had collected to see the sight watched what occurred, and then went home beating their breasts. All\V{49} the friends of Jesus had been standing at a distance, with the women who accompanied him from Galilee, watching all this.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Now\V{50} there was a man of the name of Joseph, who was a member of the Council, and who bore a good and upright character. (This\V{51} man had not assented to the decision and action of the Council.) He belonged to Ramah, a town in Judea, and lived in expectation of the kingdom of God. He\V{52} now went to see Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus; and,\V{53} when he had taken it down, he wrapped it in a linen sheet, and laid him in a tomb cut out of stone, in which no one had yet been buried. It\V{54} was the Preparation day, and just before the Sabbath began. The\V{55} women who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how the body of Jesus was laid, and\V{56} then went home, and prepared spices and perfumes.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Risen Life}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation During the Sabbath they rested, as directed by the commandment.  But\C{24} very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb, taking with them the spices that they had prepared. They\V{2} found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb; and,\V{3} on going into it, they could not find the body\footnote{  24:3    Some later manuscripts add: of the Lord Jesus.} . While\V{4} they were at a loss to account for this, all at once two men stood beside them, in dazzling clothing. But,\V{5} when in their fear the women bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why are you looking among the dead for him who is living? \footnote{\V{6}  24:6    Some later manuscripts add: He is not here but he has risen.}  Remember how he spoke to you before he left Galilee – How\V{7} he said that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of wicked men, and be crucified, and rise again on the third day.” Then\V{8} they remembered the words of Jesus, and,\V{9} on returning from the tomb, they told all this to the Eleven and to all the rest. There\V{10} were Mary of Magdala, and Joanna, and Mary, the mother of James. The other women, too, spoke about this to the apostles. What\V{11} they said seemed to the apostles mere nonsense, and they did not believe them. \footnote{\V{12}  24:12    Some later manuscripts add: Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Stooping down he saw nothing but the linen wrappings, and he went away, wondering to himself at what had taken place.} \blank 

\par 
\indentation  It\V{13} happened that very day that two of the disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem, talking\V{14} together, as they went, about all that had just taken place. While\V{15} they were talking about these things and discussing them, Jesus himself came up and went on their way with them; but\V{16} their eyes were blinded so that they could not recognize him.  “What\V{17} is this that you are saying to each other as you walk along?”  Jesus asked. They stopped, with sad looks on their faces, and\V{18} then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, said to Jesus, “Are you staying by yourself at Jerusalem, that you have not heard of the things that have happened there within the last few days?”
\par 
  “What\V{19} things do you mean?”  asked Jesus. “Why, about Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered, “who, in the eyes of God and all the people, was a prophet, whose power was felt in both his words and actions; and\V{20} how the chief priests and our leading men gave him up to be sentenced to death, and afterward crucified him. But\V{21} we were hoping that he was the Destined Deliverer of Israel; yes, and besides all this, it is now three days since these things occurred. And\V{22} what is more, some of the women among us have greatly astonished us. They went to the tomb at daybreak And,\V{23} not finding the body of Jesus there, came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he was alive. So\V{24} some of our number went to the tomb and found everything just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
\par 
 Then\V{25} Jesus said to them,  “Foolish men, slow to accept all that the prophets have said!   Was\V{26} not the Christ bound to undergo this suffering before entering into his glory?”  Then,\V{27} beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them all through the scriptures the passages that referred to himself. When\V{28} they got near the village to which they were walking, Jesus appeared to be going further; but\V{29} they pressed him not to do so. “Stay with us,” they said, “for it is getting towards evening, and the sun in already low.” So Jesus went in to stay with them. After\V{30} he had taken his place at the table with them, he took the bread and said the blessing, and broke it, and gave it to them. Then\V{31} their eyes were opened and they recognized him; but he disappeared from their sight. “How\V{32} our hearts glowed,” the disciples said to each other, “while he was talking to us on the road, and when he explained the scriptures to us!”
\par 
 Then\V{33} they immediately got up and returned to Jerusalem, where they found the Eleven and their companions all together, who\V{34} told them that the Master had really risen, and had appeared to Simon. So\V{35} they also related what had happened during their walk, and how they had recognized Jesus at the breaking of the bread. While\V{36} they were still talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them.\footnote{  24:36    Some later manuscripts add: and said, “Peace be with you.”}  In\V{37} their terror and alarm they thought they saw a ghost, but\V{38} Jesus said to them,  “Why are you so startled? And why do doubts arise in your minds?   Look\V{39} at my hands and my feet, and you will know that it is I. Feel me, and look at me, for a ghost has not flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”  \footnote{\V{40}  24:40    Some later manuscripts add: After saying this he showed them his hands and his feet.}  While\V{41} they were still unable to believe it all, overcome with joy, and were wondering if it were true, Jesus said to them,  “Have you anything here to eat?”  They\V{42} handed him a piece of broiled fish, and\V{43} he took it and ate it before their eyes.  “This\V{44} is what I told you,”  he said,  “when I was still with you – that everything that had been written about me in the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms, must be fulfilled.” 
\par 
 Then\V{45} he enabled them to understand the meaning of the scriptures, saying to them,  “Scripture\V{46} says that the Christ will suffer, and that he will rise again from the dead on the third day,   and\V{47} that repentance for forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed on his authority to all the nations – beginning at Jerusalem.   You\V{48} yourselves are to be witnesses to all this.   And\V{49} now I am myself about to send you that which my Father has promised. But you must remain in the city until you have been invested with power from above.” \blank 

\par 
 After\V{50} this, Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and there raised his hands and blessed them. As\V{51} he was in the act of blessing them, he left them.\footnote{  24:51    Some later manuscripts add: and was carried up into heaven.}  They\V{52} returned\footnote{  24:52    Some later manuscripts read: They bowed to the ground before him and returned.}  to Jerusalem full of joy; and\V{53} they were constantly in the Temple Courts, blessing God.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{John}

\MTT{The}

\MTT{Good News According to}

\MT{John}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ In\C{1} the beginning the Word was;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the Word was with God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the Word was God.}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{2} was in the beginning with God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ through\V{3} him all things came into being,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and nothing came into being apart from him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ That\V{4} which came into being in him was life;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the life was the light of humanity;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ and\V{5} the light shines in the darkness,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the darkness never overpowered it.\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{6} appeared a man sent from God, whose name was John;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ he\V{7} came as a witness – to bear witness to the light}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so that through him everyone might believe.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{8} was not the light,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but he came to bear witness to the light.\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ That\V{9} was the true light which enlightens everyone coming into the world.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{10} was in the world;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and through him the world came into being –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{yet the world did not know him.\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{11} came to his own –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{yet his own did not receive him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ But\V{12} to all who did receive him he gave power to become children of God –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{to those who believe in his name.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{13} not to natural conception, nor to human instincts, nor to human will did they owe the new life,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but to God.\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{14} the Word became human, and lived among us,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{(We saw his glory – the glory of the Only Son sent from the Father),}
\noindentation \Q{2}{full of love and truth.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ (John\V{15} bears witness to him; he cried aloud – for it was he who spoke –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“He who is coming after me is now before me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{for he was ever first”);}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ out\V{16} of his fullness we have all received some gift,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{gift after gift of love;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ for\V{17} the Law was given through Moses,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{love and truth came through Jesus Christ.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ No\V{18} one has ever yet seen God;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{God the Only Son, who is ever with the Father –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{He has revealed him.\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] \stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Preparation}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  When\V{19} the religious authorities in Jerusalem sent some Priests and Levites to ask John – “Who are you?”, he\V{20} told them clearly and simply, “I am not the Christ.”
\par 
\indentation  “What\V{21} then?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”
\par 
“No,” he said, “I am not.”
\par 
“Are you ‘the prophet’?” He answered, “No.”
\par 
 “Who\V{22} then are you?” they continued; “tell us so that we have an answer to give to those who have sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
\par 
 “I,”\V{23} he answered, “am –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The voice of one crying aloud in the wilderness: make a straight road for the Lord’,}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft] as the prophet Isaiah said.”\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  These\V{24} men had been sent from the Pharisees; and\V{25} their next question was, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ or Elijah or ‘the prophet’?” John’s\V{26} answer was – “I baptize with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know; he\V{27} is coming after me, yet I am not worthy even to unfasten his sandal.” This\V{28} happened at Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
\par 
\indentation  The\V{29} next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, and exclaimed, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! I\V{30} was taking about him when I said ‘After me there is coming a man who ranks ahead of me, because before I was born he already was.’ I\V{31} did not know who he was, but I have come baptizing with water to make him known to Israel.” John\V{32} also said:
\par 
“I saw the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and rest on him. I\V{33} myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water, he said to me ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him – he it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ This\V{34} I have seen myself, and I have declared my belief that he is the Son of God.”\blank 

\par 
 The\V{35} next day, when John was standing with two of his disciples, he\V{36} looked at Jesus as he passed and exclaimed, “There is the Lamb of God!” The\V{37} two disciples heard him say this, and followed Jesus. But\V{38} Jesus turned around, and saw them following.  “What are you looking for?”  he asked. “Rabbi,” they answered (or, as we should say, ‘Teacher’), “where are you staying?”
\par 
  “Come,\V{39} and you will see,”  he replied. So they went, and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him.
\par 
It was then about four in the afternoon. One\V{40} of the two, who heard what John said and followed Jesus, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He\V{41} first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (a word which means ‘Christ,’ or ‘Consecrated’.) Then\V{42} he brought him to Jesus. Looking straight at him, Jesus said,  “You are Simon, the son of John; you will be called Cephas”  (which means ‘Peter,’ or ‘Rock’). The\V{43} following day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip, and said to him,  “Follow me.”  Philip\V{44} was from Bethsaida, the same town as Andrew and Peter. He\V{45} found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and of whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph’s son!”
\par 
 “Can\V{46} anything good come out of Nazareth?” asked Nathanael. “Come and see,” replied Philip. When\V{47} Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said,  “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!” 
\par 
 “How\V{48} do you know me?” asked Nathanael.  “Even before Philip called you,”  replied Jesus,  “when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 
\par 
 “Rabbi,”\V{49} Nathanael exclaimed, “you are the Son of God, you are king of Israel!”
\par 
  “Do\V{50} you believe in me,”  asked Jesus,  “because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than those!   In\V{51} truth I tell you,”  he added,  “you will all see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”  
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Work in Judaea, Galilee and Samaria}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Two\C{2} days after this there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus\V{2} himself, too, with his disciples, was invited to the wedding. And,\V{3} when the wine ran short, his mother said to him, “They have no wine left.”
\par 
\indentation   “What\V{4} do you want with me?”  answered Jesus.  “My time has not come yet.”  His\V{5} mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” There\V{6} were standing there six stone water-jars, in accordance with the Jewish rule of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
\par 
 Jesus\V{7} said to the servants,  “Fill the water-jars with water.”  And,\V{8} when they had filled them to the brim, he added,  “Now take some out, and carry it to the Master of the feast.”  The servants did so. And,\V{9} when the Master of the feast had tasted the water which had now become wine, not knowing where it had come from – although the servants who had taken out the water knew – He\V{10} called the groom and said to him, “Everyone puts good wine on the table first, and inferior wine afterward, when his guests have drunk freely; but you have kept back the good wine till now!” This,\V{11} the first sign of his mission, Jesus gave at Cana in Galilee, and by it revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.\blank 

\par 
 After\V{12} this, Jesus went down to Capernaum – he, his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; but they stayed there only a few days.\blank 

\par 
 Then,\V{13} as the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In\V{14} the Temple Courts he found people who were selling bullocks, sheep, and pigeons, and the money changers at their counters. So\V{15} he made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the Temple Courts, and the sheep and bullocks as well; he scattered the money of the money changers, and overturned their tables, and\V{16} said to the pigeon-dealers,  “Take these things away. Do not turn my Father’s house into a market house.”  His\V{17} disciples remembered that scripture said – ‘Passion for your house will consume me.’
\par 
 Then\V{18} some of the religious authorities asked Jesus, “What sign are you going to show us, since you act in this way?”
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  “Destroy\V{19} this temple,”  was his answer,  “and I will raise it in three days.” 
\par 
 “This\V{20} Temple,” the authorities replied, “has been forty-six years in building, and are you going to ‘raise it in three days’?” But\V{21} Jesus was speaking of his body as a temple. Afterward,\V{22} when he had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the passage of scripture, and the words which Jesus had spoken.\blank 

\par 
 While\V{23} Jesus was in Jerusalem, during the Passover Festival, many came to trust in him, when they saw the signs of his mission that he was giving. But\V{24} Jesus did not put himself in their power because he knew what was in their hearts. He\V{25} did not need anyone to tell him about people because he could read what was in them. \blank 

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 Now\C{3} there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who was a leading man among his people. This\V{2} man came to Jesus by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one could give such signs as you are giving, unless God were with him.”
\par 
  “In\V{3} truth I tell you,”  exclaimed Jesus,  “unless a person is reborn, they cannot see the kingdom of God.” 
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 “How\V{4} can a person,” asked Nicodemus, “be born when they are old? Can they be born a second time?”
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  “In\V{5} truth I tell you,”  answered Jesus,  “unless a person owes their birth to water and Spirit, they cannot enter the kingdom of God.   All\V{6} that owes its birth to human nature is human, and all that owes its birth to the Spirit is spiritual.   Do\V{7} not wonder at my telling you that you all need to be reborn.   The\V{8} wind blows wherever it wants, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from, or where it goes; it is the same with everyone who owes his birth to the Spirit.” 
\par 
 “How\V{9} can that be?” asked Nicodemus.  “What!\V{10} You a teacher of Israel,”  exclaimed Jesus,  “and yet do not understand this!   In\V{11} truth I tell you that we speak of what we know, and state what we have seen; and yet you do not accept our statements.   If,\V{12} when I tell you earthly things, you do not believe me, how will you believe me when I tell you of heavenly things?   No\V{13} one has ascended to heaven, except him who descended from heaven – the Son of Man himself.   And,\V{14} as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up;   so\V{15} that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” 
\par 
  For\V{16} God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life.   For\V{17} God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him.   The\V{18} person who believes in him escapes condemnation, while the person who does not believe in him is already condemned, because they have not believed in the only Son of God.   The\V{19} ground of their condemnation is this, that though the light has come into the world, people preferred the darkness to the light, because their actions were wicked.   For\V{20} the person who lives an evil life hates the light, and will not come to it, fearing that their actions will be exposed;   but\V{21} the person who lives by the truth comes into the light, so it can be clearly seen that God is in all they do. \blank 

\par 
 After\V{22} this, Jesus went with his disciples into the country parts of Judea; and there he stayed with them, and baptized. John,\V{23} also, was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there were many streams there; and people were constantly coming and being baptized. (For\V{24} John had not yet been imprisoned). Now\V{25} a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a fellow Jew on the subject of purification; and\V{26} the disciples came to John and said, “Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, and to whom you have yourself borne testimony – he, also, is baptizing, and everybody is going to him.” John’s\V{27} answer was – “A person can gain nothing but what is given them from heaven. You\V{28} are yourselves witnesses that I said ‘I am not the Christ,’ but ‘I have been sent before him as a messenger.’ It\V{29} is the groom who has the bride; but the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens to him, is filled with joy when he hears the groom’s voice. This joy I have felt to the full. He\V{30} must become greater, and I less.”
\par 
 He\V{31} who comes from above is above all others; but a child of earth is earthly, and his teaching is earthly, too. He who comes from heaven is above all others. He\V{32} states what he has seen and what he heard, and yet no one accepts his statement. They\V{33} who did accept his statement confirm the fact that God is true. For\V{34} he whom God sent as his messenger gives us God’s own teaching, for God does not limit the gift of the Spirit. The\V{35} Father loves his Son, and has put everything in his hands. The\V{36} person who believes in the Son has eternal life, while a person who rejects the Son will not even see that life, but remains under God’s displeasure. \blank 

\par 
 Now,\C{4} when the Master heard that the Pharisees had been told that he was making and baptizing more disciples than John (Though\V{2} it was not Jesus himself, but his disciples, who baptized), he\V{3} left Judea, and set out again for Galilee. He\V{4} had to pass through Samaria, and,\V{5} on his way, he came to a Samaritan town called Shechem, near the plot of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s\V{6} Spring was there, and Jesus, being tired after his journey, sat down beside the spring, just as he was. It was then about midday. A\V{7} woman of Samaria came to draw water; and Jesus said to her –  “Give me some to drink,”  For\V{8} his disciples had gone into the town to buy food. “How\V{9} is it,” replied the Samaritan woman, “that you who are a Jew ask for water from a Samaritan woman like me?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans).  “If\V{10} you knew of the gift of God,”  replied Jesus,  “and who it is that is saying to you ‘Give me some water,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 
\par 
 “You\V{11} have no bucket, Sir, and the well is deep,” she said; “where did you get that ‘living water?’ Surely\V{12} you are not greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us the well, and used to drink from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle!”
\par 
  “All\V{13} who drink of this water,”  replied Jesus,  “will be thirsty again;   but\V{14} whoever once drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst any more; but the water that I will give him will become a spring welling up within him – a source of eternal life.” 
\par 
 “Give\V{15} me this water, Sir,” said the woman, “so that I may not be thirsty, nor have to come all the way here to draw water.”
\par 
  “Go\V{16} and call your husband,”  said Jesus,  “and then come back.” 
\par 
 “I\V{17} have no husband,” answered the woman.  “You are right in saying ‘I have no husband,’”  replied Jesus,  “For\V{18} you have had five husbands, and the man with whom you are now living is not your husband; in saying that, you have spoken the truth.” 
\par 
 “I\V{19} see, Sir, that you are a prophet!” exclaimed the woman. “It\V{20} was on this mountain that our ancestors worshiped; and yet you Jews say that the proper place for worship is in Jerusalem.”
\par 
  “Believe\V{21} me,”  replied Jesus,  “a time is coming when it will be neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem that you will worship the Father.   You\V{22} Samaritans do not know what you worship; we know what we worship, for salvation comes from the Jews.   But\V{23} a time is coming, indeed it is already here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father spiritually and truly; for such are the worshipers that the Father desires.   God\V{24} is Spirit; and those who worship him must worship spiritually and truly.” 
\par 
 “I\V{25} know,” answered the woman, “that the Messiah, who is called the Christ, is coming; when once he has come, he will tell us everything.”
\par 
  “I\V{26} am he,”  Jesus said to her,  “I who am speaking to you.”  At\V{27} this moment his disciples came up, and were surprised to find him talking with a woman; but none of them asked ‘What do you want?’ or ‘Why are you talking with her?’ So\V{28} the woman, leaving her pitcher, went back to the town, and said to the people, “Come\V{29} and see someone who has told me everything that I have done. Can he be the Christ?” And\V{30} the people left the town and went to see Jesus.
\par 
 Meanwhile\V{31} the disciples kept saying to him, “Take something to eat, Rabbi.”
\par 
  “I\V{32} have food to eat,”  he answered,  “of which you know nothing.” 
\par 
 “Can\V{33} anyone have brought him anything to eat?” the disciples said to one another.  “My\V{34} food,”  replied Jesus,  “is to do the will of him who sent me, and to complete his work.   Don’t\V{35} you say that it still wants four months to harvest? Why, look up, and see how white the fields are for harvest!   Already\V{36} the reaper is receiving wages and gathering in sheaves for eternal life, so that sower and reaper rejoice together.   For\V{37} here the proverb holds good – ‘One sows, another reaps.’   I\V{38} have sent you to reap that on which you have spent no labor; others have labored, and you have reaped the results of their labor.” 
\par 
 Many\V{39} from that town came to believe in Jesus – Samaritans though they were – because the woman had said, ‘He has told me everything that I have done.’ And,\V{40} when these Samaritans had come to Jesus, they begged him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. But\V{41} far more came to believe in him because of what he said himself, and\V{42} they said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you say that we believe in him, for we have heard him ourselves and know that he really is the Savior of the world.”\blank 

\par 
 After\V{43} these two days Jesus went on to Galilee; for\V{44} he himself declared that ‘a prophet is not honored in his own country.’ When\V{45} he entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, for they had seen all that he did at Jerusalem during the Festival, at which they also had been present. So\V{46} Jesus came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. Now there was one of the king’s officers whose son was lying ill at Capernaum. When\V{47} this man heard that Jesus had returned from Judea to Galilee, he went to him, and begged him to come down and cure his son; for he was at the point of death. Jesus\V{48} answered,  “Unless you all see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” 
\par 
 “Sir,”\V{49} said the officer, “come down before my child dies.” And Jesus answered, “Go, your son is living.” The\V{50} man believed what Jesus said to him, and went; and,\V{51} while he was on his way down, his servants met him, and told him that his child was living. So\V{52} he asked them at what time the boy began to get better. “It was yesterday, about one o’clock,” they said, “that the fever left him.” By\V{53} this the father knew that it was at the very time when Jesus had said to him  ‘Your son is living’ ; and he himself, with all his household, believed in Jesus. This\V{54} was the second occasion on which Jesus gave a sign of his mission on coming from Judea to Galilee. \blank 

\par 
 Sometime\C{5} after this there was a Jewish Festival; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. There\V{2} is in Jerusalem, near the sheep-gate, a bath with five colonnades around it. It is called in Hebrew ‘Bethesda.’ In\V{3} these colonnades a large number of sick people were lying – blind, lame, and crippled. \footnote{\V{4}  5:4    Some later manuscripts add: for an angel of the Lord went down at certain times into the pool, and stirred up the water. The first person to step in after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease they had.}  One\V{5} man who was there had been crippled for thirty-eight years. Jesus\V{6} saw the man lying there, and, finding that he had been in this state a long time, said to him,  “Do you wish to be cured?” 
\par 
 “I\V{7} have no one, Sir,” the sick man answered, “to put me into the bath when there is a troubling of the water, and, while I am getting to it, someone else steps down before me.”
\par 
  “Stand\V{8} up,”  said Jesus,  “take up your mat, and walk.”  The\V{9} man was cured immediately, and took up his mat and began walking. Now\V{10} it was the Sabbath. So the religious authorities said to the man who had been cured, “This is the Sabbath; you must not carry your mat.”
\par 
 “The\V{11} man who cured me,” he answered, “said to me  ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” 
\par 
 “Who\V{12} was it,” they asked, “that said to you  ‘Take up your mat and walk’?”  But\V{13} the man who had been restored did not know who it was; for Jesus had moved away, because there was a crowd there. Afterward\V{14} Jesus found the man in the Temple Courts, and said to him,  “You are cured now; do not sin again, or something worse may happen to you.” 
\par 
 The\V{15} man went away, and told the authorities that it was Jesus who had cured him. And\V{16} that was why they began to persecute Jesus – because he did things of this kind on the Sabbath. But\V{17} Jesus replied,  “My Father works to this very hour, and I work also.”  This\V{18} made the authorities all the more eager to kill him, because not only was he doing away with the Sabbath, but he actually called God his own Father – putting himself on an equality with God.
\par 
 So\V{19} Jesus made this further reply,  “In truth I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself; he does only what he sees the Father doing; whatever the Father does, the Son does also.   For\V{20} the Father loves his Son, and shows him everything that he is doing; and he will show him still greater things – so that you will be filled with wonder.   For,\V{21} just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he pleases.   The\V{22} Father himself does not judge any one, but has entrusted the work of judging entirely to his Son,   so\V{23} that everyone may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. The person who does not honour the Son fails to honour the Father who sent him.   In\V{24} truth I tell you that the person who listens to my message and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and does not come under condemnation, but has already passed out of death into life.   In\V{25} truth I tell you that a time is coming, indeed it is already here, when the dead will listen to the voice of the Son of God, and when those who listen will live.   For,\V{26} just as the Father has inherent life within him, so also he has granted to the Son to have inherent life within him;   and,\V{27} because he is Son of Man, he has also given him authority to act as judge.   Do\V{28} not wonder at this; for the time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice,   and\V{29} will come out – those who have done good rising to life, and those who have lived evil lives rising for condemnation.   I\V{30} can do nothing of myself; I judge as I am taught; and the judgment that I give is just, because my aim is not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 
\par 
  “If\V{31} I bear testimony to myself, my testimony is not trustworthy;   it\V{32} is another who bears testimony to me, and I know that the testimony which he bears to me is trustworthy.   You\V{33} have yourselves sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.   But\V{34} the testimony which I receive is not from people; I am saying this for your salvation.   He\V{35} was the Lamp that was burning and shining, and you were ready to rejoice, for a time, in his light.   But\V{36} the testimony which I have is of greater weight than John’s; for the work that the Father has given me to carry out – the work that I am doing – is in itself proof that the Father has sent me as his messenger.   The\V{37} Father who has sent me has himself borne testimony to me. You have neither listened to his voice, not seen his form;   and\V{38} you have not taken his message home to your hearts, because you do not believe him whom he sent as his messenger.   You\V{39} search the scriptures, because you think that you find in them immortal life;  and, though it is those scriptures that bear testimony to me,  you\V{40} refuse to come to me to have life. 
\par 
  “I\V{41} do not receive honor from people,   but\V{42} I know this of you, that you have not the love of God in your hearts.   I\V{43} have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.   How\V{44} can you believe in me, when you receive honor from one another and do not desire the honor which comes from the only God?   Do\V{45} not think that I will accuse you to the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have been resting your hopes.   For,\V{46} had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for it was of me that Moses wrote;   but,\V{47} if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my teaching?”  \blank 

\par 
 After\C{6} this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee – otherwise called the Lake of Tiberias. A\V{2} great crowd of people, however, followed him, because they saw the signs of his mission in his work among those who were sick. Jesus\V{3} went up the hill, and sat down there with his disciples. It\V{4} was near the time of the Jewish Festival of the Passover. Looking\V{5} up, and noticing that a great crowd was coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip,  “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”  He\V{6} said this to test him, for he himself knew what he meant to do. “Even\V{7} if we spent a years’ wages on bread,” answered Philip, “it would not be enough for each of them to have a little.”
\par 
 “There\V{8} is a boy here,” said Andrew, another of his disciples, Simon Peter’s brother, “Who\V{9} has five barley loaves and two fish; but what is that for so many?”
\par 
  “Make\V{10} the people sit down,”  said Jesus. It was a grassy spot; so the people, who numbered about five thousand, sat down, and\V{11} then Jesus took the loaves, and, after saying the thanksgiving, distributed them to those who were sitting down; and the same with the fish, giving the people as much as they wanted. When\V{12} they were satisfied, Jesus said to his disciples,  “Collect the broken pieces that are left, so that nothing may be wasted.”  The\V{13} disciples did so, and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves, which were left after all had eaten.
\par 
 When\V{14} the people saw the signs which Jesus gave, they said, “This is certainly the prophet who was to come into the world.” But\V{15} Jesus, having discovered that they were intending to come and carry him off to make him king, went again up the hill, quite alone.
\par 
 When\V{16} evening fell, his disciples went down to the sea, and,\V{17} getting into a boat, began to cross to Capernaum. By this time darkness had set in, and Jesus had not yet come back to them; the\V{18} sea, too, was getting rough, for a strong wind was blowing. When\V{19} they had rowed three or four miles, they caught sight of him walking on the water and approaching the boat, and they were frightened. But\V{20} Jesus said to them,  “It is I; do not be afraid!”  And\V{21} after this they were glad to take him into the boat; and the boat at once arrived off the shore, for which they had been making.\blank 

\par 
 The\V{22} people who remained on the further side of the sea had seen that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not gone into it with his disciples, but that they had left without him. Some\V{23} boats, however, had come from Tiberias, from near the spot where they had eaten the bread after the Master had said the thanksgiving. So,\V{24} on the next day, when the people saw that Jesus was not there, or his disciples either, they themselves got into the boats, and went to Capernaum to look for him. And,\V{25} when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said, “When did you get here, Rabbi?”
\par 
  “In\V{26} truth I tell you,”  answered Jesus,  “it is not because of the signs which you saw that you are looking for me, but because you had the bread to eat and were satisfied.   Work,\V{27} not for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you; for on him the Father – God himself – has set the seal of his approval.” 
\par 
 “How,”\V{28} they asked, “are we to do the work that God wants us to do?”
\par 
  “The\V{29} work that God wants you to do,”  answered Jesus,  “is to believe in him whom God sent as his messenger.” 
\par 
 “What\V{30} sign, then,” they asked, “are you giving, which we may see, and so believe you? What is the work that you are doing? Our\V{31} ancestors had the manna to eat in the desert; as scripture says – ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
\par 
  “In\V{32} truth I tell you,”  replied Jesus,  “Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father does give you the true bread from heaven;   for\V{33} the bread that God gives is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.” 
\par 
 “Master,”\V{34} they exclaimed, “give us that bread always!”
\par 
  “I\V{35} am the life-giving bread,”  Jesus said to them;  “whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never thirst again.   But,\V{36} as I have said already, you have seen me, and yet you do not believe in me.   All\V{37} those whom the Father gives me will come to me; and no one who comes to me will I ever turn away.   For\V{38} I have come down from heaven, to do, not my own will, but the will of him who sent me;   and\V{39} his will is this – that I should not lose one of all those whom he has given me, but should raise them up at the Last day.   For\V{40} it is the will of my Father that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have immortal life; and I myself will raise him up at the Last day.” 
\par 
 The\V{41} people began murmuring against Jesus for saying –  ‘I am the bread which came down from heaven.’  “Is\V{42} not this Jesus, Joseph’s son,” they asked, “whose father and mother we know? How is it that he now says that he has come down from heaven?”
\par 
  “Do\V{43} not murmur among yourselves,”  said Jesus in reply.  “No\V{44} one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him to me; and I will raise him up at the Last day.   It\V{45} is said in the prophets – ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who is taught by the Father and learns from him comes to me.   Not\V{46} that anyone has seen the Father, except him who is from God – he has seen the Father.   In\V{47} truth I tell you, the person who believes in me has eternal life.   I\V{48} am the life-giving bread.   Your\V{49} ancestors ate the manna in the desert, and yet died.   The\V{50} bread that comes down from heaven is such that whoever eats of it will never die.   I\V{51} am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, they will live for ever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 
\par 
 They\V{52} began disputing with one another, “How is it possible for this man to give us his flesh to eat?”
\par 
  “In\V{53} truth I tell you,”  answered Jesus,  “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have not life within you.   Everyone\V{54} who takes my flesh for their food, and drinks my blood, has eternal life; and I will raise them up at the Last day.   For\V{55} my flesh is true food, and my blood true drink.   Everyone\V{56} who takes my flesh for their food, and drinks my blood, remains united to me, and I to them.   As\V{57} the living Father sent me as his messenger, and as I live because the Father lives, so the person who takes me for their food will live because I live.   That\V{58} is the bread which has come down from heaven – not such as your ancestors ate, and yet died; the person who takes this bread for their food will live for ever.” 
\par 
 All\V{59} this Jesus said in a synagogue, when he was teaching in Capernaum. On\V{60} hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is harsh doctrine! Who can bear to listen to it?” But\V{61} Jesus, aware that his disciples were murmuring about it, said to them,  “Is\V{62} this a hindrance to you? What, then, if you should see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?   It\V{63} is the Spirit that gives life; human strength achieves nothing. In the teaching that I have been giving you there is Spirit and there is life.   Yet\V{64} there are some of you who do not believe in me.”  For Jesus knew from the first who they were that did not believe in him, and who it was that would betray him; and\V{65} he added,  “This is why I told you that no one can come to me, unless enabled by the Father.”  After\V{66} this many of his disciples drew back, and did not go about with him any longer. So\V{67} Jesus said to the Twelve,  “Do you also wish to leave me?”  But\V{68} Simon Peter answered, “Master, to whom would we go? Eternal life is in your teaching; and\V{69} we have learned to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
\par 
  “Didn’t\V{70} I myself choose you to be the Twelve?”  replied Jesus;  “and yet, even of you, one is playing the devil’s part.”  He\V{71} meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who was about to betray him, though he was one of the Twelve. \blank 

\par 
 After\C{7} this, Jesus went about in Galilee, for he would not do so in Judea, because the religious authorities (in Jerusalem) were eager to put him to death. When\V{2} the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, his\V{3} brothers said to him, “Leave this part of the country, and go into Judea, so that your disciples, as well as we, may see the work that you are doing. For\V{4} no one does a thing privately, if they are seeking to be widely known. Since you do these things, you should show yourself publicly to the world.” For\V{5} even his brothers did not believe in him.
\par 
  “My\V{6} time,”  answered Jesus,  “is not come yet, but your time is always here.   The\V{7} world cannot hate you, but it does hate me, because I testify that its ways are evil.   Go\V{8} yourselves up to the Festival; I am not going to this Festival yet, because my time has not yet come.”  After\V{9} telling them this, he stayed on in Galilee.
\par 
 But,\V{10} when his brothers had gone up to the Festival, Jesus also went up – not publicly, but privately. The\V{11} authorities were looking for him at the Festival and asking ‘Where is he?’; and\V{12} there were many whispers about him among the people, some saying ‘He is a good man;’ others, ‘No! He is leading the people astray.’ No\V{13} one, however, spoke freely about him, because they were afraid of the authorities.\blank 

\par 
 About\V{14} the middle of the Festival week, Jesus went up into the Temple Courts, and began teaching. The\V{15} authorities were astonished. “How has this man got his learning,” they asked, “when he has never studied?” So,\V{16} in reply, Jesus said,  “My teaching is not my own; it is his who sent me.   If\V{17} anyone has the will to do God’s will, they will find out whether my teaching is from God, or whether I speak on my own authority.   The\V{18} person who speaks on their own authority seeks honor for themselves; but the one who seeks the honor of him who sent him is sincere, and there is nothing false in him.   Was\V{19} not it Moses who gave you the Law? Yet not one of you obeys it! Why are you seeking to put me to death?” 
\par 
 “You\V{20} must be possessed by a demon!” the people exclaimed. “Who is seeking to put you to death?”
\par 
  “There\V{21} was one thing I did,”  replied Jesus,  “at which you are all still wondering.   But\V{22} that is why Moses has instituted circumcision among you – not, indeed, that it began with him, but with our ancestors – and that is why you circumcise even on a Sabbath.   When\V{23} a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath to prevent the Law of Moses from being broken, how can you be angry with me for making a man sound and well on a Sabbath?   Do\V{24} not judge by appearances; judge justly.”  At\V{25} this some of the people of Jerusalem exclaimed, “Is not this the man who they are seeking to put to death? Yet\V{26} here he is, speaking out boldly, and they say nothing to him! Is it possible that our leading men have really discovered that he is the Christ? Yet\V{27} we know where this man is from; but, when the Christ comes, no one will be able to tell where he is from.” Therefore,\V{28} Jesus, as he was teaching in the Temple Courts, raised his voice and said,  “Yes; you know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own authority, but he who sent me may be trusted; and him you do not know.   I\V{29} do know him, for it is from him that I have come, and he sent me as his messenger.”  So\V{30} they sought to arrest him; but no one touched him, for his time was not come yet. Many\V{31} of the people, however, believed in him. “When the Christ comes,” they said, “will he give more signs of his mission than this man has given?” The\V{32} Pharisees heard the people whispering about him in this way, and so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him; at\V{33} which Jesus said,  “I will be with you but a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.   You\V{34} will look for me, and you will not find me; and you will not be able to come where I will be.” 
\par 
 “Where\V{35} is this man going,” the people asked one another, “that we would not find him? Will he go to our countrymen abroad, and teach foreigners? What\V{36} does he mean by saying  ‘You will look for me, and you will not find me; and you will not be able to come where I will be’?” \blank 

\par 
 On\V{37} the last and greatest day of the Festival, Jesus, who was standing by, exclaimed,  “If anyone thirsts, they should come to me, and drink.   I\V{38} tell you what I have myself seen in the presence of my Father; and you, in the same way, do what you have learned from your father.”  (By\V{39} this he meant the Spirit, which those who had believed in him were to receive; for the Spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been exalted.) Some\V{40} of the people, when they heard these words, said, “This is certainly the Prophet!”; others\V{41} said, “the Christ!”; but some asked, “What! Does the Christ come from Galilee? Is\V{42} not it said in scripture that it is of the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village to which David belonged, that the Christ is to come?” So\V{43} there was a sharp division among the people because of Jesus. Some\V{44} of them wanted to arrest him, and yet no one touched him. When\V{45} the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, they were asked, “Why have you not brought him?”
\par 
 “No\V{46} one ever spoke as he speaks!” they answered. “What!\V{47} Have you been led astray too?” the Pharisees replied. “Have\V{48} any of our leading men believed in him, or any of the Pharisees? As\V{49} for these people who do not know the Law – they are cursed!” But\V{50} one of their number, Nicodemus, who before this had been to see Jesus, said to them, “Does\V{51} our Law pass judgment on a person without first giving them a hearing, and finding out what they have been doing?”
\par 
 “Are\V{52} you also from Galilee?” they retorted. “Search, and you will find that no prophet is to arise in Galilee!”\blank 

\par 
 And\V{53} everyone went home  except\C{8} Jesus, who went to the Mount of Olives\footnote{  8:1    This passage is inserted in some manuscripts from an ancient source, and found either after John 7:53 or after Luke 21:38 or elsewhere.} . But\V{2} he went again into the Temple Courts early in the morning, and all the people came to him; and he sat down and taught them. Presently,\V{3} however, the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placed her in the middle of the Court, and\V{4} said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was found in the act of adultery. Now\V{5} Moses, in the Law, commanded us to stone such women to death; what do you say?”
\par 
 They\V{6} said this to test him, in order to have a charge to bring against him. But Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger. However,\V{7} as they continued asking him, he raised himself, and said, “Let the person among you who has never done wrong throw the first stone at her.”
\par 
 And\V{8} again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. When\V{9} they heard that, they went out one by one, beginning with the eldest; and Jesus was left alone with the woman in the middle of the Court. Raising\V{10} himself, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”
\par 
 “No\V{11} one, Sir,” she answered.
\par 
“Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus “go, and do not sin again.”\blank 

\par 
 Jesus\V{12} again addressed the people.  “I am the light of the world,”  he said.  “The person who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 
\par 
 “You\V{13} are bearing testimony to yourself!” exclaimed the Pharisees, “your testimony is not trustworthy.”
\par 
  “Even\V{14} if I bear testimony to myself,”  answered Jesus,  “my testimony is trustworthy; for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from, nor where I am going.   You\V{15} judge by appearances; I judge no one.   Yet,\V{16} even if I were to judge, my judgment would be trustworthy; because I am not alone, but the Father who sent me is with me.   Why,\V{17} in your own Law it is said that the testimony of two persons is trustworthy.   I,\V{18} who bear testimony to myself, am one, and the Father who sent me also bears testimony to me.”   “Where\V{19} is your father, then?”  they asked.  “You know neither me nor my Father,”  replied Jesus.  “If you had known me, you would have also known my Father.”  These\V{20} statements Jesus made in the Treasury, while teaching in the Temple Courts. Yet no one arrested him, for his time had not then come.\blank 

\par 
 Jesus\V{21} again spoke to the people.  “I am going away,”  he said,  “and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin; you cannot come where I am going.” 
\par 
 “Is\V{22} he going to kill himself,” the people exclaimed, “that he says –  ‘You cannot go where I am going’?”   “You,”\V{23}   added Jesus,  “are from below, I am from above; you are of this present world, I am not;   and\V{24} so I told you that you would die in your sins, for, unless you believe that I am what I am, you will die in your sins.” 
\par 
 “Who\V{25} are you?” they asked.  “Why ask exactly what I have been telling you?”  said Jesus.  “I\V{26} have still much that concerns you to speak of and to pass judgment on; yet he who sent me may be trusted, and I speak to the world only of the things which I have heard from him.”  They\V{27} did not understand that he meant the Father. So\V{28} Jesus added,  “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will understand that I am what I am, and that I do nothing of myself, but that I say just what the Father has taught me.   Moreover,\V{29} he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone; for I always do what pleases him.”  While\V{30} he was speaking in this way, many came to believe in him. So\V{31} Jesus went on to say to those who had believed him,  “If you remain constant to my message, you are truly my disciples;   and\V{32} you find out the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 
\par 
 “We\V{33} are descendants of Abraham,” was their answer, “and have never yet been in slavery to anyone. What do you mean by saying  ‘you will be set free’?”   “In\V{34} truth I tell you,”  replied Jesus,  “everyone who sins is a slave to sin.   And\V{35} a slave does not remain in the home always; but a son remains always.   If,\V{36} then, the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!   I\V{37} know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you are seeking to put me to death, because my message finds no place in your hearts.   I\V{38} tell you what I have myself seen in the presence of my Father; and you, in the same way, do what you have learned from your father.” 
\par 
 “Our\V{39} father is Abraham,” was their answer.  “If you are Abraham’s children,”  replied Jesus,  “do what Abraham did.   But,\V{40} as it is, you are seeking to put me to death – a man who has told you the truth as he heard it from God. Abraham did not act in that way.   You\V{41} are doing what your own father does.” 
\par 
“We are not bastards,” they said, “we have one Father – God himself.”
\par 
  “If\V{42} God were your Father,”  Jesus replied,  “you would have loved me, for I came out from God, and now am here; and I have not come of myself, but he sent me as his messenger.   How\V{43} is it that you do not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my message.   As\V{44} for you, you are children of your Father the devil, and you are determined to do what your father loves to do. He was a murderer from the first, and did not stand by the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he does what is natural to him; because he is a liar, and the father of lying.   But,\V{45} as for me, it is because I speak the truth to you that you do not believe me.   Which\V{46} of you can convict me of sin? Why then don’t you believe me, if I am speaking truth?   The\V{47} person who comes from God listens to God’s teaching; the reason why you do not listen is because you do not come from God.” 
\par 
 “Aren’t\V{48} we right, after all,” replied the people, “in saying that you are a Samaritan, and are possessed by a demon?”
\par 
  “I\V{49} am not possessed by a demon,”  Jesus answered,  “but I am honoring my Father; and yet you dishonor me.   Not\V{50} that I am seeking honor for myself; there is one who is seeking my honor, and he decides.   In\V{51} truth I tell you, if anyone lays my message to heart, he will never really die.” 
\par 
 “Now\V{52} we are sure that you are possessed by a demon,” the people replied. “Abraham died, and so did the prophets; and yet you say  ‘If anyone lays my message to heart, they will never know death.’  Are\V{53} you greater than our ancestor Abraham, who died? And the prophets died too. Whom do you make yourself out to be?”
\par 
  “If\V{54} I do honor to myself,”  answered Jesus,  “such honor counts for nothing. It is my Father who does me honor – and you say that he is your God;   and\V{55} yet you have not learned to know him; but I know him; and, if I were to say that I do not know him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know him, and I lay his message to heart.   Your\V{56} ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; and he did see it, and was glad.” 
\par 
 “You\V{57} are not fifty years old yet,” the people exclaimed, “and have you seen Abraham?”
\par 
  “In\V{58} truth I tell you,”  replied Jesus,  “before Abraham existed I was.”  At\V{59} this they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and left the Temple Courts. \blank 

\par 
 As\C{9} Jesus passed by, he saw a man who had been blind from his birth. “Rabbi,”\V{2} asked his disciples, “who was it that sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
\par 
  “Neither\V{3} the man nor the parents,”  replied Jesus;  “but he was born blind so that the work of God should be made plain in him.   We\V{4} must do the work of him who sent me, while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.   As\V{5} long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  Saying\V{6} this, Jesus spat on the ground, made clay with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.  “Go,”\V{7}   he said,  “and wash your eyes in the Bath of Siloam”  (a word which means ‘messenger’). So the man went and washed his eyes, and returned able to see. His\V{8} neighbors, and those who had formerly known him by sight as a beggar, exclaimed, “Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?”
\par 
 “Yes,”\V{9} some said, “it is”; while others said, “No, but he is like him.” The man himself said, “I am he.”
\par 
 “How\V{10} did you get your sight, then?” they asked. “The\V{11} man whom they call Jesus,” he answered, “made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me  ‘Go to Siloam and wash your eyes.’  So I went and washed my eyes, and gained my sight.”
\par 
 “Where\V{12} is he?” they asked. “I do not know,” he answered. They\V{13} took the man, who had been blind, to the Pharisees. Now\V{14} it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and gave him his sight. So\V{15} the Pharisees also questioned the man as to how he had gained his sight. “He put clay on my eyes,” he answered, “and I washed them, and I can see.”
\par 
 “The\V{16} man cannot be from God,” said some of the Pharisees, “for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
\par 
“How is it possible,” retorted others, “for a bad man to give signs like this?” So\V{17} there was a difference of opinion among them, and they again questioned the man; “What do you yourself say about him, for it is to you that he has given sight?” The\V{18} religious authorities, however, refused to believe that he had been blind and had gained his sight, until they had called his parents and questioned them. “Is\V{19} this your son,” they asked, “who you say was born blind? If so, how is it that he can see now?”
\par 
 “We\V{20} know that this is our son,” answered the parents, “and that he was born blind; but\V{21} how it is that he can see now we do not know; nor do we know who it was that gave him his sight. Ask him – he is old enough – he will tell you about himself.” His\V{22} parents spoke in this way because they were afraid of the authorities; for the authorities had already agreed that, if anyone should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, he should be expelled from their synagogues. This\V{23} was why his parents said ‘He is old enough; ask him.’ So\V{24} the authorities again called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give God the praise; we know that this is a bad man.”
\par 
 “I\V{25} know nothing about his being a bad man,” he replied; “one thing I do know, that although I was blind, now I can see.”
\par 
 “What\V{26} did he do to you?” they asked. “How did he give you your sight?”
\par 
 “I\V{27} told you just now,” he answered, “and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Surely you also do not want to become his disciples?”
\par 
 “You\V{28} are his disciple,” they retorted scornfully; “but we are disciples of Moses. We\V{29} know that God spoke to Moses; but, as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”
\par 
 “Well,”\V{30} the man replied, “this is very strange; you do not know where he comes from, and yet he has given me my sight! We\V{31} know that God never listens to bad people, but, when a person is god-fearing and does God’s will, God listens to them. Since\V{32} the world began, such a thing was never heard of as anyone’s giving sight to a person born blind. If\V{33} this man had not been from God, he could not have done anything at all.”
\par 
 “You,”\V{34} they retorted, “were born totally depraved; and are you trying to teach us?” So they expelled him. Jesus\V{35} heard of their having put him out; and, when he had found the man, he asked,  “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 
\par 
 “Tell\V{36} me who he is, Sir,” he replied, “so that I may believe in him.”
\par 
  “Not\V{37} only have you seen him,”  said Jesus;  “but it is he who is now speaking to you.” 
\par 
 “Then,\V{38} Sir, I do believe,” said the man, bowing to the ground before him; and\V{39} Jesus added,  “It was to put people to the test that I came into this world, in order that those that cannot see should see, and that those that can see should become blind.”  Hearing\V{40} this, some of the Pharisees who were with him said, “Then are we blind too?”
\par 
  “If\V{41} you had been blind,”  replied Jesus,  “you would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, you say ‘We can see,’ and so your sin remains.    In\C{10} truth I tell you, whoever does not go into the sheepfold through the door, but climbs up at some other place, that person is a thief and a robber;   but\V{2} the person who goes in through the door is shepherd to the sheep.   For\V{3} him the watchman opens the door; and the sheep listen to his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.   When\V{4} he has brought them all out, he walks in front of them, and his sheep follow him, because they know his voice.   They\V{5} will not follow a stranger, but will run away from him; because they do not know a stranger’s voice.”  This\V{6} was the allegory that Jesus told them, but they did not understand of what he was speaking. So\V{7} he continued,  “In truth I tell you, I am the door for the sheep.   All\V{8} who came before me were thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not listen to them.   I\V{9} am the door; he who goes in through me will be safe, and he will go in and out and find pasture.   The\V{10} thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it in greater fullness.   I\V{11} am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.   The\V{12} hired man who is not a shepherd, and who does not own the sheep, when he sees a wolf coming, leaves them and runs away; then the wolf seizes them, and scatters the flock.   He\V{13} does this because he is only a hired man and does not care about the sheep.   I\V{14} am the good shepherd; and I know my sheep, and my sheep know me –   Just\V{15} as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.   I\V{16} have other sheep besides, which do not belong to this fold; I must lead them also, and they will listen to my voice; and they will become one flock under one shepherd.   This\V{17} is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life – to receive it again.   No\V{18} one took it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to receive it again. This is the command which I received from my Father.” 
\par 
 In\V{19} consequence of these words a difference of opinion again arose among the people. Many\V{20} of them said, “He is possessed by a demon and is mad; why do you listen to him?” Others\V{21} said, “This is not the teaching of one who is possessed by a demon. Can a demon give sight to the blind?”\blank 

\par 
 Soon\V{22} after this the Festival of the Rededication was held at Jerusalem. It\V{23} was winter; and Jesus was walking in the Temple Courts, in the Colonnade of Solomon, when\V{24} the people gathered around him, and said, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us so frankly.”
\par 
  “I\V{25} have told you so,”  replied Jesus,  “and you do not believe me. The work that I am doing in my Father’s name bears testimony to me.   But\V{26} you do not believe me, because you are not of my flock.   My\V{27} sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me;   and\V{28} I give them eternal life, and they will not be lost; nor will anyone snatch them out of my hands.   What\V{29} my Father has entrusted to me is more than all else; and no one can snatch anything out of the Father’s hands.   The\V{30} Father and I are one.” 
\par 
 Some\V{31} of the people again brought stones to throw at him; and\V{32} seeing this, Jesus said,  “I have done before your eyes many good actions, inspired by the Father; for which of them would you stone me?” 
\par 
 “It\V{33} is not for any good action that we would stone you,” they answered, “but for blasphemy; and because you, who are only a man, make yourself out to be God.”
\par 
  “Are\V{34} there not,”  replied Jesus,  “these words in your Law – ‘I said, You are gods’?   If\V{35} those to whom God’s word were addressed were said to be ‘gods’ – and scripture cannot be set aside –   do\V{36} you say of one whom the Father has consecrated and sent as his messenger to the world ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said ‘I am God’s Son’?   If\V{37} I am not doing the work that my Father is doing, do not believe me;   if\V{38} I am doing it, even though you do not believe me, believe what that work shows; so that you may understand, and understand more and more clearly, that the Father is in union with me, and I with the Father.”  The\V{39} authorities again sought to arrest him; but he escaped their hands.\blank 

\par 
 Then\V{40} Jesus again crossed the Jordan to the place where John used to baptize at first, and stayed there some time, during which many people came to see him. “John\V{41} gave no sign of his mission,” they said; “but everything that he said about this man was true.” And\V{42} many learned to believe in Jesus there. \blank 

\par 
 Now\C{11} a man named Lazarus, of Bethany, was lying ill; he belonged to the same village as Mary and her sister Martha. This\V{2} Mary, whose brother Lazarus was ill, was the Mary who anointed the Master with perfume, and wiped his feet with her hair. The\V{3} sisters, therefore, sent this message to Jesus – ‘Master, your friend is ill’; and,\V{4} when Jesus heard it, he said,  “This illness is not to end in death, but is to redound to the honor of God, in order that the Son of God may be honored through it.”  Jesus\V{5} loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus. Yet,\V{6} when he heard of the illness of Lazarus, he still stayed two days in the place where he was. Then,\V{7} after that, he said to his disciples,  “Let us go to Judea again.” 
\par 
 “Rabbi,”\V{8} they replied, “the authorities there were but just now seeking to stone you; and are you going there again?”
\par 
  “Are\V{9} not there twelve hours in the day?”  answered Jesus.  “If someone walks about in the daytime, they don’t stumble, because they can see the light of the sun;   but,\V{10} if they walk about at night, they stumble, because they have not the light.”  And,\V{11} when he had said this, he added,  “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going so that I may wake him.” 
\par 
 “If\V{12} he has fallen asleep, Master, he will get well,” said the disciples. But\V{13} Jesus meant that he was dead; they, however, supposed that he was speaking of natural sleep. Then\V{14} he said to them plainly,  “Lazarus is dead;   and\V{15} I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may learn to believe in me. But let us go to him.”  At\V{16} this, Thomas, who was called ‘The Twin,’ said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go too, so that we may die with him.” When\V{17} Jesus reached the place, he found that Lazarus had been four days in the tomb already. Bethany\V{18} being only about two miles from Jerusalem, a\V{19} number of the people had come there to comfort Martha and Mary because of brother’s death. When\V{20} Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat quietly at home. “Master,”\V{21} Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Even\V{22} now, I know that God will grant you whatever you ask him.”
\par 
  “Your\V{23} brother will rise to life,”  said Jesus. “I\V{24} know that he will,” replied Martha, “in the resurrection at the Last day.”
\par 
  “I\V{25} am the resurrection and the life,”  said Jesus.  “He who believes in me will live, though he die;   and\V{26} he who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 
\par 
 “Yes\V{27} Master,” she answered; “I have learned to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” After\V{28} saying this, Martha went and called her sister Mary, and whispered, “The teacher is here, and is asking for you.” As\V{29} soon as Mary heard that, she got up quickly, and went to meet him. Jesus\V{30} had not then come into the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. So\V{31} the people, who were in the house with Mary, comforting her, when they saw her get up quickly and go out, followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When\V{32} Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she threw herself at his feet. “Master,” she exclaimed, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died!” When\V{33} Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping also, he groaned deeply, and was greatly distressed.  “Where\V{34} have you buried him?”  he asked. “Come and see, Master,” they answered. Jesus\V{35} burst into tears. “How\V{36} he must have loved him!” the people exclaimed; but\V{37} some of them said, “Could not this man, who gave sight to the blind man, have also prevented Lazarus from dying?” Again\V{38} groaning inwardly, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against the mouth of it.  “Move\V{39} the stone away,”  said Jesus. “Master,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time the smell must be offensive, for this is the fourth day since his death.”
\par 
  “Didn’t\V{40} I tell you,”  replied Jesus,  “that, if you would believe in me, you should see the glory of God?”  So\V{41} they moved the stone away; and Jesus, with uplifted eyes, said,  “Father, I thank you that you have heard my prayer;   I\V{42} know that you always hear me; but I say this for the sake of the people standing near, so that they may believe that you has sent me as your messenger.” 
\par 
 Then,\V{43} after saying this, Jesus called in a loud voice,  “Lazarus! Come out!”  The\V{44} dead man came out, wrapped hand and foot in a winding-sheet; his face, too, had been wrapped in a cloth.  “Set him free,”  said Jesus,  “and let him go.” \blank 

\par 
 In\V{45} consequence of this, many of the people, who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, learned to believe in him. Some\V{46} of them, however, went to the Pharisees, and told them what he had done. The\V{47} chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the High Council, and said, “What are we to do, now that this man is giving so many signs? If\V{48} we allow him to continue as we are doing, everyone will believe in him; and the Romans will come and will take from us both our city and our Nationality.” One\V{49} of them, however, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You\V{50} are utterly mistaken. You do not consider that it is better for you that one person should die for the people, rather than the whole nation should be destroyed.” Now\V{51} he did not say this of his own accord; but, as high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was to die for the nation – And\V{52} not for the nation only, but also that he might unite in one body the children of God now scattered far and wide. So\V{53} from that day they plotted to put Jesus to death.\blank 

\par 
 In\V{54} consequence of this, Jesus did not go about publicly among the people any more, but left and went into the country bordering on the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. But\V{55} the Jewish Festival of the Passover was near; and many people had gone up from the country to Jerusalem, for their purification, before the Festival began. So\V{56} they looked for Jesus there, and said to one another, as they stood in the Temple Courts, “What do you think? Do you think he will come to the Festival?” The\V{57} chief priests and the Pharisees had already issued orders that, if anyone learned where Jesus was, he should give information, so that they might arrest him. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Last Days}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Six\C{12} days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead, was living. There\V{2} a supper was given in honor at which Martha waited, while Lazarus was one of those present at the table. So\V{3} Mary took a pound of choice spikenard perfume of great value, and anointed the feet of Jesus with it, and then wiped them with her hair. The whole house was filled with the scent of the perfume. One\V{4} of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was about to betray Jesus, asked, “Why\V{5} was not this perfume sold for a year’s wages, and the money given to poor people?” He\V{6} said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and, being in charge of the purse, used to take what was put in it.  “Leave\V{7} her alone,”  said Jesus,  “so that she may keep it until the day when my body is being prepared for burial.   The\V{8} poor you always have with you, but you will not always have me.” 
\par 
\indentation  Now\V{9} great numbers of people found out that Jesus was at Bethany; and they came there, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. The\V{10} chief priests, however, plotted to put Lazarus, as well as Jesus, to death, because\V{11} it was owing to him that many of the people had left them, and were becoming believers in Jesus. On\V{12} the following day great numbers of people who had come to the Festival, hearing that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, took palm branches, and\V{13} went out to meet him, shouting as they went, “God save Him! Blessed is He who Comes in the name of the Lord – The king of Israel!” Having\V{14} found a young ass, Jesus seated himself on it, in accordance with the passage of scripture – ‘Fear\V{15} not, people of Zion; Your king is coming to you, Sitting on the foal of an ass.’ His\V{16} disciples did not understand all this at first; but, when Jesus had been exalted, then they remembered that these things had been said of him in scripture, and that they had done these things for him. Meanwhile\V{17} the people who were with him, when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, were telling what they had seen. This,\V{18} indeed, was why the crowd met him – because people had heard that he had given this sign of his mission. So\V{19} the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing! Why, all the world has run after him!”\blank 

\par 
 Among\V{20} those who were going up to worship at the Festival were some Greeks, who\V{21} went to Philip of Bethsaida in Galilee, and said, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip\V{22} went and told Andrew, and then together they went and told Jesus. This\V{23} was his reply –  “The time has come for the Son of Man to be exalted.   In\V{24} truth I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains solitary; but, if it dies, it becomes fruitful.   A\V{25} person who loves their life loses it; while someone who hates their life in the present world will preserve it for eternal life.   If\V{26} someone is ready to serve me, let them follow me; and where I am, there my servant will be also. If a person is ready to serve me, my Father will honor them.   Now\V{27} I am distressed at heart and what can I say? Father, bring me safe through this hour – yet it was for this reason that I came to this hour –   Father,\V{28} honor your own name.”  At this there came a voice from heaven, which said, “I have already honored it, and I will honor it again.” The\V{29} crowd of bystanders, who heard the sound, said that it was thundering. Others said, “An angel has been speaking to him.”
\par 
  “It\V{30} was not for my sake that the voice came,”  said Jesus,  “but for yours.   Now\V{31} this world is on its trial. Now the Spirit that is ruling this world will be driven out;   and\V{32} I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”  By\V{33} these words he indicated what death he was destined to die. “We,”\V{34} replied the people, “have learned from the Law that the Christ is to remain for ever; how is it, then, that you say that the Son of Man must be  ‘lifted up’  Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
\par 
  “Only\V{35} a little while longer,”  answered Jesus,  “will you have the light among you. Travel on while you have the light, so that darkness may not overtake you; he who travels in the darkness does not know where he is going.   While\V{36} you still have the light, believe in the light, so that you may be children of light.”  After he had said this, Jesus went away, and hid himself from them. But,\V{37} though Jesus had given so many signs of his mission before their eyes, they still did not believe in him, in\V{38} fulfillment of the words of the prophet Isaiah, where he says – ‘Lord, who has believed our teaching? And to whom has the might of the Lord been revealed?’ The\V{39} reason why they were unable to believe is given by Isaiah elsewhere, in these words – ‘He\V{40} has blinded their eyes, and blunted their mind, so that they should not see with their eyes, and perceive with their mind, and turn – And I should heal them.’ Isaiah\V{41} said this, because he saw Christ’s glory; and it was of him that he spoke. Yet\V{42} for all this, even among the leading men there were many who came to believe in Jesus; but, because of the Pharisees, they did not acknowledge it, because they were afraid that they should be expelled from their synagogues; for\V{43} they valued honor from people more than honor from God. But\V{44} Jesus had proclaimed,  “He who believes in me believes, not in me, but in him who sent me;   and\V{45} he who sees me sees him who sent me.   I\V{46} have come as a light into the world, so that no one who believes in me should remain in the darkness.   When\V{47} anyone hears my teaching and pays no heed to it, I am not his judge; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.   He\V{48} who rejects me, and disregards my teaching, has a judge already – the message which I have delivered will itself be his judge at the Last day.   For\V{49} I have not delivered it on my own authority; but the Father, who sent me, has himself given me his command as to what I should say, and what message I should deliver.   And\V{50} I know that eternal life lies in keeping his command. Therefore, whatever I say, I say only what the Father has taught me.”  \blank 
 Before\C{13} the Passover Festival began, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave the world and go to the Father. He had loved those who were his own in the world, and he loved them to the last. The\V{2} devil had already put the thought of betraying Jesus into the mind of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon; and\V{3} at supper, Jesus – although knowing that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God, and was to return to God – Rose\V{4} from his place, and, taking off his upper garments, tied a towel around his waist. He\V{5} then poured some water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel which was tied around him. When\V{6} he came to Simon Peter, Peter said, “You, Master! Are you going to wash my feet?”
\par 
  “You\V{7} do not understand now what I am doing,”  replied Jesus,  “but you will learn by and by.” 
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 “You\V{8} will never wash my feet!” exclaimed Peter.  “Unless I wash you,”  answered Jesus,  “you have nothing in common with me.” 
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 “Then,\V{9} Master, not my feet only,” exclaimed Simon Peter, “but also my hands and my head.”
\par 
  “He\V{10} who has bathed,”  replied Jesus,  “has no need to wash, unless it be his feet, but is altogether clean; and you,”  he said to the disciples,  “are clean, yet not all of you.”  For\V{11} he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said  ‘You are not all clean.’  When\V{12} he had washed their feet, and had put on his upper garments and taken his place, he spoke to them again.  “Do you understand what I have been doing to you?”  he asked.  “You\V{13} yourselves call me ‘the teacher’ and ‘the Master’, and you are right, for I am both.   If\V{14} I, then – ‘the Master’ and ‘the teacher’ – have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet;   for\V{15} I have given you an example, so that you may do just as I have done to you.   In\V{16} truth I tell you, a servant is not greater than their master, neither is a messenger greater than the one who sends them.   Now\V{17} that you know these things, happy are you if you do them.   I\V{18} am not speaking about all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but this is in fulfillment of the words of scripture – ‘He that is eating my bread has lifted his heel against me.’   For\V{19} the future I will tell you of things before they take place, so that, when they take place, you may believe that I am what I am.   In\V{20} truth I tell you, the one who receives anyone that I send receives me; and the person who receives me receives him who sent me.”  After\V{21} saying this, Jesus was much troubled, and said solemnly,  “In truth I tell you that it is one of you who will betray me.”  The\V{22} disciples looked at one another, wondering whom he meant. Next\V{23} to Jesus, in the place on his right hand, was one of his disciples, whom he loved. So\V{24} Simon Peter made signs to that disciple, and whispered, “Tell me who it is that he means.” Being\V{25} in this position, that disciple leant back on Jesus’ shoulder, and asked him, “Who is it, Master?”
\par 
  “It\V{26} is the one,”  answered Jesus,  “to whom I will give a piece of bread after dipping it in the dish.”  And, when Jesus had dipped the bread, he took it and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot; and\V{27} it was then, after he had received it, that Satan took possession of him. So Jesus said to him,  “Do at once what you are going to do.”  But\V{28} no one at the table understood why he said this to Judas. Some\V{29} thought that, as Judas kept the purse, Jesus meant that he was to buy some things needed for the Festival, or to give something to the poor. After\V{30} taking the piece of bread, Judas went out immediately; and it was night.\blank 

\par 
 When\V{31} Judas had gone out, Jesus said,  “Now the Son of Man has been exalted, and God has been exalted through him;   and\V{32} God will exalt him with himself – yes, he will exalt him forthwith.   My\V{33} children, I am to be with you but a little while longer. You will look for me; and what I said to the people – ‘You cannot come where I am going’ – I now say to you.   I\V{34} give you a new commandment – love one another; love one another as I have loved you.   It\V{35} is by this that everyone will recognize you as my disciples – by your loving one another.” 
\par 
 “Where\V{36} are you going, Master?” asked Peter.  “I am going where you cannot now follow me,”  answered Jesus,  “but you will follow me later.” 
\par 
 “Why\V{37} cannot I follow you now, Master?” asked Peter. “I will lay down my life for you.”
\par 
  “Will\V{38} you lay down your life for me?”  replied Jesus.  “In truth I tell you, the cock will not crow until you have disowned me three times.    Do\C{14} not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.   In\V{2} my Father’s Home there are many dwellings. If it had not been so, I should have told you, for I am going to prepare a place for you.   And,\V{3} since I go and prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me, so that you may be where I am;   and\V{4} you know the way to the place where I am going.” 
\par 
 “We\V{5} do not know where you are going, Master,” said Thomas; “so how can we know the way?” Jesus\V{6} answered,  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one ever comes to the Father except through me.   If\V{7} you had recognized me, you would have known my Father also; for the future you will recognize him, indeed you have already seen him.” 
\par 
 “Master,\V{8} show us the Father,” said Philip, “and we will be satisfied.”
\par 
  “Have\V{9} I been all this time among you,”  said Jesus,  “and yet you, Philip, have not recognized me? The person who has seen me has seen the Father, how can you say, then, ‘Show us the Father’?   Don’t\V{10} you believe that I am in union with the Father, and the Father with me? In giving you my teaching I am not speaking on my own authority; but the Father himself, always in union with me, does his own work.   Believe\V{11} me,” he said to them all, “when I say that I am in union with the Father and the Father with me, or else believe me because of the work itself.   In\V{12} truth I tell you, the person who believes in me will themselves do the work that I am doing; and they will do greater work still, because I am going to the Father.   Whatever\V{13} you ask, in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be honored in the Son.   If\V{14} you ask anything, in my name, I will do it.   If\V{15} you love me, you will lay my commands to heart,   and\V{16} I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper, to be with you always – the Spirit of truth.   The\V{17} world cannot receive this Spirit, because it does not see him or recognize him, but you recognize him, because he is always with you, and is within you.   I\V{18} will not leave you bereaved; I will come to you.   In\V{19} a little while the world will see me no more, but you will still see me; because I am living, you will be living also.   At\V{20} that time you will recognize that I am in union with the Father, and you with me, and I with you.   It\V{21} is they who have my commands and lays them to heart who loves me; and the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them, and will reveal myself to them.” 
\par 
 “What\V{22} has happened, Master,” said Judas (not Judas Iscariot), “that you are going to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”
\par 
  “Whoever\V{23} loves me,”  Jesus answered, “will lay my message to heart; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.   The\V{24} person who does not love me will not lay my message to heart; and the message to which you are listening is not my own, but comes from the Father who sent me.   I\V{25} have told you all this while still with you,   but\V{26} the helper – the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name – will teach you all things, and will recall to your minds all that I have said to you.   Peace\V{27} be with you! My own peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, or dismayed.   You\V{28} heard me say that I was going away and would return to you. Had you loved me, you would have been glad that I was going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.   And\V{29} this I have told you now before it happens, so that, when it does happen, you may still believe in me.   I\V{30} will not talk with you much more, for the Spirit that is ruling the world is coming. He has nothing in common with me;   but\V{31} he is coming so that the world may see that I love the Father, and that I do as the Father commanded me. Come, let us be going.  \blank 

\par 
  “I\C{15} am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower.   Any\V{2} unfruitful branch in me he takes away, and he cleanses every fruitful branch, so that it may bear more fruit.   You\V{3} are already clean because of the message that I have given you.   Remain\V{4} united to me, and I will remain united to you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains united to the vine; no more can you, unless you remain united to me.   I\V{5} am the vine, you are the branches. If you remains united to me, while I remain united to you – you bear fruit plentifully; for you can do nothing apart from me.   If\V{6} anyone does not remain united to me, they are thrown away, as a branch would be, and withers up. Such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and are burnt.   If\V{7} you remain united to me, and my teaching remains in your hearts, ask whatever you wish, and it will be yours.   It\V{8} is by your bearing fruit plentifully, and so showing yourselves my disciples, that my Father is honored.   As\V{9} the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; remain in my love.   If\V{10} you lay my commands to heart, you will remain in my love; just as I have laid the Father’s commands to heart and remain in his love.   I\V{11} have told you all this so that my own joy may be yours, and that your joy may be complete.   This\V{12} is my command – love one another, as I have loved you.   No\V{13} one can give greater proof of love than by laying down their life for their friends.   And\V{14} you are my friends, if you do what I command you.   I\V{15} no longer call you ‘servants,’ because a servant does not know what their master is doing; but I have given you the name of ‘friends,’ because I made known to you everything that I learned from my Father.   It\V{16} wasn’t you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my name.   I\V{17} am giving you these commands that you may love one another.   If\V{18} the world hates you, you know that it has first hated me.   If\V{19} you belonged to the world, the world would love its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world – that is why the world hates you.   Remember\V{20} what I said to you – ‘A servant is not greater than their master.’ If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have laid my message to heart, they will lay yours to heart also.   But\V{21} they will do all this to you, because you believe in my name, for they do not know him who sent me.   If\V{22} I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin to answer for; but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin.   The\V{23} person who hates me hates my Father also.   If\V{24} I had not done among them such work as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.   And\V{25} so is fulfilled what is said in their Law – ‘They hated me without cause.’   But,\V{26} when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth, who comes from the Father – will bear testimony to me;   yes,\V{27} and you also are to bear testimony, because you have been with me from the first.   “I\C{16} have spoken to you in this way so that you may not falter.  They\V{2} will expel you from their synagogues; indeed the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think that they are making an offering to God.   They\V{3} will do this, because they have not learned to know the Father, or even me.   But\V{4} I have spoken to you of these things so that, when the time for them comes, you may remember that I told you about them myself.   I\V{5} did not tell you all this at first, because I was with you. But now I am to return to him who sent me; and yet not one of you asks me – ‘Where are you going?’   Although\V{6} your hearts are full of sorrow at all that I have been saying to you.   Yet\V{7} I am only telling you the truth; it is for your good that I should go away. For otherwise the helper will never come to you, but, if I leave you, I will send him to you.   And\V{8} he, when he comes, will bring conviction to the world as to sin, and as to righteousness, and as to judgment;   as\V{9} to sin, for people do not believe in me;   as\V{10} to righteousness, for I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer;   as\V{11} to judgment, for the Spirit that is ruling this world has been condemned.   I\V{12} have still much to say to you, but you cannot bear it now.   Yet\V{13} when he – The Spirit of truth – comes, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak of all that he hears; and he will tell you of the things that are to come.   He\V{14} will honor me; because he will take of what is mine, and will tell it to you.   Everything\V{15} that the Father has is mine; that is why I said that he takes of what is mine, and will tell it to you.   In\V{16} a little while you will no longer see me; and then in a little while you will see me indeed.” 
\par 
 At\V{17} this some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us  ‘In a little while you will not see me, and then in a little while you will see me indeed’;  and by saying  ‘Because I am going to the Father’?  What\V{18} does he mean by  ‘In a little while’?”  they said; “we do not know what he is speaking about.” Jesus\V{19} saw that they were wanting to ask him a question, and said,  “Are you trying to find out from one another what I meant by saying ‘In a little while you will not see me; and then in a little while you will see me indeed’?   In\V{20} truth I tell you that you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will suffer pain, but your pain will turn to joy.   A\V{21} woman in labor is in pain because her time has come; but no sooner is the child born, than she forgets her trouble in her joy that a child has been born into the world.   You,\V{22} in the same way, are sorry now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will rob you of your joy.   And\V{23} at that time you will not ask me anything; in truth I tell you, if you ask the Father for anything, he will grant it to you in my name.   So\V{24} far you have not asked for anything, in my name; ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.   I\V{25} have spoken to you of all this in figures; a time is coming, however, when I will not speak any longer to you in figures, but will tell you about the Father plainly.   You\V{26} will ask, at that time, in my name; and I do not say that I will intercede with the Father for you;   for\V{27} the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from the Father.   I\V{28} came out from the Father, and have come into the world; and now I am to leave the world, and go to the Father.” 
\par 
 “At\V{29} last,” exclaimed the disciples, “you are using plain words and not speaking in figures at all. Now\V{30} we are sure that you know everything, and need not wait for anyone to question you. This makes us believe that you did come from God.”
\par 
  “Do\V{31} you believe that already?”  Jesus answered.  “Listen!\V{32} A time is coming – indeed it has already come – when you are to be scattered, each going his own way, and to leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.   I\V{33} have spoken to you in this way, so that in me you may find peace. In the world you will find trouble; yet, take courage! I have conquered the world.”  \blank 

\par 
 After\C{17} saying this, Jesus raised his eyes heaven-wards, and said:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “Father, the hour has come; honor your Son, so that your Son may honor you;   even\V{2} as you gave him power over all humanity, so that he should give eternal life to all those whom you has given him.   And\V{3} the eternal life is this – to know you the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you has sent as your messenger.   I\V{4} have honored you on earth by completing the work which you has given me to do;   and\V{5} now do you honor me, Father, at your own side, with the honor which I had at your side before the world began.   I\V{6} have revealed you to those whom you gave me from the world; they were your own, and you gave them to me; and they have laid your message to heart.   They\V{7} recognize now that everything that you gave me was from you;   for\V{8} I have given them the teaching which you gave me, and they received it, and clearly understood that I came from you, and they believed that you has sent me as your messenger.   I\V{9} intercede for them; I am not interceding for the world, but for those whom you has given me, for they are your own –   All\V{10} that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine – and I am honored in them.   Now\V{11} I am to be in this world no longer, but they are still to be in the world, and I am to come to you. Holy Father, keep them by that revelation of your name which you has given me, so that they may be one, as we are.   Whilst\V{12} I was with them, I kept them by that revelation, and I have guarded them; and not one of them has been lost, except that lost soul – in fulfillment of scripture.   But\V{13} now I am to come to you; and I am speaking like this, while still in the world, so that they may have my own joy, in all its fullness, in their hearts.   I\V{14} have given them your message; and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world, even as I do not belong to the world.   I\V{15} do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from evil.   They\V{16} do not belong to the world, even as I do not belong to the world.   Consecrate\V{17} them by the truth; your message is truth.   Just\V{18} as you has sent me as your messenger to the world, so I send them as my messengers to the world.   And\V{19} it is for their sakes that I am consecrating myself, so that they also may be truly consecrated.   But\V{20} it is not only for them that I am interceding, but also for those who believe in me through their message,   that\V{21} they all may be one – that as you, Father, are in union with us – and so the world may believe that you have sent me as your messenger.   I\V{22} have given them the honor which you has given me, so that they may be one as we are one –   I\V{23} in union with them and you with me – that so they may be perfected in their union, and so that the world may know that you have sent me as your messenger, and that you have loved them as you have loved me.   Father,\V{24} my desire for all those whom you have given me is that they may be with me where I am, so that they may see the honor which you have given me; for thou did love me before the beginning of the world.   Righteous\V{25} Father, though the world did not know you, I knew you; and these people knew that you have sent me as your messenger.   I\V{26} have made you known to them, and will do so still; that the love that you have had for me may be in their hearts, and that I may be in them also.” }
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  \stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  When\C{18} Jesus had said this, he went out with his disciples and crossed the brook Kedron to a place where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples went. The\V{2} place was well known to Judas, the betrayer, for Jesus and his disciples had often met there. So\V{3} Judas, who had obtained the soldiers of the Roman garrison, and some police officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus,\V{4} aware of all that was coming upon him, went to meet them, and said to them,  “For whom are you looking?” 
\par 
\indentation  “Jesus\V{5} of Nazareth,” was their answer.  “I am he,”  said Jesus. (Judas, the betrayer, was also standing with them.) When\V{6} Jesus said  ‘I am he,’  they drew back and fell to the ground. So\V{7} he again asked for whom they were looking, and they answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
\par 
  “I\V{8} have already told you that I am he,”  replied Jesus,  “so, if it is for me that you are looking, let these people go.”  This\V{9} was in fulfillment of his words –  ‘Of those whom you have given me I have not lost one.’  At\V{10} this, Simon Peter, who had a sword with him, drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. But\V{11} Jesus said to Peter,  “Sheathe your sword. Should I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?” \blank 
 So\V{12} the soldiers of the garrison, with their commanding officer and the Jewish police, arrested Jesus and bound him, and\V{13} took him first of all to Annas. Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It\V{14} was Caiaphas who had counseled the religious authorities, that it was best that one person should die for the people. Meanwhile\V{15} Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. That disciple, being well-known to the high priest, went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, while\V{16} Peter stood outside by the door. Presently the other disciple – the one well-known to the high priest – went out and spoke to the portress, and brought Peter in. So\V{17} the maidservant said to Peter, “Aren’t you also one of this man’s disciples?”
\par 
“No, I am not,” he said. The\V{18} servants and police officers were standing around a charcoal fire (which they had made because it was cold), and were warming themselves. Peter, too, was with them, standing and warming himself. The\V{19} high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.  “For\V{20} my part,”  answered Jesus,  “I have spoken to all the world openly. I always taught in some synagogue, or in the Temple Courts, places where everyone assembles, and I never spoke of anything in secret.   Why\V{21} question me? Question those who have listened to me as to what I have spoken about to them. They must know what I said.”  When\V{22} Jesus said this, one of the police officers, who was standing near, gave him a blow with his hand. “Do you answer the high priest like that?” he exclaimed.  “If\V{23} I said anything wrong, give evidence about it,”  replied Jesus;  “but if not, why do you strike me?”  Annas\V{24} sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. Meanwhile\V{25} Simon Peter was standing there, warming himself; so they said to him, “Aren’t you also one of his disciples?” Peter denied it. “No, I am not,” he said. One\V{26} of the high priest’s servants, a relation of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, exclaimed, “Didn’t I myself see you with him in the garden?” Peter\V{27} again denied it; and at that moment a cock crowed.\blank 

\par 
 From\V{28} Caiaphas they took Jesus to the Government house. It was early in the morning. But they did not enter the Government house themselves, otherwise they might become defiled, and so be unable to eat the Passover. Therefore\V{29} Pilate came outside to speak to them. “What charge do you bring against this man?” he asked. “If\V{30} he had not been a criminal, we should not have given him up to you,” they answered. “Take\V{31} him yourselves,” said Pilate, “and try him by your own Law.”
\par 
“We have no power to put anyone to death,” the authorities replied – In\V{32} fulfillment of what Jesus had said when indicating the death that he was destined to die. After\V{33} that, Pilate went into the Government house again, and calling Jesus up, asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
\par 
  “Do\V{34} you ask me that yourself?”  replied Jesus,  “or did others say it to you about me?” 
\par 
 “Do\V{35} you take me for a Jew?” was Pilate’s answer. “It is your own nation and the chief priests who have given you up to me. What have you done?”
\par 
  “My\V{36} kingly power,”  replied Jesus,  “is not due to this world. If it had been so, my servants would be doing their utmost to prevent my being given up to the authorities; but my kingly power is not from the world.” 
\par 
 “So\V{37} you are a king after all!” exclaimed Pilate.  “Yes, it is true I am a king,”  answered Jesus.  “I was born for this, I have come into the world for this – to bear testimony to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of truth listens to my voice.” 
\par 
 “What\V{38} is truth?” exclaimed Pilate. After saying this, he went out to the crowd again, and said, “For my part, I find nothing with which he can be charged. It\V{39} is, however, the custom for me to grant you the release of one man at the Passover Festival. Do you wish for the release of the king of the Jews?”
\par 
 “No,\V{40} not this man,” they shouted again, “but Barabbas!” This Barabbas was a robber. \blank 

\par 
 After\C{19} that, Pilate had Jesus scourged. The\V{2} soldiers made a crown with some thorns and put it on his head and threw a purple robe around him. They\V{3} kept coming up to him and saying, “Long live the king of the Jews!” and they gave him blow after blow with their hands. Pilate\V{4} again came outside, and said to the people, “Look! I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find nothing with which he can be charged.” Then\V{5} Jesus came outside, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe; and Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” When\V{6} the chief priests and the police officers saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
\par 
“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” said Pilate. “For my part, I find nothing with which he can be charged.”
\par 
 “But\V{7} we,” replied the crowd, “have a Law, under which he deserves death for making himself out to be the Son of God.” When\V{8} Pilate heard what they said, he became still more alarmed; and,\V{9} going into the Government house again, he said to Jesus, “Where do you come from?” But\V{10} Jesus made no reply. So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have power to release you, and have power to crucify you?”
\par 
  “You\V{11} would have no power over me at all,”  answered Jesus,  “if it had not been given you from above; and, therefore, the man who betrayed me to you is guilty of the greater sin.”  This\V{12} made Pilate anxious to release him; but the crowd shouted, “If you release that man, you are no friend of the Emperor! Anyone who makes himself out to be a king is setting himself against the Emperor!” On\V{13} hearing what they said, Pilate brought Jesus out, and took his seat on the Bench at a place called ‘The Stone Pavement’ – in Hebrew ‘Gabbatha.’ It\V{14} was the Passover Preparation day, and about noon. Then he said to the crowd, “Here is your king!” At\V{15} that the people shouted, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!”
\par 
“What! Should I crucify your king?” exclaimed Pilate. “We have no king but the Emperor,” replied the chief priests; so\V{16} Pilate gave Jesus up to them to be crucified.\blank 

\par 
So they took Jesus; and\V{17} he went out, carrying his cross himself, to the place which is named from a scull, or, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There\V{18} they crucified him, and two others with him – one on each side, and Jesus between them. Pilate\V{19} also had these words written and put up over the cross – ‘JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.’ These\V{20} words were read by many people, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and they were written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. The\V{21} chief priests said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The king of the Jews’, but write what the man said – ‘I am the king of the Jews.’” But\V{22} Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”\blank 

\par 
 When\V{23} the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares – a share for each soldier – and they took the coat also. The coat had no seam, being woven in one piece from top to bottom. So\V{24} they said to one another, “Do not let us tear it, but let us cast lots for it, to see who will have it.” This was in fulfillment of the words of scripture –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘They shared my clothes among them,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And over my clothing they cast lots.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] That was what the soldiers did. Meanwhile\V{25} near the cross of Jesus were standing his mother and his mother’s sister, as well as Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary of Magdala. When\V{26} Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved, standing near, he said to his mother,  “There is your son.”  Then\V{27} he said to that disciple,  “There is your mother.”  And from that very hour the disciple took her to live in his house.\stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Afterward,\V{28} knowing that everything was now finished, Jesus said, in fulfillment of the words of scripture,  “I am thirsty.”  There\V{29} was a bowl standing there full of common wine; so they put a sponge soaked in the wine on the end of a hyssop-stalk, and held it up to his mouth. When\V{30} Jesus had received the wine, he exclaimed,  “All is finished!”  Then, bowing his head, he resigned his spirit to God. It\V{31} was the Preparation day, and so, to prevent the bodies from remaining on the crosses during the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a great day), the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed. Accordingly\V{32} the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and then those of the other who had been crucified with Jesus; but,\V{33} on coming to him, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. One\V{34} of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water immediately flowed from it. This\V{35} is the statement of one who actually saw it – and his statement may be relied on, and he knows that he is speaking the truth – and it is given in order that you also may be convinced. For\V{36} all this happened in fulfillment of the words of scripture – ‘Not one of its bones will be broken.’ And\V{37} there is another passage which says – ‘They will look on him whom they pierced.’ After\V{38} this, Joseph of Ramah, a disciple of Jesus – but a secret one, owing to his fear of the religious authorities – begged Pilate’s permission to remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him leave; so Joseph went and removed the body. Nicodemus,\V{39} too – the man who had formerly visited Jesus by night – came with a roll of myrrh and aloes, weighing nearly a hundred pounds. They\V{40} took the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen with the spices, according to the Jewish mode of burial. At\V{41} the place where Jesus had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a newly made tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And\V{42} so, because of its being the Preparation day, and as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Risen Life}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  On\C{20} the first day of the week, early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary of Magdala went to the tomb, and saw that the stone had been removed. So\V{2} she came running to Simon Peter, and to that other disciple who was Jesus’ friend, and said to them, “They have taken away the Master out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him!” So,\V{3} Peter started off with that other disciple, and they went to the tomb. The\V{4} two began running together; but the other disciple ran faster than Peter, and reached the tomb first. Stooping\V{5} down, he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but did not go in. Presently\V{6} Simon Peter came following behind him, and went into the tomb; and he looked at the linen wrappings lying there, and\V{7} the cloth which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the wrappings, but rolled up on one side, separately. Then\V{8} the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, went inside too, and he saw for himself and was convinced. For\V{9} they did not then understand the passage of scripture which says that Jesus must rise again from the dead. The\V{10} disciples then returned to their companions.
\par 
\indentation  Meanwhile\V{11} Mary was standing close outside the tomb, weeping. Still weeping, she leant forward into the tomb, and\V{12} perceived two angels clothed in white sitting there, where the body of Jesus had been lying, one where the head and the other where the feet had been. “Why\V{13} are you weeping?” asked the angels. “They have taken my Master away,” she answered, “and I do not know where they have laid him.” After\V{14} saying this, she turned around, and looked at Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.  “Why\V{15} are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”  he asked. Supposing him to be the gardener, Mary answered, “If it was you, Sir, who carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away myself.”
\par 
  “Mary!”\V{16}   said Jesus. She turned around, and exclaimed in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (or, as we should say, ‘teacher’).  “Do\V{17} not hold me,”  Jesus said;  “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers, and tell them that I am ascending to him who is my Father and their Father, my God and their God.”  Mary\V{18} of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Master, and that he had said this to her.\blank 

\par 
 In\V{19} the evening of the same day – the first day of the week – after the doors of the room, in which the disciples were, had been shut because they were afraid of the religious authorities, Jesus came and stood among them and said,  “Peace be with you”;  after\V{20} which he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Master. Again\V{21} Jesus said to them,  “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me as his messenger, so I am sending you.”  After\V{22} saying this, he breathed on them, and said,  “Receive the Holy Spirit;   if\V{23} you remit anyone’s sins, they have been remitted; and, if you retain them, they have been retained.” \blank 

\par 
 But\V{24} Thomas, one of the Twelve, called ‘The Twin,’ was not with them when Jesus came; so\V{25} the rest of the disciples said to him, “We have seen the Master!”
\par 
“Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands,” he exclaimed, “and put my finger into the marks, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” A\V{26} week later the disciples were again in the house, and Thomas with them. After the doors had been shut, Jesus came and stood among them, and said,  “Peace be with you.”  Then\V{27} he said to Thomas,  “Place your finger here, and look at my hands; and place your hand here, and put it into my side; and do not refuse to believe, but believe.”  And\V{28} Thomas exclaimed, “My Master, and my God!”
\par 
  “Is\V{29} it because you have seen me that you have believed?”  said Jesus.  “Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed!” \blank 

\par 
 There\V{30} were many other signs of his mission that Jesus gave in presence of the disciples, which are not recorded in this book; but\V{31} these have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God – and that, through your belief in his name, you may have life. \blank 

\par 
 Later\C{21} on, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. It\V{2} was in this way, – Simon Peter, Thomas, who was called ‘The Twin,’ Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two other disciples of Jesus, were together, when Simon Peter said, “I\V{3} am going fishing.”
\par 
“We will come with you,” said the others. They went out and got into the boat, but caught nothing that night. Just\V{4} as day was breaking, Jesus came and stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was he.  “My\V{5} children,”  he said,  “have you anything to eat?” 
\par 
“No,” they answered.  “Cast\V{6} your net to the right of the boat,”  he said,  “and you will find fish.”  So they cast the net, and now they could not haul it in because of the quantity of fish. The\V{7} disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Master!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Master, he fastened his coat around him (for he had taken it off), and threw himself into the sea. But\V{8} the rest of the disciples came in the boat (for they were only about a hundred yards from shore), dragging the net full of fish. When\V{9} they had come ashore, they found a charcoal fire ready, with some fish already on it, and some bread as well.  “Bring\V{10} some of the fish which you have just caught,”  said Jesus. So\V{11} Simon Peter got into the boat and hauled the net ashore full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and yet, although there were so many, the net had not been torn.  “Come\V{12} and have breakfast.” , Jesus said. None of the disciples dared ask him who he was, because they knew it was the Master. Jesus\V{13} went and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish too. This\V{14} was the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after he had risen from the dead.\blank 

\par 
 When\V{15} breakfast was over, Jesus said to Simon Peter,  “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than the others?” 
\par 
“Yes, Master,” he answered, “you know that I am your friend.”
\par 
 “Feed my lambs,”  said Jesus. Then,\V{16} a second time, Jesus asked,  “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” 
\par 
“Yes, Master,” he answered, “you know that I am your friend.”
\par 
 “Tend my sheep,”  said Jesus. The\V{17} third time, Jesus said to him,  “Simon, son of John, are you my friend?”  Peter was hurt at his third question being ‘Are you my friend?’; and exclaimed, “Master, you know everything! You can tell that I am your friend.”
\par 
 “Feed my sheep,”  said Jesus.  “In\V{18} truth I tell you,” he continued, “when you were young, you used to put on your own clothes, and walk wherever you wished; but, when you have grown old, you will have to stretch out your hands, while someone else puts on your clothes, and takes you where you do not wish.”  Jesus\V{19} said this to show the death by which Peter was to honor God, and then he added,  “Follow me.”  Peter\V{20} turned around, and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following – the one who at the supper leant back on the Master’s shoulder, and asked him who it was who would betray him. Seeing\V{21} him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, what about this man?”
\par 
  “If\V{22} it is my will that he should wait until I come,”  answered Jesus,  “what has that to do with you? Follow me yourself.”  So\V{23} the report spread among his followers that that disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say that he was not to die, but said  “If it is my will that he should wait until I come, what has that to do with you?” \blank 

\par 
 It\V{24} is this disciple who states these things, and who recorded them; and we know that his statement is true.\blank 

\par 
 There\V{25} are many other things which Jesus did; but, if every one of them were to be recorded in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not hold the books that would be written.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Acts}

\MTT{The}

\MT{Acts}

\MTT{of the Apostles}
  
\MS{The Church and the Jews}

\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Acts of the Apostles Peter and John}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation \C{1} {\sc The first account which I drew up,} Theophilus, dealt with all that Jesus did and taught from the very first, down\V{2} to that day on which he was taken up to heaven, after he had, by the help of the Holy Spirit, given instructions to the apostles whom he had chosen. With\V{3} abundant proofs, he showed himself to them, still living, after his death; appearing to them from time to time during forty days, and speaking of all that related to the kingdom of God. And\V{4} once, when he had gathered them together, he charged them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the fulfillment of the Father’s promise –  “that promise,”  he said,  “of which you have heard me speak;   for,\V{5} while John baptized with water, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit before many days have passed.” 
\par 
\indentation  So,\V{6} when the apostles had met together, they asked Jesus this question – “Master, is this the time when you intend to re-establish the kingdom for Israel?” His\V{7} answer was,  “It is not for you to know times or hours, for the Father has reserved these for his own decision;   but\V{8} you will receive power, when the Holy Spirit will have descended on you, and will be witnesses for me not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 
\par 
 No\V{9} sooner had Jesus said this than he was caught up before their eyes, and a cloud received him from their sight. While\V{10} they were still gazing up into the heavens, as he went, suddenly two men, clothed in white, stood beside them, and\V{11} said, “People of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up into the heavens? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into the heavens, will come in the same way in which you have seen him go into the heavens.”
\par 
 Then\V{12} the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called Olivet, which is about three quarters of a mile from the city. When\V{13} they reached Jerusalem, they went to the upstairs room, where they were staying. There were there Peter, John, James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. They\V{14} all united in devoting themselves to prayer, and so did some women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.\blank 

\par 
 About\V{15} this time, at a meeting of the Lord’s followers, when there were about a hundred and twenty present, Peter rose to speak. “Friends,”\V{16} he said, “it was necessary that the prediction of scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit made by the lips of David about Judas, who acted as guide to the men who arrested Jesus, for\V{17} he was one of our number and had his part allotted him in this work of ours.” (This\V{18} man had bought a piece of land with the price of his treachery; and, falling heavily, his body had burst open, and all his bowels protruded. This\V{19} became known to everyone living in Jerusalem, so that the field came to be called, in their language, ‘Akeldama,’ which means the ‘Field of Blood.’)
\par 
 “For\V{20} in the book of Psalms,” Peter continued, “it is said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Let his home become desolate,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And let no one live in it’;}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft] and also –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘His office let another take.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Therefore,\V{21} from among the men who have been with us all the time that Jesus, our Master, went in and out among us – from\V{22} his baptism by John down to that day on which he was taken from us – someone must be found to join us as a witness of his resurrection.” So\V{23} they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabas, whose other name was Justus, and Matthias; and\V{24} they offered this prayer –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Lord, who reads all hearts, show which of these two men you have chosen to\V{25} take the place in this apostolic work, which Judas has abandoned, to go to his proper place.”\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Then\V{26} they drew lots between them; and, the lot having fallen to Matthias, he was added to the number of the eleven apostles. \stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  In\C{2} the course of the Festival at the close of the Harvest the disciples had all met together, when\V{2} suddenly there came from the heavens a noise like a strong wind rushing by; it filled the whole house in which they were sitting. Then\V{3} there appeared tongues of what seemed to be flame, separating, so that one settled on each of them; and\V{4} they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in different languages as the Spirit prompted their utterances.
\par 
\indentation  Now\V{5} there were then staying in Jerusalem religious Jews from every country in the world; and,\V{6} when this sound was heard, numbers of people collected, in the greatest excitement, because each of them heard the disciples speaking in his own language. They\V{7} were utterly amazed, and kept asking in astonishment, “What! Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then\V{8} how is it that we each of us hear them in our own language? Some\V{9} of us are Parthians, some Medes, some Elamites; and some of us live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Roman Asia, in\V{10} Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the districts of Libya adjoining Cyrene; some of us are visitors from Rome, either\V{11} Jews by birth or converts, and some are Cretans and Arabians – yet we all alike hear them speaking in our own languages of the great things that God has done.” They\V{12} were all utterly amazed and bewildered.
\par 
“What does it mean?” they asked one another. But\V{13} there were some who said with a sneer, “They have had too much new wine.”
\par 
 Then\V{14} Peter, surrounded by the eleven other apostles, stood up, and, raising his voice, addressed the crowd. “People of Judea,” he began, “and all you who are staying in Jerusalem, let me tell you what this means. Mark well my words. These\V{15} people are not drunk, as you suppose; for it is only now nine in the morning! No! This\V{16} is what is spoken of in the prophet Joel –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘It\V{17} will come about in the last days,’ God says,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{‘That I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Your sons and your daughters will become prophets,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Your young men will see visions,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And your old men dream dreams;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Yes,\V{18} even on the slaves – for they are mine – both men and women,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{I will in those days pour out my Spirit,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{And they will become prophets;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{19} I will show wonders in the heavens above,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And signs on the earth below –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Blood and fire and mist of smoke;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ The\V{20} sun will become darkness,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And the moon blood-red,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Before the day of the Lord comes – that great and awful day.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{ Then\V{21} will everyone who invokes the name of the Lord be saved.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  People\V{22} of Israel, listen to what I am saying. Jesus of Nazareth, a man whose mission from God to you was proved by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God showed among you through him, as you know full well – He,\V{23} I say, in accordance with God’s definite plan and with his previous knowledge, was betrayed, and you, by the hands of lawless men, nailed him to a cross and put him to death. But\V{24} God released him from the pangs of death and raised him to life, it being impossible for death to retain its hold on him. Indeed\V{25} he was the one David was referring to when he said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘I have had the Lord ever before my eyes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{For he stands at my right hand, so that I should not be disquieted.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Therefore\V{26} my heart was cheered, and my tongue told its delight;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Yes, even my body, too, will rest in hope;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{27} you will not abandon my soul to Hades,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Nor surrender me, your holy one, to undergo corruption.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{28} have shown me the path to life,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{You will fill me with gladness in your presence.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Friends,\V{29} I can speak to you the more confidently about the patriarch David, because he is dead and buried, and his tomb is here among us to this very day. David,\V{30} then, prophet as he was, knowing that God had solemnly sworn to him to set one of his descendants on his throne, looked into the future, and\V{31} referred to the resurrection of the Christ when he said that he had not been abandoned to Hades, nor had his body undergone corruption. It\V{32} was this Jesus, whom God raised to life; and of that we are ourselves all witnesses. And\V{33} now that he has been exalted to the right hand of God, and has received from the Father the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, he has begun to pour out that gift, as you yourselves now see and hear. It\V{34} was not David who went up into heaven; for he himself says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The Lord said to my master, “Sit on my right hand,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Until\V{35} I put your enemies as a footstool under your feet.”’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  So\V{36} let the whole nation of Israel know beyond all doubt, that God has made him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified.”\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  When\V{37} the people heard this, they were conscience-smitten, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Friends, what can we do?”
\par 
\indentation  “Repent,”\V{38} answered Peter, “and be baptized every one of you in the faith of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For\V{39} the promise is for you and for your children, and also for all those now far away, who may be called by the Lord our God.”
\par 
 Peter\V{40} spoke to them for a long time using many other arguments and pleaded with them – “Save yourselves from the perverse spirit of this age.” So\V{41} those who accepted his teaching were baptized, and about three thousand people joined the disciples on that day alone. They\V{42} devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the Common life of the church, to the breaking of the bread and to the Prayers.
\par 
 A\V{43} deep impression was made on everyone, and many wonders and signs were done at the hands of the apostles. All\V{44} who became believers in Christ held everything for the common use; they\V{45} sold their property and their goods, and shared the proceeds among them all, according to their individual needs. Every\V{46} day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the Temple Courts, and to the breaking of bread at their homes, while they partook of their food in simple-hearted gladness, praising God, and winning the goodwill of all the people. And\V{47} the Lord daily added to their company those who were in the path of salvation. \blank 

\par 
 One\C{3} day, as Peter and John were going up into the Temple Courts for the three o’clock Prayers, a man, who had been lame from his birth, was being carried by. This\V{2} man used to be set down every day at the gate of the Temple called ‘the Beautiful Gate,’ to beg of those who went in. Seeing\V{3} Peter and John on the point of entering, he asked them to give him something. Peter\V{4} fixed his eyes on him, and so did John, and then Peter said, “Look at us.”
\par 
 The\V{5} man was all attention, expecting to get something from them; but\V{6} Peter added, “I have no gold or silver, but I give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk.” Grasping\V{7} the lame man by the right hand, Peter lifted him up. Instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong, and,\V{8} leaping up, he stood and began to walk about, and then went with them into the Temple Courts, walking, and leaping, and praising God. All\V{9} the people saw him walking about and praising God; and,\V{10} when they recognized him as the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, they were utterly astonished and amazed at what had happened to him. While\V{11} the man still clung to Peter and John, the people all quickly gathered around them in the Colonnade named after Solomon, in the greatest astonishment.
\par 
 On\V{12} seeing this, Peter said to the people, “People of Israel, why are you surprised at this? And why do you stare at us, as though we, by any power or piety of our own, had enabled this man to walk? The\V{13} God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has done honor to his servant Jesus – him whom you gave up and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to set him free. You,\V{14} I say, disowned the holy and righteous one, and asked for the release of a murderer! The\V{15} guide to life you put to death! But God raised him from the dead – and of that we are ourselves witnesses. And\V{16} it is by faith in the name of Jesus, that this man, whom you all see and know, has – by his name – been made strong. Yes, it is the faith inspired by Jesus that has made this complete cure of the man, before the eyes of you all. And\V{17} yet, my friends, I know that you acted as you did from ignorance, and your rulers also. But\V{18} it was in this way that God fulfilled all that he had long ago foretold, as to the sufferings of his Christ, by the lips of all the prophets. Therefore,\V{19} repent and turn so that your sins may be wiped away; so that happier times may come from the Lord himself, and\V{20} so that he may send you, in Jesus, your long-appointed Christ. But\V{21} heaven must be his home, until the days of the Universal Restoration, of which God has spoken by the lips of his holy prophets from the very first. Moses\V{22} himself said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The Lord your God will raise up from among yourselves a prophet, as he raised me. To him you will listen whenever he speaks to you. And\V{23} it will be that should anyone among the people not listen to that prophet, he will be utterly destroyed.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Yes,\V{24} and all the prophets from Samuel onwards, and all their successors who had a message to deliver, told of these days. You\V{25} yourselves are the heirs of the prophets, and heirs, too, of the covenant which God made with your ancestors, when he said to Abraham –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘In your descendants will all the nations of the earth be blessed.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  For\V{26} you, first, God raised up his servant, and sent him to bless you, by turning each one of you from his wicked ways.”  While\C{4} Peter and John were still speaking to the people, the chief priest, with the officer in charge at the Temple and the Sadducees, came up to them, much\V{2} annoyed because they were teaching the people, and because, through Jesus, they were preaching the resurrection from the dead. They\V{3} arrested the apostles and, as it was already evening, had them placed in custody until the next day. Many,\V{4} however, of those who had heard the apostles’ message became believers in Christ, the number of the men alone amounting to about five thousand.\stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  The\V{5} next day, a meeting of the leaders of the people, the elders, and the teachers of the Law was held in Jerusalem. There\V{6} were present Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all who were of High-Priestly rank. They\V{7} had Peter and John brought before them, and questioned them.
\par 
\indentation “By what power,” they asked, “Or in whose name have men like you done this thing?”
\par 
 Then,\V{8} Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said, “Leaders of the people and elders, since\V{9} we are on our trial today for a kind act done to a helpless man, and are asked in what way the man here before you has been cured, let\V{10} me tell you all and all the people of Israel, that it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead – it is, I say, by his name that this man stands here before you lame no longer. Jesus\V{11} is ‘the stone which, scorned by you the builders, has yet become the corner stone.’ And\V{12} salvation is in him alone; for there is no other name in the whole world, given to people, to which we must look for our salvation.”
\par 
 When\V{13} the Council saw how boldly Peter and John spoke, and found that they were uneducated men of humble station, they were surprised, and realized that they had been companions of Jesus. But,\V{14} when they looked at the man who had been healed, standing there with them, they had nothing to say. So\V{15} they ordered them out of court, and then began consulting together.
\par 
 “What\V{16} are we to do to these men?” they asked one another. “That a remarkable sign has been given through them is obvious to everyone living in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But,\V{17} to prevent this thing from spreading further among the people, let us warn them not to speak in this name any more to anyone whatever.”
\par 
 So\V{18} they called the apostles in, and ordered them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
\par 
 But\V{19} Peter and John replied, “Whether it is right, in the sight of God, to listen to you rather than to him – judge\V{20} for yourselves, for we cannot help speaking of what we have seen and heard.” However,\V{21} after further warnings, the Council set them at liberty, not seeing any safe way of punishing them, because of the people, for they were all praising God for what had occurred; for\V{22} the man who was the subject of this miraculous cure was more than forty years old.\blank 

\par 
 After\V{23} they had been set at liberty, the apostles went to their friends and told them what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. All\V{24} who heard their story, moved by a common impulse, raised their voices to God in prayer:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{“Sovereign Lord, it is you who has made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, and\V{25} who, by the lips of our ancestor, your servant David, who spoke under the influence of the Holy Spirit, have said –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{‘Why did the nations rage,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{and the peoples form vain designs?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ The\V{26} kings of the earth set their array,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and its rulers gathered together,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{against the Lord and against his Christ.’}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{27} have indeed gathered together in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you has consecrated the Christ, not Herod and Pontius Pilate only, but the nations and the people of Israel besides – Yet\V{28} only to do what you, by your power and of your own will, did long ago destine to be done. Now,\V{29} therefore, Lord, mark their threats, and enable your servants, with all fearlessness, to tell your message, while\V{30} you stretch out your hand to heal, and cause signs and wonders to take place through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  When\V{31} their prayer was ended, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to tell God’s message fearlessly.\stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  The\V{32} whole body of those who had become believers in Christ were of one heart and mind. Not one of them claimed any of his goods as his own, but everything was held for the common use. The\V{33} apostles continued with great power to bear their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s blessing rested on them all abundantly. Nor\V{34} was there anyone in need among them, for all who were owners of land or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the sales And\V{35} laid them at the apostles’ feet; and then everyone received a share in proportion to his wants. A\V{36} Levite of Cyprian birth, named Joseph, (who had received from the apostles the additional name of ‘Barnabas’ – which means ‘The Consoler,’) Sold\V{37} a farm that belonged to him, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. \blank 

\par 
\indentation  There\C{5} was, however, a man named Ananias, who, with his wife Sapphira, sold some property, and,\V{2} with her connivance, kept back some of the proceeds. He brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
\par 
 “Ananias,”\V{3} Peter exclaimed, “how is it that Satan has so taken possession of your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit, and kept back a part of the money paid for the land? While\V{4} it was unsold, was not it your own? And after it was sold, was not the money at your own disposal? How did you come to think of such a thing? You have lied, not to people, but to God!”
\par 
 As\V{5} Ananias heard these words, he fell down and expired; and everyone who heard of it was appalled. The\V{6} young men got up, and, winding the body in a sheet, carried it out and buried it.
\par 
 After\V{7} an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. “Is\V{8} it true,” Peter asked, addressing her, “that you sold your land for such a sum?”
\par 
“Yes,” she answered, “we did.” Then\V{9} Peter said, “How did you come to agree to provoke the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The footsteps of those who have buried your husband are at the door; and they will carry you out too.”
\par 
 Instantly\V{10} Sapphira fell down at Peter’s feet and expired. On coming in, the young men found her dead; so they carried her out and buried her by her husband’s side. The\V{11} whole church and all who heard of these events were appalled.\blank 

\par 
 Many\V{12} signs and wonders continued to occur among the people, through the instrumentality of the apostles, whose custom it was to meet all together in the Colonnade of Solomon; but\V{13} of the rest no one ventured to join them. On the other hand, the people were full of their praise, and\V{14} still larger numbers, both of men and women, as they became believers in the Lord, were added to their number. The\V{15} consequence was that people would bring out their sick even into the streets, and lay them on mattresses and mats, in the hope that, as Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on someone of them. Besides\V{16} this, the inhabitants of the towns around Jerusalem flocked into the city, bringing with them their sick and those who were troubled by foul spirits; and they were cured everyone.\blank 

\par 
 At\V{17} this the high priest was roused to action, and he and all his supporters (who formed the party of the Sadducees), moved by jealousy, arrested\V{18} the apostles, and had them placed in custody. An\V{19} angel of the Lord, however, opened the prison doors at night and led them out. “Go,”\V{20} he said, “and stand in the Temple Courts, and tell the people the whole message of this new life.” When\V{21} they heard this, they went at daybreak into the Temple Courts, and began to teach. The high priest and his party, on their arrival, summoned the High Council, including all the leaders of the people among the Israelites, and sent to the jail to fetch the apostles. But,\V{22} when the officers got there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported that, while\V{23} they had found the goal barred securely and the guards posted at the doors, yet, on opening them, they had not found anyone inside. When\V{24} the officer in charge at the Temple and the chief priests heard their story, they were perplexed about the apostles and as to what all this would lead to. Presently,\V{25} however, someone came and told them, that the men whom they had put in prison were actually standing in the Temple Courts, teaching the people. Then,\V{26} the officer went with his men and fetched the apostles – without using violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people – And\V{27} then brought them before the Council. The high priest demanded an explanation from them.
\par 
 “We\V{28} gave you strict orders,” he said, “not to teach in this name. Yet you have actually flooded Jerusalem with your teaching, and you want to make us responsible for the death of this man.”
\par 
 To\V{29} this Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than people. The\V{30} God of our ancestors raised Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging him on a cross. It\V{31} is this Jesus whom God has exalted to his right hand, to be a guide and a Savior, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. And\V{32} we are witness to the truth of this, and so is the Holy Spirit – the gift of God to those who obey him.”
\par 
 The\V{33} members of the Council became frantic with rage on hearing this, and were for putting the apostles to death. But\V{34} Gamaliel, a Pharisee, who was a Doctor of the Law and who was held in universal respect, rose in the Council, and directed that the men should be taken out of court for a little while.
\par 
 He\V{35} then said, “People of Israel, take care as to what you intend to do with these men. For\V{36} not long ago Theudas appeared, professing to be somebody, and was joined by a body of some four hundred men. But he was killed; and all his followers scattered and dwindled away. After\V{37} him, Judas the Galilean appeared at the time of the census, and induced people to follow him; Yet he, too, perished and all his followers were dispersed. And,\V{38} in this present case, my advice to you is not to interfere with these men, but to leave them alone, for, if their designs and their work are merely of human origin, they will come to an end; but,\V{39} if they are of divine origin, you will be powerless to put an end to them – or else you may find yourselves fighting against God!”
\par 
 The\V{40} Council followed his advice, and, calling the apostles in, had them flogged, and then, after cautioning them not to speak in the name of Jesus, set them free. But\V{41} the apostles left the Council, rejoicing that they had been thought worthy to suffer disgrace for that name; and\V{42} never for a single day, either in the Temple Courts or in private houses, did they cease to teach, or to tell the good news of Jesus, the Christ. \blank 

\par 
 About\C{6} this time, when the number of the disciples was constantly increasing, complaints were made by the Greek speaking Jews against the Aramaic speaking Jews, that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. The\V{2} Twelve, therefore, called together the general body of the disciples and said to them, “It is not well for us to see to the distribution at the tables and neglect God’s message. Therefore,\V{3} friends, look for seven men of reputation among yourselves, wise and spiritually-minded men, and we will appoint them to attend to this matter; while\V{4} we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the delivery of the message.”
\par 
 This\V{5} proposal was unanimously agreed to; and the disciples chose Stephen – a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit – and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a former convert to Judaism; and\V{6} they brought these men to the apostles, who, after praying, placed their hands on them.\blank 

\par 
 So\V{7} God’s message spread, and the number of the disciples continued to increase rapidly in Jerusalem, and a large body of the priests accepted the faith.\blank 

\par 
 Meanwhile\V{8} Stephen, divinely helped and strengthened, was showing great wonders and signs among the people. But\V{9} some members of the Synagogue of the Freed Slaves (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and Visitors from Cilicia and Roman Asia, were roused to action and began disputing with Stephen; yet\V{10} they were quite unable to withstand the wisdom and the inspiration with which he spoke. Then\V{11} they induced some men to assert that they had heard Stephen saying blasphemous things against Moses, and against God; and\V{12} they stirred up the people, as well as the elders and the teachers of the Law, and set on Stephen, and arrested him, and brought him before the High Council. There\V{13} they produced witnesses who gave false evidence.
\par 
“This man,” they said, “is incessantly saying things against this Holy place and the Law; indeed,\V{14} we have heard him declare that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and change the customs handed down to us by Moses.” The\V{15} eyes of all the members of the Council were riveted on Stephen, and they saw his face looking like the face of an angel. 
\par 
 Then\C{7} the high priest asked, “Is this true?” Stephen\V{2} replied, “Brothers and fathers, hear what I have to say. God, who manifests himself in the glory, appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, and before he settled in Haran, and said to him – ‘Leave\V{3} your country and your people, and come into the country that I will show you.’ And\V{4} so Abraham left the country of the Chaldaeans and settled in Haran; and from there, after his father’s death, God caused him to migrate into this country, in which you are now living. God\V{5} did not at that time give him any part of it, not even a foot of ground. But he promised to give him possession of it and his descendants after him, though at that time he had no child. God’s\V{6} words were these – ‘Abraham’s descendants will live in a foreign country, where they will be enslaved and ill-treated for four hundred years. But\V{7} I myself will judge the nation, to which they will be enslaved,’ God said, ‘and after that they will leave the country and worship me in this place.’ Then\V{8} God made with Abraham the covenant of circumcision; and under it Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him when he was eight days old; and Isaac became the father of Jacob; and Jacob of the Twelve Patriarchs. The\V{9} Patriarchs, out of jealousy, sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt; but God was with him, and\V{10} delivered him out of all his troubles, and enabled him to win favor and show wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him Governor of Egypt and of his whole household. Then\V{11} a famine spread over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, causing great distress, and our ancestors could find no food. Hearing,\V{12} however, that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors there on their first visit. In\V{13} the course of their second visit, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh. Then\V{14} Joseph sent an urgent invitation to his father Jacob and to his relatives, seventy-five persons in all; and\V{15} so Jacob went down into Egypt. There he died, and our ancestors also, and\V{16} their bodies were removed to Shechem, and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. As\V{17} the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise which God had made to Abraham, the people increased largely in numbers in Egypt, until\V{18} a new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to the throne. This\V{19} king acted deceitfully towards our people and ill-treated our ancestors, making them abandon their own infants, so that they should not be reared. It\V{20} was just at this time that Moses was born. He was an exceedingly beautiful child, and for three months was brought up in his own father’s house; and,\V{21} when he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh found him and brought him up as her own son. So\V{22} Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and proved his ability both by his words and actions. When\V{23} he was in his fortieth year, he resolved to visit his fellow Israelites; and,\V{24} seeing an Israelite ill-treated, he defended him, and avenged the man, who was being wronged, by striking down the Egyptian. He\V{25} thought his own people would understand that God was using him to save them; but they failed to do so. The\V{26} next day he again appeared on the scene, when some of them were fighting, and tried to make peace between them. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers; how is it that you are ill-treating one another?’ But\V{27} the man who was ill-treating his fellow workman pushed Moses aside saying – ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do\V{28} you mean to make away with me as you did yesterday with that Egyptian?’ At\V{29} these words Moses took to flight, and became an exile in Midian; and there he had two sons born to him. Forty\V{30} years had passed when there appeared to him, in the desert of Mount Sinai, an angel in a flame of fire in a bush. When\V{31} Moses saw it, he was astonished at the vision; but on his going nearer to look at it more closely, the voice of the Lord was heard to say – ‘I\V{32} am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled, and did not dare to look. Then\V{33} the Lord said to him – ‘Take your sandals off your feet, for the spot where you are standing is holy ground. I\V{34} have seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt, and heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them. Come now and I will send you into Egypt.’ This\V{35} same Moses, whom they had disowned with the words – ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ was the man whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer, under the guidance of the angel that had appeared to him in the bush. He\V{36} it was who led them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the desert during forty years. This\V{37} was the Moses who said to the people of Israel – ‘God will raise up for you, from among yourselves, a prophet, as he raised up me.’ He,\V{38} too, it was who was present at the assembly in the desert, with the angel who talked to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, and who received living truths to impart to you. Yet\V{39} our ancestors refused him obedience; more than that, they rejected him, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, while\V{40} they said to Aaron – ‘Make us Gods who will lead the way for us, since, as for this Moses who has brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ That\V{41} was the time when they made the calf and offered sacrifice to their idol, and held festivities in honor of their own handiwork! So\V{42} God turned from them and left them to the worship of the Starry Host, as is written in the book of the prophets –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Did you offer victims and sacrifices to me, house of Israel,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{all those forty years in the desert?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{43} took with you the tent where Moloch is worshiped}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the star of the god Rephan –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{the images which you had made to worship.}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Therefore I will exile you beyond Babylon.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Our\V{44} ancestors had the tent where they worshiped God in the desert, constructed, just as he who spoke to Moses had directed him to make it, after the model which he had seen. This\V{45} tent, which was handed down to them, was brought into this country by our ancestors who accompanied Joshua (at the conquest of the nations that God drove out before their advance), and remained here until the time of David. David\V{46} found favor with God, and prayed that he might provide the God of Jacob with a place to reside. But\V{47} it was Solomon who built a house for God. Yet\V{48} it is not in buildings made by hands that the Most High dwells. As the prophet says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘The\V{49} heavens are a throne for me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and the earth a stool for my feet.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{What manner of house will you build me, asks the Lord,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{or what place is there where I may rest?}
\noindentation \Q{3}{ Was\V{50} it not my hand that made all these things?’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Stubborn\V{51} people, heathen in heart and ears, you are for ever resisting the Holy Spirit; your ancestors did it, and you are doing it still. Which\V{52} of the prophets escaped persecution at their hands? They killed those who foretold the coming of the righteous one; of whom you, in your turn, have now become the betrayers and murderers – You\V{53} who received the Law as transmitted by angels and yet failed to keep it.”\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  As\V{54} they listened to this, the Council grew frantic with rage, and gnashed their teeth at Stephen. He,\V{55} filled as he was with the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes intently on the heavens, and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God’s right hand.
\par 
\indentation  “Look,”\V{56} he exclaimed, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at God’s right hand!” At\V{57} this, with a loud shout, they stopped their ears and all rushed on him, forced him outside the city, and\V{58} began to stone him, the witnesses laying their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And\V{59} they stoned Stephen, while he cried to the Lord, “Lord Jesus! Receive my spirit!” Falling\V{60} on his knees, he called out loudly, “Lord! Do not charge them with this sin;” and with these words he fell asleep. 
\par 
 Saul\C{8} approved of his being put to death.
\par 
On that very day a great persecution broke out against the church which was in Jerusalem; and its members, with the exception of the apostles, were all scattered over the districts of Judea and Samaria. Some\V{2} religious men buried Stephen, with loud lamentations for him. But\V{3} Saul began to devastate the church; he entered house after house, dragged out men and women alike, and threw them into prison.
\par 
 Now\V{4} those who were scattered in different directions went from place to place proclaiming the good news. Philip\V{5} went down to the city of Samaria, and there began to preach the Christ. The\V{6} people, one and all, listened attentively to what Philip told them, when they heard of, and saw, the miracles which he was working. For\V{7} there were many instances of people with foul spirits, where the spirits, with loud screams, came out of them; and\V{8} many who were paralyzed or lame were cured, so that there was great rejoicing throughout that city. There\V{9} was staying in the city a man named Simon, who had been practicing magic there and mystifying the Samaritan people, giving himself out to be some great being. Everyone,\V{10} high and low, paid attention to him. ‘This man,’ they used to say, ‘must be that power of God which people call “The Great Power.”’ And\V{11} they paid attention to him because they had for a long time been mystified by his magic arts. However,\V{12} when they came to believe Philip, as he told them the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even\V{13} Simon believed, and after his baptism attached himself to Philip, and was in his turn mystified at seeing signs and great miracles constantly occurring.
\par 
 When\V{14} the apostles at Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had welcomed God’s message, they sent Peter and John to them; and\V{15} they, on their arrival, prayed that the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit. (As\V{16} yet the Spirit had not descended on any of them; they had only been baptized into the faith of the Lord Jesus). Then\V{17} Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
\par 
 When\V{18} Simon saw that it was through the placing of the apostles’ hands on them that the Spirit was given, he brought them a sum of money and said, “Give\V{19} me also this power of yours, so that, if I place my hands on anyone, he may receive the Holy Spirit.”
\par 
 “A\V{20} curse on you and on your money,” Peter exclaimed, “for thinking that God’s free gift can be bought with gold! You\V{21} have no share or part in our message, for your heart is not right with God. Therefore\V{22} repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, that, if possible, you may be forgiven for such a thought; for\V{23} I see that you have fallen into the bitterness of envy and the fetters of sin.”
\par 
 “Pray\V{24} to the Lord for me, all of you,” Simon answered, “so that none of the things you have spoken of may happen to me.”
\par 
 Peter\V{25} and John, having borne their testimony and delivered the Lord’s message, returned to Jerusalem, telling the good news, as they went, in many Samaritan villages.
\par 
 Meanwhile\V{26} an angel of the Lord had said to Philip, “Set out on a journey southwards, along the road that runs down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (It is now deserted). So\V{27} Philip set out on a journey; and on his way he came on an official of high rank, in the service of Candace, Queen of the Abyssinians. He was her treasurer, and had been to Jerusalem to worship, and\V{28} was now on his way home, sitting in his carriage and reading the prophet Isaiah.
\par 
 The\V{29} Spirit said to Philip, “Go up to the carriage over there and keep close to it.” So\V{30} Philip ran up, and he heard the Abyssinian reading the prophet Isaiah.
\par 
“Do you understand what you are reading?” he asked. “How\V{31} can I,” the other answered, “unless someone will explain it to me?” and he invited Philip to get up and sit by his side. The\V{32} passage of scripture which he was reading was this –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Like a sheep, he was led away to slaughter,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and as a lamb is dumb in the hands of its shearer,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{so he refrains from opening his lips.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ He\V{33} was humiliated and justice was denied him.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Who will tell the story of his generation?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{For his life is cut off from earth.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  “Now,”\V{34} said the Treasurer, addressing Philip, “tell me, of whom is the prophet speaking? Of himself, or of someone else?” Then\V{35} Philip began, and, taking this passage as his text, told him the good news about Jesus.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Presently,\V{36} as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the Treasurer exclaimed, “Look! Here is water; what is to prevent my being baptized?” \footnote{\V{37}  8:37    Some later manuscripts add: Philip said, “If you believe with your whole heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”}  So\V{38} he ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water – both Philip and the Treasurer – and Philip baptized him. But,\V{39} when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the Treasurer saw no more of him; for he continued his journey with a joyful heart. But\V{40} Philip was found at Ashdod, and, as he went on his way, he told the good news in all the towns through which he passed, until he came to Caesarea. \blank 

\par 
\indentation  Meanwhile\C{9} Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and\V{2} asked him to give him letters to the Jewish congregations at Damascus, authorizing him, if he found there any supporters of the Way, whether men or women, to have them put in chains and brought to Jerusalem.
\par 
 While\V{3} on his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, suddenly a light from the heavens flashed around him. He\V{4} fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him –  “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 
\par 
 “Who\V{5} are you, Lord?” he asked.
\par 
 “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,”  the voice answered;  “Yet\V{6} stand up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 
\par 
 The\V{7} men traveling with Saul were meanwhile standing speechless; they heard the sound of the voice, but saw no one. When\V{8} Saul got up from the ground, though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So his men led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus; and\V{9} for three days he was unable to see, and took nothing either to eat or to drink.\blank 

\par 
 Now\V{10} there was at Damascus a disciple named Ananias, to whom, in a vision, the Lord said,  “Ananias.” 
\par 
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.  “Go\V{11} at once,”  said the Lord,  “to the Straight Street, and ask at Judas’s house for a man named Saul, from Tarsus. He is at this moment praying,   and\V{12} he has seen, in a vision, a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him, so that he may recover his sight.” 
\par 
 “Lord,”\V{13} exclaimed Ananias, “I have heard from many people about this man – how much harm he has done at Jerusalem to your people there. And,\V{14} here, too, he holds authority from the chief priests to put in chains all those who invoke your name.” But\V{15} the Lord said to him,  “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to uphold my name before the Gentiles and their kings, and the people of Israel.   I\V{16} will myself show him all that he has to suffer for my name.” 
\par 
 So\V{17} Ananias went, entered the house, and, placing his hands on Saul, said, “Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord – by Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here – so that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Instantly\V{18} it seemed as if a film fell from Saul’s eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and,\V{19} after he had taken food, he felt his strength return.\blank 

\par 
Saul stayed for some days with the disciples who were at Damascus, and\V{20} at once began in the synagogues to proclaim Jesus as the Son of God. All\V{21} who heard him were amazed.
\par 
“Is not this,” they asked, “the man who worked havoc in Jerusalem among those that invoke this name, and who had also come here for the express purpose of having such persons put in chains and taken before the chief priests?” Saul’s\V{22} influence, however, kept steadily increasing, and he confounded the Jewish people who lived in Damascus by the proofs that he gave that Jesus was the Christ.
\par 
 After\V{23} some time some of them laid a plot to kill Saul, but\V{24} it became known to him. They even watched the gates day and night, to kill him; but\V{25} his disciples let him down by night through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
\par 
 On\V{26} his arrival in Jerusalem, Saul attempted to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, as they did not believe that he was really a disciple. Barnabas,\V{27} however, taking him by the hand, brought him to the apostles, and told them the whole story of how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord, and how the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out fearlessly in the name of Jesus. After\V{28} that, Saul remained in Jerusalem, in close contact with the apostles; and he spoke fearlessly in the name of the Lord, talking\V{29} and arguing with the Jews of foreign birth, who, however, made attempts to kill him. But,\V{30} when the followers found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and sent him on his way to Tarsus.\blank 

\par 
 And\V{31} so it came about that the church, throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, enjoyed peace and became firmly established; and, ordering its life by respect for the Lord and the help of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.\blank 

\par 
 Peter,\V{32} while traveling from place to place throughout the country, went down to visit the people of Christ living at Lydda. There\V{33} he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years with paralysis. “Aeneas,”\V{34} Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ cures you. Get up, and make your bed.” Aeneas got up at once; and\V{35} all the inhabitants of Lydda and of the Plain of Sharon saw him, and came over to the Lord’s side.\blank 
 At\V{36} Jaffa there lived a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which is in Greek ‘Dorcas’ – a Gazelle. Her life was spent in doing kind and charitable actions. Just\V{37} at that time she was taken ill, and died; and they had washed her body and laid it out in an upstairs room. Jaffa\V{38} was near Lydda, and the disciples, having heard that Peter was at Lydda, sent two men with the request that he come to them without delay. Peter\V{39} returned with them at once. On his arrival, he was taken upstairs, and all the widows came around him in tears, showing the coats and other clothing which Dorcas had made while she was among them. But\V{40} Peter sent everybody out of the room, and knelt down and prayed. Then, turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha! Stand up.”
\par 
She opened her eyes, and, seeing Peter, sat up. Giving\V{41} her his hand, Peter raised her up, and, calling in the widows and others of Christ’s people, presented her to them alive. This\V{42} became known all through Jaffa, and numbers of people came to believe in the Lord. And\V{43} Peter stayed some days at Jaffa with a tanner named Simon. \blank 

\par 
 At\C{10} Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a captain in the regiment known as the ‘Italian Regiment,’ A\V{2} religious man and one who reverenced God, with all his household. He was liberal in his charities to the people, and prayed to God constantly. One\V{3} afternoon, about three o’clock, he distinctly saw in a vision an angel from God come to him, and call him by name. Cornelius\V{4} fixed his eyes on him and, in great alarm, said, “What is it, Lord?”
\par 
“Your prayers and your charities,” the angel answered, “have been an acceptable offering to God. And\V{5} now, send messengers to Jaffa and fetch a man called Simon, who is also known as Peter. He\V{6} is lodging with a tanner named Simon, who has a house near the sea.”
\par 
 When\V{7} the angel, who had spoken to him, had gone, Cornelius called two servants and a religious soldier, who was one of his constant attendants, and,\V{8} after telling them the whole story, sent them to Jaffa.
\par 
 On\V{9} the next day, while these men were on their way, just as they were nearing the town, Peter went up on the housetop about midday to pray. He\V{10} became hungry and wanted something to eat; but while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance, and\V{11} saw that the heavens were open, and that something like a great sail was descending, let down by its four corners towards the earth. In\V{12} it were all kinds of quadrupeds, reptiles, and birds. Then\V{13} he was aware of a voice which said –  “Stand up, Peter, kill something, and eat.” 
\par 
 “No,\V{14} Lord, I cannot,” answered Peter, “for I have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.” Again\V{15} he was aware of a voice which said –  “What God has pronounced clean, do not regard as defiled.”  This\V{16} happened three times, and then suddenly it was all taken up into the heavens.
\par 
 While\V{17} Peter was still perplexed as to the meaning of the vision that he had seen, the men sent by Cornelius, having enquired the way to Simon’s house, came up to the gate, and\V{18} called out and asked if the Simon, who was also known as Peter, was lodging there. Peter\V{19} was still pondering over the vision, when the Spirit said to him, “There are two men looking for you at this moment. Go\V{20} down at once and do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
\par 
 Peter\V{21} went down to the men and said, “I am the person you are looking for. What is your reason for coming?”
\par 
 The\V{22} men replied, “Our captain, Cornelius, a pious man who reverences God and is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, has been instructed by a holy angel to send for you to his house, and to listen to what you have to say.” So\V{23} Peter invited them in and entertained them.
\par 
The next day he lost no time in setting out with them, accompanied by some of the Lord’s followers from Jaffa; and\V{24} the day following he entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them, and had invited his relatives and intimate friends to meet them. So,\V{25} when Peter entered the city, Cornelius met him, and, throwing himself at Peter’s feet, bowed to the ground. Peter,\V{26} however, lifted him up, saying as he did so, “Stand up, I am only human like yourself.”
\par 
 Talking\V{27} with him as he went, Peter entered the house, where he found a large gathering of people, to whom he said, “You\V{28} are doubtless aware that it is forbidden for a Jew to be intimate with a foreigner, or even to enter his house; and yet God has shown me that I ought not to call anyone defiled or unclean. That\V{29} was why I came, when I was sent for, without raising any objection. And now I ask your reason for sending for me.”
\par 
 “Just\V{30} three days ago this very hour,” Cornelius said, “I was in my house, saying the Afternoon Prayers, when a man in dazzling clothing suddenly stood before me. ‘Cornelius,’\V{31} he said, ‘your prayer has been heard, and your charities have been accepted, by God. Therefore\V{32} send to Jaffa, and invite the Simon, who is also known as Peter, to come here. He is lodging in the house of Simon the tanner, near the sea.’ Accordingly\V{33} I sent to you at once, and you have been so good as to come. And now we are all here in the presence of God, to listen to all that you have been instructed by the Lord to say.” Then\V{34} Peter began.
\par 
“I see, beyond all doubt,” he said, “that God does not show partiality, but\V{35} that in every nation he who reverences him and does what is right is acceptable to him. God\V{36} has sent his message to the Israelites and told them, through Jesus Christ, the good news of peace – and Jesus is Lord of all! You\V{37} yourselves know the story which spread through all Judea, how, beginning form Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed – The\V{38} story, I mean, of Jesus of Nazareth, and how God consecrated him his Christ by enduing him with the Holy Spirit and with power; and how he went about doing good and curing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. We\V{39} are ourselves, too, witnesses to all that he did in Judea and in Jerusalem; yet they put him to death by hanging him on a cross! This\V{40} Jesus God raised on the third day, and enabled him to appear, not\V{41} indeed to everyone, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God – to us, who ate and drank with him after his resurrection from the dead. Further,\V{42} God charged us to proclaim to the people, and solemnly affirm, that it is Jesus who has been appointed by God judge of the living and the dead. To\V{43} him it is that all the prophets bear witness, when they say that everyone who believes in him receives through his name forgiveness of sins.”
\par 
 Before\V{44} Peter had finished saying these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who were listening to the message. Those\V{45} converts from Judaism, who had come with Peter, were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been bestowed even on the Gentiles; for\V{46} they heard them speaking in different languages and extolling God. At this Peter asked, “Can\V{47} anyone refuse the water for the baptism of these people, now that they have received the Holy Spirit as we did ourselves?” And\V{48} he directed that they should be baptized in the faith of Jesus Christ; after which they asked him to stay there a few days longer. \blank 

\par 
 The\C{11} apostles and the followers throughout Judea heard that even the Gentiles had welcomed God’s message. But,\V{2} when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who were converts from Judaism began to attack him, on\V{3} the ground that he had visited people who were not circumcised, and had taken meals with them. So\V{4} Peter began to relate the facts to them as they had occurred. “I\V{5} was in the town of Jaffa,” he said, “and was praying; and, while in a trance, I saw a vision. There was something like a great sail descending, let down by its four corners out of the heavens; and it came right down to me. Looking\V{6} intently at it, I began to distinguish quadrupeds, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds; and\V{7} I also heard a voice saying to me –  ‘Stand up, Peter, kill something and eat.’  ‘No,\V{8} Lord, I cannot,’ I answered, ‘for nothing defiled or unclean has ever passed my lips.’ Then\V{9} a second time there came a voice from the heavens.  ‘What God has pronounced clean’,  it said,  ‘you must not call defiled.’  This\V{10} happened three times, and then all was drawn up again into the heavens. At\V{11} that moment three men, who had been sent from Caesarea to see me, came up to the house in which we were. The\V{12} Spirit told me to go with them without hesitation. These six companions also went with me. And, when we came into the man’s house, he\V{13} told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and how the angel had said to him – ‘Send to Jaffa and fetch the Simon, who is also known as Peter; for\V{14} he will tell you truths, which will prove the means of salvation to you and all your household.’ I\V{15} had but just begun to speak,” continued Peter, “when the Holy Spirit fell on them, exactly as on us at the first; and\V{16} I recalled the saying of the Master –  ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’  Since\V{17} then, God had given them the very same gift as he gave us when we became believers in Jesus Christ the Master – who was I that I could thwart God?”
\par 
 On\V{18} hearing this statement, they said no more, but broke out into praise of God. “So even to the Gentiles,” they exclaimed, “God has granted the repentance which leads to life!”\blank 

\par 
 Now\V{19} those who had been scattered in different directions, in consequence of the persecution that followed the death of Stephen, went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, telling the message – but only to Jews. Some\V{20} of them, however, who were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, on coming to Antioch, addressed themselves also to the Jews of foreign birth, telling them the good news about that Lord Jesus. The\V{21} power of the Lord was with them, so that a great number who had learned to believe came over to the Lord’s side. The\V{22} news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. On\V{23} coming there he saw to his great joy these tokens of the loving kindness of God, and encouraged them all to make up their minds to be faithful to the Lord – For\V{24} Barnabas was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith – and a large number of people took their stand on the Lord’s side. Afterward\V{25} Barnabas left for Tarsus to look for Saul; and,\V{26} when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And so it came about that, for a whole year, they attended the meetings of the church there, and taught a large number of people; and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’\blank 

\par 
 During\V{27} this time, some prophets came to Antioch from Jerusalem. One\V{28} of them, named Agabus, came forward and, under the influence of the Spirit, foretold a great famine that was to spread over all the world – a famine which occurred in the reign of Claudius. So\V{29} the disciples, without exception, determined, in proportion to their means, to send something to help the followers living in Judea. And\V{30} this they did, sending it to the church elders by Barnabas and Saul. \blank 

\par 
 It\C{12} was at that time that King Herod began to ill-treat some of the members of the church. He\V{2} had James, the brother of John, beheaded; and,\V{3} when he saw that the Jews were pleased with this, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the Festival of the unleavened bread.) After\V{4} seizing Peter, Herod put him in prison, and entrusted him to the keeping of four Guards of four soldiers each, intending, after the Passover, to bring him up before the people. So\V{5} Peter was kept in prison, but meanwhile the prayers of the church were being earnestly offered to God on his behalf. Just\V{6} when Herod was intending to bring him before the people, on that very night Peter was asleep between two soldiers, chained to them both, while there were sentries in front of the door, guarding the prison. Suddenly\V{7} an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. The angel struck Peter on the side, and roused him with the words, “Get up quickly.” The\V{8} chains dropped from his wrists, and then the angel said, “Put on your belt and sandals.” When Peter had done so, the angel added, “Throw your cloak around you and follow me.”
\par 
 Peter\V{9} followed him out, not knowing that what was happening under the angel’s guidance was real, but thinking that he was seeing a vision. Passing\V{10} the first Guard, and then the second, they came to the iron gate leading into the city, which opened to them of itself; and, when they had passed through that, and had walked along one street, all at once the angel left him.
\par 
 Then\V{11} Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know beyond all doubt that the Lord has sent his angel, and has rescued me from Herod’s hands and from all that the Jewish people have been expecting.” As\V{12} soon as he realized what had happened, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also known as Mark, where a number of people were gathered together, praying. On\V{13} his knocking at the door in the gate, a maidservant, named Rhoda, came to answer it. She\V{14} recognized Peter’s voice, but in her joy left the gate unopened, and ran in, and told them that Peter was standing outside.
\par 
 “You\V{15} are mad!” they exclaimed. But, when she persisted that it was so, they said, “It must be his spirit!”
\par 
 Meanwhile\V{16} Peter went on knocking, and, when they opened the gate and saw him, they were amazed. Peter\V{17} signed to them with his hand to be silent, and then told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison, adding, “Tell James and the others all this.” Then he left the house, and went away to another place.
\par 
 In\V{18} the morning there was a great stir among the soldiers – what could have become of Peter! And,\V{19} when Herod had made further search for him and failed to find him, he closely questioned the Guard, and ordered them away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to stay at Caesarea.
\par 
 It\V{20} happened that Herod was deeply offended with the people of Tyre and Sidon, but they went in a body to him, and, having succeeded in winning over Blastus, the Chamberlain, they begged Herod for a reconciliation, because their country was dependent on the king’s for its food supply. On\V{21} an appointed day Herod, wearing his state robes, seated himself on his throne, and delivered an oration. The\V{22} people kept shouting, “It is the voice of God, and not of a person!”
\par 
 Instantly\V{23} an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give God the glory; and he was attacked with worms, and died. Meanwhile\V{24} the Lord’s message kept extending, and spreading far and wide.\blank 

\par 
 When\V{25} Barnabas and Saul had carried out their mission, they returned to Jerusalem, and took with them John, who was also known as Mark.  
\MS{The Church and the Gentiles}

\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Acts of the Apostle Paul}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation \C{13} {\sc Among the members of the church at Antioch there were} several prophets and teachers – Barnabas, Simeon who was known by the name of ‘Black’, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, foster-brother of Prince Herod, and Saul. While\V{2} they were engaged in the worship of the Lord and were fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them.” Accordingly,\V{3} after fasting and prayer, they placed their hands on them and dismissed them.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Barnabas\V{4} and Saul, sent on this mission, as they were, by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there sailed to Cyprus. On\V{5} reaching Salamis, they began to tell the message of God in the Jewish synagogues; and they had John with them as an assistant. After\V{6} passing through the whole island, they reached Paphos, where they found an astrologer who pretended to be a prophet – a Jew by birth, whose name was Barjoshua. He\V{7} was at the court of the Governor, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who sent for Barnabas and Saul and asked to be told God’s message. But\V{8} Elymas, the astrologer (for that is the meaning of the word), opposed them, eager to divert the Governor’s attention from the faith. However,\V{9} Saul (who is the same as Paul), full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on him and said, “You\V{10} incarnation of deceit and all fraud! You son of the devil! You opponent of all that is good! Will you never cease to divert the straight paths of the Lord? Listen! The\V{11} hand of the Lord is on you even now, and you will be blind for a time and unable to see the sun.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went feeling about for someone to guide him. When\V{12} the Governor saw what had happened, he became a believer in Christ, being greatly impressed by the teaching about the Lord.\blank 

\par 
 After\V{13} this, Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them and returned to Jerusalem. The\V{14} others went on from Perga and arrived at Antioch in Pisidia. There they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath and took their seats. After\V{15} the reading of the Law and the prophets, the synagogue leader sent them this message – “Friends, if you have any helpful words to address to the people, now is the time to speak.” So\V{16} Paul rose and, motioning with his hand, said:
\par 
“People of Israel and all here who worship God, hear what I have to say. The\V{17} God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, and during their stay in Egypt increased the prosperity of the people, and then with uplifted arm brought them out from that land. For\V{18} about forty years he bore with them in the desert; then,\V{19} after destroying seven heathen nations in Canaan, he allotted their land to this people – For\V{20} about four hundred and fifty years. In later times he gave them Judges, of whom the prophet Samuel was the last. And,\V{21} when they demanded a king, God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. After\V{22} removing him, he raised David to the throne, and bore this testimony to him – ‘In David, the son of Jesse, I have found a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my purposes.’ It\V{23} was from this man’s descendants that God, in accordance with his promise, gave Israel a Savior – Jesus; John\V{24} having first proclaimed, before the appearance of Jesus, a baptism on repentance for all the people of Israel. As\V{25} John was drawing towards the end of his career, he said ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not the Christ. But there is “one coming” after me, whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.’ Brothers\V{26} and sisters, descendants of Abraham, and all those among you who worship God, it was to us that the message of this salvation was sent. The\V{27} people of Jerusalem and their leaders, failing to recognize Jesus, and not understanding the utterances of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. They\V{28} found no ground at all for putting him to death, and yet demanded his execution from Pilate; and,\V{29} after carrying out everything written about him, they took Jesus down from the cross, and laid him in a tomb. But\V{30} God raised him from the dead; and\V{31} he appeared for many days to those who had gone up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and who are now witnesses for him to the people. We\V{32} also have good news to tell you, about the promise made to our ancestors – That\V{33} our children have had this promise completely fulfilled to them by God, by his raising Jesus. That is just what is said in the second Psalm –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You are my Son; this day I have become your Father.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  As\V{34} to his raising Jesus from the dead, never again to return to corruption, this is what is said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘I will give to you the sacred promises made to David;’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And,\V{35} therefore, in another Psalm it is said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You will not give up the Holy One to undergo corruption.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  David,\V{36} after obediently doing God’s will in his own time, fell asleep and was laid by the side of his ancestors, and did undergo corruption; but\V{37} Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, did not undergo corruption. I\V{38} would, therefore, like you to know, friends, that through Jesus forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you, and\V{39} that, in union with him, everyone who believes in him is absolved from every sin from which under the Law of Moses you could not be absolved. Beware,\V{40} therefore, that what is said in the prophets does not come true of you –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘Look,\V{41} you despisers, and wonder, and perish;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{for I am doing a deed in your days –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{a deed which, though told you in full, you will never believe’.”\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  As\V{42} Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people begged for a repetition of this teaching on the next Sabbath. After\V{43} the congregation had dispersed, many of the Jews, and of the converts who joined in their worship, followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue to rely on the loving kindness of God.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  On\V{44} the following Sabbath, almost all the city gathered to hear God’s message. But\V{45} the sight of the crowds of people filled the minds of the Jews with jealousy, and they kept contradicting Paul’s statements in violent language. Then\V{46} Paul and Barnabas spoke out fearlessly, and said:
\par 
\indentation “It was necessary that the message of God should be told to you first; but, since you reject it and reckon yourselves not worthy of the eternal life – we turn to the Gentiles! For\V{47} this is the Lord’s command to us –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘I have destined you for a light to the Gentiles,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{a means of salvation to the ends of the earth’.”}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  On\V{48} hearing this, the Gentiles were glad and extolled God’s message; and all those who had been enrolled for eternal life became believers in Christ; and\V{49} the Lord’s message was carried throughout that district. But\V{50} the Jews incited the women of high social standing who worshiped with them, and the leading men of the town, and started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region. They,\V{51} however, shook the dust off their feet in protest, and\V{52} went to Iconium, leaving the disciples full of joy and of the Holy Spirit. \stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  The\C{14} same thing occurred in Iconium, where Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed in Christ. But\V{2} the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles, and poisoned their minds against the Lord’s followers. Therefore\V{3} Paul and Barnabas spent a long time there, and spoke out fearlessly, relying on the Lord, who confirmed the message of his love by permitting signs and wonders to take place at their hands. But\V{4} the townspeople were divided, some siding with the Jews, some with the apostles; and,\V{5} when there was an attempt on the part of both Gentiles and Jews, with their leaders, to resort to violence and to stone them, the\V{6} apostles heard of it, and took refuge in Lystra and Derbe, towns in Lycaonia, and in the district around, and\V{7} there they continued to tell the good news.
\par 
\indentation  In\V{8} the streets of Lystra there used to sit a man who had no power in his feet; he had been lame from his birth, and had never walked. This\V{9} man was listening to Paul speaking, when Paul, looking intently at him, and seeing that he had the faith to be healed, said\V{10} loudly, “Stand upright on your feet.”
\par 
The man leaped up, and began walking about, and\V{11} the crowd, seeing what Paul had done, called out in the Lycaonian language, “The Gods have come down to us in human form.” So\V{12} they called Barnabas ‘Zeus,’ and Paul ‘Hermes,’ because he took the lead in speaking; and\V{13} the priest of Zeus-beyond-the-Walls, accompanied by the crowd, brought bullocks and garlands to the gates, with the intention of offering sacrifices. But,\V{14} when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd.
\par 
“Friends, why are you doing this?” they shouted. “We\V{15} are only people like yourselves, and we have come with the good news that you should turn away from these follies to a living God, who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them. In\V{16} bygone times he permitted all the nations to go their own ways. Yet\V{17} he has not failed to give you, in the good he does, some revelation of himself – sending you from heaven rain and fruitful seasons, and gladdening your hearts with plenty and good cheer.” Even\V{18} with this appeal they could hardly restrain the people from offering sacrifice to them.
\par 
 Presently,\V{19} however, there came some Jews from Antioch, and Iconium who, after they had won over the people, stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the town, thinking him to be dead. But,\V{20} when the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town; the next day he went with Barnabas to Derbe. After\V{21} telling the good news throughout that town, and making a number of converts, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, reassuring\V{22} the minds of the disciples, urging them to remain true to the faith, and showing that it is only through many troubles that we can enter the kingdom of God. They\V{23} also appointed elders for them in every church, and, after prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had learned to believe. Paul\V{24} and Barnabas then went through Pisidia, and came into Pamphylia, and,\V{25} after telling the message at Perga, went down to Attaleia. From\V{26} there they sailed to Antioch – the place where they had been committed to the gracious care of God for the work which they had now finished. After\V{27} their arrival, they gathered the church together, and gave an account of all that God had helped them to do, and especially how he had opened to the Gentiles the door of faith; and\V{28} at Antioch they stayed with the disciples for a considerable time. \blank 

\par 
 But\C{15} certain persons came down from Judea, and began to teach the Lord’s followers that, unless they were circumcised, in accordance with the custom required by Moses, they could not be saved. This\V{2} gave rise to a serious dispute, and much discussion, between Paul and Barnabas and these people, and it was therefore settled that Paul and Barnabas and others of their number should go up to Jerusalem, to consult the apostles and church elders about the matter under discussion.
\par 
 The\V{3} church, therefore, sent them on their journey, and they made their way through Phoenicia and Samaria, telling the story of the conversion of the Gentiles, to the great joy of all the followers. On\V{4} their arrival at Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, as well as by the apostles and the elders, and gave an account of all that God had helped them to do. Some\V{5} of the Pharisees’ party, however, who had become believers in Christ, came forward and declared that they were bound to circumcise converts and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses. The\V{6} apostles and the church elders held a meeting to consider this question. After\V{7} much discussion, Peter rose and said:
\par 
“You, my friends, know well that long ago God singled me out – that through my lips the Gentiles should hear the message of the good news, and become believers in Christ. Now\V{8} God, who reads all hearts, declared his acceptance of the Gentiles, by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. He\V{9} made no distinction between them and us, when he purified their hearts by their faith. Why,\V{10} then, do you now provoke God, by putting on the necks of these disciples a yoke which neither our ancestors nor we were able to bear? No,\V{11} it is through the loving kindness of the Lord Jesus that we, just as they do, believe that we have been saved.”
\par 
 Every\V{12} voice in the assembly was hushed, as they listened to Barnabas and Paul, while they gave an account of all the signs and wonders which God had shown among the Gentiles through them. After\V{13} they had finished speaking, James addressed the Council.
\par 
“Friends,” he began, “hear what I have to say. Simon\V{14} has described the manner in which God first visited the Gentiles, in order to take from among them a people to bear his name. And\V{15} that is in harmony with the words of the prophets, where they say –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘After\V{16} this I will return;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And I will rebuild the house of David which has fallen –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Its ruins I will rebuild,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And will set it up once more;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ That\V{17} so the rest of mankind may earnestly seek the Lord –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Even all the Gentiles on whom my name has been bestowed.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ Says\V{18} the Lord, as he does these things, known from long ago.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  In\V{19} my judgment, therefore, we should not add to the difficulties of those Gentiles who are turning to God, but\V{20} we should write to them to abstain from food that has been polluted by being sacrificed to idols, from impurity, from eating the flesh of strangled animals, and from blood. For\V{21} in every town, for generations past, there have been those who preach Moses, read as he is in the synagogues every Sabbath.”\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  It\V{22} was then decided by the apostles and the elders, with the assent of the whole church, to choose some of their number, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. Those chosen were Judas (called Barsabas) and Silas, who were leaders among the community. They\V{23} were bearers of the following letter –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The apostles, and the followers who are the church elders, send their greetings to the followers of the Lord of Gentile birth in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. As\V{24} we had heard that some of our number had upset you by their assertions, and unsettled your minds – without instructions from us – We\V{25} met and decided to choose certain men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul, who\V{26} have risked their lives for the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We\V{27} are accordingly sending Judas and Silas, and they will tell you by word of mouth what we are now writing. We\V{28} have, therefore, decided, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to lay no further burden on you beyond these necessary conditions – That\V{29} you abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from eating the flesh of strangled animals, and from impurity. If you guard yourselves against such things, it will be well with you. Farewell.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  So\V{30} the bearers of this letter were sent on their way, and went down to Antioch. There they called a meeting of all the followers, and\V{31} delivered the letter, the reading of which caused great rejoicing by its encouraging contents. Judas\V{32} and Silas, who were themselves prophets, further encouraged the them by many an address, and strengthened their faith. After\V{33} some stay, they were dismissed with kind farewells from the followers, and returned to those who had sent them. \footnote{\V{34}  15:34    Some later manuscripts add: But Silas decided to stay.} \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Paul\V{35} and Barnabas, however, remained in Antioch, where they taught and, with the help of many others, told the good news of the Lord’s message. Some\V{36} time after this, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the Lord’s followers in every town in which we have told the Lord’s message, and see how they are prospering.” Barnabas\V{37} wished to take with them John, whose other name was Mark; but\V{38} Paul felt that they ought not to take with them the man who had deserted them in Pamphylia, and had not gone on with them to their work. This\V{39} caused such unpleasant feeling between them that they parted ways, Barnabas taking Mark and sailing for Cyprus, while\V{40} Paul chose Silas for his companion and, after he had been committed by the followers to the gracious care of the Lord, started\V{41} on his journey and went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches in the faith. 
\par 
\indentation  Among\C{16} other places Paul went to Derbe and Lystra. At the latter place they found a disciple, named Timothy, whose mother was a Jewish woman who was a believer, while his father was a Greek, and\V{2} who was well spoken of by the followers of the Lord in Lystra and Iconium. Wishing\V{3} to take this man with him on his journey, Paul caused him to be circumcised out of consideration for the Jews in that region, for they all knew that his father had been a Greek. As\V{4} they traveled from town to town, they gave the followers the decisions which had been reached by the apostles and church elders at Jerusalem, for them to observe.
\par 
 So\V{5} the churches grew stronger in the faith, and increased in numbers from day to day.
\par 
 They\V{6} next went through the Phrygian district of Galatia, but were restrained by the Holy Spirit from delivering the message in Roman Asia. When\V{7} they reached the borders of Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. Passing\V{8} through Mysia, they went down to Troas; and\V{9} there one night Paul saw a vision. A Macedonian was standing and appealing to him – ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ So,\V{10} immediately after Paul had seen the vision, we looked for an opportunity to cross over to Macedonia, concluding that God had summoned us to tell the good news to the people there.\blank 

\par 
 Accordingly\V{11} we set sail from Troas, and ran before the wind to Samothrace, reaching Neapolis the next day. From\V{12} there we made our way to Philippi, which is the principal city of that part of Macedonia, and also a Roman Settlement.
\par 
In that city we spent several days. On\V{13} the Sabbath we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and talked to the women who were gathered there. Among\V{14} them was a woman, named Lydia, belonging to Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth, who was accustomed to join in the worship of God. The Lord touched this woman’s heart, so that she gave attention to the message delivered by Paul, and,\V{15} when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us to become her guests.
\par 
“Since you have shown your conviction,” she said, “that I really am a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house.” And she insisted on our doing so.
\par 
 One\V{16} day, as we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a girl possessed by a divining spirit, who made large profits for her masters by fortune-telling. This\V{17} girl followed Paul and the rest of us, calling, “These men are servants of the most high God, and they are bringing you news of a way to salvation.” She\V{18} had been doing this for several days, when Paul, much vexed, turned and said to the spirit within her, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to leave her.” That very moment the spirit left her.
\par 
 When\V{19} her masters saw that there was no hope of further profit from her, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them into the public square to the authorities, and\V{20} took them before the Magistrates.
\par 
“These men are causing a great disturbance in our town,” they complained; “They\V{21} are Jews, and they are teaching customs which it is not right for us, as Romans, to sanction or adopt.”
\par 
 The\V{22} mob rose as one person against them, and the Magistrates stripped them of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After\V{23} beating them severely, the Magistrates put them in prison, with orders to the jailer to keep them in safe custody. On\V{24} receiving so strict an order, the Governor put them into the inner cell, and secured their feet in the stocks. About\V{25} midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and while the prisoners were listening to them, suddenly\V{26} there was an earthquake of such violence that the jail was shaken to its foundations; all the doors flew open, and all the prisoners’ chains were loosened. Roused\V{27} from his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, the Governor drew his sword intending to kill himself, in the belief that the prisoners had escaped. But\V{28} Paul called our loudly, “Do not harm yourself; we are all here.”
\par 
 Calling\V{29} for a light, the Governor rushed in, and flung himself trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. Then\V{30} he led them out, and said, “What must I do to be saved?”
\par 
 “Believe\V{31} in Jesus, our Lord,” they replied, “and you will be saved, you and your household too.” Then\V{32} they spoke to him of God’s message, and to all his household as well. And\V{33} that very hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds, and he himself and everyone belonging to him were baptized without delay. Afterward\V{34} he took them up to his house and set before them something to eat, rejoicing that he, with all his household, had come to believe in God.
\par 
 In\V{35} the morning the Magistrates sent the police with an order for the men to be discharged. The\V{36} jailer told Paul of his instructions. “The Magistrates have sent an order for your discharge,” he said, “so you had better leave the place at once and go quietly away.”
\par 
 But\V{37} Paul’s answer to them was, “They have flogged us in public without trial, though we are Roman citizens, and they have put us in prison, and now they are for sending us out secretly! No, indeed! Let them come and take us out themselves.” The\V{38} police reported his words to the Magistrates, who, on hearing that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, were alarmed, and\V{39} went to the prison, and did their best to conciliate them. Then they took them out, and begged them to leave the city. When\V{40} Paul and Silas left the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, and, after they had seen the Lord’s followers, and encouraged them, they left the place. \blank 

\par 
 After\C{17} passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica. Here the Jews had a synagogue; and,\V{2} following his usual custom, Paul joined them, and for three Sabbaths addressed them, drawing his arguments from the scriptures. He\V{3} laid before them and explained that the Christ must undergo suffering and rise from the dead; and “It is this man,” he declared, “who is the Christ – this Jesus about whom I am telling you.”
\par 
 Some\V{4} of the people were convinced, and threw in their lot with Paul and Silas, as did also a large body of Greeks who were accustomed to join in the Jewish services, and a great number of leading women. But\V{5} the Jewish leaders, becoming jealous, engaged some worthless fellows from the streets, and, getting a mob together, kept the city in an uproar. They attacked Jason’s house, with the intention of bringing Paul and Silas before the Popular Assembly; and,\V{6} not finding them there, they proceeded to drag Jason and some of the Lord’s followers before the city magistrates, shouting out,
\par 
“These men, who have turned the world upside down, have now come here, and\V{7} have been harbored by Jason! They are all defying the decrees of the Emperor. They say that someone else is king – a man called Jesus!”
\par 
 On\V{8} hearing this, the people and the city magistrates were much concerned; and,\V{9} before letting them go, they took bail from Jason and the others. That\V{10} very night the followers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and on reaching that place, they went to the Jewish synagogue. These\V{11} Jews of Beroea were better disposed than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message with great readiness, and daily examined the scriptures to see if what was said was true. As\V{12} a consequence, many of them became believers in Christ, besides a considerable number of Greek women of position, and of men also. But,\V{13} when the Jewish leaders in Thessalonica found out that God’s message had been delivered by Paul at Beroea, they came there too, exciting and disturbing the minds of the people. The\V{14} followers immediately arranged for Paul to go away to the coast, but both Silas and Timothy stayed behind in Beroea. The\V{15} friends who escorted Paul took him as far as Athens, and, after receiving a message for Silas and Timothy to join him as quickly as possible, they started on their return.\blank 

\par 
 While\V{16} Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his heart was stirred at seeing the whole city full of idols. So\V{17} he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who joined in their worship, as well as daily in the public Square with those who happened to be there. Among\V{18} others, some Epicurean and Stoic Philosophers joined issue with him. Some asked “What is this prater wanting to make out?”, while others said “He seems to be a preacher of foreign Deities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection). So\V{19} they laid hold of him and took him to the Court of Areopagus.
\par 
“May we hear,” they asked, “what new teaching this is which you are giving? For\V{20} you are bringing some strange things to our notice, and we should like to know what they mean.” (All\V{21} Athenians and the foreigners staying in the city found no time for anything else but telling, or listening to, the last new thing.)
\par 
 So\V{22} Paul took his stand in the middle of the Court, and said – “People of Athens, on every hand I see signs of your being very devout. For\V{23} as I was going about, looking at your sacred shrines, I came upon an altar with this inscription – ‘To an Unknown God.’ What, therefore, you worship in ignorance, that I am now proclaiming to you. The\V{24} God who made the world and all things that are in it – he, Lord as he is of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands, neither\V{25} do human hands minister to his wants, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives, to all, life, and breath, and all things. He\V{26} made all races of the earth’s surface – fixing a time for their rise and fall, and the limits of their settlements – That\V{27} they might search for God, if by any means they might feel their way to him and find him. And yet he is not really far from any one of us; for\V{28} in him we live and move and are. To use the words of some of your own poets –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘His offspring, too, are we.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Therefore,\V{29} as the offspring of God, we must not think that the Deity has any resemblance to anything made of gold, or silver, or stone – a work of human art and imagination. True,\V{30} God looked with indulgence on the days of people’s ignorance, but now he is announcing to everyone everywhere the need for repentance, because\V{31} he has fixed a day on which he intends to judge the world with justice, by a man whom he has appointed – and of this he has given all people a pledge by raising this man from the dead.”\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  On\V{32} hearing of a resurrection of the dead, some began jeering, but others said that they wanted to hear what he had to say about that another time. And\V{33} so Paul left the Court. There\V{34} were, however, some people who joined him, and became believers in Christ. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Court of Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and several others. 
\par 
\indentation  On\C{18} leaving Athens, Paul next went to Corinth. There\V{2} he met a Jew of the name of Aquila, from Pontus, who, with his wife Priscilla, had lately come from Italy, in consequence of the order which had been issued by the Emperor Claudius for all Jews to leave Rome. Paul paid them a visit, and,\V{3} since their trade was the same as his, he stayed and worked with them – their trade was tent-making. Every\V{4} Sabbath Paul gave addresses in the synagogue, trying to convince both Jews and Greeks.
\par 
 But,\V{5} when Silas and Timothy had come down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to delivering the message, earnestly maintaining before the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. However,\V{6} as they set themselves against him and became abusive, Paul shook his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads. My conscience is clear. From this time forward I will go to the Gentiles.”
\par 
 So\V{7} he left, and went to the house of a certain Titius Justus, who had been accustomed to join in the worship of God, and whose house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus,\V{8} the synagogue leader, came to believe in the Lord, and so did all his household; and many of the Corinthians, as they listened to Paul, became believers in Christ and were baptized. One\V{9} night the Lord said to Paul, in a vision,  “Have no fear, but continue to speak, and refuse to be silenced;   for\V{10} I am with you, and no one will do you harm, for I have many people in this city.”  So\V{11} he settled there for a year and a half, and taught God’s message among the people.
\par 
 While\V{12} Gallio was governor of Greece, some of the Jewish leaders made a combined attack on Paul, and brought him before the Governor’s Bench, charging\V{13} him with persuading people to worship God in a way forbidden by the Law. Just\V{14} as Paul was on the point of speaking, Gallio said to them, “If this were a case of misdemeanor or some serious crime, there would be some reason for my listening patiently to you; but,\V{15} since it is a dispute about words, and names, and your own Law, you must see to it yourselves. I do not choose to be a judge in such matters.”
\par 
 Saying\V{16} this, he drove them back from the Bench. Then\V{17} they all set on Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and beat him in front of the Bench, but Gallio did not trouble himself about any of these things.
\par 
 Paul\V{18} remained there some time after this, and then took leave of the followers, and sailed to Syria with Priscilla and Aquila, but not before his head had been shaved at Cenchreae, because he was under a vow. They\V{19} put into Ephesus, and there Paul, leaving his companions, went into the synagogue and addressed the Jews. When\V{20} they asked him to prolong his stay, he declined, saying however, as\V{21} he took his leave, “I will come back again to you, please God,” and then set sail from Ephesus. On\V{22} reaching Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and exchanged greetings with the church, and then went down to Antioch. After\V{23} making some stay in Antioch, he set out on a tour through the Phrygian district of Galatia, strengthening the faith of all the disciples as he went.\blank 

\par 
 Meanwhile\V{24} there had come to Ephesus an Alexandrian Jew, named Apollos, an eloquent man, who was well-versed in the scriptures. He\V{25} had been well-instructed in the Way of the Lord, and with burning zeal he spoke of, and taught carefully, the facts about Jesus, though he knew of no baptism but John’s. This\V{26} man began to speak out fearlessly in the synagogue; and when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained the Way of God to him more carefully still. When\V{27} he wanted to cross to Greece, the followers furthered his plans, and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival he proved of great assistance to those who had, through the loving kindness of God, become believers in Christ, for\V{28} he vigorously confuted the Jews, publicly proving by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. 
\par 
 While\C{19} Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland districts of Roman Asia, and went to Ephesus. There he found some disciples, of whom he asked, “Did\V{2} you, when you became believers in Christ, receive the Holy Spirit?”
\par 
“No,” they answered, “we did not even hear that there was a Holy Spirit.”
\par 
 “What\V{3} then was your baptism?” Paul asked. “John’s\V{4} baptism was a baptism on repentance,” rejoined Paul, “and John told the people (speaking of the ‘one coming’ after him) that they should believe in him – that is in Jesus.”
\par 
 On\V{5} hearing this, they were baptized into the faith of the Lord Jesus, and,\V{6} after Paul had placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit descended on them, and they began to speak in other languages and to preach. There\V{7} were about twelve of them in all.
\par 
 Paul\V{8} went to the synagogue there, and for three months spoke out fearlessly, giving addresses and trying to convince his hearers, about the kingdom of God. Some\V{9} of them, however, hardened their hearts and refused to believe, denouncing the Way before the people. So Paul left them and withdrew his disciples, and gave daily addresses in the lecture-hall of Tyrannus. This\V{10} went on for two years, so that all who lived in Roman Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the Lord’s message.
\par 
 God\V{11} did miracles of no ordinary kind by Paul’s hands; so\V{12} that people would carry home to the sick handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his body, and their diseases would leave them and the wicked spirits go out of them. An\V{13} attempt was made by some itinerant Jews, who were exorcists, to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had wicked spirits in them.
\par 
“I order you,” they would say, “by the Jesus, whom Paul preaches.” The\V{14} seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this; but\V{15} the wicked spirit answered them, “Jesus I acknowledge, and Paul I know, but you – who are you?”
\par 
 Then\V{16} the man, in whom this wicked spirit was, sprang on them, mastered both of them, and so completely overpowered them, that they fled out of the house, stripped of their clothes, and wounded. This\V{17} incident came to the knowledge of all the Jews and Greeks living at Ephesus; they were all awe-struck, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in the highest honor. Many,\V{18} too, of those who had become believers in Christ came with a full confession of their practices; while\V{19} a number of people, who had practiced magic, collected their books and burnt them publicly; and on reckoning up the price of these, they found it amounted to fifty thousand silver coins. So\V{20} irresistibly did the Lord’s message spread and prevail.\blank 

\par 
 Sometime\V{21} after these events Paul resolved to go through Macedonia and Greece, and then make his way to Jerusalem. “And after I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” So\V{22} he sent to Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, while he himself stayed for some time longer in Roman Asia.
\par 
 Just\V{23} about that time a great disturbance arose about the Way. A\V{24} silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver models of the shrine of Artemis, and so gave a great deal of work to the artisans, got\V{25} these men together, as well as the workmen engaged in similar occupations, and said:
\par 
“Men, you know that our prosperity depends on this work, and\V{26} you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but in almost the whole of Roman Asia, this Paul has convinced and won over great numbers of people, by his assertion that those Gods which are made by hands are not Gods at all. So\V{27} that not only is this business of ours likely to fall into discredit, but there is the further danger that the Temple of the great Goddess Artemis will be thought nothing of, and that she herself will be deprived of her splendor – though all Roman Asia and the whole world worship her.”
\par 
 When\V{28} they heard this, the men were greatly enraged, and began shouting – “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” The\V{29} commotion spread through the whole city, and the people rushed together into the amphitheater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions. Paul\V{30} wished to go into the amphitheater and face the people, but the disciples would not let him, while\V{31} some of the chief religious officials of the province, who were friendly to him, sent repeated entreaties to him not to trust himself inside. Meanwhile\V{32} some were shouting one thing and some another, for the Assembly was all in confusion, most of those present not even knowing why they had met. But\V{33} some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom several of the Jewish leaders had pushed to the front, and he waved his hand to show that he wanted to speak in their defense to the people. However,\V{34} when they recognized him as a Jew, one cry broke from them all, and they continued shouting for two hours – “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
\par 
 When\V{35} the Recorder had succeeded in quieting the crowd, he said, “People of Ephesus, who is there, I ask you, who needs to be told that this city of Ephesus is the Warden of the Temple of the great Artemis, and of the statue which fell down from Zeus? As\V{36} these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and do nothing rash; for\V{37} you have brought these men here, though they are neither robbers of Temples nor blasphemers of our Goddess. If,\V{38} however, Demetrius and the artisans who are acting with him have a charge to make against anyone, there are court days and there are Magistrates; let both parties take legal proceedings. But\V{39} if you want anything more, it will have to be settled in the regular Assembly. For\V{40} I tell you that we are in danger of being proceeded against for today’s riot, there being nothing to account for it; and in that case we will be at a loss to give any reason for this disorderly gathering.”
\par 
 With\V{41} these words he dismissed the Assembly. \blank 

\par 
 When\C{20} the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and, with encouraging words, bade them goodbye, and started on his journey to Macedonia. After\V{2} going through those districts and speaking many encouraging words to the disciples, he went into Greece, where he stayed three months. He\V{3} was about to sail to Syria, when he learned that a plot had been laid against him by several of the Jewish leaders; so he decided to return by way of Macedonia. He\V{4} was accompanied by Sopater the son of Pyrrhus, of Beroea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, as well as by Tychicus and Trophimus of Roman Asia. These\V{5} people went to Troas and waited for us there; while\V{6} we ourselves sailed from Philippi after the Passover, and joined them five days later at Troas, where we stayed for a week.
\par 
 On\V{7} the first day of the week, when we had met for the breaking of bread, Paul, who was intending to leave the next day, began to address those who were present, and prolonged his address until midnight. There\V{8} were a good many lamps in the upstairs room, where we had met; and\V{9} a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, was gradually overcome with great drowsiness, as Paul continued his address. At last, quite overpowered by his drowsiness, he fell from the third story to the ground, and was picked up for dead. But\V{10} Paul went down, threw himself on him, and put his arms around him.
\par 
“Do not be alarmed,” he said, “he is still alive.” Then\V{11} he went upstairs; and, after breaking and partaking of the bread, he talked with them at great length until daybreak, and then left. Meanwhile\V{12} they had taken the lad away alive, and were greatly comforted.
\par 
 We\V{13} started first, went on board ship, and sailed for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there. This was by his own arrangement, as he intended to go by land himself. So,\V{14} when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went on to Mitylene. The\V{15} day after we had sailed from there, we arrived off Chios, touched at Samos the following day, and the next day reached Miletus; for\V{16} Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so as to avoid spending much time in Roman Asia. He was making haste to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the Festival at the close of the Harvest.\blank 

\par 
 From\V{17} Miletus, however, he sent to Ephesus and invited the church elders to meet him; and,\V{18} when they came, he said to them, “You know well the life that I always led among you from the very first day that I set foot in Roman Asia, serving\V{19} the Lord, as I did, in all humility, amid the tears and trials which fell to my lot through the plots of some of the Jewish leaders. I\V{20} never shrank from telling you anything that could be helpful to you, or from teaching you both in public and in private. I\V{21} earnestly pointed both Jews and Greeks to the repentance that leads to God, and to faith in Jesus, our Lord. And\V{22} now, under spiritual constraint, I am here on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except\V{23} that in town after town the Holy Spirit plainly declares to me that imprisonment and troubles await me. But\V{24} I count my life of no value to myself, if only I may complete the course marked out for me, and the task that was allotted me by the Lord Jesus – which was to declare the good news of the love of God. And\V{25} now, I tell you, I know that none of you will ever see my face again – you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom. Therefore\V{26} I declare to you this day, that my conscience is clear in regard to the fate of any of you, for\V{27} I have not shrunk from announcing the whole purpose of God regarding you. Be\V{28} watchful over yourselves, and over the whole flock, of which the Holy Spirit has placed you in charge, to shepherd the church of God, which he won for himself at the cost of his life. I\V{29} know that, after my departure, merciless wolves will get in among you, who will not spare the flock; and\V{30} from among yourselves, too, people will arise, who will teach perversions of truth, so as to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore,\V{31} be on your guard, remembering how for three years, night and day, I never ceased, even with tears, to warn each one of you. And\V{32} now I commend you to the Lord and to the message of his love – a message which has the power to build up your characters, and to give you your place among all those who have become Christ’s people. I\V{33} have never coveted anyone’s gold or silver or clothing. You,\V{34} yourselves, know that these hands of mine provided not only for my own wants, but for my companions also. I\V{35} left nothing undone to show you that, laboring as I labored, you ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said himself –  ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”  When\V{36} Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down and prayed with them all. All\V{37} were in tears; and throwing their arms around Paul’s neck, they kissed him again and again, grieving\V{38} most of all over what he had said – that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship. \blank 

\par 
 When\C{21} we had torn ourselves away and had set sail, we ran before the wind to Cos; the next day we came to Rhodes, and from there to Patara, where\V{2} we found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, and went on board and set sail. After\V{3} sighting Cyprus and leaving it on the left, we sailed to Syria, and put into Tyre, where the ship was to discharge her cargo. There\V{4} we found the disciples and stayed a week with them. Speaking under the influence of the Spirit, they warned Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem. However,\V{5} when we had come to the end of our visit, we went on our way, all the disciples with their wives and children escorting us out of the city. We knelt down on the beach, and prayed, and\V{6} then said goodbye to one another; after which we went on board, and they returned home.
\par 
 After\V{7} we had made the run from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, and exchanged greetings with the followers there, and spent a day with them. The\V{8} next day we left, and reached Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip, the missionary, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him. He\V{9} had four unmarried daughters, who had the gift of prophecy. During\V{10} our visit, which lasted several days, a prophet, named Agabus, came down from Judea. He\V{11} came to see us, and, taking Paul’s belt, and binding his own feet and hands with it, said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says – ‘The man to whom this belt belongs will be bound like this by the religious authorities in Jerusalem, and they will give him up to the Gentiles’.” When\V{12} we heard that, we and the people of the place began to entreat Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
\par 
 It\V{13} was then that Paul made the reply, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart like this? For my part, I am ready not only to be bound, but even to suffer death at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” So,\V{14} as he would not be persuaded, we said no more to him, only adding – “The Lord’s will be done.”\blank 

\par 
 At\V{15} the end of our visit, we made our preparations, and started on our way up to Jerusalem. Some\V{16} of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, and brought Mnason with them, a Cypriot disciple of long standing, with whom we were to stay. On\V{17} our arrival at Jerusalem, the followers of the Lord there gave us a hearty welcome; and\V{18} the next day Paul went with us to see James, and all the church elders were present. After\V{19} greeting them, Paul related in detail all that God had done among the Gentiles through his efforts; and,\V{20} when they had heard it, they began praising God, and said to Paul:
\par 
“You see, brother, that those of our people who have become believers in Christ may be numbered by tens of thousands, and they are all naturally earnest in upholding the Jewish Law. Now\V{21} they have heard it said about you, that you teach all of our people in foreign countries to forsake Moses, for you tell them not to circumcise their children or even to observe Jewish customs. Well\V{22} now, as they are certain to hear of your arrival, do what we are going to suggest. We\V{23} have four men here, who have of their own accord put themselves under a vow. Join\V{24} these men, share their purification, and bear their expenses, so that they may shave their heads; and then all will see that there is no truth in what they have been told about you, but that, on the contrary, you yourself rule your life in obedience to the Jewish Law. As\V{25} to the Gentiles who have become believers in Christ, we have sent our decision that they should avoid food offered to idols, and blood, and the flesh of strangled animals, and impurity.”
\par 
 Paul\V{26} joined the men, and the next day shared their purification, and went into the Temple, and gave notice of the expiration of the period of purification when the usual offering should have been made on behalf of each of them.\blank 

\par 
 But,\V{27} just as the seven days were drawing to a close, some of the Jewish people from Roman Asia caught sight of Paul in the Temple, and caused great excitement among all the people present, by seizing Paul and shouting, “People\V{28} of Israel! Help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our Law, and this place; and, what is more, he has actually brought Greeks into the Temple and defiled this sacred place.” (For\V{29} they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in Paul’s company in the city, and were under the belief that Paul had taken him into the Temple.)
\par 
 The\V{30} whole city was stirred, and the people quickly collected, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the Temple, when the doors were immediately shut. They\V{31} were bent on killing him, when it was reported to the officer commanding the garrison, that all Jerusalem was in commotion. He\V{32} instantly got together some officers and soldiers, and charged down on the crowd, who, when they saw the commanding officer and his soldiers, stopped beating Paul. Then\V{33} he went up to Paul, arrested him, ordered him to be doubly chained, and proceeded to inquire who he was, and what he had been doing. Some\V{34} of the crowd said one thing, and some another; and, as he could get no definite reply because of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. When\V{35} Paul reached the steps, he was actually being carried by the soldiers, owing to the violence of the mob; for\V{36} the people were following in a mass, shouting out, “Kill him!”
\par 
 Just\V{37} as he was about to be taken into the Fort, Paul said to the commanding officer, “May I speak to you?”
\par 
“Do you know Greek?” asked the commanding officer. “Aren’t\V{38} you, then, the Egyptian who some time ago raised an insurrection and led the four thousand Bandits out into the wilderness?”
\par 
 “No,”\V{39} said Paul, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of a city of some note. I beg you to give me permission to speak to the people.”
\par 
 The\V{40} commanding officer gave his permission, and Paul, standing on the steps, made signs with his hand to the people, and, when comparative silence had been obtained, he said to them in Hebrew:  “Brothers\C{22} and fathers, listen to the defense which I am about to make.” When\V{2} they heard that he was speaking to them in Hebrew, they were still more quiet; and Paul went on:
\par 
 “I\V{3} am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, but I was brought up in this city under the teaching of Gamaliel, and educated in accordance with the strict system of our ancestral Law. I was as zealous in God’s service as any of you who are here today. In\V{4} my persecution of this Way I did not stop even at the taking of life. I put in chains, and imprisoned, men and women alike – And\V{5} to that the high priest himself and all the council of elders can testify. For I had letters of introduction from them to our fellow Jews at Damascus, and I was on my way to that place, to bring those whom I might find there prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment. While\V{6} I was still on my way, just as I was getting close to Damascus, about midday, suddenly there flashed from the heavens a great light all around me. I\V{7} fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me  ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’  ‘Who\V{8} are you, Lord?’ I replied. Then the voice said  ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.’  The\V{9} men with me saw the light, but did not hear the speaker’s voice. Then\V{10} I said ‘What am I to do, Lord?’  ‘Get up and go into Damascus,’  The Lord said to me,  ‘and there you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’  In\V{11} consequence of that dazzling light I could not see, but my companions held me by the hand, until I reached Damascus. There\V{12} a man named Ananias, a strict observer of our Law, well spoken of by all the Jewish inhabitants, came to see me. Standing\V{13} close to me, he said ‘Saul, my brother, recover your sight.’ And then and there I recovered my sight and looked up at him. Then\V{14} he said ‘The God of our ancestors has appointed you to learn his will, and to see the righteous one, and to hear words from his lips; for\V{15} you will be a witness for him to all the world of what you have just seen and heard. And\V{16} now why wait any longer, Be baptized at once, wash away your sins, and invoke his name.’ After\V{17} my return to Jerusalem, while I was praying one day in the Temple, I fell into a trance, and\V{18} saw Jesus saying to me  ‘Make haste and leave Jerusalem at once, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’  ‘Lord,’\V{19} I answered, ‘these people know that I used to imprison and scourge, in synagogue after synagogue, those who believed in you; and,\V{20} when the blood of your martyr, Stephen, was being shed, I was myself standing by, approving of his death, and took charge of the clothes of those who were murdering him.’ But\V{21} Jesus said to me  ‘Go; for I will send you to the Gentiles far away’.” 
\par 
 Up\V{22} to this point the people had been listening to Paul, but at these words they called out, “Kill him! A fellow like this ought not to have been allowed to live!” As\V{23} they were shouting, tearing off their clothes, and throwing dust in the air, the\V{24} commanding officer ordered Paul to be taken into the Fort, and directed that he should be examined under the lash so that he might find out the reason for their outcry against him.
\par 
 But\V{25} just as they had tied him up to be scourged, Paul said to the captain standing near, “Is it legal for you to scourge a Roman citizen, unconvicted?” On\V{26} hearing this, the captain went and reported it to the commanding officer. “Do you know what you are doing?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.” So\V{27} the commanding officer went up to Paul and said, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
\par 
“Yes,” replied Paul. “I\V{28} had to pay a heavy price for my position as citizen,” said the officer. “I am one by birth,” rejoined Paul.
\par 
 The\V{29} men who were to have examined Paul immediately drew back, and the officer, finding that Paul was a Roman citizen, was alarmed at having put him in chains.\blank 

\par 
 On\V{30} the next day the commanding officer, wishing to find out the real reason why Paul was denounced by the Jewish leaders, had his chains taken off, and directed the chief priests and the whole of the High Council to assemble, and then took Paul down and brought him before them.  Paul\C{23} fixed his eyes on the Council, and began:
\par 
“Brothers, for my part, I have always ordered my life before God, with a clear conscience, up to this very day.” At\V{2} this, the high priest Ananias ordered the men standing near to strike him on the mouth; Paul\V{3} turned to him and said:
\par 
“God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting there to try me in accordance with law, and yet, in defiance of law, order me to be struck?” The\V{4} people standing near said to Paul, “Do you know that you are insulting God’s high priest?”
\par 
 “I\V{5} did not know, brothers, that it was the high priest,” said Paul, “for scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Of the ruler of your people you should speak no ill’.”}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Noticing\V{6} that some of those present were Sadducees and others Pharisees, Paul called out in the Council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee and a son of Pharisees. It is on the question of hope for the dead and of their resurrection that I am on my trial.”\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  As\V{7} soon as he said this, a dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and there was a sharp division of opinion among those present. (For\V{8} Sadducees say there is no such thing as a resurrection, and that there is neither angel nor spirit, while Pharisees believe in both.) So\V{9} a great uproar ensued, and some of the Teachers of the Law belonging to the Pharisees’ party stood up and hotly protested, “We find nothing whatever wrong in this man. Suppose a spirit did speak to him, or an angel…” The\V{10} dispute was becoming so violent, that the commanding officer, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces between them, ordered the Guard to go down and rescue him from them, and take him into the Fort.
\par 
\indentation  That\V{11} night the Lord came and stood by Paul, and said,  “Courage! You have borne witness for me in Jerusalem and you must bear witness in Rome also.”  In\V{12} the morning some Jewish men combined together, and took an oath that they would not eat or drink until they had killed Paul. There\V{13} were more than forty in the plot; and\V{14} they went to the chief priests and the elders, and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to touch food until we have killed Paul. So\V{15} we want you now, with the consent of the Council, to suggest to the commanding officer that he should bring Paul down before you, as though you intended to go more fully into his case; but, before he comes here, we will be ready to make away with him.”
\par 
 However,\V{16} the son of Paul’s sister, hearing of the plot, went to the Fort, and on being admitted, told Paul about it. Paul\V{17} called one of the Captains of the garrison and asked him to take the lad to the commanding officer, as he had something to tell him. The\V{18} captain went with the lad to the commanding officer, and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this lad to you, as he has something to tell you.”
\par 
 The\V{19} commanding officer took the lad by the hand, and, stepping aside, asked what it was he had to tell him. “Some\V{20} men have agreed,” answered the lad, “to ask you to bring Paul down before the Council tomorrow, on the plea of your making further inquiry into his case. But\V{21} do not let them persuade you, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him, who have taken an oath that they will not eat or drink, until they have made away with him; and they are at this very moment in readiness, counting on your promise.” The\V{22} commanding officer then dismissed the lad, cautioning him not to mention to anybody that he had given him that information. Then\V{23} he called two Captains, and ordered them to have two hundred soldiers ready to go to Caesarea, as well as seventy troopers and two hundred lancers, by nine o’clock that night, and\V{24} to have horses ready for Paul to ride, so that they might take him safely to Felix, the Governor. He\V{25} also wrote a letter along these lines:
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘Claudius\V{26} Lysias sends his compliments to His Excellency Felix the Governor. The\V{27} man whom I send with this had been seized by some Jews, and was on the point of being killed by them, when I came upon them with the force under my command, and rescued him, as I learned that he was a Roman citizen. Wanting\V{28} to know exactly the ground of the charges they made against him, I brought him before their Council, when\V{29} I found that their charges were connected with questions of their own Law, and that there was nothing alleged involving either death or imprisonment. Having,\V{30} however, information of a plot against the man, which was about to be put into execution, I am sending him to you at once, and I have also directed his accusers to prosecute him before you.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  The\V{31} soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took charge of Paul and conducted him by night to Antipatris; and\V{32} on the next day, leaving the troopers to go on with him, they returned to the Fort. On\V{33} arriving at Caesarea, the troopers delivered the letter to the Governor, and brought Paul before him. As\V{34} soon as Felix had read the letter, he enquired to what province Paul belonged, and, learning that he came from Cilicia, he said, “I\V{35} will hear all you have to say as soon as your accusers have arrived.” And he ordered Paul to be kept under guard in Herod’s Government house. \stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Five\C{24} days afterward the high priest Ananias came down with some of the elders and a barrister named Tertullus. They laid an information with the Governor against Paul; and,\V{2} when the hearing came on, Tertullus began his speech for the prosecution. “We\V{3} owe it to your Excellency,” he said, “that we are enjoying profound peace, and we owe it to your foresight that this nation is constantly securing reforms – advantages which we very gratefully accept at all times and places. But\V{4} – not to be tedious – I beg you, with your accustomed fairness, to listen to a brief statement of our case. We\V{5} have found this man a public pest; he is one who stirs up disputes among our people all the world over, and is a ringleader of the Nazarene heretics. He\V{6} even attempted to desecrate the Temple itself, but we caught him; \footnote{\V{7}  24:7    Some later manuscripts add: We wanted to judge him according to our law. But Lysias the commanding officer came and took him out of our hands by force, ordering his accusers to come before you.}  and\V{8} you will be able, by examining him on all these points, to satisfy yourself as to the charges which we are bringing against him.”
\par 
\indentation  The\V{9} Jewish crowd also joined in the attack and bore out his statements. On\V{10} a sign from the Governor, Paul made this reply:
\par 
“Knowing, as I do, for how many years you have acted as judge to this nation, it is with confidence that I undertake my own defense. For\V{11} you can easily verify that it is not more than twelve days ago that I went up to worship at Jerusalem, where\V{12} my prosecutors never found me holding discussions with anyone, or causing a crowd to collect – either in the Temple, or in the synagogues, or about the city; and\V{13} they cannot establish the charges which they are now making against me. This,\V{14} however, I do acknowledge to you, that it is as a believer in the Way which they call heretical, that I worship the God of my ancestors. At the same time, I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the prophets; and\V{15} I have a hope that rests in God – a hope which they also cherish – that there will one day be a resurrection of good and bad alike. This\V{16} being so, I strive at all times to keep my conscience clear before both God and people. After\V{17} some years’ absence I had come to bring charitable gifts to my nation, and to make offerings; and\V{18} it was while engaged in this that they found me in the Temple, after completing a period of purification, but not with any crowd or disorder. There\V{19} were, however, some Jews from Roman Asia who ought to have been here before you, and to have made any charge that they may have against me – Or\V{20} else let my opponents here say what they found wrong in me when I was before the Council, except\V{21} as to the one sentence that I shouted out as I stood among them – ‘It is about the resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial before you today’.”
\par 
 Felix,\V{22} however, adjourned the case – though he had a fairly accurate knowledge of all that concerned the Way – with the promise, “When Lysias, the commanding officer, comes down, I will give my decision in your case.” So\V{23} he gave orders to the captain in charge of Paul to keep him in custody, but to relax the regulations, and not to prevent any of his personal friends from attending to his wants.
\par 
 Some\V{24} days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and, sending for Paul, listened to what he had to say about faith in Christ Jesus. But,\V{25} while Paul was speaking at length about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became terrified, and interrupted him – “Go for the present, but, when I find an opportunity, I will send for you again.” He\V{26} was hoping, too, for a bribe from Paul, and so he used to send for him frequently and talk with him. But,\V{27} after the lapse of two years, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and, wishing to gain popularity with the Jewish leaders, he left Paul a prisoner. \blank 

\par 
 Three\C{25} days after Festus had arrived in his province, he left Caesarea and went up to Jerusalem. There\V{2} the chief priests and the leading men among the Jews laid an information before him against Paul, and\V{3} asked a favor of him, to Paul’s injury – to have Paul brought to Jerusalem. All the while they were plotting to make away with him on the road. But\V{4} Festus answered that Paul was in prison at Caesarea, and that he himself would be leaving for that place shortly.
\par 
 “So\V{5} let the influential men among you,” he said, “go down with me, and if there is anything amiss in the man, charge him formally with it.” After\V{6} staying among them some eight or ten days, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he took his seat on the Bench, and ordered Paul to be brought before him. On\V{7} Paul’s appearance, the Jewish leaders who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him, and made many serious charges, which they failed to establish. Paul’s\V{8} answer to the charge was – ‘I have not committed any offense against the Jewish Law, or the Temple, or the Emperor.’ But,\V{9} as Festus wished to gain popularity with the Jews, he interrupted Paul with the question, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and be tried on these charges before me there?”
\par 
 “No,”\V{10} replied Paul, “I am standing at the Emperor’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not wronged the Jews, as you yourself are well aware. If,\V{11} however, I am breaking the law and have committed any offense deserving death, I do not ask to escape the penalty; but, if there is nothing in the accusations of these people, no one has the power to give me up to them. I appeal to the Emperor.”
\par 
 Festus,\V{12} after conferring with his Council, answered, “You have appealed to the Emperor; to the Emperor you will go.”
\par 
 Some\V{13} days later King Agrippa and Bernice came down to Caesarea, and paid a visit of congratulation to Festus; and,\V{14} as they were staying there for several days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king. “There is a man here,” he said, “left a prisoner by Felix, about\V{15} whom, when I came to Jerusalem, the Jewish chief priest and the elders laid an information, demanding judgment against him. My\V{16} answer to them was, that it was not the practice of Romans to give up anyone to their accusers until the accused had met them face to face, and had also had an opportunity of answering the charges brought against them. So\V{17} they met here, and without loss of time I took my seat on the Bench the very next day, and ordered the man to be brought before me. But,\V{18} when his accusers came forward, they brought no charge of wrong-doing such as I had expected; but\V{19} I found that there were certain questions in dispute between them about their own religion, and about some dead man called Jesus, whom Paul declared to be alive. And,\V{20} as I was at a loss how to enquire into questions of this kind, I asked Paul if he were willing to go up to Jerusalem, and be put on trial there. Paul,\V{21} however, appealed to have his case reserved for the consideration of his August Majesty, so I ordered him to be detained in custody, until I could send him to the Emperor.”
\par 
 “I\V{22} should like to hear this man myself,” Agrippa said to Festus.
\par 
“You will hear him tomorrow,” Festus answered.
\par 
 So\V{23} the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come in full state and had entered the Audience Chamber, with the superior officers and the principal people of the city, by the order of Festus Paul was brought before them. Then\V{24} Festus said, “King Agrippa, and all here present, you see before you the man about whom the whole Jewish people have applied to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly asserting that he ought not to be allowed to live. I\V{25} found, however, that he had not done anything deserving death; so, as he had himself appealed to his August Majesty, I decided to send him. But\V{26} I have nothing definite to write about him to my Imperial Master; and for that reason I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, that, after examining him, I may have something to write. For\V{27} it seems to me absurd to send a prisoner, without at the same time stating the charges made against him.” 
\par 
 Turning\C{26} to Paul, Agrippa said, “You are at liberty to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense. “I\V{2} have been congratulating myself, King Agrippa,” he said, “that it is before you that I have to make my defense today, with regard to all the charges brought against me by my own people, especially\V{3} as you are so well-versed in all the customs and questions of the Jewish world. I beg you therefore to give me a patient hearing. My\V{4} life, then, from youth upwards, was passed, from the very first, among my own nation, and in Jerusalem, and is within the knowledge of all Jews; and\V{5} they have always known – if they choose to give evidence – that, in accordance with the very strictest form of our religion, I lived a true Pharisee. Even\V{6} now, it is because of my hope in the promise given by God to our ancestors that I stand here on my trial – A\V{7} promise which our twelve tribes, by earnest service night and day, hope to see fulfilled. It is for this hope, your Majesty, that I am accused – and by Jews themselves! Why\V{8} do you all hold it incredible that God should raise the dead? I\V{9} myself, it is true, once thought it my duty to oppose in every way the name of Jesus of Nazareth; and\V{10} I actually did so at Jerusalem. Acting on the authority of the chief priests, I myself threw many of the people of Christ into prison, and, when it was proposed to put them to death, I gave my vote for it. Time\V{11} after time, in every synagogue, I tried by punishments to force them to blaspheme. So frantic was I against them, that I pursued them even to towns beyond our borders. It\V{12} was while I was traveling to Damascus on an errand of this kind, entrusted with full powers by the chief priests, that\V{13} at midday, your Majesty, I saw right in my path, coming from the heavens, a light brighter than the glare of the sun, which shone all around me and those traveling with me. We\V{14} all fell to the ground, and then I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew –  ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? By kicking against the goad you are punishing yourself.’  ‘Who\V{15} are you, Lord?’ I asked. And the Lord said,  ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting;   but\V{16} get up and stand upright; for I have appeared to you in order to appoint you a servant and a witness of those revelations of me which you have already had, and of those in which I will yet appear to you,   since\V{17} I am choosing you out from your own people and from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,   to\V{18} open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God; so that they may receive pardon for their sins, and a place among those who have become God’s people, by faith in me.’  After\V{19} that, King Agrippa, I did not fail to obey the heavenly vision; on\V{20} the contrary, first to those at Damascus and Jerusalem, and then through the whole of Judea, and to the Gentiles as well, I began to preach repentance and conversion to God, and a life befitting that repentance. This\V{21} is why some men seized me in the Temple, and made attempts on my life. However\V{22} I have received help from God to this very day, and so stand here, and bear my testimony to high and low alike – without adding a word to what the prophets, as well as Moses, declared should happen – That\V{23} the Christ must suffer, and that, by rising from the dead, he was destined to be the first to bring news of light, not only to our nation, but also to the Gentiles.”
\par 
 While\V{24} Paul was making this defense, Festus called out loudly, “You are mad, Paul; your great learning is driving you mad.”
\par 
 “I\V{25} am not mad, your Excellency,” he replied; “on the contrary, the statements that I am making are true and sober. Indeed,\V{26} the king knows about these matters, so I speak before him without constraint. I am sure that there is nothing whatever of what I have been telling him that has escaped his attention; for all this has not been done in a corner. King\V{27} Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
\par 
 But\V{28} Agrippa said to Paul, “You are soon trying to make a Christian of me!”
\par 
 “Whether\V{29} it is soon or late,” answered Paul, “I pray to God that not only you, but all who are listening to me, might today become just what I am myself – except for these chains!” Then\V{30} the king rose, with the Governor and Bernice and those who had been sitting with them, and,\V{31} after retiring, discussed the case among themselves. “There is nothing,” they said, “deserving death or imprisonment in this man’s conduct”; and,\V{32} speaking to Festus, Agrippa added, “The man might have been discharged, if he had not appealed to the Emperor.” \blank 

\par 
 As\C{27} it was decided that we were to sail to Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were put in charge of a captain of the Augustan Guard, named Julius. We\V{2} went on board a ship from Adramyttium, which was on the point of sailing to the ports along the coast of Roman Asia, and put to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us. The\V{3} next day we put in to Sidon, where Julius treated Paul in a friendly manner, and allowed him to go to see his friends and receive their hospitality. Putting\V{4} to sea again, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the wind was against us; and,\V{5} after crossing the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we reached Myra in Lycia. There\V{6} the Roman officer found an Alexandrian ship on her way to Italy, and put us on board of her. For\V{7} several days our progress was slow, and it was only with difficulty that we arrived off Cnidus. As the wind was still unfavorable when we came off Cape Salmone, we sailed under the lee of Crete, and\V{8} with difficulty, by keeping close in shore, we reached a place called ‘Fair Havens,’ near which was the town of Lasea.
\par 
 This\V{9} had taken a considerable time, and sailing was already dangerous, for the Fast was already over; and so Paul gave this warning. “My\V{10} friends,” he said, “I see that this voyage will be attended with injury and much damage, not only to the cargo and the ship, but to our own lives also.”
\par 
 The\V{11} Roman officer, however, was more influenced by the captain and the owner than by what was said by Paul. And,\V{12} as the harbor was not a suitable one to winter in, the majority were in favor of continuing the voyage, in hope of being able to reach Phoenix, and winter there. Phoenix was a Cretan harbor, open to the north-east and south-east. So,\V{13} when a light wind sprang up from the south, thinking that they had found their opportunity, they weighed anchor and kept along the coast of Crete, close in shore. But\V{14} shortly afterward a hurricane came down on us off the land – a north-easter, as it is called. The\V{15} ship was caught by it and was unable to keep her head to the wind, so we had to give way and let her drive before it. Running\V{16} under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we only just managed to secure the ship’s boat, and,\V{17} after hoisting it on board, the men frapped the ship. But, afraid of being driven on to the Syrtis Sands, they lowered the yard, and then drifted. So\V{18} violently were we tossed about by the storm, that the next day they began throwing the cargo overboard, and,\V{19} on the following day, threw out the ship’s tackle with their own hands. As\V{20} neither sun nor stars were visible for several days, and, as the gale still continued severe, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
\par 
 It\V{21} was then, when they had gone a long time without food, that Paul came forward, and said, “My friends, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and so incurred this injury and damage. Yet,\V{22} even as things are, I beg you not to lose courage, for there will not be a single life lost among you – only the ship. For\V{23} last night an angel of the God to whom I belong, and whom I serve, stood by me, and said – ‘Have\V{24} no fear, Paul; you must appear before the Emperor, and God himself has given you the lives of all your fellow voyagers.’ Therefore,\V{25} courage, my friends! For I believe God, that everything will happen exactly as I have been told. We\V{26} will, however, have to be driven on some island.”
\par 
 It\V{27} was now the fourteenth night of the storm, and we were drifting about in the Adriatic Sea, when, about midnight, the sailors began to suspect that they were drawing near land. So\V{28} they took soundings, and found twenty fathoms of water. After waiting a little, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms. Then,\V{29} as they were afraid of our being driven on some rocky coast, they let go four anchors from the stern, and longed for daylight. The\V{30} sailors wanted to leave the ship, and had lowered the boat, on pretense of running out anchors from the bows, when\V{31} Paul said to the Roman officer and his men, “Unless the sailors remain on board, you cannot be saved.” So\V{32} the soldiers cut the ropes which held the boat, and let her drift away. In\V{33} the interval before daybreak Paul kept urging them all to take something to eat.
\par 
“It is a fortnight today,” he said, “that, owing to your anxiety, you have gone without food, taking nothing. So\V{34} I beg you to take something to eat; your safety depends on it, for not one of you will lose even a hair of his head.” With\V{35} these words he took some bread, and, after saying the thanksgiving to God before them all, broke it in pieces, and began to eat; and\V{36} the men all felt cheered and had something to eat themselves. There\V{37} were about seventy-six of us on board, all told. After\V{38} satisfying their hunger, they further lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea. When\V{39} daylight came, they could not make out what land it was, but, observing a creek in which there was a beach, they consulted as to whether they could run the ship safely into it. Then\V{40} they cast off, and abandoned the anchors, and at the same time unlashed the gear of the steering oars, hoisted the foresail to the wind, and made for the beach. They\V{41} got, however, into a kind of channel, and there ran the ship aground. The bows stuck fast and could not be moved, while the stern began breaking up under the strain. The\V{42} advice of the soldiers was that the prisoners should be killed, so that none of them could swim away and make their escape. But\V{43} the Roman officer, anxious to save Paul, prevented their carrying out their intention, and ordered that those who could swim should be the first to jump into the sea and try to reach the shore; and\V{44} that the rest should follow, some on planks, and others on different pieces of the ship. In these various ways everyone managed to get safely ashore. \blank 

\par 
 When\C{28} we were all safe, we found that the island was called Malta. The\V{2} island’s people showed us marked kindness, for they lit a fire and took us all under shelter, because it had come on to rain and was cold. Paul\V{3} had gathered a quantity of dry sticks and laid them on the fire, when a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, fastened on his hand. When\V{4} the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Evidently this man is a murderer, for though he has been saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” However,\V{5} Paul shook the creature off into the fire and took no harm. The\V{6} islanders were expecting inflammation to set in, or that he would suddenly fall dead; but, after waiting for a long time, and seeing that there was nothing amiss with him, they changed their minds and said that he was a God.
\par 
 In\V{7} that region there was an estate belonging to the Governor of the island, whose name was Publius. He took us up to his house, and for three days entertained us most courteously. It\V{8} happened that the father of Publius was lying ill of fever and dysentery. So Paul went to see him; and, after praying, he placed his hands on him and cured him. After\V{9} this, all the people in the island who had any illness came to Paul, and were cured. They\V{10} also presented us with many gifts, and when we set sail they put supplies of necessaries on board.\blank 

\par 
 After\V{11} three months, we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island. She was an Alexandrian vessel, and had the Twin sons of Zeus for her figure-head. We\V{12} put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days, and\V{13} from there we worked to windward and so got to Rhegium. A day later a south wind sprang up and took us to Puteoli in two days. There\V{14} we found some of the Lord’s followers, and were urged to stay a week with them; after which we went on to Rome. The\V{15} followers there had heard about us, and came out as far as the Market of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At sight of them Paul thanked God and was much cheered. On\V{16} our reaching Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, except for the soldier who was in charge of him.\blank 

\par 
 Three\V{17} days after our arrival, Paul invited the leading Jews to meet him; and, when they came, he said, “Brothers, although I had done nothing hostile to the interests of our nation or to our ancestral customs, yet I was sent from Jerusalem as a prisoner, and handed over to the Romans. The\V{18} Romans, when they had examined me, were ready to release me, because there was nothing in my conduct deserving death. But,\V{19} as the Jewish leaders opposed my release, I was compelled to appeal to the Emperor – not, indeed, that I had any charge to make against my own nation. This,\V{20} then, is my reason for urging you to come to see me and talk with me; because it is for the sake of the hope of Israel that I am here in chains.”
\par 
 “We,”\V{21} was their reply, “have not had any letter about you from Judea, nor have any of our fellow Jews come and reported or said anything bad about you. But\V{22} we will be glad to hear from you what your views are, for, with regard to this sect, we are well aware that it is spoken against on all sides.”
\par 
 They\V{23} then fixed a day with him, and came to the place where he was staying, in even larger numbers, when Paul proceeded to lay the subject before them. He bore his testimony to the kingdom of God, and tried to convince them about Jesus, by arguments drawn from the Law of Moses and from the prophets – speaking from morning until evening. Some\V{24} were inclined to accept what he said; others, however, rejected it. So,\V{25} as they disagreed among themselves, they began to disperse, Paul adding only –
\par 
“True, indeed, was the declaration made by the Holy Spirit, through the prophet Isaiah to your ancestors –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Go\V{26} to this nation and say:}
\noindentation \Q{2}{You will hear with your ears without ever understanding,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{and, though you have eyes, you will see without ever perceiving.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ For\V{27} the mind of this nation has grown dense,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{And their ears are dull of hearing,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Their eyes also have they closed;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Otherwise some day they might see with their eyes,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And with their ears they might hear,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And in their mind they might understand, and might turn –}
\noindentation \Q{3}{And I might heal them.}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Understand,\V{28} then, that this salvation of God was sent for the Gentiles; and they will listen.” \footnote{\V{29}  28:29    Some later manuscripts add: After he said these things the Jews left, all the while engaging in a heated debate among themselves.} \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  For\V{30} two whole years Paul stayed in a house which he rented for himself, welcoming all who came to see him, proclaiming\V{31} the kingdom of God, and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ, with perfect fearlessness, unhindered.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Romans}

\MTT{Paul’s Letter to the}

\MT{Romans}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  From\C{1} Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, who has been called to become an apostle, and has been set apart to tell God’s good news. This\V{2} good news God promised long ago through his prophets in the sacred scriptures, concerning\V{3} his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord; who, as to his human nature, was descended from David, but,\V{4} as to the spirit of holiness within him, was miraculously designated Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. Through\V{5} him we received the gift of the apostolic office, to win submission to the faith among all nations for the glory of his name. And\V{6} among these nations are you – you who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.
\par 
\indentation  To\V{7} all in Rome who are dear to God and have been called to become Christ’s people, may God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.\blank 

\par 
 First,\V{8} I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because the report of your faith is spreading throughout the world. God,\V{9} to whom I offer the worship of my soul as I tell the goodness of his Son, is my witness how constantly I mention you when I pray, asking\V{10} that, if he be willing, I may some day at last find the way open to visit you. For\V{11} I long to see you, in order to impart to you some spiritual gift and so give you fresh strength – or\V{12} rather that both you and I may find encouragement in each other’s faith. I\V{13} want you to know, my friends, that I have many times intended coming to see you – but until now I have been prevented – that I might find among you some fruit of my labors, as I have already among the other nations.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Faith the Ground of Acceptance}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  I\V{14} have a duty to both the Greek and the barbarian, to both the cultured and the ignorant. And\V{15} so, for my part, I am ready to tell the good news to you also who are in Rome.
\par 
\indentation  For\V{16} I am not ashamed of the good news; it is the power of God which brings salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, but also to the Greek. For\V{17} in it there is a revelation of the divine righteousness resulting from faith and leading on to faith; as scripture says – ‘Through faith the righteous will find life.’
\par 
 So,\V{18} too, there is a revelation from heaven of the divine wrath against every form of ungodliness and wickedness on the part of those people who, by their wicked lives, are stifling the truth. This\V{19} is so, because what can be known about God is plain to them; for God himself has made it plain. For\V{20} ever since the creation of the universe God’s invisible attributes – his everlasting power and divinity – are to be seen and studied in his works, so that people have no excuse; because,\V{21} although they learned to know God, yet they did not offer him as God either praise or thanksgiving. Their speculations about him proved futile, and their undiscerning minds were darkened. Professing\V{22} to be wise, they showed themselves fools; and\V{23} they transformed the glory of the immortal God into the likeness of mortal humans, and of birds, and beasts, and reptiles.
\par 
 Therefore\V{24} God abandoned them to impurity, letting them follow the cravings of their hearts, until they dishonored their own bodies; for\V{25} they had substituted a lie for the truth about God, and had reverenced and worshiped created things more than the Creator, who is to be praised for ever. Amen. That,\V{26} I say, is why God abandoned them to degrading passions. Even the women among them perverted the natural use of their bodies to the unnatural; while\V{27} the men, disregarding that for which women were intended by nature, were consumed with passion for one another. Men indulged in vile practices with men, and incurred in their own persons the inevitable penalty for their perverseness.
\par 
 Then,\V{28} as they would not keep God before their minds, God abandoned them to depraved thoughts, so that they did all kinds of shameful things. They\V{29} reveled in every form of wickedness, evil, greed, vice. Their lives were full of envy, murder, quarreling, treachery, malice. They\V{30} became back-biters, slanderers, impious, insolent, boastful. They devised new sins. They disobeyed their parents. They\V{31} were undiscerning, untrustworthy, without natural affection or pity. Well\V{32} aware of God’s decree, that those who do such things deserve to die, not only are they guilty of them themselves, but they even applaud those who do them. 
\par 
 Therefore\C{2} you have nothing to say in your own defense, whoever you are who set yourself up as a judge. In judging others you condemn yourself, for you who set yourself up as a judge do the very same things. And\V{2} we know that God’s judgment falls unerringly on those who do them. You\V{3} who judge those that do such things and yet are yourself guilty of them – do you suppose that you of all people will escape God’s judgment? Or\V{4} do you think lightly of his abundant kindness, patience, and forbearance, not realizing that his kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Hard-hearted\V{5} and impenitent as you are, you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath, when God’s justice as a judge will be revealed; for\V{6} he will give to everyone what their actions deserve. To\V{7} those who, by perseverance in doing good, aim at glory, honor, and all that is imperishable, he will give immortal life; while\V{8} as to those who are factious, and disobedient to truth but obedient to evil, wrath and anger, distress and despair, will\V{9} fall on every human being who persists in wrong-doing – on the Jew first, but also on the Greek. But\V{10} there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does right – for the Jew first, but also for the Greek, since\V{11} God shows no partiality. All\V{12} who, when they sin, are without Law will also perish without Law; while all who, when they sin, are under Law, will be judged as being under Law. It\V{13} is not those who hear the words of a Law that are righteous before God, but it is those who obey it that will be pronounced righteous. When\V{14} Gentiles, who have no Law, do instinctively what the Law requires, they, though they have no Law, are a Law to themselves; for\V{15} they show the demands of the Law written on their hearts; their consciences corroborating it, while in their thoughts they argue either in self-accusation or, it may be, in self-defense – on\V{16} the day when God passes judgment on people’s inmost lives, as the good news that I tell declares that he will do through Christ Jesus.
\par 
 But,\V{17} perhaps, you bear the name of ‘Jew,’ and are relying on Law, and boast of belonging to God, and understand his will, and,\V{18} having been carefully instructed from the Law, have learned to appreciate the finer moral distinctions. Perhaps\V{19} you are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in the dark, an instructor of the unintelligent, and\V{20} a teacher of the childish, because in the Law you possess the outline of all knowledge and truth. Why,\V{21} then, you teacher of others, don’t you teach yourself? Do you preach against stealing, and yet steal? Do\V{22} you forbid adultery, and yet commit adultery? Do you loathe idols, and yet plunder temples? Boasting,\V{23} as you do, of your Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law? For,\V{24} as scripture says – ‘The Gentiles insult God’s name because of you’! Circumcision\V{25} has its value, if you are obeying the Law. But, if you are a breaker of the Law, your circumcision is no better than uncircumcision. If,\V{26} then, an uncircumcised man pays regard to the requirements of the Law, won’t he, although not circumcised, be regarded by God as if he were? Indeed,\V{27} the person who, owing to his birth, remains uncircumcised, and yet scrupulously obeys the Law, will condemn you, who, for all your written Law and your circumcision, are yet a breaker of the Law. For\V{28} a man who is only a Jew outwardly is not a real Jew; nor is outward bodily circumcision real circumcision. The real Jew is the person who is a Jew in soul; and\V{29} the real circumcision is the circumcision of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal thing. Such a person wins praise from God, though not from people. 
\par 
 What\C{3} is the advantage, then, of being a Jew? Or what is the good of circumcision? Great\V{2} in every way. First of all, because the Jews were entrusted with God’s utterances. What\V{3} follows then? Some, no doubt, showed a want of faith; but will their want of faith make God break faith? Heaven forbid! God\V{4} must prove true, though everyone prove a liar! As scripture says of God – ‘That you may be pronounced righteous in what you say, and gain your cause when people would judge you.’
\par 
 But\V{5} what if our wrong-doing makes God’s righteousness all the clearer? Will God be wrong in inflicting punishment? (I can but speak as a person.) Heaven forbid! Otherwise\V{6} how can God judge the world?
\par 
 But,\V{7} if my falsehood redounds to the glory of God, by making his truthfulness more apparent, why am I like others, still condemned as a sinner? Why\V{8} should we not say – as some people slanderously assert that we do say – ‘Let us do evil that good may come’? The condemnation of such people is indeed just!
\par 
 What\V{9} follows, then? Are we Jews in any way superior to others? Not at all. Our indictment against both Jews and Greeks was that all alike were in subjection to sin. As\V{10} scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘There is not even one who is righteous,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ not\V{11} one who understands,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{not one who is searching for God!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ They\V{12} have all gone astray;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they have one and all become depraved;}
\noindentation \Q{3}{there is no one who is doing good – no, not one!’}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘Their\V{13} throats are like opened graves;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{they deceive with their tongues.’}
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The venom of snakes lies behind their lips,’}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ ‘And\V{14} their mouths are full of bitter curses.’}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘Swift\V{15} are their feet to shed blood.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Distress\V{16} and trouble dog their steps,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ and\V{17} the path of peace they do not know.’}
\noindentation \Q{3}{ ‘The\V{18} fear of God is not before their eyes.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] \stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Now\V{19} we know that everything said in the Law is addressed to those who are under its authority, in order that every mouth may be closed, and to bring the whole world under God’s judgment. For\V{20} no human being will be pronounced righteous before God as the result of obedience to Law; for it is Law that shows what sin is.
\par 
\indentation  But\V{21} now, quite apart from Law, the divine righteousness stands revealed, and to it the Law and the prophets bear witness – the\V{22} divine righteousness which is bestowed, through faith in Jesus Christ, on all, without distinction, who believe in him. For\V{23} all have sinned, and all fall short of God’s glorious ideal, but,\V{24} in his loving kindness, are being freely pronounced righteous through the deliverance found in Christ Jesus. For\V{25} God set him before the world, to be, by the shedding of his blood, a means of reconciliation through faith. And this God did to prove his righteousness, and because, in his forbearance, he had passed over the sins that people had previously committed; as\V{26} a proof, I repeat, at the present time, of his own righteousness, that he might be righteous in our eyes, and might pronounce righteous the person who takes their stand on faith in Jesus.
\par 
 What,\V{27} then, becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what sort of Law? A Law requiring obedience? No, a Law requiring faith.
\par 
 For\V{28} we conclude that a person is pronounced righteous on the ground of faith, quite apart from obedience to Law. Or\V{29} can it be that God is the God only of the Jews? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes,\V{30} of the Gentiles also, since there is only one God, and he will pronounce those who are circumcised righteous as the result of faith, and also those who are uncircumcised on their showing the same faith.
\par 
 Do\V{31} we, then, use this faith to abolish Law? Heaven forbid! No, we establish Law. 
\par 
 What\C{4} then, it may be asked, are we to say about Abraham, the ancestor of our nation? If\V{2} he was pronounced righteous as the result of obedience, then he has something to boast of. Yes, but not before God. For\V{3} what are the words of scripture? ‘Abraham had faith in God, and his faith was regarded by God as righteousness.’ Now\V{4} wages are regarded as due to the person who works, not as a favor, but as a debt; while,\V{5} as for the person who does not rely on their obedience, but has faith in him who can pronounce the godless righteous, their faith is regarded by God as righteousness.
\par 
 In\V{6} precisely the same way David speaks of the blessing pronounced on the person who is regarded by God as righteous apart from actions – ‘Blessed\V{7} are those whose wrong-doings have been forgiven and over whose sins a veil has been drawn! Blessed\V{8} the man whom the Lord will never regard as sinful!’ Is\V{9} this blessing, then, pronounced on the circumcised only or on the uncircumcised as well? We say that – ‘Abraham’s faith was regarded by God as righteousness.’ Under\V{10} what circumstances, then, did this take place? After his circumcision or before it? Not\V{11} after, but before. And it was as a sign of this that he received the rite of circumcision – to show the righteousness due to the faith of an uncircumcised man – in order that he might be the father of all who have faith in God even when uncircumcised, so that they also may be regarded by God as righteous; as\V{12} well as father of the circumcised – to those who are not only circumcised, but who also follow our father Abraham in that faith which he had while still uncircumcised. For\V{13} the promise that he should inherit the world did not come to Abraham or his descendants through Law, but through the righteousness due to faith. If\V{14} those who take their stand on Law are to inherit the world, then faith is robbed of its meaning and the promise comes to nothing! Law\V{15} entails punishment; but, where no Law exists, no breach of it is possible. That\V{16} is why everything is made to depend on faith: so that everything may be God’s gift, and in order that the fulfillment of the promise may be made certain for all Abraham’s descendants – not only for those who take their stand on the Law, but also for those who take their stand on the faith of Abraham. (He is the Father of us all; as\V{17} scripture says – ‘I have made you the Father of many nations.’) And this they do in the sight of that God in whom Abraham had faith, and who gives life to the dead, and speaks of what does not yet exist as if it did. With\V{18} no ground for hope, Abraham, sustained by hope, put faith in God; in order that, in fulfillment of the words – ‘So many will your descendants be,’ he might become ‘the Father of many nations.’ Though\V{19} he was nearly a hundred years old, yet his faith did not fail him, even when he thought of his own body, then utterly worn out, and remembered that Sarah was past bearing children. He\V{20} was not led by want of faith to doubt God’s promise. On\V{21} the contrary, his faith gave him strength; and he praised God, in the firm conviction that what God has promised he is also able to carry out. And\V{22} therefore his faith ‘was regarded as righteousness.’ Now\V{23} these words – ‘it was regarded as righteousness’ – were not written with reference to Abraham only; but\V{24} also with reference to us. Our faith, too, will be regarded by God in the same light, if we have faith in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead; for\V{25} Jesus was given up to death to atone for our offenses, and was raised to life that we might be pronounced righteous. 
\par 
 Therefore,\C{5} having been pronounced righteous as the result of faith, let us enjoy peace with God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. It\V{2} is through him that, by reason of our faith, we have obtained admission to that place in God’s favor in which we now stand. So let us exult in our hope of attaining God’s glorious ideal. And\V{3} not only that, but let us also exult in our troubles; for\V{4} we know that trouble develops endurance, and endurance strength of character, and strength of character hope, and\V{5} that hope never disappoints. For the love of God has filled our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given us; seeing\V{6} that, while we were still powerless, Christ, in God’s good time, died on behalf of the godless. Even\V{7} for an upright person scarcely anyone will die. For a really good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But\V{8} God puts his love for us beyond all doubt by the fact that Christ died on our behalf while we were still sinners. Much\V{9} more, then, now that we have been pronounced righteous by virtue of the shedding of his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For\V{10} if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, much more, now that we have become reconciled, will we be saved by virtue of Christ’s life. And\V{11} not only that, but we exult in God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we have now obtained this reconciliation.
\par 
 Therefore,\V{12} just as sin came into the world through one man, and through sin came death; so, also, death spread to all humanity, because every person has sinned. Even\V{13} before the time of the Law there was sin in the world; but sin cannot be charged against someone where no Law exists. Yet,\V{14} from Adam to Moses, death reigned even over those whose sin was not a breach of a law, as Adam’s was. And Adam foreshadows the One to come. But\V{15} there is a contrast between Adam’s offense and God’s gracious gift. For, if by reason of the offense of the one man the whole human race died, far more were the loving kindness of God, and the gift given in the loving kindness of the one man, Jesus Christ, lavished on the whole human race. There\V{16} is a contrast, too, between the gift and the results of the one man’s sin. The judgment, which followed on the one man’s sin, resulted in condemnation, but God’s gracious gift, which followed on many offenses, resulted in a decree of righteousness. For\V{17} if, by reason of the offense of the one man, death reigned through that one man, far more will those, on whom God’s loving kindness and his gift of righteousness are lavished, find life, and reign through the one man, Jesus Christ. Briefly\V{18} then, just as a single offense resulted for all humanity in condemnation, so, too, a single decree of righteousness resulted for all humanity in that declaration of righteousness which brings life. For,\V{19} as through the disobedience of the one man the whole human race was rendered sinful, so, too, through the obedience of the one, the whole human race will be rendered righteous. Law\V{20} was introduced in order that offenses might be multiplied. But, where sins were multiplied, the loving kindness of God was lavished the more, in\V{21} order than, just as sin had reigned in the realm of death, so, too, might Loving-kindness reign through righteousness, and result in eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Difficulties arising from this Teaching}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  What\C{6} are we to say, then? Are we to continue to sin, in order that God’s loving kindness may be multiplied? Heaven\V{2} forbid! We became dead to sin, and how can we go on living in it? Or\V{3} can it be that you do not know that all of us, who were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, in our baptism shared his death? Consequently,\V{4} through sharing his death in our baptism, we were buried with him; so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by a manifestation of the Father’s power, so we also may live a new life. If\V{5} we have become united with him by the act symbolic of his death, surely we will also become united with him by the act symbolic of his resurrection. We\V{6} recognize the truth that our old self was crucified with Christ, in order that the body, the stronghold of sin, might be rendered powerless, so that we should no longer be slaves to sin. For\V{7} the man who has so died has been pronounced righteous and released from sin. And\V{8} our belief is, that, as we have shared Christ’s death, we will also share his life. We\V{9} know, indeed, that Christ, having once risen from the dead, will not die again. Death has power over him no longer. For\V{10} the death that he died was a death to sin, once and for all. But the life that he now lives, he lives for God. So\V{11} let it be with you – regard yourselves as dead to sin, but as living for God, through union with Christ Jesus. Therefore\V{12} do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies and compel you to obey its cravings. Do\V{13} not offer any part of your bodies to sin, in the cause of unrighteousness, but once for all offer yourselves to God (as those who, though once dead, now have life), and devote every part of your bodies to the cause of righteousness. For\V{14} sin will not lord it over you. You are living under the reign, not of Law, but of love.
\par 
\indentation  What\V{15} follows, then? Are we to sin because we are living under the reign of love and not of Law? Heaven forbid! Surely\V{16} you know that, when you offer yourselves as servants, to obey anyone, you are the servants of the person whom you obey, whether the service be a service sin which leads to death, or a service Duty which leads to righteousness. God\V{17} be thanked that, though you were once servants of sin, yet you learned to give hearty obedience to that form of doctrine under which you were placed. Set\V{18} free from the control of sin, you became servants to righteousness. I\V{19} can but speak as people do because of the weakness of your earthly nature. Once you offered every part of your bodies to the service of impurity, and of wickedness, which leads to further wickedness. Now, in the same way, offer them to the service of righteousness, which leads to holiness. While\V{20} you were still servants of sin, you were free as regards righteousness. But\V{21} what were the fruits that you reaped from those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of such things is death. But\V{22} now that you have been set free from the control of sin, and have become servants to God, the fruit that you reap is an ever increasing holiness, and the end eternal life. The\V{23} wages of sin are death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through union with Christ Jesus, our Lord. 
\par 
 Surely,\C{7} friends, you know (for I am speaking to people who know what Law means) that Law has power over a person only as long as they lives. For\V{2} example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband while he is living; but, if her husband dies, she is set free from the law that bound her to him. If,\V{3} then, during her husband’s lifetime, she unites herself to another man, she will be called an adulteress; but, if her husband dies, the law has no further hold on her, nor, if she unites herself to another man, is she an adulteress. And\V{4} so with you, my friends; as far as the Law was concerned, you underwent death in the crucified body of the Christ, so that you might be united to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that our lives might bear fruit for God. When\V{5} we were living merely earthly lives, our sinful passions, aroused by the Law, were active in every part of our bodies, with the result that our lives bore fruit for death. But\V{6} now we are set free from the Law, because we are dead to that which once kept us under restraint; and so we serve under new, spiritual conditions, and not under old, written regulations.
\par 
 What\V{7} are we to say, then? That Law and sin are the same thing? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, I should not have learned what sin is, had not it been for Law. If the Law did not say ‘You must not covet,’ I should not know what it is to covet. But\V{8} sin took advantage of the Commandment to arouse in me every form of covetousness, for where there is no consciousness of Law sin shows no sign of life. There\V{9} was a time when I myself, unconscious of Law, was alive; but when the Commandment was brought home to me, sin sprang into life, while I died! The\V{10} Commandment that should have meant life I found to result in death! sin\V{11} took advantage of the Commandment to deceive me, and used it to bring about my death. And\V{12} so the Law is holy, and each Commandment is also holy, and just, and good. Did,\V{13} then, a thing, which in itself was good, involve death in my case? Heaven forbid! It was sin that involved death; so that, by its use of what I regarded as good to bring about my death, its true nature might appear; and in this way the Commandment showed how intensely sinful sin is. We\V{14} know that the Law is spiritual, but I am earthly – sold into slavery to sin. I\V{15} do not understand my own actions. For I am so far from habitually doing what I want to do, that I find myself doing the thing that I hate. But\V{16} when I do what I want not to do, I am admitting that the Law is right. This\V{17} being so, the action is no longer my own, but is done by the sin which is within me. I\V{18} know that there is nothing good in me – I mean in my earthly nature. For, although it is easy for me to want to do right, to act rightly is not easy. I\V{19} fail to do the good thing that I want to do, but the bad thing that I want not to do – that I habitually do. But,\V{20} when I do the thing that I want not to do, the action is no longer my own, but is done by the sin which is within me. This,\V{21} then, is the law that I find – when I want to do right, wrong presents itself! At\V{22} heart I delight in the Law of God; but\V{23} throughout my body I see a different law, one which is in conflict with the law accepted by my reason, and which endeavors to make me a prisoner to that law of sin which exists throughout my body. Miserable\V{24} man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body that is bringing me to this death? Thank\V{25} God, there is deliverance through Jesus Christ, our Lord! Well then, for myself, with my reason I serve the Law of God, but with my earthly nature the Law of sin. 
\par 
 There\C{8} is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus; for\V{2} through your union with Christ Jesus, the Law of the life-giving Spirit has set you free from the Law of sin and death. What\V{3} Law could not do, in so far as our earthly nature weakened its action, God did, by sending his own Son, with a nature resembling our sinful nature, to atone for sin. He condemned sin in that earthly nature, so\V{4} that the requirements of the Law might be satisfied in us who live now in obedience, not to our earthly nature, but to the Spirit. They\V{5} who follow their earthly nature are earthly-minded, while they who follow the Spirit are spiritually minded. To\V{6} be earthly-minded means death, to be spiritually minded means life and peace; because\V{7} to be earthly-minded is to be an enemy to God, for such a mind does not submit to the Law of God, nor indeed can it do so. They\V{8} who are earthly cannot please God. You,\V{9} however, are not earthly but spiritual, since the Spirit of God lives within you. Unless a person has the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ; but,\V{10} if Christ is within you, then, though the body is dead as a consequence of sin, the spirit is life as a consequence of righteousness. And,\V{11} if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives within you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life even to your mortal bodies, through his Spirit living within you.
\par 
 So\V{12} then, friends, we owe nothing to our earthly nature, that we should live in obedience to it. If\V{13} you live in obedience to your earthly nature, you will inevitably die; but if, by the power of the Spirit, you put an end to the evil habits of the body, you will live. All\V{14} who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For\V{15} you did not receive the spirit of a slave, to fill you once more with fear, but the spirit of a son which leads us to cry ‘Abba, Our Father.’ The\V{16} Spirit himself unites with our spirits in bearing witness to our being God’s children, and\V{17} if children, then heirs – heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, since we share Christ’s sufferings in order that we may also share his glory.
\par 
 I\V{18} do not count the sufferings of our present life worthy of mention when compared with the glory that is to be revealed and bestowed on us. All\V{19} Nature awaits with eager expectation the appearing of the sons of God. For\V{20} Nature was made subject to imperfection – not by its own choice, but owing to him who made it so – yet\V{21} not without the hope that some day Nature, also, will be set free from enslavement to decay, and will attain to the freedom which will mark the glory of the children of God. We\V{22} know, indeed, that all Nature alike has been groaning in the pains of labor to this very hour. And\V{23} not Nature only; but we ourselves also, though we have already a first gift of the Spirit – we ourselves are inwardly groaning, while we eagerly await our full adoption as sons – the redemption of our bodies. By\V{24} our hope we were saved. But the thing hoped for is no longer an object of hope when it is before our eyes; for who hopes for what is before his eyes? But\V{25} when we hope for what is not before our eyes, then we wait for it with patience.
\par 
 So,\V{26} also, the Spirit supports us in our weakness. We do not even know how to pray as we should; but the Spirit himself pleads for us in sighs that can find no utterance. Yet\V{27} he who searches all our hearts knows what the Spirit’s meaning is, because the pleadings of the Spirit for Christ’s people are in accordance with his will. But\V{28} we do know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him – those who have received the call in accordance with his purpose. For\V{29} those whom God chose from the first he also destined from the first to be transformed into likeness to his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest among many brothers and sisters. And\V{30} those whom God destined for this he also called; and those whom he called he also pronounced righteous; and those whom he pronounced righteous he also brought to glory.
\par 
 What\V{31} are we to say, then, in the light of all this?
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{If God is on our side, who can there be against us?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ God\V{32} did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up on behalf of us all; will he not, then, with him, freely give us all things?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{33} will bring a charge against any of God’s people? He who pronounces them righteous is God!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{34} is there to condemn them? He who died for us is Christ Jesus! – or, rather, it was he who was raised from the dead, and who is now at God’s right hand and is even pleading on our behalf!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Who\V{35} is there to separate us from the love of the Christ? Will trouble, or difficulty, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword?}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  Scripture\V{36} says – ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long, We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ Yet\V{37} amid all these things we more than conquer through him who loved us! For\V{38} I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor archangels, nor the present, nor the future, nor any powers, nor\V{39} height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus, our Lord! 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Gentiles and Jews}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  I\C{9} am speaking the truth as one in union with Christ; it is no lie; and my conscience, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, bears\V{2} me out when I say that there is a great weight of sorrow on me and that my heart is never free from pain. I\V{3} could wish that I were myself accursed and severed from the Christ, for the sake of my people – my own flesh and blood. For\V{4} they are Israelites, and theirs are the adoption as sons, the visible presence, the Covenants, the revealed Law, the Temple worship, and the Promises. They\V{5} are descended from the Patriarchs; and, as far as his human nature was concerned, from them came the Christ – he who is supreme over all things, God for ever blessed. Amen.
\par 
\indentation  Not\V{6} that God’s Word has failed. For it is not all who are descended from Israel who are true Israelites; nor,\V{7} because they are Abraham’s descendants, are they all his children; but – ‘It is Isaac’s children who will be called your descendants.’ This\V{8} means that it is not the children born in the course of nature who are God’s children, but it is the children born in fulfillment of the Promise who are to be regarded as Abraham’s descendants. For\V{9} these words are the words of a promise – ‘About this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.’ Nor\V{10} is that all. There is also the case of Rebecca, when she was about to bear children to our ancestor Isaac. For\V{11} in order that the purpose of God, working through selection, might not fail – a selection depending, not on obedience, but on his call – Rebecca was told, before her children were born and before they had done anything either right or wrong, that\V{12} the elder would be a servant to the younger. The\V{13} words of scripture are – ‘I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.’
\par 
 What\V{14} are we to say, then? Is God guilty of injustice? Heaven forbid! For\V{15} his words to Moses are – ‘I will take pity on whom I take pity, and be merciful to whom I am merciful.’ So,\V{16} then, all depends, not on human wishes or human efforts, but on God’s mercy. In\V{17} scripture, again, it is said to Pharaoh – ‘It was for this purpose that I raised you to the throne, to show my power by my dealings with you, and to make my name known throughout the world.’ So,\V{18} then, where God wills, he takes pity, and where he wills, he hardens the heart. Perhaps\V{19} you will say to me – ‘How can anyone still be blamed? For who withstands his purpose?’ I\V{20} might rather ask ‘Who are you who are arguing with God?’ Does a thing which a person has moulded say to the person who has moulded it ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Has\V{21} not the potter absolute power over their clay, so that out of the same lump they make one thing for better, and another for common, use? And\V{22} what if God, intending to reveal his displeasure and make his power known, bore most patiently with the objects of his displeasure, though they were fit only to be destroyed, so\V{23} as to make known his surpassing glory in dealing with the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared beforehand for glory, and\V{24} whom he called – even us – Not only from among the Jews but from among the Gentiles also! This,\V{25} indeed, is what he says in the book of Hosea – ‘Those who were not my people, I will call my people, and those who were unloved I will love. And\V{26} in the place where it was said to them – “You are not my people”, they will be called sons of the living God.’ And\V{27} Isaiah cries aloud over Israel – ‘Though the sons of Israel are like the sand of the sea in number, only a remnant of them will escape! For\V{28} the Lord will execute his sentence on the world, fully and without delay.’ It\V{29} is as Isaiah foretold – ‘Had not the Lord of Hosts spared some few of our people to us, we should have become like Sodom and been made to resemble Gomorrah.’
\par 
 What\V{30} are we to say, then? Why, that Gentiles, who were not in search of righteousness, secured it – a righteousness which was the result of faith; while\V{31} Israel, which was in search of a Law which would ensure righteousness, failed to discover one. And\V{32} why? Because they looked to obedience, and not to faith, to secure it. They stumbled over the stumbling-block. As\V{33} scripture says – ‘See, I place a stumbling-block in Zion – a rock which will prove a hindrance; and he who believes in him will have no cause for shame.’ 
\par 
 My\C{10} friends, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for my people is for their salvation. I\V{2} can testify that they are zealous for the honor of God; but they are not guided by true insight, for,\V{3} in their ignorance of the divine righteousness, and in their eagerness to set up a righteousness of their own, they refused to accept with submission the divine righteousness. For\V{4} Christ has brought Law to an end, so that righteousness may be obtained by everyone who believes in him. For\V{5} Moses writes that, as for the righteousness which results from Law, those who practice it will find life through it. But\V{6} the righteousness which results from faith finds expression in these words: ‘Do not say to yourself “Who will go up into heaven?”’ (which means to bring Christ down) ‘or\V{7} “Who will go down into the depths below?”’ (which means to bring Christ up from the dead). No,\V{8} but what does it say? ‘The message is near you, on your lips and in your heart’ (which means ‘The Message of faith’ which we proclaim). For,\V{9} if with your lips you acknowledge the truth of the message that JESUS IS LORD, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For\V{10} with their hearts people believe and so attain to righteousness, while with their lips they make their Profession of faith and so find salvation. As\V{11} the passage of scripture says – ‘No one who believes in him will have any cause for shame.’ For\V{12} no distinction is made between the Jew and the Greek, for all have the same Lord, and he is bountiful to all who invoke him. For\V{13} everyone who invokes the name of the Lord will be saved. But\V{14} how, it may be asked, are they to invoke one in whom they have not learned to believe? And how are they to believe in one whose words they have not heard? And how are they to hear his words unless someone proclaims him? And\V{15} how is anyone to proclaim him unless they are sent as his messengers? As scripture says – ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’
\par 
 Still,\V{16} it may be said, everyone did not give heed to the good news. No, for Isaiah asks – ‘Lord, who has believed our teaching?’ And\V{17} so we gather, faith is a result of teaching, and the teaching comes in the message of Christ. But\V{18} I ask ‘Is it possible that people have never heard?’ No, indeed, for – ‘Their voices spread through all the earth, and their message to the ends of the world.’ But\V{19} again I ask ‘Did not the people of Israel understand?’ First there is Moses, who says – ‘I, the Lord, will stir you to rivalry with a nation which is no nation; Against an undiscerning nation I will arouse your anger.’ And\V{20} Isaiah says boldly – ‘I was found by those who were not seeking me; I made myself known to those who were not inquiring of me.’ But\V{21} of the people of Israel he says – ‘All day long I have stretched out my hands to a people who disobey and contradict.’ 
\par 
 I\C{11} ask, then, ‘Has God rejected his people?’ Heaven forbid! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God\V{2} has not rejected his people, whom he chose from the first. Have you forgotten the words of scripture in the story of Elijah – how he appeals to God against Israel? ‘Lord,\V{3} they have killed your prophets, they have pulled down your altars, and I only am left; and now they are eager to take my life.’ But\V{4} what was the divine response? ‘I have kept for myself seven thousand who have never bowed the knee to Baal.’ And\V{5} so in our own time, too, there is to be found a remnant of our nation selected by God in love. But\V{6} if in love, then it is not as a result of obedience. Otherwise love would cease to be love. What\V{7} follows from this? Why, that Israel as a nation failed to secure what it was seeking, while those whom God selected did secure it. The\V{8} rest grew callous; as scripture says – ‘God has given them a deadness of mind – eyes that are not to see and ears that are not to hear – and it is so to this very day.’ David,\V{9} too, says – ‘May their feasts prove a snare and a trap to them – a hindrance and a retribution; may\V{10} their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see; and do you always make their backs to bend.’ I\V{11} ask then – ‘Was their stumbling to result in their fall?’ Heaven forbid! On the contrary, through their falling away salvation has reached the Gentiles, to stir the rivalry of Israel. And,\V{12} if their falling away has enriched the world, and their failure has enriched the Gentiles, how much more will result from their full restoration!
\par 
 But\V{13} I am speaking to you who were Gentiles. Being\V{14} myself an apostle to the Gentiles, I exalt my office, in the hope that I may stir my countrymen to rivalry, and so save some of them. For,\V{15} if their being cast aside has meant the reconciliation of the world, what will their reception mean, but life from the dead? If\V{16} the first handful of dough in holy, so is the whole mass; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. Some,\V{17} however, of the branches were broken off, and you, who were only a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and came to share with them the root which is the source of the richness of the cultivated olive. Yet\V{18} do not exult over the other branches. But, if you do exult over them, remember that you do not support the root, but that the root supports you. But\V{19} branches, you will say, were broken off, so that I might be grafted in. True;\V{20} it was because of their want of faith that they were broken off, and it is because of your faith that you are standing. Do not think too highly of yourself, but beware. For,\V{21} if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. See,\V{22} then, both the goodness and the severity of God – his severity towards those who fell, and his goodness towards you, provided that you continue to confide in that goodness; otherwise you, also, will be cut off. And\V{23} they, too, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God has it in his power to graft them in again. If\V{24} you were cut off from your natural stock – a wild olive – and were grafted, contrary to the course of nature, on a good olive, much more will they – the natural branches – be grafted back into their parent tree.
\par 
 My\V{25} friends, so that you don’t think too highly of yourselves, I want you to recognize the truth, hitherto hidden, that the callousness which has come over Israel is only partial, and will continue only until the whole Gentile world has been gathered in. And\V{26} then all Israel will be saved. As scripture says – ‘From Zion will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And\V{27} they will see the fulfillment of my covenant, when I have taken away their sins.’ From\V{28} the standpoint of the good news, the Jews are God’s enemies for your sake; but from the standpoint of God’s selection, they are dear to him for the sake of the Patriarchs. For\V{29} God never regrets his gifts or his call. Just\V{30} as you at one time were disobedient to him, but have now found mercy in the day of their disobedience; so,\V{31} too, they have now become disobedient in your day of mercy, in order that they also in their turn may now find mercy. For\V{32} God has given all alike over to disobedience, that to all alike he may show mercy. Oh!\V{33} The unfathomable wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments, how untraceable his ways! Yes – Who\V{34} has ever comprehended the mind of the Lord? Who has ever become his counsellor? Or\V{35} who has first given to him, so that he may claim a reward? For\V{36} all things are from him, through him, and for him. And to him be all glory for ever and ever! Amen. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Advice on Daily Life}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  I\C{12} entreat you, then, friends, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, for this is your rational worship. Do\V{2} not conform to the fashion of this world; but be transformed by the complete change that has come over your minds, so that you may discern what God’s will is – all that is good, acceptable, and perfect.
\par 
\indentation  In\V{3} fulfillment of the charge with which I have been entrusted, I tell every one of you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think until he learns to think soberly – in accordance with the measure of faith that God has allotted to each. For,\V{4} just as in the human body there is a union of many parts, and each part has its own function, so\V{5} we, by our union in Christ, many though we are, form but one body, and individually we are related one to another as its parts. Since\V{6} our gifts differ in accordance with the particular charge entrusted to us, if our gift is to preach, let our preaching correspond to our faith; if\V{7} it is to minister to others, let us devote ourselves to our ministry; the teacher to their teaching, the\V{8} counselor to their counsel. Let the person who gives in charity do so with a generous heart; let the person who is in authority exercise due diligence; let the person who shows kindness do so in a cheerful spirit. Let\V{9} your love be sincere. Hate the wrong; cling to the right. In\V{10} the love of the community of the Lord’s followers, be affectionate to one another; in showing respect, set an example of deference to one another; never\V{11} flagging in zeal; fervent in spirit; serving the Master; rejoicing\V{12} in your hope; steadfast under persecution; persevering in prayer; relieving\V{13} the wants of Christ’s people; devoted to hospitality. Bless\V{14} your persecutors – bless and never curse. Rejoice\V{15} with those who are rejoicing, and weep with those who are weeping. Let\V{16} the same spirit of sympathy animate you all, not a spirit of pride; enjoy the company of ordinary people. Do not think too highly of yourselves. Never\V{17} return injury for injury. Aim at doing what everyone will recognize as honorable. If\V{18} it is possible, as far as rests with you, live peaceably with everyone. Never\V{19} avenge yourselves, dear friends, but make way for the wrath of God; for scripture declares – ‘“It is for me to avenge, I will requite,” says the Lord.’ Rather\V{20} – ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him to drink. By doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head.’ Never\V{21} be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good. 
\par 
 Let\C{13} everyone obey the supreme Authorities. For no Authority exists except by the will of God, and the existing Authorities have been appointed by God. Therefore\V{2} he who sets himself against the authorities is resisting God’s appointment, and those who resist will bring a judgment on themselves. A\V{3} good action has nothing to fear from Rulers; a bad action has. Do you want to have no reason to fear the Authorities? Then do what is good, and you will win their praise. For\V{4} they are God’s servants appointed for your good. But, if you do what is wrong, you may well be afraid; for the sword they carry is not without meaning! They are God’s servants to inflict his punishments on those who do wrong. You\V{5} are bound, therefore, to obey, not only through fear of God’s punishments, but also as a matter of conscience. This,\V{6} too, is the reason for your paying taxes; for the officials are God’s officers, devoting themselves to this special work. In\V{7} all cases pay what is due from you – tribute where tribute is due, taxes where taxes are due, respect where respect is due, and honor where honor is due.
\par 
 Owe\V{8} nothing to anyone except love; for they who love their neighbor have satisfied the Law. The\V{9} commandments, ‘You must not commit adultery, You must not kill, You must not steal, You must not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there is, are all summed up in the words – ‘You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ Love\V{10} never wrongs a neighbor. Therefore love fully satisfies the Law. This\V{11} I say, because you know the crisis that we have reached, for the time has already come for you to rouse yourselves from sleep; our salvation is nearer now than when we accepted the faith.
\par 
 The\V{12} night is almost gone; the day is near. Therefore let us have done with the deeds of darkness, and arm ourselves with the weapons of light. Being\V{13} in the light of day, let us live becomingly, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lust and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. No!\V{14} Arm yourselves with the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, and spend no thought on your earthly nature, to satisfy its cravings. 
\par 
 As\C{14} for those whose faith is weak, always receive them as friends, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on their scruples. One\V{2} person’s faith permits of their eating food of all kinds, while another whose faith is weak eats only vegetable food. The\V{3} person who eats meat must not despise the person who abstains from it; nor must the person who abstains from eating meat pass judgment on the one who eats it, for God himself has received them. Who\V{4} are you, that you should pass judgment on the servant of another? Their standing or falling concerns their own master. And stand they will, for their Master can enable them to stand. Again,\V{5} one person considers some days to be more sacred than others, while another considers all days to be alike. Everyone ought to be fully convinced in their own mind. The\V{6} person who observes a day, observes it to the Master’s honor. They, again, who eat meat eat it to the Master’s honor, for they give thanks to God; while the person who abstains from it abstains from it to the Master’s honor, and also gives thanks to God. There\V{7} is not one of us whose life concerns ourselves alone, and not one of us whose death concerns ourself alone; for,\V{8} if we live, our life is for the Master, and, if we die, our death is for the Master. Whether, then, we live or die we belong to the Master. The\V{9} purpose for which Christ died and came back to life was this – that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living. I\V{10} would ask the one ‘Why do you judge other followers of the Lord?’ And I would ask the other ‘Why do you despise them?’ For we will all stand before the court of God. For\V{11} scripture says – ‘“As surely as I live,” says the Lord, “every knee will bend before me and every tongue will praise God.”’ So,\V{12} then, each one of us will have to render account of himself to God.
\par 
 Let\V{13} us, then, cease to judge one another. Rather let this be your resolve – never to place a stumbling-block or an obstacle in the way of a fellow follower of the Lord. Through\V{14} my union with the Lord Jesus, I know and am persuaded that nothing is defiling in itself. A thing is ‘defiling’ only to the person who holds it to be so. If,\V{15} for the sake of what you eat, you wound your fellow follower’s feelings, your life has ceased to be ruled by love. Do not, by what you eat, ruin someone for whom Christ died! Do\V{16} not let what is right for you become a matter of reproach. For\V{17} the kingdom of God does not consist of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and gladness through the presence of the Holy Spirit. The\V{18} person who serves the Christ in this way pleases God, and wins the approval of their fellows. Therefore\V{19} our efforts should be directed towards all that makes for peace and the mutual building up of character. Do\V{20} not undo God’s work for the sake of what you eat. Though everything is ‘clean,’ yet, if a person eats so as to put a stumbling-block in the way of others, they do wrong. The\V{21} right course is to abstain from meat or wine or, indeed, anything that is a stumbling-block to your fellow follower of the Lord. As\V{22} for yourself – keep this conviction of yours to yourself, as in the presence of God. Happy the person who never has to condemn themselves in regard to something they think right! The\V{23} person, however, who has misgivings stands condemned if they still eat, because their doing so is not the result of faith. And anything not done as the result of faith is a sin. 
\par 
 We,\C{15} the strong, ought to take on our own shoulders the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not merely to please ourselves. Let\V{2} each of us please our neighbor for our neighbor’s good, to help in the building up of their character. Even\V{3} the Christ did not please himself! On the contrary, as scripture says of him – ‘The reproaches of those who were reproaching you fell upon me.’ Whatever\V{4} was written in the scriptures in days gone by was written for our instruction, so that, through patient endurance, and through the encouragement drawn from the scriptures, we might hold fast to our hope. And\V{5} may God, the giver of this patience and this encouragement, grant you to be united in sympathy in Christ, so\V{6} that with one heart and one voice you may praise the God and Father of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Therefore\V{7} always receive one another as friends, just as the Christ himself received us, to the glory of God. For\V{8} I tell you that Christ, in vindication of God’s truthfulness, has become a minister of the covenant of circumcision, so that he may fulfill the promises made to our ancestors, and\V{9} that the Gentiles also may praise God for his mercy. As scripture says – ‘Therefore will I make acknowledgment to you among the Gentiles and sing in honor of your name.’ And\V{10} again it says – ‘Rejoice, you Gentiles, with God’s people.’ And\V{11} yet again – ‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all Peoples sing his praises.’ Again,\V{12} Isaiah says – ‘There will be a Scion of the house of Jesse, One who is to arise to rule the Gentiles; on him will the Gentiles rest their hopes.’ May\V{13} God, who inspires our hope, grant you perfect happiness and peace in your faith, until you are filled with this hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
\par 
 I\V{14} am persuaded, my friends – yes, I Paul, with regard to you – that you are yourselves full of kindness, furnished with all Christian learning, and well able to give advice to one another. But\V{15} in parts of this letter I have expressed myself somewhat boldly – by way of refreshing your memories – because\V{16} of the charge with which God has entrusted me, that I should be an assistant of Christ Jesus to go to the Gentiles – that I should act as a priest of God’s good news, so that the offering up of the Gentiles may be an acceptable sacrifice, consecrated by the Holy Spirit. It\V{17} is, then, through my union with Christ Jesus that I have a proud confidence in my work for God. For\V{18} I will not dare to speak of anything but what Christ has done through me to win the obedience of the Gentiles – by\V{19} my words and actions, through the power displayed in signs and marvels, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. And so, starting from Jerusalem and going as far as Illyria, I have told in full the good news of the Christ; yet\V{20} always with the ambition to tell the good news where Christ’s name had not previously been heard, so as to avoid building on another’s foundations. But\V{21} as scripture says – ‘They to whom he had never been proclaimed will see; and they who have never heard will understand!’
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
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\par 
\noindentation  That\V{22} is why I have so often been prevented from coming to you. But\V{23} now there are no further openings for me in these parts, and I have for several years been longing to come to you whenever I may be going to Spain. For\V{24} my hope is to visit you on my journey, and then to be sent on my way by you, after I have first partly satisfied myself by seeing something of you. Just\V{25} now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem, to take help to Christ’s people there. For\V{26} Macedonia and Greece have been glad to make a collection for the poor among Christ’s people at Jerusalem. Yes,\V{27} they were glad to do so; and indeed it is a duty which they owe to them. For the Gentile converts who have shared their spiritual blessings are in duty bound to minister to them in the things of this world. When\V{28} I have settled this matter, and have secured to the poor at Jerusalem the enjoyment of these benefits, I will go, by way of you, to Spain. And\V{29} I know that, when I come to you, it will be with a full measure of blessing from Christ.
\par 
\indentation  I\V{30} beg you, then, friends, by Jesus Christ, our Lord, and by the love inspired by the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf. Pray\V{31} that I may be rescued from those in Judea who reject the faith, and that the help which I am taking to Jerusalem may prove acceptable to Christ’s people; so\V{32} that, God willing, I may be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and enjoy some rest among you. May\V{33} God, the giver of peace, be with you all. Amen. 
\par 
 I\C{16} commend to your care our sister, Phoebe, who is an assistant of the church at Cenchreae; and\V{2} I ask you to give her a Christian welcome – one worthy of Christ’s people – and to aid her in any matter in which she may need your assistance. She has proved herself a staunch friend and protector and to many others.
\par 
 Give\V{3} my greeting to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in the cause of Christ Jesus, who\V{4} risked their own lives to save mine. It is not I alone who thank them, but all the churches among the Gentiles thank them also. Give\V{5} my greeting, also, to the church that meets at their house, as well as to my dear friend Epaenetus, one of the first in Roman Asia to believe in Christ; to\V{6} Mary, who worked hard for you; to\V{7} Andronicus and Junia, fellow Jews and once my fellow prisoners, who are people of note among the apostles, and who became Christians before I did; to\V{8} my dear Christian friend Ampliatus; to\V{9} Urban, our fellow worker in the cause of Christ, and to my dear friend Stachys; to\V{10} that proved Christian Apelles; to the household of Aristobulus; to\V{11} my countryman Herodion; to the Christians in the household of Narcissus; to\V{12} Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard for the Master; to my dear friend Persis, for she has done much hard work for the Master; to\V{13} that eminent Christian, Rufus, and to his mother, who has been a mother to me also; to\V{14} Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and our friends with them; also\V{15} to Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and to all Christ’s people who are with them. Greet\V{16} one another with a sacred kiss. All the churches of the Christ send you greetings.
\par 
 I\V{17} beg you, friends, to be on your guard against people who, by disregarding the teaching which you received, cause divisions and create difficulties; dissociate yourselves from them. For\V{18} such persons are not serving Christ, our Master, but are slaves to their own appetites; and, by their smooth words and flattery, they deceive simple-minded people. Everyone\V{19} has heard of your ready obedience. It is true that I am very happy about you, but I want you to be well versed in all that is good, and innocent of all that is bad. And\V{20} God, the giver of peace, will before long crush Satan under your feet.
\par 
May the blessing of Jesus, our Lord, be with you.
\par 
 Timothy,\V{21} my fellow worker, sends you his greetings, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, send theirs.
\par 
 I\V{22} Tertius, who am writing this letter, send you my Christian greeting.
\par 
 My\V{23} host Gaius, who extends his hospitality to the whole church, sends you his greeting; and Erastus, the city treasurer, and Quartus, our dear friend, add theirs. \footnote{\V{24}  16:24    Some later manuscripts add: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.} 
\par 
 Now\V{25} to him who is able to strengthen you, as promised in the good news entrusted to me and in the proclamation of Jesus Christ, in accordance with the revelation of that hidden purpose, which in past ages was kept secret but now has been revealed and,\V{26} in obedience to the command of the immortal God, made known through the writings of the prophets to all nations, to secure submission to the faith – to\V{27} him, I say, the wise and only God, be ascribed, through Jesus Christ, all glory for ever and ever. Amen.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{1 Corinthians}

\MTT{Paul’s First Letter to the}

\MT{Corinthians}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
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\par 
\noindentation  To\C{1} the church of God in Corinth, to those who have been consecrated by union with Christ Jesus and called to become his people, and also to all, wherever they may be, who invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ – their Master and ours, from\V{2} Paul, who has been called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and from Sosthenes, our fellow follower of the Lord.
\par 
\indentation  May\V{3} God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.\blank 

\par 
 I\V{4} always thank God about you for the blessing bestowed on you in Christ Jesus. For\V{5} through union with him you were enriched in every way – in your power to preach, and in your knowledge of the truth; and\V{6} so became yourselves a confirmation of my testimony to the Christ. There\V{7} is no gift in which you are deficient, while waiting for the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. And\V{8} God himself will strengthen you to the end, so that at the day of our Lord Jesus Christ you may be found blameless. God\V{9} will not fail you, and it is he who called you into communion with his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The State of the Church at Corinth}
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\par 
\noindentation  But\V{10} I appeal to you, my friends, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree in what you profess, and not to allow divisions to exist among you, but to be united – of one mind and of one opinion. For\V{11} I have been informed, my friends, by the members of Chloe’s household, that party feeling exists among you. I\V{12} mean this: that every one of you says either ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I Apollos,’ or ‘I Cephas,’ or ‘I Christ.’ You\V{13} have torn the Christ in pieces! Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the faith of Paul? I\V{14} am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so\V{15} that no one can say that you were baptized into my faith. I\V{16} baptized also the household of Stephanas. I do not know that I baptized anyone else. My\V{17} mission from Christ was not to baptize, but to tell the good news; not, however, in the language of philosophy, in case the cross of the Christ should be robbed of its meaning.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  The\V{18} message of the cross is indeed mere folly to those who are in the path to ruin, but to us who are in the path of salvation it is the power of God. For\V{19} scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘I will bring the philosophy of the philosophers to naught, and the shrewdness of the shrewd I will bring to nothing.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Where\V{20} is the philosopher? Where the teacher of the Law? Where the disputant of today? Has not God shown the world’s philosophy to be folly? For\V{21} since the world, in God’s wisdom, did not by its philosophy learn to know God, God saw fit, by the ‘folly’ of our proclamation, to save those who believe in Christ! While\V{22} Jews ask for miraculous signs, and Greeks study philosophy, we\V{23} are proclaiming Christ crucified! – to the Jews an obstacle, to the Gentiles mere folly, but\V{24} to those who have received the call, whether Jews or Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God! For\V{25} God’s ‘folly’ is wiser than people, and God’s ‘weakness’ is stronger than people.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Look\V{26} at the facts of your call, friends. There are not many among you who are wise, as people reckon wisdom, not many who are influential, not many who are high-born; but\V{27} God chose what the world counts foolish to put its wise to shame, and God chose what the world counts weak to put its strong to shame, and\V{28} God chose what the world counts poor and insignificant – things that to it are unreal – to bring its ‘realities’ to nothing, so\V{29} that in his presence no one should boast. But\V{30} you, by your union with Christ Jesus, belong to God; and Christ, by God’s will, became not only our wisdom, but also our righteousness, holiness, and deliverance, so\V{31} that – in the words of scripture –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Whoever boasts should boast of the Lord!’ }
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  For\C{2} my own part, friends, when I came to you, it was with no display of eloquence or philosophy that I came to tell the hidden purpose of God; for\V{2} I had determined that, while with you, I would forget everything Jesus Christ – and him crucified! Indeed,\V{3} when I came among you, I was weak, and full of fears, and in great anxiety. My\V{4} message and my proclamation were not delivered in the persuasive language of philosophy, but were accompanied by the manifestation of spiritual power, so\V{5} that your faith should be based, not on the human wisdom, but on the power of God.
\par 
\indentation  Yet\V{6} there is a philosophy that we teach to those whose faith is matured, but it is not the philosophy of today, or of the leaders of today – whose downfall is at hand. No,\V{7} it is a divine philosophy that we teach, one concerned with the hidden purpose of God – that long hidden philosophy which God, before time began, destined for our glory. This\V{8} philosophy is not known to any of the leaders of today; for, had they known it, they would not have crucified our glorified Lord. It\V{9} is what scripture speaks of as –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘What eye never saw, nor ear ever heard,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{what never entered people’s minds –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{even all that God has prepared for those who love him.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Yet\V{10} to us God revealed it through his Spirit; for the Spirit fathoms all things, even the inmost depths of God’s being. For\V{11} what person is there who knows what a person is, except the person’s own spirit within them? So, also, no one comprehends what God is, except the Spirit of God. And\V{12} as for us, it is not the spirit of the world that we have received, but the Spirit that comes from God, so that we may realize the blessings given to us by him. And\V{13} we speak of these gifts, not in language taught by human philosophy, but in language taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things in spiritual words. The\V{14} merely intellectual person rejects the teaching of the Spirit of God; for to them it is mere folly; they cannot grasp it, because it is to be understood only by spiritual insight. But\V{15} the person with spiritual insight is able to understand everything, although they themselves are understood by no one. For\V{16} who has so comprehended the mind of the Lord as to be able to instruct him? We, however, have the mind of Christ. \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  But\C{3} I, my friends, could not speak to you as people with spiritual insight, but only as worldly-minded – mere infants in the faith of Christ. I\V{2} fed you with milk, not with solid food, for you were not then able to take it.
\par 
\indentation No, and even now you are not able; you are still worldly. While\V{3} there exist among you jealousy and party feeling, is it not true that you are worldly, and are acting merely as other people do? When\V{4} one says ‘I follow Paul,’ and another ‘I follow Apollos,’ aren’t you like other people? What,\V{5} I ask, is Apollos? Or what is Paul? Servants through whom you were led to accept the faith; and that only as the Lord helped each of you. I\V{6} planted, and Apollos watered, but it was God who caused the growth. Therefore\V{7} neither the one who plants, nor the one who waters, counts for anything, but only God who causes the growth. In\V{8} this the person who plants and the person who waters are one; yet each will receive their own reward in proportion to their own labor. For\V{9} we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s harvest field, God’s building.
\par 
 In\V{10} fulfillment of the charge which God had entrusted to me, I laid the foundation like a skillful master; but someone else is now building on it. Let everyone take care how they build; for\V{11} no one can lay any other foundation than the one already laid – Jesus Christ. Whatever\V{12} is used by those who build on this foundation, whether gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, the\V{13} quality of each man’s work will become known, for the day will make it plain; because that day is to be ushered in with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of every man’s work. If\V{14} anyone’s work, which they have built on that foundation, still remains, they will gain a reward. If\V{15} anyone’s work is burnt up, they will suffer loss; though they themselves will escape, but only as one who has passed through fire.
\par 
 Don’t\V{16} you know that you are God’s Temple, and that God’s Spirit has his home in you? If\V{17} any one destroys the Temple of God, God will destroy them; for the Temple of God is sacred, and so also are you.\blank 

\par 
 Let\V{18} no one deceive himself. If any one among you imagines that, as regards this world, they are wise, they should become a ‘fool,’ that they may become wise. For\V{19} in God’s sight this world’s wisdom is folly. Scripture tells of –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘One who catches the wise in their own craftiness,’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{20} it says again –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The Lord sees how fruitless are the deliberations of the wise.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Therefore\V{21} let no one boast about people; for all things are yours – Whether\V{22} Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or the present, or the future – all things are yours! But\V{23} you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s. \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Let\C{4} people look on us as Christ’s servants, and as stewards of the hidden truths of God. Now\V{2} what we look for in stewards is that they should be trustworthy. But\V{3} it weighs very little with me that I am judged by you or by any human tribunal. No, I do not even judge myself; for,\V{4} though I am conscious of nothing against myself, that does not prove me innocent. It is the Lord who is my judge. Therefore\V{5} do not pass judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes. He will throw light on what is now dark and obscure, and will reveal the motives in people’s minds; and then everyone will receive due praise from God.
\par 
\indentation  All\V{6} this, friends, I have, for your sakes, applied to Apollos and myself, so that, from our example, you may learn to observe the precept – ‘Keep to what is written,’ that none of you may speak boastfully of one teacher to the disparagement of another. For\V{7} who makes any one of you superior to others? And what have you that was not given you? But if you received it as a gift, why do you boast as if you had not? Are\V{8} you all so soon satisfied? Are you so soon rich? Have you begun to reign without us? Would indeed that you had, so that we also might reign with you! For,\V{9} as it seems to me, God has exhibited us, the apostles, last of all, as people doomed to death. We are made a spectacle to the universe, both to angels and to people! We,\V{10} for Christ’s sake, are fools, but you, by your union with Christ, are people of discernment. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are despised. To\V{11} this very hour we go hungry, thirsty, and naked; we are beaten; we are homeless; we\V{12} work hard, toiling with our own hands. We meet abuse with blessings, we meet persecution with endurance, we\V{13} meet slander with gentle appeals. We have been treated as the scum of the earth, the vilest of the vile, to this very hour.
\par 
 It\V{14} is with no wish to shame you that I am writing like this; but to warn you as my own dear children. Though\V{15} you may have thousands of instructors in the faith of Christ, yet you have not many fathers. It was I who, through union with Christ Jesus, became your father by means of the good news. Therefore\V{16} I entreat you – Follow my example. This\V{17} is my reason for sending Timothy to you. He is my own dear faithful child in the Master’s service, and he will remind you of my methods of teaching the faith of Christ Jesus – methods which I follow everywhere in every church.
\par 
 Some,\V{18} I hear, are puffed up with pride, thinking that I am not coming to you. But\V{19} come to you I will, and that soon, if it please the Lord; and then I will find out, not what words these people use who are so puffed up, but what power they possess; for\V{20} the kingdom of God is based, not on words, but on power. What\V{21} do you wish? Am I to come to you with a rod, or in a loving and gentle spirit? 
\par 
 There\C{5} is a wide-spread report respecting a case of immorality among you, and that, too, of a kind that does not occur even among the Gentiles – a man, I hear, is living with his father’s wife! Instead\V{2} of grieving over it and taking steps for the expulsion of the man who has done this thing, is it possible that you are still puffed up? For\V{3} I myself, though absent in body, have been present with you in spirit, and in the name of our Lord Jesus I have already passed judgment, just as if I had been present, on the man who has acted in this way. I\V{4} have decided – having been present in spirit at your meetings, when the power of the Lord Jesus was with us – to\V{5} deliver such a man as this over to Satan, that what is sensual in him may be destroyed, so that his spirit may be saved at the day of the Lord. Your\V{6} boasting is unseemly. Don’t you know that even a little leaven leavens all the dough? Get\V{7} rid entirely of the old leaven, so that you may be like new dough – free from leaven, as in truth you are. For our passover lamb is already sacrificed – Christ himself; therefore\V{8} let us keep our festival, not with the leaven of former days, nor with the leaven of vice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
\par 
 I\V{9} told you, in my letter, not to associate with immoral people – not,\V{10} of course, meaning people of the world who are in immoral, or who are covetous and grasping, or who worship idols; for then you would have to leave the world altogether. But,\V{11} as things are, I say that you are not to associate with anyone who, although a follower of Christ in name, is immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or abusive, or a drunkard, or grasping – no, not even to sit down to eat with such people. What\V{12} have I to do with judging those outside the church? Is it not for you to judge those who are within the church, while\V{13} God judges those who are outside? Put away the wicked from among you. \blank 

\par 
 Can\C{6} it be that, when one of you has a dispute with another, they dare to have their case tried before the heathen, instead of before Christ’s people? Don’t\V{2} you know that Christ’s people will try the world? And if the world is to be tried by you, are you unfit to try the most trivial cases? Don’t\V{3} you know that we are to try angels – to say nothing of the affairs of this life? Why,\V{4} then, if you have cases relating to the affairs of this life, do you set to try them those who carry no weight with the church? To your shame I ask it. Can\V{5} it be that there is not one among you wise enough to decide between two of their fellow followers? Must\V{6} a follower sue a fellow follower? In front of unbelievers? To\V{7} begin with, it is undoubtedly a loss to you to have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather let yourselves be wronged? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated? Instead\V{8} of this, you wrong and cheat others yourselves – yes, even other followers! Don’t\V{9} you know that wrong-doers will have no share in God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived. No one who is immoral, or an idolater, or an adulterer, or licentious, or a sexual pervert, or\V{10} a thief, or covetous, or a drunkard, or abusive, or grasping, will have any share in God’s kingdom. Such\V{11} some of you used to be; but you washed yourselves clean. You became Christ’s people! You were pronounced righteous through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and through the Spirit of our God!\blank 

\par 
 Everything\V{12} is allowable for me! Yes, but everything is not profitable. Everything is allowable for me! Yes, but for my part, I will not let myself be enslaved by anything. Food\V{13} exists for the stomach, and the stomach for food; but God will put an end to both the one and the other. The body, however, exists, not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body; and,\V{14} as God has raised the Lord, so he will raise up us also by the exercise of his power. Don’t\V{15} you know that your bodies are Christ’s members? Am I, then, to take the members that belong to the Christ and make them the members of a prostitute? Heaven forbid! Or\V{16} don’t you know that a man who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body (for ‘the two,’ it is said, ‘will become one’); while\V{17} a man who is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit? Shun\V{18} all immorality. Every other sin that people commit is something outside the body; but an immoral person sins against their own body. Again,\V{19} don’t you know that your body is a shrine of the Holy Spirit that is within you – the Spirit which you have from God? Moreover,\V{20} you are not your own masters; you were bought, and the price was paid. Therefore, honor God in your bodies. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Answers to Questions Asked by the Church at Corinth}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  With\C{7} reference to the subjects about which you wrote to me: It is good for a man to remain single. But,\V{2} owing to the prevalence of immorality, I advise every man to have his own wife, and every woman her husband. A\V{3} husband should give his wife her due, and a wife her husband. It\V{4} is not the wife, but the husband, who exercises power over her body; and so, too, it is not the husband, but the wife, who exercises power over his body. Do\V{5} not deprive each other of what is due – unless it is only for a time and by mutual consent, so that your minds may be free for prayer until you again live as man and wife – otherwise Satan might take advantage of your want of self-control and tempt you. I\V{6} say this, however, as a concession, not as a command. I\V{7} should wish everyone to be just what I am myself. But everyone has his own gift from God – one in one way, and one in another.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  My\V{8} advice, then, to those who are not married, and to widows, is this: It would be good for them to remain as I am myself. But,\V{9} if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to be consumed with passion. To\V{10} those who are married my direction is – yet it is not mine, but the Master’s – that a woman is not to leave her husband (If\V{11} she has done so, she should remain as she is, or else be reconciled to her husband) and also that a man is not to divorce his wife. To\V{12} all others I say – I, not the Master – If a follower of the Lord is married to a woman, who is an unbeliever but willing to live with him, he should not divorce her; and\V{13} a woman who is married to a man, who is an unbeliever but willing to live with her, should not divorce her husband. For,\V{14} through his wife, the husband who is an unbeliever has become associated with Christ’s people; and the wife who is an unbeliever has become associated with Christ’s people through the Lord’s follower whom she has married. Otherwise your children would be ‘defiled,’ but, as it is, they belong to Christ’s people. However,\V{15} if the unbeliever wishes to be separated, let them be so. Under such circumstances neither is bound; God has called you to live in peace. How\V{16} can you tell, wife, whether you may not save your husband? And how can you tell, husband, whether you may not save your wife?
\par 
 In\V{17} any case, a person should continue to live in the condition which the Lord has allotted to them, and in which they were when God called them. This is the rule that I lay down in every church. Was\V{18} a man already circumcised when he was called? Then he should not efface his circumcision. Has a man been called when uncircumcised? Then he should not be circumcised. Circumcision\V{19} is nothing; the want of it is nothing; but to keep the commands of God is everything. Let\V{20} everyone remain in that condition of life in which they were when the call came to them. Were\V{21} you a slave when you were called? Do not let that trouble you. No, even if you are able to gain your freedom, still do your best. For\V{22} the person who was a slave when they were called to the master’s service is the Master’s freedman; so, too, the person who was free when called is Christ’s slave. You\V{23} were bought, and the price was paid. Do not let yourselves become slaves to people. Friends,\V{24} let everyone remain in the condition in which they were when they were called, in close communion with God.\blank 

\par 
 With\V{25} regard to unmarried women, I have no command from the Master to give you, but I tell you my opinion, and the Master in his mercy has made me worthy to be trusted. I\V{26} think, then, that, in view of the time of suffering that has now come upon us, what I have already said is best – that a man should remain as he is. Are\V{27} you married to a wife? Then do not seek to be separated. Are you separated from a wife? Then do not seek for a wife. Still,\V{28} if you should marry, that is not wrong; nor, if a young woman marries, is that wrong. But those who marry will have much trouble to bear, and my wish is to spare you. What\V{29} I mean, friends, is this – the time is short. Meanwhile, let those who have wives live as if they had none, those\V{30} who are weeping as if not weeping, those who are rejoicing as if not rejoicing, those who buy as if not possessing, and\V{31} those who use the good things of the world as using them sparingly; for this world as we see it is passing away. I\V{32} want you to be free from anxiety. The unmarried man is anxious about the Master’s cause, desiring to please him; while\V{33} the married man is anxious about worldly matters, desiring to please his wife; and\V{34} so his interests are divided. Again, the unmarried woman, whether she is old or young, is anxious about the Master’s cause, striving to be pure both in body and in spirit, while the married woman is anxious about worldly matters, desiring to please her husband. I\V{35} say this for your own benefit, not with any intention of putting a halter around your necks, but in order to secure for the Master seemly and constant devotion, free from all distraction.
\par 
 If,\V{36} however, a father thinks that he is not acting fairly by his unmarried daughter, when she is past her youth, and if under these circumstances her marriage ought to take place, he should act as he thinks right. He is doing nothing wrong – let the marriage take place. On\V{37} the other hand, a father, who has definitely made up his mind, and is under no compulsion, but is free to carry out his own wishes, and who has come to the decision, in his own mind, to keep his unmarried daughter at home will be doing right. In\V{38} short, the one who consents to his daughter’s marriage is doing right, and yet the other will be doing better.
\par 
 A\V{39} wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives; but, if the husband should pass to his rest, the widow is free to marry anyone she wishes, provided he is a believer. Yet\V{40} she will be happier if she remains as she is – in my opinion, for I think that I also have the Spirit of God. \blank 

\par 
 With\C{8} reference to food that has been offered in sacrifice to idols – We are aware that all of us have knowledge! Knowledge breeds conceit, while love builds up character. If\V{2} someone thinks that they know anything, they have not yet reached that knowledge which they ought to have reached. On\V{3} the other hand, if a person loves God, they are known by God. With\V{4} reference, then, to eating food that has been offered to idols – we are aware that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one. Even\V{5} supposing that there are so-called ‘gods’ either in heaven or on earth – and there are many such ‘gods’ and ‘lords’ – Yet\V{6} for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom all things come (and for him we live), and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things come (and through him we live). Still,\V{7} it is not everyone that has this knowledge. Some people, because of their association with idols, continued down to the present time, eat the food as food offered to an idol; and their consciences, while still weak, are dulled. What\V{8} we eat, however, will not bring us nearer to God. We lose nothing by not eating this food, and we gain nothing by eating it. But\V{9} take care that this right of yours does not become in any way a stumbling-block to the weak. For\V{10} if someone should see you who possess this knowledge, feasting in an idol’s temple, will not their conscience, if they are weak, become so hardened that they, too, will eat food offered to idols? And\V{11} so, through this knowledge of yours, the weak person is ruined – someone for whose sake Christ died! In\V{12} this way, by sinning against your fellow followers of the Lord and injuring their consciences, while still weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore,\V{13} if what I eat makes a follower of the Lord fall, rather than make them fall, I will never eat meat again. \blank 

\par 
 Am\C{9} I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen our Lord Jesus? Aren’t you yourselves my work achieved in union with the Lord? If\V{2} I am not an apostle to others, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal that stamps me as an apostle in union with the Lord. The\V{3} defense that I make to my critics is this: Haven’t\V{4} we a right to food and drink? Haven’t\V{5} we a right to take a wife with us, if she is a Christian, as the other apostles and the Master’s brothers and Cephas all do? Or\V{6} is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to give up working for our bread? Does\V{7} anyone ever serve as a soldier at his own expense? Does anyone plant a vineyard and not eat its produce? Or does anyone look after a herd and not drink the milk? Am\V{8} I, in all this, speaking only from the human standpoint? Does not the Law also say the same? For\V{9} in the Law of Moses it is said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You should not muzzle a bullock while it is treading out the grain.’}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft] Is it the bullocks that God is thinking of? Or\V{10} is not is said entirely for our sakes? Surely it was written for our sakes, for the plowman ought not to plow, nor the thrasher to thrash, without expecting a share of the grain. Since\V{11} we, then, sowed spiritual seed for you, is it too much that we should reap from you an earthly harvest? If\V{12} others share in this right over you, don’t we even more? Still we did not avail ourselves of this right. No, we endure anything rather than impede the progress of the good news of the Christ. Don’t\V{13} you know that those who do the work of the Temple live on what comes from the Temple, and that those who serve at the altar share the offerings with the altar? So,\V{14} too, the Master has appointed that those who tell the good news should get their living from the good news. I,\V{15} however, have not availed myself of any of these rights. I am not saying this to secure such an arrangement for myself; indeed, I would far rather die – Nobody will make my boast a vain one! If\V{16} I tell the good news, I have nothing to boast of, for I am compelled to do so. Woe is me if I do not tell it! If\V{17} I do this work willingly, I have a reward; but, if unwillingly, I have been charged to perform a duty. What\V{18} is my reward, then? To present the good news free of all cost, and so make but a sparing use of the rights which it gives me.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Although\V{19} I was entirely free, yet, to win as many converts as possible, I made myself everyone’s slave. To\V{20} the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews. To those who are subject to Law I became like a man subject to Law – though I was not myself subject to Law – to win those who are subject to Law. To\V{21} those who have no Law I became like a man who has no Law – not that I am free from God’s Law; no, for I am under Christ’s Law – to win those who have no law. To\V{22} the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so as at all costs to save some. And\V{23} I do everything for the sake of the good news, so that with them I may share in its blessings.
\par 
\indentation  Don’t\V{24} you know that on a racecourse, though all run, yet only one wins the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Every\V{25} athlete exercises self-restraint in everything; they, indeed, for a crown that fades, we for one that is unfading. I,\V{26} therefore, run with no uncertain aim. I box – not like a man hitting the air. No,\V{27} I bruise my body and make it my slave, so that I, who have called others to the contest, will not myself be rejected. \blank 

\par 
 I\C{10} want you to bear in mind, friends, that all our ancestors were beneath the cloud, and all passed through the sea; that\V{2} in the cloud and in the sea they all underwent baptism as followers of Moses; and\V{3} that they all ate the same supernatural food, and\V{4} all drank the same supernatural water, for they used to drink from a supernatural rock which followed them, and that rock was the Christ. Yet\V{5} with most of them God was displeased; for they were struck down in the desert. Now\V{6} these things happened as warnings to us, to teach us not to long for evil things as our ancestors longed. Do\V{7} not become idolaters, as some of them became. Scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to dance.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Nor\V{8} let us act immorally, as some of them acted, with the result that twenty-three thousand of them fell dead in a single day. Nor\V{9} let us try the patience of the Lord too far, as some of them tried it, with the result that they were, one after another, destroyed by the snakes. And\V{10} do not murmur, as some of them murmured, and so were destroyed by the angel of death. These\V{11} things happened to them by way of warning, and were recorded to serve as a caution to us, in whose days the close of the ages has come.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Therefore\V{12} let the person who thinks that they stand take care that they do not fall. No\V{13} temptation has come upon you that is not common to all humanity. God will not fail you, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength; but, when he sends the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, so that you may have strength to endure.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Therefore,\V{14} my dear friends, shun the worship of idols. I\V{15} speak to you as man of discernment; form your own judgment about what I am saying. In\V{16} the cup of blessing which we bless, is not there a sharing in the blood of the Christ? And in the bread which we break, is not there a sharing in the body of the Christ? The\V{17} bread is one, and we, though many, are one body; for we all partake of that one bread. Look\V{18} at the people of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices share with the altar? What\V{19} do I mean? That an offering made to an idol, or the idol itself, is anything? No;\V{20} what I say is that the sacrifices offered by the Gentiles are offered to demons and to a being who is no God, and I do not want you to share with demons. You\V{21} cannot drink both the Cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake at the Table of the Lord and at the table of demons. Or\V{22} are we to rouse the jealousy of the Lord? Are we stronger than he?
\par 
 Everything\V{23} is allowable! Yes, but everything is not profitable. Everything is allowable! Yes, but everything does not build up character. A\V{24} person must not study their own interests, but the interests of others.
\par 
 Eat\V{25} anything that is sold in the market, without making inquiries to satisfy your scruples; for\V{26} the earth, with all that is in it, belongs to the Lord. If\V{27} an unbeliever invites you to his house and you consent to go, eat anything that is put before you, without making inquiries to satisfy your scruples. But,\V{28} if anyone should say to you ‘This has been offered in sacrifice to an idol,’ then, for the sake of the speaker and his scruples, do not eat it. I\V{29} do not say your scruples, but his. For why should the freedom that I claim be condemned by the scruples of another? If,\V{30} for my part, I take the food thankfully, why should I be abused for eating that for which I give thanks?
\par 
 Whether,\V{31} then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything to the honor of God. Do\V{32} not cause offense either to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God; for\V{33} I, also, try to please everybody in everything, not seeking my own advantage, but do what is best for others, so that they may be saved.  Imitate\C{11} me, as I myself imitate Christ.\blank 

\par 
 I\V{2} praise you, indeed, because you never forget me, and are keeping my injunctions in mind, exactly as I laid them on you. But\V{3} I am anxious that you should understand that the Christ is the head of every man, that man is the head of woman, and that God is the head of the Christ. Any\V{4} man who keeps his head covered, when praying or preaching in public, dishonors him who is his head; while\V{5} any woman, who prays or preaches in public bare-headed, dishonors him who is her head; for that is to make herself like one of the shameless women who shave their heads. Indeed,\V{6} if a woman does not keep her head covered, she may as well cut her hair short. But, since to cut her hair short, or shave it off, marks her as one of the shameless women, she should keep her head covered. A\V{7} man ought not to have his head covered, for he has been from the beginning the likeness of God and the reflection of his glory, but woman is the reflection of man’s glory. For\V{8} it was not man who was taken from woman, but woman who was taken from man. Besides,\V{9} man was not created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man. And,\V{10} therefore, a woman ought to wear on her head a symbol of her subjection, because of the presence of the angels. Still,\V{11} when in union with the Lord, woman is not independent of man, or man of woman; for\V{12} just as woman came from man, so man comes by means of woman; and all things come from God. judge\V{13} for yourselves. Is it fitting that a woman should pray to God in public with her head uncovered? Does\V{14} not nature herself teach us that, while for a man to wear his hair long is degrading to him, a\V{15} woman’s long hair is her glory? Her hair has been given her to serve as a covering. If,\V{16} however, anyone still thinks it right to contest the point – well, we have no such custom, nor have the churches of God.\blank 

\par 
 In\V{17} giving directions on the next subject, I cannot praise you; because your meetings do more harm than good. To\V{18} begin with, I hear you and, to some extent, I believe it. Indeed,\V{19} there must be actual parties among you, for so only will the people of real worth become known. When\V{20} you meet together, as I understand, it is not possible to eat the Lord’s Supper; for,\V{21} as you eat, each of you tries to secure his own supper first, with the result that one has too little to eat, and another has too much to drink! Have\V{22} you no houses in which you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show your contempt for the church of God, and to humiliate the poor? What can I say to you? Should I praise you? In this matter I cannot praise you. For\V{23} I myself received from the Lord the account which I have in turn given to you – how the Lord Jesus, on the very night of his betrayal, took some bread, and,\V{24} after saying the thanksgiving, broke it and said  “This is my own body given on your behalf. Do this in memory of me.”  And\V{25} in the same way with the cup, after supper, saying  “This cup is the new covenant made by my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, in memory of me.”  For\V{26} whenever you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death – until he comes. Therefore,\V{27} whoever eats the bread, or drinks the Lord’s cup, in an irreverent spirit, will have to answer for an offense against the Lord’s body and blood. Let\V{28} everyone look into their own heart, and only then eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For\V{29} the person who eats and drinks brings a judgment on themselves by their eating and drinking, when they do not discern the body. That\V{30} is why so many among you are weak and ill, and why some are sleeping. But,\V{31} if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged. Yet,\V{32} in being judged by the Lord, we are undergoing discipline, so that we may not have judgment passed on us with the rest of the world. Therefore,\V{33} my friends, when you meet together to eat the Supper, wait for one another. If\V{34} anyone is hungry, they should eat at home, so that your meetings may not bring a judgment on you. The other details I will settle when I come. \blank 

\par 
 In\C{12} the next place, friends, I do not want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts. You\V{2} know that there was a time when you were Gentiles, going astray after idols that could not speak, just as you happened to be led. Therefore\V{3} I tell you plainly that no one who speaks under the influence of the Spirit of God says ‘JESUS IS ACCURSED,’ and that no one can say ‘JESUS IS LORD,’ except under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Gifts\V{4} differ, but the Spirit is the same; ways\V{5} of serving differ, yet the Master is the same; results\V{6} differ, yet the God who brings about every result is in every case the same. To\V{7} each of us there is given spiritual illumination for the general good. To\V{8} one is given the power to speak with wisdom through the Spirit; to another the power to speak with knowledge, due to the same Spirit; to\V{9} another faith by the same Spirit; to another power to cure diseases by the one Spirit; to another supernatural powers; to\V{10} another the gift of preaching; to another the gift of distinguishing between true and false inspiration; to another varieties of the gift of ‘tongues’; to another the power to interpret ‘tongues.’ All\V{11} these result from one and the same Spirit, who distributes his gifts to each individually as he wills.
\par 
 For\V{12} just as the human body is one whole, and yet has many parts, and all its parts, many though they are, form but one body, so it is with the Christ; for\V{13} it was by one Spirit that we were all baptized to form one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and were all imbued with one Spirit. The\V{14} human body, I repeat, consists not of one part, but of many. If\V{15} the foot says ‘Since I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it does not because of that cease to belong to the body. Or\V{16} if the ear says ‘Since I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it does not because of that cease to belong to the body. If\V{17} all the body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If it were all hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But\V{18} in fact God has placed each individual part just where he thought fit in the body. If,\V{19} however, they all made up only one part, where would the body be? But\V{20} in fact, although it has many parts, there is only one body. The\V{21} eye cannot say to the hand ‘I do not need you,’ nor, again, the head to the feet ‘I do not need you.’ No!\V{22} Those parts of the body that seem naturally the weaker are indispensable; and\V{23} those parts which we deem less honorable we surround with special honor; and our ungraceful parts receive a special grace which our graceful parts do not require. Yes,\V{24} God has so constructed the body – by giving a special honor to the part that lacks it – As\V{25} to secure that there should be no disunion in the body, but that the parts should show the same care for one another. If\V{26} one part suffers, all the others suffer with it, and if one part has honor done it, all the others share its joy. Together\V{27} you are the body of Christ, and individually its parts. In\V{28} the church God has appointed, first, apostles, secondly preachers, thirdly teachers; then he has given supernatural powers, then power to cure diseases, aptness for helping others, capacity to govern, varieties of the gift of ‘tongues.’ Can\V{29} everyone be an apostle? Can everyone be a preacher? Can everyone be a teacher? Can everyone have supernatural powers? Can\V{30} everyone have power to cure diseases? Can everyone speak in ‘tongues’? Can everyone interpret them? Strive\V{31} for the greater gifts.\blank 

\par 
Yet I can still show you a way beyond all comparison the best.  Though\C{13} I speak in the ‘tongues’ of people, or even of angels, yet have not love, I have become mere echoing brass, or a clanging cymbal! Even\V{2} though I have the gift of preaching, and fathom all hidden truths and all the depths of knowledge; even though I have such faith as might move mountains, yet have not love, I am nothing! Even\V{3} though I dole my substance to the poor, even though I sacrifice my body in order to boast, yet have not love, it avails me nothing! Love\V{4} is long-suffering, and kind; love is never envious, never boastful, never conceited, never behaves unbecomingly; love\V{5} is never self-seeking, never provoked, never reckons up her wrongs; love\V{6} never rejoices at evil, but rejoices in the triumph of truth; love\V{7} bears with all things, ever trustful, ever hopeful, ever patient. Love\V{8} never fails. But, whether it be the gift of preaching, it will be done with; whether it be the gift of ‘tongues,’ it will cease; whether it be knowledge, it, too, will be done with. For\V{9} our knowledge is incomplete, and our preaching is incomplete, but,\V{10} when the perfect has come, that which is incomplete will be done with. When\V{11} I was a child, I talked as a child, I felt as a child, I reasoned as a child; now that I am a man, I have done with childish ways. As\V{12} yet we see, in a mirror, dimly, but then – face to face! As yet my knowledge is incomplete, but then I will know in full, as I have been fully known. Meanwhile\V{13} faith, hope, and love endure – these three, but the greatest of these is love.  Seek\C{14} this love earnestly, and strive for spiritual gifts, above all for the gift of preaching. The\V{2} person who, when speaking, uses the gift of ‘tongues’ is speaking, not to people, but to God, for no one understands them; yet in spirit they are speaking of hidden truths. But\V{3} those who preach are speaking to their fellow men and women words that will build up faith, and give them comfort and encouragement. Those\V{4} who, when speaking, use the gift of ‘tongues’ builds up their own faith, while those who preach build up the faith of the church. Now\V{5} I want you all to speak in ‘tongues,’ but much more I wish that you should preach. A preacher is worth more than one who speaks in ‘tongues,’ unless they interprets their words, so that the faith of the church may be built up. This\V{6} being so, friends, what good will I do you, if I come to you and speak in ‘tongues,’ unless my words convey some revelation, or knowledge, or take the form of preaching or teaching? Even\V{7} with inanimate things, such as a flute or a harp, though they produce sounds, yet unless the notes are quite distinct, how can the tune played on the flute or the harp be recognized? If\V{8} the bugle sounds a doubtful call, who will prepare for battle? And\V{9} so with you; unless, in using the gift of ‘tongues,’ you utter intelligible words, how can what you say be understood? You will be speaking to the winds! There\V{10} is, for instance, a certain number of different languages in the world, and not one of them fails to convey meaning. If,\V{11} however, I do not happen to know the language, I will be a foreigner to those who speak it, and they will be foreigners to me. And\V{12} so with you; since your are striving for spiritual gifts, be eager to excel in such as will build up the faith of the church. Therefore\V{13} anyone who, when speaking, uses the gift of ‘tongues’ should pray for ability to interpret them. If,\V{14} when praying, I use the gift of ‘tongues,’ my spirit indeed prays, but my mind is a blank. What,\V{15} then, is my conclusion? Simply this – I will pray with my spirit, but with my mind as well; I will sing with my spirit, but with my mind as well. If\V{16} you bless God with your spirit only, how can people in the congregation who are without your gift say ‘Amen’ to your thanksgiving? They do not know what you are saying! Your\V{17} thanksgiving may be excellent, but the other is not helped by it. Thank\V{18} God, I use the gift of ‘tongues’ more than any of you. But\V{19} at a meeting of the church I would rather speak five words with my mind, and so teach others, than ten thousand words when using the gift of ‘tongues.’
\par 
 My\V{20} friends, do not show yourselves children in understanding. In wickedness be infants, but in understanding show yourselves adults. It\V{21} is said in the Law –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘In strange tongues and by the lips of strangers will I speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Therefore\V{22} the gift of the ‘tongues’ is intended as a sign, not for those who believe in Christ, but for those who do not, while the gift of preaching is intended as a sign, not for those who do not believe in Christ, but for those who do. So,\V{23} when the whole church meets, if all present use the gift of ‘tongues,’ and some people who are without the gift, or who are unbelievers, come in, will not they say that you are mad? While,\V{24} if all those present use the gift of preaching, and an unbeliever, or someone without the gift, comes in, they are convinced of their sinfulness by them all, they are called to account by them all; the\V{25} secrets of their heart are revealed, and then, throwing themselves on their face, they will worship God, and declare ‘God is indeed among you!’\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  What\V{26} do I suggest, then, friends? Whenever you meet for worship, each of you comes, either with a hymn, or a lesson, or a revelation, or the gift of ‘tongues,’ or the interpretation of them; let everything be directed to the building up of faith. If\V{27} any of you use the gift of ‘tongues,’ not more than two, or at the most three, should do so – each speaking in his turn – and someone should interpret them. If\V{28} there is no one able to interpret what is said, they should remain silent at the meeting of the church, and speak to themselves and to God. Of\V{29} preachers two or three should speak, and the rest should weigh well what is said. But,\V{30} if some revelation is made to another person as he sits there, the first speaker should stop. For\V{31} you can all preach in turn, so that all may learn some lesson and all receive encouragement. (The\V{32} spirit that moves the preachers is within the preachers’ control; for\V{33} God is not a God of disorder, but of peace.) This custom prevails in all the churches of Christ’s people.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  At\V{34} the meetings of the church married women should remain silent, for they are not allowed to speak in public; they should take a subordinate place, as the Law itself directs. If\V{35} they want information on any point, they should ask their husbands about it at home; for it is unbecoming for a married woman to speak at a meeting of the church. What!\V{36} Did God’s message to the world originate with you? Or did it find its way to none but you?
\par 
 If\V{37} anyone thinks that he has the gift of preaching or any other spiritual gift, he should recognize that what I am now saying to you is a command from the Lord. Anyone\V{38} who ignores it may be ignored. Therefore,\V{39} my friends, strive for the gift of preaching, and yet do not forbid speaking in ‘tongues.’ Let\V{40} everything be done in a proper and orderly manner. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Apostle’s Teaching as to the Resurrection of the Dead}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Next,\C{15} friends, I would like to remind you of the good news which I told you, and which you received – the good news on which you have taken your stand, and\V{2} by means of which you are being saved. I would like to remind you of the words that I used in telling it to you, since you are still holding fast to it, and since it was not in vain that you became believers in Christ. For\V{3} at the very beginning of my teaching I gave you the account which I had myself received – that Christ died for our sins (as the scriptures had foretold), that\V{4} he was buried, that on the third day he was raised (as the scriptures had foretold), and\V{5} that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After\V{6} that, he appeared to more than five hundred of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have gone to their rest. After\V{7} that, he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles. Last\V{8} of all, he appeared even to me, who am, as it were, the abortion. For\V{9} I am the meanest of the apostles, I who am unworthy of the name of ‘apostle,’ because I persecuted the church of God. But\V{10} it is through the love of God that I am what I am, and the love that he showed me has not been wasted. No, I have toiled harder than any of them, and yet it was not I, but the love of God working with me. Whether,\V{11} then, it was I or whether it was they, this we proclaim, and this you believed.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Now,\V{12} if it is proclaimed of Christ that he has been raised from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead? But,\V{13} if there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead, then even Christ has not been raised; and,\V{14} if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without meaning, and our faith without meaning also! Yes,\V{15} and we are being proved to have borne false testimony about God; for we testified of God that he raised the Christ, whom he did not raise, if, indeed, the dead do not rise! For,\V{16} if the dead do not rise, then even Christ himself has not been raised, and,\V{17} if Christ has not been raised, your faith is folly – your sins are on you still! Yes,\V{18} and they, who have passed to their rest in union with Christ, perished! If\V{19} all that we have done has been to place our hope in Christ for this life, then we of all people are the most to be pitied.
\par 
 But,\V{20} in truth, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who are at rest. For,\V{21} since through a man there is death, so, too, through a man there is a resurrection of the dead. For,\V{22} as through union with Adam all die, so through union with the Christ will all be made to live. But\V{23} each in their proper order – Christ the first-fruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to the Christ. Then\V{24} will come the end – when he surrenders the kingdom to his God and Father, having overthrown all other rule and all other authority and power. For\V{25} he must reign until God ‘has put all his enemies under his feet.’ The\V{26} last enemy to be overthrown is death; for\V{27} God has placed all things under Christ’s feet. (But, when it is said that all things have been placed under Christ, it is plain that God is excepted who placed everything under him.) And,\V{28} when everything has been placed under him, the Son will place himself under God who placed everything under him, so that God may be all in all! Again,\V{29} what good will they be doing who are baptized on behalf of the dead? If it is true that the dead do not rise, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why,\V{30} too, do we risk our lives every hour? Daily\V{31} I face death – I swear it, friends, by the pride in you that I feel through my union with Christ Jesus, our Lord. If\V{32} with only human hopes I had fought in the arena at Ephesus, what should I have gained by it? If the dead do not rise, then let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die! Do\V{33} not be deceived.
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Good character is marred by evil company.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Wake\V{34} up to a righteous life, and cease to sin. There are some who have no true knowledge of God. I speak in this way to shame you.\stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Someone,\V{35} however, may ask ‘How do the dead rise? And in what body will they come?’ You\V{36} foolish person! The seed you yourself sow does not come to life, unless it dies! And\V{37} when you sow, you sow not the body that will be, but a mere grain – perhaps of wheat, or something else. God\V{38} gives it the body that he pleases – to each seed its special body. All\V{39} forms of life are not the same; there is one for people, another for beasts, another for birds, and another for fish. There\V{40} are heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies; but the beauty of the heavenly bodies is not the beauty of the earthly. There\V{41} is a beauty of the sun, and a beauty of the moon, and a beauty of the stars; for even star differs from star in beauty. It\V{42} is the same with the resurrection of the dead. Sown a mortal body, it rises immortal; sown disfigured, it rises beautiful; sown\V{43} weak, it rises strong; sown a human body, it rises a spiritual body. As\V{44} surely as there is a human body, there is also a spiritual body. That\V{45} is what is meant by the words – ‘Adam, the first man, became a human being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. That\V{46} which comes first is not the spiritual, but the human; afterward comes the spiritual; the\V{47} first man was from the dust of the earth; the second man from heaven. Those\V{48} who are of the dust are like him who came from the dust; and those who are of heaven are like him who came from heaven. And\V{49} as we have borne the likeness of him who came from the dust, so let us bear the likeness of him who came from heaven. This\V{50} I say, friends – Flesh and blood can have no share in the kingdom of God, nor can the perishable share the imperishable. Listen,\V{51} I will tell you God’s hidden purpose! We will not all have passed to our rest, but we will all be transformed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at\V{52} the last trumpet-call; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise immortal, and we, also, will be transformed. For\V{53} this perishable body of ours must put on an imperishable form, and this dying body a deathless form. And,\V{54} when this dying body has put on its deathless form, then indeed will the words of scripture come true –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘death\V{55} has been swallowed up in victory! Where, Death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  It\V{56} is sin that gives death its sting, and it is the Law that gives sin its power. But\V{57} thanks be to God, who gives us the victory, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Therefore,\V{58} my dear friends, stand firm, unshaken, always diligent in the Lord’s work, for you know that, in union with him, your toil is not in vain. \stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  With\C{16} reference to the collection for Christ’s people, I want you to follow the instructions that I gave to the churches in Galatia. On\V{2} the first day of every week each of you should put by what he can afford, so that no collections need be made after I have come. On\V{3} my arrival, I will send any persons, whom you may authorize by letter, to carry your gift to Jerusalem; and,\V{4} if it appears to be worth while for me to go also, they will go with me.
\par 
\indentation  I\V{5} will come to you as soon as I have been through Macedonia – for I am going through Macedonia – And\V{6} I will probably make some stay with you or, perhaps, remain for the winter, so that you may yourselves send me on my way, wherever I may be going. I\V{7} do not propose to pay you a visit in passing now, for I hope to stay with you for some time, if the Lord permits. I\V{8} intend, however, staying at Ephesus until the Festival at the close of the Harvest; for\V{9} a great opening for active work has presented itself, and there are many opponents.
\par 
 If\V{10} Timothy comes, take care that he has no cause for feeling anxious while he is with you. He is doing the Master’s work no less than I am. No\V{11} one, therefore, should slight him. See him safely on his way to me, for I am expecting him with some of our friends.
\par 
 As\V{12} for our friend Apollos, I have often urged him to go to you with the others. He has, however, been very unwilling to do so as yet; but he will go as soon as he finds a good opportunity.
\par 
 Be\V{13} watchful; stand firm in your faith; be brave; be strong. Let\V{14} everything you do be done in a loving spirit.
\par 
 I\V{15} have another request to make of you, friends. You remember Stephanas and his household, and that they were the first-fruits gathered in from Greece, and set themselves to serve Christ’s people. I\V{16} want you, on your part, to show deference to such people as these, as well as to every fellow laborer and earnest worker. I\V{17} am glad Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus have come, for they have made up for your absence; they\V{18} have cheered my heart, and your hearts also. Recognize the worth of such people as these.\blank 

\par 
 The\V{19} churches in Roman Asia send you their greetings. Aquila and Prisca and the church that meets at their house send you many Christian greetings. All\V{20} of the Lord’s followers send you greetings. Greet one another with a sacred kiss.
\par 
 I,\V{21} Paul, add this greeting in my own handwriting. Accursed\V{22} be anyone who has no love for the Lord. THE LORD IS COMING. May\V{23} the blessing of the Lord Jesus be with you. My\V{24} love to all of you who are in union with Christ Jesus.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{2 Corinthians}

\MTT{Paul’s Second Letter to the}

\MT{Corinthians}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  To\C{1} the church of God in Corinth, and to all Christ’s people throughout Greece, from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and from Timothy, who is also a follower. May\V{2} God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Blessed\V{3} is the God and Father of Jesus Christ our Lord, the all-merciful Father, the God ever ready to console, who\V{4} consoles us in all our troubles, so that we may be able to console those who are in any trouble with the consolation that we ourselves receive from him. It\V{5} is true that we have our full share of the sufferings of the Christ, but through the Christ we have also our full share of consolation. If\V{6} we meet with trouble, it is for the sake of your consolation and salvation; and, if we find consolation, it is for the sake of the consolation that you will experience when you are called to endure the sufferings that we ourselves are enduring; and\V{7} our hope for you remains unshaken. We know that, as you are sharing our sufferings, you will also share our consolation. We\V{8} want you, friends, to know that, in the troubles which befell us in Roman Asia, we were burdened altogether beyond our strength, so much so that we even despaired of life. Indeed,\V{9} we had the presentiment that we must die, so that we might rely, not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. And\V{10} from so imminent a death God delivered us, and will deliver us again; for in him we have placed our hopes of future deliverance, while you, also, help us by your prayers. And\V{11} then many lips will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us in answer to many prayers.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Apostle’s Relations with his Converts}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Indeed,\V{12} our main ground for satisfaction is this – Our conscience tells us that our conduct in the world, and still more in our relations with you, was marked by a purity of motive and a sincerity that were inspired by God, and was based, not on worldly policy, but on the help of God. We\V{13} never write anything to you other than what you will acknowledge to the very end – And,\V{14} indeed, you have already partly acknowledged it about us – that you have a right to be proud of us, as we will be proud of you, on the day of our Lord Jesus.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  With\V{15} this conviction in my mind, I planned to come to see you first, so that your pleasure might be doubled – To\V{16} visit you both on my way to Macedonia, and to come to you again on my return from Macedonia, and then to get you to send me on my way into Judea. As\V{17} this was my plan, where, pray, did I show any fickleness of purpose? Or do you think that my plans are formed on mere impulse, so that in the same breath I say ‘Yes’ and ‘No’? As\V{18} God is true, the message that we brought you does not waver between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’! The\V{19} Son of God, Christ Jesus, whom we – Silas, Timothy, and I – proclaimed among you, never wavered between ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ With him it has always been ‘Yes.’ For,\V{20} many as were the promises of God, in Christ is the ‘Yes’ that fulfills them. Therefore, through Christ again, let the ‘Amen’ rise, through us, to the glory of God. God\V{21} who brings us, with you, into close union with Christ, and who consecrated us, also\V{22} set his seal on us, and gave us his Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of future blessings.
\par 
 But,\V{23} as my life will answer for it, I call God to witness that it was to spare you that I deferred my visit to Corinth. I\V{24} do not mean that we are to dictate to you with regard to your faith; on the contrary, we work with you for your true happiness; indeed, it is through your faith that you are standing firm.  For\C{2} my own sake, as well, I decided not to pay you another painful visit. If\V{2} it is I who cause you pain, why, who is there to cheer me, except the person whom I am paining? So\V{3} I wrote as I did because I was afraid that if I had come, I should have been pained by those who ought to have made me glad; for I felt sure that it was true of you all that my joy was in every case yours also. I\V{4} wrote to you in sore trouble and distress of heart and with many tears, not to give you pain, but to let you see how intense a love I have for you.
\par 
 Now\V{5} whoever has caused the pain has not so much pained me, as he has, to some extent – not to be too severe – pained every one of you. The\V{6} man to whom I refer has been sufficiently punished by the penalty inflicted by the majority of you; so\V{7} that now you must take the opposite course, and forgive and encourage him, or else he may be overwhelmed by the intensity of his pain. So\V{8} I entreat you to assure him of your love. I\V{9} had this further object, also, in what I wrote – to find out whether you might be relied on to be obedient in everything. Anyone\V{10} you forgive, I forgive them, too. Indeed, for my part, whatever I have forgiven (if I have had to forgive anything), I have forgiven for your sakes, in the presence of Christ, so\V{11} as to prevent Satan from taking advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
\par 
 When\V{12} I went to the district around Troas to tell the good news of the Christ, even though there was an opening for serving the Master, I\V{13} could get no peace of mind because I failed to find Titus, my friend; so I took leave of the people there, and went on to Macedonia. All\V{14} thanks to God, who, through our union with the Christ, leads us in one continual triumph, and uses us to spread the sweet perfume of the knowledge of him in every place. For\V{15} we are the fragrance of Christ ascending to God – both among those who are in the path of salvation and among those who are in the path to ruin. To\V{16} the latter we are a stench which arises from death and tells of death; to the former a fragrance which arises from life and tells of life. But who is equal to such a task? Unlike\V{17} many people, we are not in the habit of making profit out of God’s message; but in all sincerity, and bearing God’s commission, we speak before him in union with Christ. \blank 

\par 
 Are\C{3} we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or are we like some who need letters of commendation to you, or from you? You\V{2} yourselves are our letter – a letter written on our hearts, and one which everybody can read and understand. All\V{3} can see that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, a letter written, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Ministry of the Apostles}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  This,\V{4} then, is the confidence in regard to God that we have gained through the Christ. I\V{5} do not mean that we are fit to form any judgment by ourselves, as if on our own authority; our\V{6} fitness comes from God, who himself made us fit to be assistants of a new covenant, of which the substance is, not a written Law, but a Spirit. For the written Law means death, but the Spirit gives life.
\par 
\indentation  If\V{7} the system of religion which involved death, embodied in a written Law and engraved on stones, began amid such glory, that the Israelites were unable to gaze at the face of Moses because of its glory, though it was but a passing glory, will\V{8} not the religion that confers the Spirit have still greater glory? For,\V{9} if there was a glory in the religion that involved condemnation, far greater is the glory of the religion that confers righteousness! Indeed,\V{10} that which then had glory has lost its glory, because of the glory which surpasses it. And,\V{11} if that which was to pass away was attended with glory, far more will that which is to endure be surrounded with glory!
\par 
 With\V{12} such a hope as this, we speak with all plainness; unlike\V{13} Moses, who covered his face with a veil, to prevent the Israelites from gazing at the disappearance of what was passing away. But\V{14} their minds were slow to learn. Indeed, to this very day, at the public reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; only for those who are in union with Christ does it pass away. But,\V{15} even to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their hearts. Yet,\V{16} whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. And\V{17} the Lord is the Spirit, and, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And\V{18} all of us, with faces from which the veil is lifted, seeing, as if reflected in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into his likeness, from glory to glory, as it is given by the Lord, the Spirit. 
\par 
 Therefore,\C{4} since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. No,\V{2} we have renounced the secrecy prompted by shame, refusing to adopt crafty ways, or to tamper with God’s message, and commending ourselves to everyone’s conscience, in the sight of God, by our exhibition of the truth. And,\V{3} even if the good news that we bring is veiled, it is veiled only in the case of those who are on the path to ruin – people\V{4} whose minds have been blinded by the God of this age, unbelievers as they are, so that the light from the good news of the glory of the Christ, who is the incarnation of God, should not shine for them. (For\V{5} it is not ourselves that we proclaim, but Christ Jesus, as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.) Indeed,\V{6} the same God who said ‘Out of darkness light will shine,’ has shone in on our hearts, so that we should bring out into the light the knowledge of the glory of God, seen in the face of Christ.\blank 

\par 
 This\V{7} treasure we have in these earthen vessels, so that its all-prevailing power may be seen to come from God, and not to be our own. Though\V{8} hard pressed on every side, we are never hemmed in; though perplexed, never driven to despair; though\V{9} pursued, never abandoned; though struck down, never killed! We\V{10} always bear on our bodies the marks of the death that Jesus died, so that the life also of Jesus may be exhibited in our bodies. Indeed,\V{11} we who still live are continually being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life also of Jesus may be exhibited in our mortal nature. And\V{12} so, while death is at work within us, life is at work within you. But,\V{13} in the same spirit of faith as that expressed in the words – ‘I believed, and therefore I spoke,’ we, also believe, and therefore speak. For\V{14} we know that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with him, and will bring us, with you, into his presence. For\V{15} all this is for your sakes, so that the loving kindness of God, spreading from heart to heart, may cause yet more hearts to overflow with thanksgiving, to his glory.
\par 
 Therefore,\V{16} as I said, we do not lose heart. No, even though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. The\V{17} light burden of our momentary trouble is preparing for us, in measure transcending thought, a weight of imperishable glory; we,\V{18} all the while, gazing not on what is seen, but on what is unseen; for what is seen is transient, but what is unseen is imperishable.  For\C{5} we know that if our tent – that earthly body which is now our home – is taken down, we have a house of God’s building, a home not made by hands, imperishable, in heaven. Even\V{2} while in our present body we sigh, longing to put over it our heavenly house, sure\V{3} that, when we have put it on, we will never be found discarnate. For\V{4} we who are in this tent sigh under our burden, unwilling to take it off, yet wishing to put our heavenly body over it, so that all that is mortal may be absorbed in life. And\V{5} he who has prepared us for this change is God, who has also given us his Spirit as a pledge.
\par 
 Therefore\V{6} we are always confident, knowing that, while our home is in the body, we are absent from our home with the Lord. For\V{7} we guide our lives by faith, and not by what we see. And\V{8} in this confidence we would gladly leave our home in the body, and make our home with the Lord. Therefore,\V{9} whether in our home or absent from our home, our one ambition is to please him. For\V{10} at the court of the Christ we must all appear in our true characters, so that each may reap the results of the life which he has lived in the body, in accordance with his actions – whether good or worthless.\blank 

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 Therefore,\V{11} because we know the fear inspired by the Lord, it is true that we are trying to win people over, but our motives are plain to God; and I hope that in your inmost hearts they are plain to you also. We\V{12} are not “commending ourselves” again to you, but rather are giving you cause for pride in us, so that you may have an answer ready for those who pride themselves on appearances and not on character. For,\V{13} if we were “beside ourselves,” it was in God’s service! If we are not in our senses, it is in yours! It\V{14} is the love of the Christ which compels us, when we reflect that, as one died for all, therefore all died; and\V{15} that he died for all, so that the living should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose for them.
\par 
 For\V{16} ourselves, then, from this time forward, we refuse to regard anyone from the world’s standpoint. Even if we once thought of Christ from the standpoint of the world, yet now we do so no longer. Therefore,\V{17} if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new being! His old life has passed away; a new life has begun! But\V{18} all this is the work of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave us the Ministry of Reconciliation – To\V{19} proclaim that God, in Christ, was reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning people’s offenses against them, and that he had entrusted us with the message of this reconciliation.
\par 
 It\V{20} is, then, on Christ’s behalf that we are acting as ambassadors, God, as it were, appealing to you through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf – Be reconciled to God. For\V{21} our sake God made Christ, who was innocent of sin, one with our sinfulness, so that in him we might be made one with the righteousness of God.  Therefore,\C{6} as God’s fellow workers, we also appeal to you not to receive his loving kindness in vain. For\V{2} he says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘At the time for acceptance I listened to you,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And on the day of deliverance I helped you.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] Now is the time for acceptance! Now is the day of deliverance! Never\V{3} do we put an obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry. No,\V{4} we are trying to commend ourselves under all circumstances, as God’s assistants should – in many an hour of endurance, in troubles, in hardships, in difficulties, in\V{5} floggings, in imprisonments, in riots, in toils, in sleepless nights, in fastings; by\V{6} purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindliness, by holiness of spirit, by unfeigned love; by\V{7} the message of truth, and by the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; amid\V{8} honor and disrepute, amid slander and praise; regarded as deceivers, yet proved to be true; as\V{9} unknown, yet well-known; as at death’s door, yet, see, we are living; as chastised, yet not killed; as\V{10} saddened, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet enriching many; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things!\stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Apostle and his Converts}
\par 
\noindentation 
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\noindentation  We\V{11} have been speaking freely to you, dear friends in Corinth; we have opened our heart; there\V{12} is room there for you, yet there is not room, in your love, for us. Can\V{13} you not in return – I appeal to you as I should to children – open your hearts to us?
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\indentation  Do\V{14} not enter into inconsistent relations with those who reject the faith. For what partnership can there be between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what has light to do with darkness? What\V{15} harmony can there be between Christ and Belial? Or what can those who accept the faith have in common with those who reject it? What\V{16} agreement can you be between a temple of God and idols? And we are a temple of the living God. That is what God meant when he said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘I will live among them, and walk among them;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And I will be their God, and they will be my people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Therefore\V{17} “Come out from among the nations, and separate yourselves from them,” says the Lord,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“And touch nothing impure;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And I will welcome you;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ and\V{18} I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,”}
\noindentation \Q{2}{says the Lord, the Ruler of all.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]   With\C{7} these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that pollutes either body or spirit, and, in deepest respect for God, aim at perfect holiness.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Make\V{2} room for us in your hearts. In no instance have we ever wronged, or harmed, or taken advantage of, anyone. I\V{3} am not saying this to condemn you. Indeed, I have already said that you are in our heart, to live and die together. I\V{4} have the utmost confidence in you; I am always boasting about you. I am full of encouragement and, in spite of all our troubles, my heart is overflowing with happiness.
\par 
\indentation  Ever\V{5} since we reached Macedonia, we have had no rest in body or mind; on every side there have been troubles – conflicts without, anxieties within. But\V{6} God, who encourages the downcast, has encouraged us by the arrival of Titus. And\V{7} it is not only by his arrival that we are encouraged, but also by the encouragement which he received from you; for he tells us of your strong affection, your penitence, and your zeal on my behalf – so that I am happier still. For,\V{8} though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Even if I were inclined to regret it – for I see that my letter did cause you sorrow though only for a time – I\V{9} am glad now; not because of the sorrow it caused you, but because your sorrow brought you to repentance. For it was God’s will that you should feel sorrow, in order that you should not suffer loss in any way at our hands. For,\V{10} when sorrow is in accordance with God’s will, it results in a repentance leading to salvation, and which will never be regretted. The sure result of the sorrow that the world knows is death. For\V{11} see what results that other sorrow – sorrow in accordance with God’s will – has had in your case. What earnestness it produced! What explanations! What strong feeling! What alarm! What longing! What eagerness! What readiness to punish! You have proved yourselves altogether free from guilt in that matter. So,\V{12} then, even though I did write to you, it was not for the sake of the wrong-doer, or of the man who was wronged, but to make you conscious, in the sight of God, of your own earnest care for us. And it is this that has encouraged us.
\par 
 In\V{13} addition to the encouragement that this gave us, we were made far happier still by the happiness of Titus for his heart has been cheered by you all. Although\V{14} I have been boasting a little to him about you, you did not put me to shame; but, just as every thing we had said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus about you has also proved to be the truth. And\V{15} his affection for you is all the greater, as he remembers the deference that you all showed him, and recalls how you received him with anxious care. I\V{16} am glad that I can feel perfect confidence in you. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Palestine Famine Fund}
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\noindentation  We\C{8} want to remind you, friends, of the love that God has shown to the churches in Macedonia – How,\V{2} tired though they were by many a trouble, their overflowing happiness, and even their deep poverty, resulted in a flood of generosity. I\V{3} can bear witness that to the full extent of their power, and even beyond their power, spontaneously, and\V{4} with many an appeal to us for permission, they showed their love, and contributed their share towards the fund for their fellow Christians. And\V{5} that, not only in the way we had expected; but first they gave themselves to the Lord, and to us also, in accordance with God’s will. And\V{6} this led us beg Titus, since he had started the work for you, he should also see to the completion of this expression of your love. And,\V{7} remembering how you excel in everything – in faith, in teaching, in knowledge, in unfailing earnestness, and in the affection that we have awakened in you – I ask you to excel also in this expression of your love.
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\indentation  I\V{8} am not laying a command on you, but I am making use of the earnestness shown by others to test the genuineness of your affection. For\V{9} you do not forget the loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ – how that for your sakes, although he was rich, he became poor, so that you also might become rich through his poverty. I\V{10} am only making suggestions on this matter; for this is the best course for you, since you were a year before others, not only in taking action, but also in showing your readiness to do so. And\V{11} now I want you to complete the work, so that its completion may correspond with your willing readiness – in proportion, of course, to your means. For,\V{12} where there is willingness, a person’s gift is valued by its comparison with what they have, and not with what they do not have. For\V{13} our object is not to give relief to others and bring distress on you. It is a matter of a fair balance. On\V{14} this occasion what you can spare will supply what they need, at another time what they can spare may supply your need, and so things will be equal. As\V{15} scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Those who had much had nothing over, and those who had little did not lack!’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  I\V{16} thank God for inspiring Titus with the same keen interest in your welfare that I have; for\V{17} Titus has responded to my appeals and, in his great earnestness, is starting to go to you of his own accord. We\V{18} are sending with him one of the Lord’s followers whose fame in the service of the good news has spread through all the churches; and\V{19} not only that, but he has been elected by the churches to accompany us on our journey, in connexion with this expression of your love, which we are personally administering to the honor of the Lord, and to show our deep interest. What\V{20} we are specially guarding against is that any fault should be found with us in regard to our administration of this charitable fund; for\V{21} we are trying to make arrangements which will be right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of people. We\V{22} are also sending with them another of our friends, whose earnestness we have many a time proved in many ways, and whom we now find made even more earnest by his great confidence in you. If\V{23} I must say anything about Titus, he is my intimate companion, and he shares my work for you; if it is our friends, they are delegates of the churches, an honor to Christ. Show\V{24} them, therefore – so that the churches may see it – the proof of your affection, and the ground for our boasting to them about you. \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  With\C{9} reference, indeed, to the Fund for your fellow Christians, it is quite superfluous for me to say anything to you. I\V{2} know, of course, your willingness to help, and I am always boasting of it to the Macedonians. I tell them that you in Greece have been ready for a year past; and it was really your zeal that stimulated most of them. So\V{3} my reason for sending our friends is to prevent what we said about you from proving, in this particular matter, an empty boast, and to enable you to be as well prepared as I have been saying that you are. Otherwise,\V{4} if any Macedonians were to come with me, and find you unprepared, we – to say nothing of you – should feel ashamed of our present confidence. Therefore\V{5} I think it necessary to beg the friends to go to you in advance, and to complete the arrangements for the gift, which you have already promised, so that it may be ready, as a gift, before I come, and not look as if it were being given under pressure.
\par 
\indentation  Remember\V{6} the saying – ‘Scanty sowing, scanty harvest; plentiful sowing, plentiful harvest.’ Let\V{7} everyone give as he has determined before hand, not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. God\V{8} has power to shower all kinds of blessings on you, so that, having, under all circumstances and on all occasions, all that you can need, you may be able to shower all kinds of benefits on others. (As\V{9} scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘He scattered broadcast, he gave to the poor; His righteousness continues for ever.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{10} he who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for eating, will supply you with seed, and cause it to increase, and will multiply the fruits of your righteousness). Rich\V{11} in all things yourselves, you will be able to show liberality to all, which, with our help, will cause thanksgiving to be offered to God. For\V{12} the rendering of a public service such as this, not only relieves the needs of your fellow Christians, but also results in the offering to God of many a thanksgiving. Through\V{13} the evidence afforded by the service rendered, you cause people to praise God for your fidelity to your profession of faith in the good news of the Christ, as well as for the liberality of your contributions for them and for all others. And\V{14} they also, in their prayers for you, express their longing to see you, because of the surpassing love of God displayed toward you. All\V{15} thanks to God for his inestimable gift! \stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Apostle’s Claims and Authority}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Now,\C{10} I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ – I who, “in your presence, am humble in my bearing towards you, but, when absent, am bold in my language to you” – I\V{2} implore you not to drive me to “show my boldness,” when I do come, by the confident tone which I expect to have to adopt towards some of you, who are expecting to find us influenced in our conduct by earthly motives. For,\V{3} though we live an earthly life, we do not wage an earthly war. The\V{4} weapons for our warfare are not earthly, but, under God, are powerful enough to pull down strongholds. We\V{5} are engaged in confuting arguments and pulling down every barrier raised against the knowledge of God. We are taking captive every hostile thought, to bring it into submission to the Christ, and\V{6} are fully prepared to punish every act of rebellion, when once your submission is complete. You\V{7} look at the outward appearance of things! Let anyone, who is confident that he belongs to Christ, reflect, for himself, again on the fact – that we belong to Christ no less than he does. Even\V{8} if I boast extravagantly about our authority – which the Lord gave us for building up your faith and not for overthrowing it – still I have no reason to be ashamed. I\V{9} say this so that it doesn’t seem as if I am trying to overawe you by my letters. For\V{10} people say “His letters are impressive and vigorous, but his personal appearance is insignificant and his speaking contemptible.” Let\V{11} such a person be assured of this – that our words in our letters show us to be, when absent, just what our deeds will show us to be, when present. We\V{12} have not indeed the audacity to class or compare ourselves with some of those who indulge in self-commendation! But, when such persons measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they show a want of wisdom. We,\V{13} however, will not give way to unlimited boasting, but will confine ourselves to the limits of the sphere to which God limited us, when he permitted us to come as far as Corinth. For\V{14} it is not the case, as it would be if we were not in the habit of coming to you, that we are exceeding our bounds! Why, we were the very first to reach you with the good news of the Christ! Our\V{15} boasting, therefore, is not unlimited, nor does it extend to the labors of others; but our hope is that, as your faith grows, our influence among you may be very greatly increased – though still confined to our sphere – So\V{16} that we will be able to tell the good news in the districts beyond you, without trespassing on the sphere assigned to others, or boasting of what has been already done. Let\V{17} anyone who boasts make their boast of the Lord. For\V{18} it is not those who commend themselves that stand the test, but those who are commended by the Lord. \blank 

\par 
\indentation  I\C{11} could wish that you would tolerate a little folly in me! But indeed you do tolerate me. I\V{2} am jealous over you with the jealousy of God. For I engaged you to one husband so that I might present you to the Christ a pure bride. Yet\V{3} I fear that it may turn out that, just as the snake by his craftiness deceived Eve, so your minds may have lost the loyalty and purity due from you to the Christ. For,\V{4} if some newcomer is proclaiming a Jesus other than him whom we proclaimed, or if you are receiving a Spirit different from the Spirit which you received, or a good news different from that which you welcomed, then you are marvelously tolerant! I\V{5} do not regard myself as in any way inferior to the most eminent apostles! Though\V{6} I am no trained orator, yet I am not without knowledge; indeed we made this perfectly clear to you in every way.
\par 
 Perhaps\V{7} you say that I did wrong in humbling myself that you might be exalted – I mean because I told you God’s good news without payment. I\V{8} robbed other churches by taking pay from them, so that I might serve you! And,\V{9} when I was with you in need, I did not become a burden to any of you; for our friends, on coming from Macedonia, supplied my needs. I kept myself, and will keep myself from being an expense to you in any way. As\V{10} surely as I know anything of the truth of Christ, this boast, as far as I am concerned, will not be stopped in any part of Greece. Why?\V{11} Because I do not love you? God knows that I do!
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 What\V{12} I am doing now I will continue to do in order to cut away the ground from under those who are wishing for some ground for attacking me, so that as regards the thing of which they boast they may appear in their true characters, just as we do. Such\V{13} people are false apostles, treacherous workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ! And\V{14} no wonder; for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. It\V{15} is not surprising, therefore, if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. But their end will be in accordance with their actions.\blank 

\par 
 I\V{16} say again – Let no one think me a fool! Yet, if you do, at least welcome me as you would a fool, so that I, too may indulge in a little boasting. When\V{17} I speak like this, I am not speaking as the Master would, but as a fool might, in boasting so confidently. As\V{18} so many are boasting of earthly things, I, too, will boast. For\V{19} all your cleverness, you tolerate fools willingly enough! You\V{20} tolerate a person even when they enslave you, when they plunder you, when they get you into their power, when they put on airs of superiority, when they strike you in the face! I\V{21} admit, to my shame, that we have been weak. But whatever the subject on which others are not afraid to boast – though it is foolish to say so – I am not afraid either! Are\V{22} they Hebrews? So am I! Are they Israelites? So am I! Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I! Are\V{23} they ‘Servants of Christ’? Though it is madness to talk like this, I am more so than they! I have had more of toil, more of imprisonment! I have been flogged times without number. I have been often at death’s door. Five\V{24} times I received at the hands of my own people forty lashes, all but one. Three\V{25} times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a whole day and night in the deep. My\V{26} journeys have been many. I have been through dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in towns, dangers in the country, dangers on the sea, dangers among people pretending to be followers of the Lord. I\V{27} have been through toil and hardship. I have passed many a sleepless night; I have endured hunger and thirst; I have often been without food; I have known cold and nakedness. And,\V{28} not to speak of other things, there is my daily burden of anxiety about all the churches. Who\V{29} is weak without my being weak? Who is led astray without my burning with indignation? If\V{30} I must boast, I will boast of things which show my weakness! The\V{31} God and Father of the Lord Jesus – he who is for ever blessed – knows that I am speaking the truth. When\V{32} I was in Damascus, the Governor under King Aretas had the gates of that city guarded, so as to arrest me, but\V{33} I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands. 
\par 
 I\C{12} must boast! It is unprofitable; but I will pass to visions and revelations given by the Lord. I\V{2} know a man in union with Christ, who, fourteen years ago – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows – was caught up (this man of whom I am speaking) to the third heaven. And\V{3} I know that this man – whether in the body or separated from the body I do not know; God knows – Was\V{4} caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable things of which no human being may tell. About\V{5} such a man I will boast, but about myself I will not boast except as regards my weaknesses. Yet\V{6} if I choose to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will be speaking no more than the truth. But I refrain, in case anyone should credit me with more than he can see in me or hear from me, and because of the marvelous character of the revelations. It\V{7} was for this reason, and to prevent my thinking too highly of myself, that a thorn was sent to pierce my flesh – an instrument of Satan to discipline me – so that I should not think too highly of myself. About\V{8} this I three times entreated the Lord, praying that it might leave me. But\V{9} his reply has been –  ‘My help is enough for you; for my strength attains its perfection in the midst of weakness.’ 
\par 
Most gladly, then, will I boast all the more of my weaknesses, so that the strength of the Christ may overshadow me. That\V{10} is why I delight in weakness, ill treatment, hardship, persecution, and difficulties, when borne for Christ. For, when I am weak, then it is that I am strong!
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  I\V{11} have been “playing the fool!” It is you who drove me to it. For it is you who ought to have been commending me! Although I am nobody, in no respect did I prove inferior to the most eminent apostles. The\V{12} marks of the true apostle were exhibited among you in constant endurance, as well as by signs, by marvels, and by miracles. In\V{13} what respect, I ask, were you treated worse than the other churches, unless it was that, for my part, I refused to become a burden to you? Forgive me the wrong I did to you!
\par 
\indentation  Remember,\V{14} this is the third time that I have made every preparation to come to see you, and I will refuse to be a burden to you; I want, not your money, but you. It is not the duty of children to put by for their parents, but of parents to put by for their children. For\V{15} my part, I will most gladly spend, and be spent, for your welfare. Can it be that the more intensely I love you the less I am to be loved? You\V{16} will admit that I was not a burden to you but you say that I was “crafty” and caught you “by a trick”! Do\V{17} you assert that I took advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you? I\V{18} urged Titus to go, and I sent another follower with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you? Didn’t we live in the same Spirit, and tread in the same footsteps?
\par 
 Have\V{19} you all this time been fancying that it is to you that we are making our defense? No, it is in the sight of God, and in union with Christ, that we are speaking. And all this, dear friends, is to build up your characters; for\V{20} I am afraid that perhaps, when I come, I may find that you are not what I want you to be, and, on the other hand, that you may find that I am what you do not want me to be. I am afraid that I may find quarreling, jealousy, ill feeling, rivalry, slandering, backbiting, self-assertion, and disorder. I\V{21} am afraid that, on my next visit, my God may humble me in regard to you, and that I may have to mourn over many who have long been sinning, and have not repented of the impurity, immorality, and sensuality, in which they have indulged. 
\par 
 For\C{13} the third time I am coming to see you. By the word of two or three witnesses each statement will be established. I\V{2} have said it, and I say it again before I come, just as if I were with you on my second visit, though for the moment absent, I say to those who have been long sinning, as well as to all others – that if I come again, I will spare no one. And\V{3} that will be the proof, which you are looking for, that the Christ speaks through me. There is no weakness in his dealings with you. No, he shows his power among you. For\V{4} though his crucifixion was due to weakness, his life is due to the power of God. And we, also, are weak in his weakness, but with him we will live for you through the power of God. Put\V{5} yourselves to the proof, to see whether you are holding to the faith. Test yourselves. Surely you recognize this fact about yourselves – that Jesus Christ is in you! Unless indeed you cannot stand the test! But\V{6} I hope that you will recognize that we can stand the test. We\V{7} pray God that you may do nothing wrong, not that we may be seen to stand the test, but that you may do what is right, even though we may seem not to stand the test. We\V{8} have no power at all against the truth, but we have power in the service of the truth. We\V{9} are glad when we are weak, if you are strong. And what we pray for is that you may become perfect. This\V{10} is my reason for writing as I am now doing, while I am away from you, so that, when I am with you, I may not act harshly in the exercise of the authority which the Lord gave me – and gave me for building up and not for pulling down.\blank 

\par 
 And\V{11} now, friends, goodbye. Aim at perfection; take courage; agree together; live in peace. And then God, the source of all love and peace, will be with you. Greet\V{12} one another with a sacred kiss. All\V{13} Christ’s people here send you their greetings.\blank 

\par 
 May\V{14} the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion with the Holy Spirit, be with you all.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Galatians}

\MTT{Paul’s Letter to the}

\MT{Galatians}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  To\C{1} the churches in Galatia, from Paul, an apostle whose commission is not from any human authority and is given, not by human beings, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead; and\V{2} from all the followers of the Lord here. May\V{3} God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, bless you and give you peace. For Christ, to rescue us from this present wicked age, gave\V{4} himself for our sins, in accordance with the will of God and Father, to\V{5} whom be ascribed all glory for ever and ever. Amen.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  I\V{6} am astonished at your so soon deserting him, who called you through the love of Christ, for a different ‘good news,’ which\V{7} is really no good news at all. But then, I know that there are people who are harassing you, and who want to pervert the good news of the Christ. Yet\V{8} even if we – or if an angel from heaven were to tell you any other ‘good news’ than that which we told you, may he be accursed! We\V{9} have said it before, and I repeat it now – If anyone tells you a ‘good news’ other than that which you received, may he be accursed!\blank 

\par 
 Is\V{10} this, I ask, trying to conciliate people, or God? Am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I should not be a servant of Christ.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Independence of the Apostle’s Gospel}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  I\V{11} remind you, friends, that the good news which I told is no mere human invention. I,\V{12} at least, did not receive it from any human being, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through a revelation made by Jesus Christ.
\par 
\indentation  You\V{13} heard, no doubt, of my conduct when I was devoted to Judaism – how I persecuted the church of God to an extent beyond belief, and made havoc of it, and\V{14} how, in my devotion to Judaism, I surpassed many of my contemporaries among my own people in my intense earnestness in upholding the traditions of my ancestors. But\V{15} when God, who had set me apart even before my birth, and who called me by his love, saw\V{16} fit to reveal his Son in me, so that I might tell the good news of him among the Gentiles, then at once, instead of consulting any human being, or\V{17} even going up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, I went to Arabia, and came back again to Damascus. Three\V{18} years afterward I went up to Jerusalem to make the acquaintance of Peter, and I stayed a fortnight with him. I\V{19} did not, however, see any other apostle, except James, the Master’s brother. (As\V{20} to what I am now writing to you, I call God to witness that I am speaking the truth). Afterward\V{21} I went to the districts of Syria and Cilicia. But\V{22} I was still unknown even by sight to the Christian churches in Judea; all\V{23} that they had heard was – ‘The man who once persecuted us is now telling the good news of the faith of which he once made havoc.’ And\V{24} they praised God for my sake. 
\par 
 Fourteen\C{2} years afterward I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, and I took Titus also with me. It\V{2} was in obedience to a revelation that I went; and I laid before the apostles the good news that I am proclaiming among the Gentiles. I did this privately before those who are thought highly of because I was afraid that I might possibly be taking, or might have already taken, a course which would prove useless. Yet\V{3} even my companion, Titus, though a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised. But,\V{4} because of those who pretended to be followers who had stolen in, the intruders who had crept in to spy on the liberty which we have through union with Christ Jesus, in order to bring us back to slavery – Why,\V{5} we did not for a moment yield submission to them, so that the truth of the good news might be yours always! Of\V{6} those who are thought somewhat highly of – what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not recognize human distinctions – those, I say, who are thought highly of added nothing to my message. On\V{7} the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the good news for the Gentiles, just as Peter had been for the Jews. For\V{8} he who gave Peter power for his mission to the Jews gave me, also, power to go to the Gentiles. Recognizing\V{9} the charge entrusted to me, James, Peter, and John, who were regarded as pillars of the church, openly acknowledged Barnabas and me as fellow workers, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. Only\V{10} we were to remember the poor – the thing I was myself anxious to do. But,\V{11} when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face; for he stood self-condemned. Before\V{12} certain persons came from James, he had been in the habit of eating with the Gentile converts; but, when they came, he began to withdraw and hold aloof, because he was afraid of offending those who still held to circumcision. The\V{13} rest of the Jewish converts were guilty of the same hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led away by it. But,\V{14} when I saw that they were not dealing straightforwardly with the truth of the good news, I said to Peter, before them all, “If you, who were born a Jew, adopt Gentile customs, instead of Jewish, why are you trying to compel the Gentile converts to adopt Jewish customs?”
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Law and the Gospel}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  We,\V{15} though we are Jews by birth and not outcasts of Gentile origin, know that no one is pronounced righteous as the result of obedience to Law, but only through faith in Christ Jesus. So\V{16} we placed our faith in Christ Jesus, in order that we might be pronounced righteous, as the result of faith in Christ, and not of obedience to Law; for such obedience will not result in even one soul’s being pronounced righteous. If,\V{17} while seeking to be pronounced righteous through union with Christ, we were ourselves seen to be outcasts, would that make Christ an agent of sin? Heaven forbid! For,\V{18} if I rebuild the things that I pulled down, I prove myself to have done wrong. I,\V{19} indeed, through Law became dead to Law, in order to live for God. I\V{20} have been crucified with Christ. So it is no longer I that live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and, as for my present earthly life, I am living it by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I\V{21} do not reject the love of God. If righteousness comes through Law, then there was no need for Christ to die! \blank 

\par 
\indentation  Foolish\C{3} Galatians! Who has been fascinating you – you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was depicted on the cross? Here\V{2} is the one thing that I want to find out from you – Did you receive the Spirit as the result of obedience to Law, or of your having listened with faith? Can\V{3} you be so foolish? After beginning with what is spiritual, do you now end with what is external? Did\V{4} you go through so much to no purpose? – if indeed it really was to no purpose! He\V{5} who supplies you abundantly with his Spirit and endows you with such powers – does he do this as the result of obedience to Law? Or as the result of your having listened with faith? It\V{6} is just as it was with Abraham –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{he had faith in God, and his faith was regarded by God as righteousness.}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  You\V{7} see, then, that those whose lives are based on faith are the sons of Abraham. And\V{8} scripture, foreseeing that God would pronounce the Gentiles righteous as the result of faith, foretold the good news to Abraham in the words –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Through you all the Gentiles will be blessed.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And,\V{9} therefore, those whose lives are based on faith share the blessings bestowed on the faith of Abraham. All\V{10} who rely on obedience to Law are under a curse, for scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all that is written in the book of the Law, and do it.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Again,\V{11} it is evident that no one is pronounced righteous before God through Law, for we read –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Through faith the righteous will find life.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  But\V{12} the Law is not based on faith; no, its words are –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Those who practice these precepts will find life through them.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Christ\V{13} ransomed us from the curse pronounced in the Law, by taking the curse on himself for us, for scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Cursed is anyone who is hanged on a tree.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{14} this he did that the blessing given to Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through their union with Jesus Christ; that so, through our faith, we also might receive the promised gift of the Spirit.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  To\V{15} take an illustration, friends, from daily life – No one sets aside even an agreement between two people, when once it has been confirmed, nor do they add conditions to it. Now\V{16} it was to Abraham that the promises were made, ‘and to his offspring.’ It was not said ‘to his offsprings,’ as if many persons were meant, but the words were ‘to your offspring,’ showing that one person was meant – and that was Christ. My\V{17} point is this – An agreement already confirmed by God cannot be canceled by the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, so as to cause the promise to be set aside. If\V{18} our heritage is the result of Law, then it has ceased to be the result of a promise. Yet God conferred it on Abraham by a promise.
\par 
\indentation  What,\V{19} then, you ask, was the use of the Law? It was a later addition, to make people conscious of their wrong-doings, and intended to last only until the coming of that offspring to whom the promise had been made; and it was delivered through angels by a mediator. Now\V{20} mediation implies more than one person, but God is one only. Does\V{21} that set the Law in opposition to God’s promises? Heaven forbid! For, if a Law had been given capable of bestowing life, then righteousness would have actually owed its existence to Law. But\V{22} the words of scripture represent the whole world as being in bondage to sin, so that the promised blessing, dependent, as it is, on faith in Jesus Christ, may be given to those who have faith in him.\blank 

\par 
 Before\V{23} the coming of faith, we were kept under the guard of the Law, in bondage, awaiting the faith that was destined to be revealed. Thus\V{24} the Law has proved a guide to lead us to Christ, in order that we may be pronounced righteous as the result of faith. But\V{25} now that faith has come we no longer need a guide.
\par 
 For\V{26} you are all sons of God, through your faith in Christ Jesus. For\V{27} all of you who were baptized into union with Christ clothed yourselves with Christ. All\V{28} distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, have vanished; for in union with Christ Jesus you are all one. And,\V{29} since you belong to Christ, it follows that you are Abraham’s offspring and, under the promise, sharers in the inheritance. 
\par 
 My\C{4} point is this – As long as the heir is under age, there is no difference between him and a slave, though he is master of the whole estate. He\V{2} is subject to the control of guardians and stewards, during the period for which his father has power to appoint them. And\V{3} so is it with us; when we were under age, as it were, we were slaves to the puerile teaching of this world; but,\V{4} when the full time came, God sent his Son – born a woman’s child, born subject to Law – To\V{5} ransom those who were subject to Law, so that we might take our position as sons.
\par 
 And\V{6} it is because you are sons that God sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son, with the cry – ‘Abba, our Father.’ You,\V{7} therefore, are no longer a slave, but a son; and, if a son, then an heir also, by God’s appointment.\blank 

\par 
 Yet\V{8} formerly, in your ignorance of God, you became slaves to ‘gods’ which were no gods. But\V{9} now that you have found God – or, rather, have been found by him – how is it that you are turning back to that poor and feeble puerile teaching, to which yet once again you are wanting to become slaves? You\V{10} are scrupulous in keeping days and months and seasons and years! You\V{11} make me fear that the labor which I have spent on you may have been wasted.\blank 

\par 
 I\V{12} entreat you, friends, to become like me, as I became like you. You have never done me any wrong. You\V{13} remember that it was owing to bodily infirmity that on the first occasion I told you the good news. And\V{14} as for what must have tried you in my condition, it did not inspire you with scorn or disgust, but you welcomed me as if I had been an angel of God – or Christ Jesus himself! What\V{15} has become then, of your blessings? For I can bear witness that, had it been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me! Am\V{16} I to think, then, that I have become your enemy by telling you the truth? Certain\V{17} people are seeking your favor, but with no honorable object. No, indeed, they want to isolate you, so that you will have to seek their favor. It\V{18} is always honorable to have your favor sought in an honorable cause, and not only when I am with you, my dear children – you\V{19} for whom I am again enduring a mother’s pains, until a likeness to Christ will have been formed in you. But\V{20} I could wish to be with you now and speak in a different tone, for I am perplexed about you.\blank 

\par 
 Tell\V{21} me, you who want to be still subject to Law – Why don’t you listen to the Law? Scripture\V{22} says that Abraham had two sons, one the child of the slave-woman and the other the child of the free woman. But\V{23} the child of the slave-woman was born in the course of nature, while the child of the free woman was born in fulfillment of a promise. This\V{24} story may be taken as an allegory. The women stand for two Covenants. One covenant, given from Mount Sinai, produces a race of slaves and is represented by Hagar (The\V{25} word Hagar meaning in Arabia Mount Sinai) and it ranks with the Jerusalem of today, for she and her children are in slavery. But\V{26} the Jerusalem above is free, and she it is who is our mother. For\V{27} scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Rejoice, you barren one, who does never bear,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Break into shouts, you who are never in labor,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{For many are the children of her who is desolate –}
\noindentation \Q{3}{aye, more than of her who has a husband.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  As\V{28} for ourselves, friends, we, like Isaac, are children born in fulfillment of a promise. Yet\V{29} at that time the child born in the course of nature persecuted the child born by the power of the Spirit; and it is the same now. But\V{30} what does the passage of scripture say?
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Send away the slave-woman and her son; for the slave’s son will not be coheir with the son of the free woman.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{31} so, friends, we are not children of a slave, but of her who is free. \stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Gospel in the Daily Life}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  It\C{5} is for freedom that Christ set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not again be held under the yoke of slavery.\blank 
 Understand\V{2} that I, Paul, myself tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will avail you nothing. I\V{3} again declare to everyone who receives circumcision, that he binds himself to obey the whole Law. You\V{4} have severed yourselves from Christ – you who are seeking to be pronounced righteous through Law; you have fallen away from love. For\V{5} we, by the help of the Spirit, are eagerly waiting for the fulfillment of our hope – that we may be pronounced righteous as the result of faith. If\V{6} we are in union with Christ Jesus, neither is circumcision nor the omission of it anything, but faith, working through love, is everything. You\V{7} were once making good progress! Who has hindered you from obeying the truth? The\V{8} persuasion brought to bear on you does not come from him who calls you. A\V{9} little leaven leavens all the dough. I,\V{10} through my union with the Lord, am persuaded that you will learn to think with me. But the man who is disturbing your minds will have to bear his punishment, whoever he may be. If\V{11} I, friends, am still proclaiming circumcision, why am I still persecuted? It seems that the cross has ceased to be an obstacle! I\V{12} could even wish that the people who are unsettling you would go further still and mutilate themselves.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Remember,\V{13} friends, to you the call came to give you freedom. Only do not make your freedom an opportunity for self-indulgence, but serve one another in a loving spirit. Indeed,\V{14} the whole Law has been summed up in this one precept –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  But,\V{15} if you are continually wounding and preying on one another, take care that you are not destroyed by one another.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  This\V{16} is what I have to say – Let your steps be guided by the Spirit, and then you will never gratify the cravings of your earthly nature. For\V{17} these cravings of our earthly nature conflict with the Spirit, and the Spirit with our earthly nature – they are two contrary principles – so that you cannot do what you wish. But,\V{18} if you follow the guidance of the Spirit, you are not subject to Law. The\V{19} sins of our earthly nature are unmistakable. They are sins like these – sexual immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry,\V{20} sorcery, quarrels, strife, jealousy, outbursts of passion, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, feelings\V{21} of envy, drunkenness, revelry, and the like. And I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who indulge in such things will have no place in the kingdom of God. But\V{22} the fruit produced by the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindliness, generosity, trustfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against\V{23} such things there is no law! And\V{24} those who belong to Jesus, the Christ, have already crucified their earthly nature, with its passions and its cravings.
\par 
\indentation  Since\V{25} our life is due to the Spirit, let us rule our conduct also by the Spirit. Do\V{26} not let us grow vain, and provoke or envy one another.  My\C{6} friends, even if someone should be caught committing a sin, you who are spiritually minded should, in a gentle spirit, help them to recover themselves, taking care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear\V{2} one another’s burdens, and so carry out the Law of the Christ. If\V{3} a person imagines themselves to be somebody, when they are really nobody, they deceive themselves. Let\V{4} everyone test their own work, and then their cause for satisfaction will be in themselves and not in a comparison with their neighbor; for\V{5} everyone must bear their own load. The\V{6} person, however, who is being instructed in the message ought always to share their blessings with their teacher.
\par 
 Do\V{7} not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. What a person sows that they will reap. For\V{8} the person who sows the field of their earthly nature will from that earthly nature reap corruption; while the one who sows the field of the spirit will from that spirit reap eternal life. Let\V{9} us never tire of doing right, for at the proper season we will reap our harvest, if we do not grow weary. Therefore,\V{10} I say, as the opportunity occurs, let us treat everyone with kindness, and especially members of the Household of the faith.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion in the Apostle’s own handwriting}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  See\V{11} in what large letters I am writing with my own hand. Those\V{12} who wish to appear to advantage in regard to outward observances are the people who are trying to compel you to be circumcised; and they do it only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Jesus, the Christ. Even\V{13} these men who are circumcised do not themselves keep the Law; yet they want you to be circumcised, so that they may boast of your observance of the rite. But,\V{14} for my part, may I never boast of anything except the cross of Jesus Christ, our Master, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For\V{15} neither is circumcision nor the omission of it anything; but a new nature is everything. May\V{16} all who rule their conduct by this principle find peace and mercy – they who are the Israel of God.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  For\V{17} the future let no one trouble me; for I bear the marks of Jesus branded on my body.\blank 

\par 
 May\V{18} the blessing of Jesus Christ, our Lord, rest on your souls, friends. Amen.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Ephesians}

\MTT{Paul’s Letter to the}

\MT{Ephesians}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  To\C{1} Christ’s people at Ephesus who are faithful to him, from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God. May\V{2} God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Blessed\V{3} is the God and Father of Jesus Christ, our Lord, who has blessed us on high with every spiritual blessing, in Christ. For\V{4} he chose us in our union with Christ before the creation of the universe, so that we might be holy and blameless in his sight, living in the spirit of love. From\V{5} the first he destined us, in his goodwill towards us, to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ, and\V{6} so to enhance that glorious manifestation of his loving kindness which he gave us in the one he loves; for\V{7} in him, and through the shedding of his blood, we have found redemption in the pardon of our offenses. All\V{8} this accords with the loving kindness which God lavished on us, accompanied by countless gifts of wisdom and discernment, when\V{9} he made known to us his hidden purpose. And it also accords with the goodwill which God purposed to exhibit in Christ, in\V{10} view of that divine order which was to mark the completion of the ages, when he should make everything, both in heaven and on earth, centre in him. In\V{11} him, I say, for by our union with him we became God’s heritage, having from the first been destined for this in the intention of him who, in all that happens, is carrying out his own fixed purpose; that\V{12} we should enhance his glory – we who have been the first to rest our hopes on the Christ. And\V{13} you, too, by your union with him, after you had heard the message of the truth, the good news of your salvation – you believed in him and were sealed as his by receiving the holy Spirit, which he had promised. And\V{14} the Spirit is a pledge of our future heritage, foreshadowing the full redemption of God’s own people – to enhance his glory.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The power of God displayed in Christ, the Head of the Church}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  And\V{15} therefore I, ever since I heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which prevails among you, and of your confidence in all Christ’s people, have\V{16} never omitted to thank God on your behalf, whenever I make mention of you in my prayers. My\V{17} prayer is that the God of Jesus Christ our Lord, the all-glorious Father, may inspire you with wisdom and true insight through a fuller knowledge of himself; that\V{18} your minds may be so enlightened that you may realize the hope given by God’s call, the wealth of the glory of his heritage among Christ’s people, and\V{19} the transcendent greatness of the power which he is able to exercise in dealing with us who believe in him. The\V{20} same mighty power was exerted on the Christ, when he raised the Christ from the dead and ‘caused him to sit at his right hand’ on high, exalting him above all angels and archangels of every rank, and\V{21} above every name that can be named, whether in the present age, or in the age to come. And\V{22} God placed all things under Christ’s feet, and gave him to the church as its supreme head; for\V{23} the church is Christ’s body, and is filled by him who fills all things everywhere with his presence.  You\C{2} yourselves were once dead because of your offenses and sins. For\V{2} at one time you lived in sin, following the ways of the world, in subjection to the Ruler of the powers of the air – the Spirit who is still at work among the disobedient. And\V{3} it was among them that we all once lived our lives, indulging the cravings of our earthly nature, and carrying out the desires prompted by that earthly nature and by our own thoughts. Our nature exposed us to the divine wrath, like the rest of humanity. Yet\V{4} God, in his abundant compassion, and because of the great love with which he loved us, even\V{5} though we were dead because of our offenses, gave life to us in giving life to the Christ. (By God’s loving kindness you have been saved.) And,\V{6} through our union with Christ Jesus, God raised us with him, and caused us to sit with him on high, in\V{7} order that, by his goodness to us in Christ Jesus, he might display in the ages to come the boundless wealth of his loving kindness. For\V{8} it is by God’s loving kindness that you have been saved, through your faith. It is not due to yourselves; the gift is God’s. It\V{9} is not due to obedience to Law, so that no one can boast. For\V{10} we are God’s handiwork, created, by our union with Christ Jesus, for the good actions in doing which God had pre-arranged that we should spend our lives.
\par 
\indentation  Remember,\V{11} therefore, that you were once Gentiles yourselves, as your bodies showed; you were called ‘the Uncircumcised’ by those who were called ‘the Circumcised’ – circumcised only by human hands! Remember\V{12} that you were at that time far from Christ; you were shut out from the citizenship of Israel; you were strangers to the Covenants founded on God’s Promise; you were in the world without hope and without God. But\V{13} now, through your union with Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have, by the shedding of the blood of the Christ, been brought near. He\V{14} it is who is our peace. He made the two divisions of humanity one, broke down the barrier that separated them, and\V{15} in his human nature put an end to the cause of enmity between them – the Law with its injunctions and ordinances – in order to create, through union with himself, from Jew and Gentile, one new humanity and so make peace. And\V{16} when, on the cross, he had destroyed their mutual enmity, he sought by means of his cross to reconcile them both to God, united in one body. He\V{17} came with the good news of peace for you who were far off, and of peace for those who were near; for\V{18} it is through him that we, the Jews and the Gentiles, united in the one Spirit, are now able to approach the Father. It\V{19} follows, then, that you are no longer strangers and aliens, but are fellow citizens with Christ’s people and members of God’s Household. You\V{20} have been built up on the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the corner-stone. United\V{21} in him, every part of the building, closely joined together, will grow into a Temple, consecrated by its union with the Lord. And,\V{22} through union in him, you also are being built up together, to be a place where God lives through the Spirit. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Apostle’s Divine Commission to the Gentiles}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  For\C{3} this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus, the Christ, for the sake of you Gentiles – For\V{2} you have heard, I suppose, of the responsible charge with which God entrusted me for your benefit, and\V{3} also that it was by direct revelation that the hidden purpose of God was made known to me, as I have already briefly told you. And,\V{4} by reading what I have written, you will be able to judge how far I understand this hidden purpose of God in Christ. In\V{5} former generations it was not made known to humanity, as fully as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to the apostles and prophets among Christ’s people – That,\V{6} by union with Christ Jesus and through the good news, the Gentiles are coheirs with us and members of one body, and that they share with us in God’s Promise. Of\V{7} this good news I become an assistant, in virtue of the charge with which God entrusted me in the exercise of his power – Yes,\V{8} to me, who am less than the least of all Christ’s people, was this charge entrusted! – to tell the Gentiles the good news of the boundless wealth to be found in the Christ, and\V{9} to make clear what is God’s way of working out that hidden purpose which from the first has been concealed in the mind of the Creator of all things; so\V{10} that now to the archangels and to all the powers on high should be made known, through the church, the all-embracing wisdom of God, in\V{11} accordance with that purpose which runs through all the ages and which he has now accomplished in Jesus, the Christ, our Master. And\V{12} in union with him, and through our trust in him, we find courage to approach God with confidence. Therefore\V{13} I beg you not to be disheartened at the sufferings that I am undergoing for your sakes; for they redound to your honor. For\V{14} this reason, then, I kneel before the Father – from\V{15} whom all ‘fatherhood’ in heaven and on earth derives its name – And\V{16} pray that, in proportion to the wealth of his glory, he will strengthen you with his power by breathing his Spirit into your inmost soul, so\V{17} that the Christ, through your faith, may make his home within your hearts in love; And I pray that you, now firmly rooted and established, may, with all Christ’s people, have\V{18} the power to comprehend in all its width and length and height and depth, and\V{19} to understand – though it surpasses all understanding – the love of the Christ; and so be filled to the full with God himself.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  To\V{20} him who, through his power which is at work within us, is able to do far more than anything that we can ask or conceive – To\V{21} him be all glory through the church and through Christ Jesus, for all generations, age after age. Amen. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Gospel and Daily Life}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  I\C{4} beg you, then – I who am a prisoner in the Master’s cause – to live lives worthy of the call that you have received; always\V{2} humble and gentle, patient, bearing lovingly with one another, and\V{3} striving to maintain in the bond of peace the unity given by the Spirit. There\V{4} is but one body and one Spirit, just as there was but one hope set before you when you received your call. There\V{5} is but one Lord, one faith, one baptism. There\V{6} is but one God and Father of all – the God who is over all, pervades all, and is in all. Everyone\V{7} of us, however, has been entrusted with some charge, each in accordance with the extent of the gift of the Christ. That\V{8} is why it is said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘When he went up on high, he led his captives into captivity. And gave gifts to humanity.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Now\V{9} surely this ‘going up’ must imply that he had already gone down into the world beneath. He\V{10} who went down is the same as he who went up – up beyond the highest heaven, so that he might fill all things with his presence. And\V{11} he it is who gave to the church apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, to\V{12} fit his people for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of the Christ. And\V{13} this will continue, until we all attain to that unity which is given by faith and by a fuller knowledge of the Son of God; until we reach maturity – the full standard of the perfection of the Christ. Then\V{14} we will no longer be like infants, tossed backward and forward, blown about by every breath of human teaching and by people’s trickery and craftiness; but\V{15} holding the truth in a spirit of love, we will grow into complete union with him who is our head – Christ himself. For\V{16} from him the whole body, closely joined and knit together by the contact of every part with the source of its life, derives its power to grow, in proportion to the vigour of each individual part; and so is being built up in a spirit of love.\stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  This,\V{17} then, as one in union with the Lord, I implore: Do not continue to live such purposeless lives as the Gentiles live, with\V{18} their powers of discernment darkened, cut off from the life of God, owing to the ignorance that prevails among them and to the hardness of their hearts. Lost\V{19} to all sense of shame, they have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, in order to practice every kind of impurity without restraint. But\V{20} far different is the lesson you learned from the Christ – if, that is, you really listened to him, and\V{21} through union with him were taught the truth, as it is to be found in Jesus. For\V{22} you learned with regard to your former way of living that you must cast off your old nature, which, yielding to deluding passions, grows corrupt; that\V{23} the spirit of your minds must be constantly renewed; and\V{24} that you must clothe yourselves in that new nature which was created to resemble God, with the righteousness and holiness springing from the truth.
\par 
\indentation  Since,\V{25} therefore, you have cast off what is false, you must every one of you speak the truth to your neighbors. For we are united to one another like the parts of a body. Be\V{26} angry, yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger; and\V{27} give no opportunity to the devil. Let\V{28} the person who steals steal no longer, but rather they should toil with their hands at honest work, so that they may have something to share with anyone in need. Never\V{29} let any foul word pass your lips, but only such good words as the occasion demands, so that they may be a help to those who hear them. And\V{30} do not grieve God’s Holy Spirit; for it was through that Spirit that God sealed you as his, against the day of redemption. Let\V{31} all bitterness, passion, anger, brawling, and abusive language be banished from among you, as well as all malice. Be\V{32} kind to one another, tenderhearted, ready to forgive one another, just as God, in Christ, forgave you.  Therefore\C{5} imitate God, as his dear children, and\V{2} live a life of love, following the example of the Christ, who loved you and gave himself for you as an offering and a sacrifice to God, that should be fragrant and acceptable.
\par 
 As\V{3} for sexual immorality and every kind of impurity, or greed, do not let them even be mentioned among you, as befits Christ’s people, nor\V{4} shameful conduct, nor foolish talk or jesting, for they are wholly out of place among you; but rather thanksgiving. For\V{5} of this you may be sure – that no one who is unchaste or impure or greedy of gain (for to be greedy of gain is idolatry) has any place awaiting him in the kingdom of the Christ and God.
\par 
 Do\V{6} not let anyone deceive you with specious arguments. Those are the sins that bring down the wrath of God on the disobedient. Therefore\V{7} have nothing to do with such people. For,\V{8} although you were once in darkness, now, by your union with the Lord, you are in the light. Live as children of light – for\V{9} the outcome of life in the light may be seen in every form of goodness, righteousness, and sincerity – always\V{10} trying to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take\V{11} no part in deeds of darkness, from which no good can come; on the contrary, expose them. It\V{12} is degrading even to speak of the things continually done by them in secret. All\V{13} such actions, when exposed, have their true character made manifest by the light. For\V{14} everything that has its true character made manifest is clear as light. And that is why it is said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Sleeper, awake!}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Arise from the dead,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And the Christ will give you light!’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Take\V{15} great care, then, how you live – not unwisely but wisely, making\V{16} the most of every opportunity; for these are evil days. Therefore\V{17} do not grow thoughtless, but try to understand what the Lord’s will is. Do\V{18} not drink wine to excess, for that leads to profligacy; but seek to be filled with the Spirit of God, and speak to one another in psalms and hymns and sacred songs. Sing\V{19} and make music in your hearts to the Lord. Always\V{20} give thanks for everything to our God and Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Submit\V{21} to one another because you honor and respect Christ.
\par 
\indentation  Wives\V{22} should submit to their husbands as submitting to the Lord. For\V{23} a man is the head of his wife, as the Christ is the head of the church – being indeed himself the Savior of his body. But\V{24} as the church submits to the Christ, so also should wives submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands,\V{25} love your wives, just as the Christ loved the church, and gave himself for her, to\V{26} make her holy, after purifying her by the washing with the water, according to his promise; so\V{27} that he might himself bring the church, in all her beauty, into his own presence, with no spot or wrinkle or blemish of any kind, but that she might be holy and faultless. That\V{28} is how husbands ought to love their wives – as if they were their own bodies. A man who loves his wife is really loving himself; for\V{29} no one ever yet hated his own body. But everyone feeds his body and cares for it, just as the Christ for the church; for\V{30} we are members of his body.
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{31} this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife; and the man and his wife will become one.}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  In\V{32} this there is a profound truth – I am speaking of Christ and his church. However,\V{33} for you individually, let each love his wife as if she were himself; and the wife be careful to respect her husband. \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Children,\C{6} obey your parents, as children of the Lord; for that is but right. ‘Honor\V{2} your father and mother’ – this is the first Commandment with a promise – ‘so\V{3} that you may prosper and have a long life on earth.’ And\V{4} fathers, do not irritate your children, but bring them up with Christian discipline and instruction.
\par 
\indentation  Slaves,\V{5} obey your earthly masters, with anxious care, giving them ungrudging service, as if obeying the Christ; not\V{6} only when their eyes are on you, as if you had merely to please people, but as slaves of Christ, who are trying to carry out the will of God. Give\V{7} your service heartily and cheerfully, as working for the Master and not for people; for\V{8} you know that everyone will be rewarded by the Master for any honest work that he has done, whether he is a slave or free. And\V{9} masters, treat your slaves in the same spirit. Give up threatening them; for you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that before him there is no distinction of rank.
\par 
 For\V{10} the future, find strength in your union with the Lord, and in the power which comes from his might. Put\V{11} on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand your ground against the stratagems of the devil. For\V{12} ours is no struggle against enemies of flesh and blood, but against all the various powers of evil that hold sway in the darkness around us, against the spirits of wickedness on high. Therefore\V{13} take up the full armor of God, so that when the evil day comes, you may be able to withstand the attack, and, having fought to the end, still to stand your ground. Stand\V{14} your ground, then, with truth for your belt, and with righteousness for your breast-plate, and\V{15} with the readiness to serve the good news of peace as shoes for your feet. At\V{16} every onslaught take up faith for your shield; for with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. And\V{17} receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit – which is the message of God – always with prayer and supplication. Pray\V{18} in spirit at all times. Be intent on this, with unwearying perseverance and supplication for all Christ’s people – and\V{19} on my behalf also, so that when I begin to speak, words may be given me, so that I may fearlessly make known the inmost truth of the good news, on\V{20} behalf of which I am an ambassador – in chains! Pray that, in telling it, I may speak fearlessly as I ought.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  To\V{21} enable you, as well as others, to know all that concerns me and what I am doing, Tychicus, our dear friend and faithful helper in the Master’s cause, will tell you everything. I\V{22} am sending him to you on purpose that you may learn all about us, and that he may cheer your hearts.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  May\V{23} God, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ give every follower peace, and love linked with faith. May\V{24} God’s blessing be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Philippians}

\MTT{Paul’s Letter to the}

\MT{Philippians}
  To\C{1} all Christ’s people at Philippi, with the supervisors and assistants, from Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus. May\V{2} God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you, and give you peace. Every\V{3} recollection that I have of you is a cause of thankfulness to God, always,\V{4} in every prayer that I offer for you all – my prayers are full of joy – Because\V{5} of the share that you have had in spreading the good news, from the first day that you received it until now. For\V{6} of this I am confident, that he who began a good work in you will complete it in readiness for the day of Jesus Christ. And,\V{7} indeed, I am justified in feeling like this about you all; because you have a warm place in my heart – you who all, both in my imprisonment and in the work of defending and establishing the good news, shared my privilege with me. God\V{8} will bear me witness how I yearn over you all with the tenderness of Christ Jesus. And\V{9} what I pray for is this – that your love may grow yet stronger and stronger, with increasing knowledge and all discernment, until\V{10} you are able to appreciate all moral distinctions. And I pray, too, that you may be kept pure and blameless against the day of Christ, bearing\V{11} a rich harvest of that righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
\par 
 Friends,\V{12} I want you to realize that what has happened to me has actually served to forward the good news. It\V{13} has even become evident, not only to all the imperial guard, but to everyone else, that it is for Christ’s sake that I am in chains. And\V{14} besides this, most of our fellow followers have gained confidence in the Lord through my chains, and now venture with far greater freedom to speak of God’s message fearlessly. It\V{15} is true that some do proclaim the Christ out of Jealousy and opposition; but there are others who proclaim him from goodwill. The\V{16} latter do it from love for me, knowing that I have been appointed to plead the cause of the good news. The\V{17} former spread the news of the Christ in a factious spirit, and not sincerely, thinking to add to the pain of my chains. But\V{18} what of that? Only that in some way or other, either with assumed or with real earnestness, Christ is being made known; and at that I rejoice. Yes,\V{19} and I will rejoice, for I know that, through your prayers and through a rich supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, all this will make for my salvation. And\V{20} this will fulfill my earnest expectation and hope that I will have no cause for shame, but that, with unfailing courage, now as hitherto, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by my life or by my death, for\V{21} to me life is Christ, and death is gain. But\V{22} what if the life here in the body – if this brings me fruit from my labors? Then which to choose I cannot tell! I am sorely perplexed either way! My\V{23} own desire is to depart and be with Christ, for this would be far better. But,\V{24} for your sakes, it may be more needful that I should still remain here in the body. Yes,\V{25} I am confident that this is so, and therefore I am sure that I will stay, and stay near you all, to promote your progress and joy in the faith; so\V{26} that, when you once more have me among you, you, in your union with Christ Jesus, may find in me fresh cause for exultation. Under\V{27} all circumstances let your lives be worthy of the good news of the Christ: so that, whether I come and see you, or whether I hear of your affairs at a distance, I may know that you are standing firm, animated by one spirit, and joining with one heart in a common struggle for the faith taught by the good news, without\V{28} ever shrinking from your opponents. To them this will be a sign of their destruction and of your salvation – a sign from God. For,\V{29} on behalf of Christ, you have had the privilege granted you, not only of trusting in him, but also of suffering on his behalf. You\V{30} will be engaged in the same hard struggle as that which you once saw me waging, and which you hear that I am waging still. 
\par 
 If,\C{2} then, any encouragement comes through union with Christ, if there is any persuasive power in love, if there is any communion with the Spirit, if there is any tenderness or pity, I\V{2} entreat you to make my happiness complete – Live together animated by the same spirit and in mutual love, one in heart, animated by one Spirit. Nothing\V{3} should be done out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility lift others up above yourselves, considering\V{4} not only your own interests but also the interests of others. Let\V{5} the spirit of Christ Jesus be yours also. Though\V{6} the divine nature was his from the beginning, yet he did not look on equality with God as above all things to be clung to, but\V{7} impoverished himself by taking the nature of a servant and becoming like one of us; he\V{8} appeared among us as a man, and still further humbled himself by submitting even to death – to death on a cross! And\V{9} that is why God raised him to the very highest place, and gave him the name which stands above all other names, so\V{10} that in adoration of the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and\V{11} that every tongue should acknowledge JESUS CHRIST as LORD – to the glory of God the Father. Therefore,\V{12} my dear friends, as you have always been obedient in the past, so now work out your own salvation with anxious care, not only when I am with you, but all the more now that I am absent. Remember\V{13} it is God who, in his kindness, is at work within you, enabling you both to will and to work. In\V{14} all that you do, avoid murmuring and dissension, so\V{15} as to prove yourselves blameless and innocent – faultless children of God, in the midst of an evil-disposed and perverse generation, in which you are seen shining like stars in a dark world, offering\V{16} to them the message of life; and then I will be able at the day of Christ to boast that I did not run my course for nothing, or toil for nothing. And\V{17} yet, even if, when your faith is offered as a sacrifice to God, my lifeblood must be poured out in addition, still I will rejoice and share the joy of you all; and\V{18} you must also rejoice and share my joy. I\V{19} hope, however, as one who trusts in the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy to you before long, so that I may myself be cheered by receiving news of you. For\V{20} I have no one but him to send – no one of kindred spirit who would take the same genuine interest in your welfare. They\V{21} are all pursuing their own aims and not those of Christ Jesus. But\V{22} you know what Timothy has proved himself to be, and how, like a child working for his father, he worked hard with me in spreading the good news. It\V{23} is Timothy, then, whom I hope to send, as soon as ever I can foresee how it will go with me. And\V{24} I am confident, as one who trusts in the Lord Jesus, that before long I myself will follow. Still\V{25} I think it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you now, for he is my dear friend, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, and he was also your messenger to help me in my need. For\V{26} he has been longing to see you all, and has been distressed because you heard of his illness. And\V{27} I can assure you that his illness very nearly proved fatal. But God had pity on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I might not have sorrow on sorrow. I\V{28} am all the more ready, therefore, to send him, so that the sight of him may revive your spirits and my own sorrow be lightened. Give\V{29} him, then, the heartiest of Christian welcomes, and hold such people in great honor. For\V{30} it was owing to his devotion to the Master’s work that he was at the point of death, having risked his own life in the effort to supply what was wanting in the help that you sent me. 
\par 
 In\C{3} conclusion, my friends, all joy be yours in your union with the Lord. To repeat what I have already written does not weary me, and is the safe course for you. Beware\V{2} of those dogs! Beware of those mischievous workers! Beware of the men who mutilate themselves! For\V{3} it is we who are the circumcised – we whose worship is prompted by the Spirit of God, who exult in Christ Jesus, and who do not rely on external privileges; though\V{4} I, if anyone, have cause to rely even on them. If anyone thinks he can rely on external privileges, far more can I! I\V{5} was circumcised when eight days old; I am an Israelite by birth, and of the tribe of Benjamin; I am a Hebrew, and the child of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee; as\V{6} to zeal, I was a persecutor of the church; as to such righteousness as is due to Law, I proved myself blameless. But\V{7} all the things which I once held to be gains I have now, for the Christ’s sake, come to count as loss. More\V{8} than that, I count everything as loss, for the sake of the exceeding value of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. And for his sake I have lost everything, and count it as refuse, if I may but gain Christ and be found in union with him; any\V{9} righteousness that I have being, not the righteousness that results from Law, but the righteousness which comes through faith in Christ – the righteousness which is derived from God and is founded on faith. Then\V{10} indeed I will know Christ, and the power of his resurrection, and all that it means to share his sufferings, in\V{11} the hope that, if I become like him in death, I may possibly attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not\V{12} that I have already laid hold of it, or that I am already made perfect. But I press on, in the hope of actually laying hold of that for which indeed I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. For\V{13} I, friends, do not regard myself as having yet laid hold of it. But this one thing I do – forgetting what lies behind, and straining every nerve for that which lies in front, I\V{14} press on to the goal, to gain the prize of that heavenward call which God gave me through Christ Jesus. Let\V{15} all of us, then, whose faith is mature, think this way. Then, if on any matter you think otherwise, God will make that also plain to you. Only\V{16} we are bound to order our lives by what we have already attained.
\par 
 My\V{17} friends, unite in following my example, and fix your eyes on those who are living by the pattern which we have set you. For\V{18} there are many – of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears – who are living in enmity to the cross of the Christ. The\V{19} end of such people is ruin; for their appetites are their God, and they glory in their shame; their minds are given up to earthly things. But\V{20} we are citizens of heaven, and from heaven we expect a savior to come, the Lord Jesus Christ. By\V{21} the exercise of his power to bring everything into subjection to himself, he will make our humble bodies like his glorious body. 
\par 
 So\C{4} then, my dear friends, whom I am longing to see – you who are my joy and my crown, stand fast in union with the Lord, dear friends. I\V{2} entreat Euodia, and I entreat Syntyche, to live in harmony, in union with the Lord; yes,\V{3} and I ask you, my true comrade, to help them, remembering that they toiled by my side in spreading the good news; and so, too, did Clement and my other fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. All\V{4} joy be yours at all times in your union with the Lord. Again I repeat – All joy be yours. Let\V{5} your forbearing spirit be plain to everyone. The Lord is near. Do\V{6} not be anxious about anything; but under all circumstances, by prayer and entreaty joined with thanksgiving, make your needs known to God. Then\V{7} the peace of God, which is beyond all human understanding, will stand guard over your hearts and thoughts, through your union with Christ Jesus.
\par 
 In\V{8} conclusion, friends, whenever you find things that are true or honorable, righteous or pure, lovable or praiseworthy, or if virtue and honor have any meaning, let them fill your thoughts. All\V{9} that you learned and received and heard and saw in me put into practice continually; and then God, the giver of peace, will be with you. It\V{10} was a matter of great joy to me, as one in union with the Lord, that at length your interest in me had revived. The interest indeed you had, but not the opportunity. Do\V{11} not think that I am saying this under the pressure of want. For I, however I am placed, have learned to be independent of circumstances. I\V{12} know how to face humble circumstances, and I know how to face prosperity. Into all and every human experience I have been initiated – into plenty and hunger, into prosperity and want. I\V{13} can do everything in the strength of him who makes me strong! Yet\V{14} you have acted nobly in sharing my troubles. And\V{15} you at Philippi know, as well as I, that in the early days of the good news – at the time when I had just left Macedonia – no church, with the one exception of yourselves, had anything to do with me as far as giving and receiving are concerned. Indeed,\V{16} even while I was still in Thessalonica, you sent more than once to relieve my wants. It\V{17} is not that I am anxious for your gifts, but I am anxious to see the abundant return that will be placed to your account. I have enough of everything, and to spare. My\V{18} wants are fully satisfied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts which you sent me – the sweet fragrance of a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And\V{19} my God, out of the greatness of his wealth, will, in glory, fully satisfy your every need, through your union with Christ Jesus. To\V{20} him, our God and Father, be ascribed all glory for every and ever. Amen. Give\V{21} my greeting to everyone of the people of Christ Jesus. The Lord’s followers who are with me send your their greetings. All\V{22} Christ’s people here, and especially those who belong to the Emperor’s household, send theirs.\blank 

\par 
 May\V{23} the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ rest on your souls.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Colossians}

\MTT{Paul’s Letter to the}

\MT{Colossians}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  From\C{1} Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and from Timothy, also a follower of the Lord. To\V{2} Christ’s people at Colossae – the followers who are faithful to him: May God, our Father, bless you and give you peace.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Whenever\V{3} we pray we never fail to thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for you, now\V{4} that we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all his people, because\V{5} of the hope which is kept safe for you in heaven. Of this hope you heard long ago in the true message of the good news which reached you, bearing\V{6} fruit and growing, as it does, through all the world, just as it did among you from the very day that you heard of God’s loving kindness, and understood what that loving kindness really is. It\V{7} is just what you learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who, as a minister of the Christ, faithfully represents us, and\V{8} who told us of the love with which the Spirit has inspired you.
\par 
 And\V{9} therefore we, from the very day that we heard this, have never ceased praying for you, or asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, which comes through all true spiritual wisdom and insight. Then\V{10} you will live lives worthy of the Master, and so please God in every way. Your lives will be fruitful in every kind of good action, and grow into a fuller knowledge of God; you\V{11} will be made strong at all points with a strength worthy of the power manifested in his glory – strong to endure with patience, and even with gladness, whatever may happen to you; and\V{12} you will give thanks to the Father who made you fit to share the lot which awaits Christ’s people in the realms of light.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Person and Work of the Christ}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  For\V{13} God has rescued us from the tyranny of darkness, and has removed us into the kingdom of his Son, who is the embodiment of his love, and\V{14} through whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins.
\par 
\indentation  For\V{15} Christ is the incarnation of the invisible God – first-born and head of all creation; for\V{16} in him was created all that is in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible – angels and archangels and all the powers of heaven. All\V{17} has been created through him and for him. He was before all things, and all things unite in him; and\V{18} he is the head of the church, which is his body. The first-born from the dead, he is to the church the Source of its life, that he, in all things, may stand first. For\V{19} it pleased the Father that in him the divine nature in all its fulness should live, and\V{20} through him to reconcile all things to himself (making peace by the shedding of Christ’s blood offered on the cross) – whether on earth or in heaven. And\V{21} it pleased God that you, once estranged from him and hostile towards him in your thoughts, intent only on wickedness – But\V{22} now he has reconciled you to himself by the sacrifice of Christ’s earthly body in death – it has pleased God that you should stand in his presence holy, pure, and blameless, if\V{23} only you remain true to your faith, firm and immovable, never abandoning the hope held out in the good news to which you listened, which has been proclaimed among all created things under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made an assistant.\blank 

\par 
 Now\V{24} at last I can rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and in my own person I supplement the afflictions endured by the Christ, for the sake of his body, the church; of\V{25} which I myself became a minister in virtue of the office with which God entrusted me for your benefit, to declare the message of God in all its fulness – That\V{26} truth which has been hidden from former ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to God’s people, to\V{27} whom it was his pleasure to make known the surpassing glory of that hidden truth when proclaimed among the Gentiles – ‘Christ among you! Your hope of glory!’ This\V{28} is the Christ whom we proclaim, warning everyone, and instructing everyone, with all the wisdom that we possess, in the hope of bringing everyone into God’s presence perfected by union with Christ. It\V{29} is for that I toil, struggling with all the energy which he inspires and which works powerfully within me.  I\C{2} want you to know in how great a struggle I am engaged for you and for Christ’s people at Laodicea, and for all who have not yet seen me; in\V{2} the hope that they, being bound to one another by love, and keeping in view the full blessedness of a firm conviction, may be encouraged to strive for a perfect knowledge of God’s hidden truth, even\V{3} Christ himself, in whom all treasures of wisdom and knowledge lie hidden. I\V{4} say this to prevent anyone from deceiving you by plausible arguments. It\V{5} is true that I am not with you in person, but I am with you in spirit, and am glad to see the good order and the unbroken front resulting from your faith in Christ.\blank 

\par 
 Since,\V{6} therefore, you have received Jesus, the Christ, as your Lord, live your lives in union with him – rooted\V{7} in him, building up your characters through union with him, growing stronger through your faith, as you were taught, overflowing with faith and thanksgiving. Take\V{8} care there is not someone who will carry you away by his ‘philosophy’ – a hollow sham! – following, as it does, mere human traditions, and dealing with puerile questions of this world, and not with Christ. For\V{9} in Christ the Godhead in all its fulness dwells incarnate; and,\V{10} by your union with him, you also are filled with it. He is the head of all archangels and powers of heaven. By\V{11} your union with him you received a circumcision that was not performed by human hands, when you threw off the tyranny of the earthly body, and received the circumcision of the Christ. For\V{12} in baptism you were buried with Christ; and in baptism you were also raised to life with him, through your faith in the omnipotence of God, who raised him from the dead. And\V{13} to you, who once were dead, by reason of your sins and your uncircumcised nature – to you God gave life in giving life to Christ! He pardoned all our sins! He\V{14} canceled the bond which stood against us – the bond that consisted of ordinances – and which was directly hostile to us! He has taken it out of our way by nailing it to the cross! He\V{15} rid himself of all the powers of evil, and held them up to open contempt, when he celebrated his triumph over them on the cross!
\par 
 Do\V{16} not, then, allow anyone to take you to task on questions of eating or drinking, or in the matter of annual or monthly or weekly festivals. These\V{17} things are only the shadow of what is to come; the substance is in the Christ. Do\V{18} not let anyone defraud you of the reality by affecting delight in so-called ‘humility’ and angel-worship. Such a person busies themselves with their visions, and without reason are rendered conceited by their merely human intellect. They\V{19} fail to maintain union with the head, to whom it is due that the whole body, nourished and knit together by the contact and connexion of every part, grows with a divine growth.\blank 

\par 
 Since,\V{20} with Christ, you became dead to the puerile teaching of this world, why do you submit, as if you still belonged to the world, to\V{21} such ordinances as ‘Do not handle, or taste, or touch’? For\V{22} all the things referred to in them cease to exist when used. You are following mere human directions and instructions. Such\V{23} prohibitions appear reasonable where there is a desire for self-imposed service, and so-called ‘humility,’ and harsh treatment of the body, but are of no real value against the indulgence of our earthly nature.  Since,\C{3} therefore, you were raised to life with the Christ, seek for the things that are above; for it is there that the Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Fix\V{2} your thoughts on the things that are above, not on those that are on earth. For\V{3} you died, and your life now lies hidden, with the Christ, in God. When\V{4} the Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Gospel in the Daily Life}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Therefore\V{5} destroy all that is earthly in you – immorality, uncleanness, passions, evil desires, and that greed which is idolatry. These\V{6} are the things because of which the wrath of God comes, and\V{7} to which you, like others, once devoted your lives, when you lived for them. You,\V{8} however, must now lay aside all such things – anger, passion, malice, slander, abuse. Never\V{9} lie to one another. Get rid of your old self and its habits, and\V{10} clothe yourselves with that new self, which, as it gains in knowledge, is being constantly renewed in resemblance to him who made it. In\V{11} that new life there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all! – and in all!
\par 
\indentation  Therefore,\V{12} as God’s people, consecrated and dear to him, clothe yourselves with tenderness of heart, kindliness, humility, gentleness, forbearance; bearing\V{13} with one another, and, when there is any ground for complaint, forgiving one another freely. As the Master freely forgave you, so you must forgive one another. Over\V{14} all these virtues put on love; for that is the belt which makes all complete. Let\V{15} the peace that the Christ gives decide all doubts within your hearts; for you also were called to the enjoyment of peace as members of one body. And show yourselves thankful. Let\V{16} the message of the Christ be alive in your minds in all its wealth, bringing all wisdom with it. Teach and admonish one another with psalms, and hymns, and sacred songs, full of the loving kindness of God, lifting your hearts in song to him. And,\V{17} whatever you say or do, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus; and through him offer thanksgiving to God the father.\blank 

\par 
 Wives,\V{18} submit to your husbands, as befits those who belong to the Lord. Husbands,\V{19} love your wives, and never treat them harshly. Children,\V{20} always obey your parents; for that is pleasant to see in those who belong to the Lord. Fathers,\V{21} never irritate your children, otherwise they might become disheartened. Slaves,\V{22} always obey your earthly masters, not only when their eyes are on you, as if you had but to please people alone, but giving them ungrudging service, in your respect for the Master. Whatever\V{23} you do, do it with all your heart, as if working for the Master and not for people, since\V{24} you know that it is from the Master that you will receive the inheritance which will be your reward. You are serving Christ, the Master. Those\V{25} who do wrong will reap the wrong they have done; and there will be no partiality.  Masters,\C{4} do what is right and fair by your slaves, for you know that you also have a Master – in heaven.\blank 

\par 
 Devote\V{2} yourselves to prayer. Give your whole mind to it, and also offer thanksgiving; and\V{3} at the same time pray for us, so that God may give us an opening for our message, so that we may speak of the truths hidden in the Christ – the truths for which I am in chains! Then\V{4} I will make them known, as I ought to do. Show\V{5} tact in your behavior to the outside world, making the most of every opportunity. Let\V{6} your conversation always be kindly, but not bland, season it, as it were, with salt; be aware in each case of the answer you should be giving.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Our\V{7} dear friend, Tychicus, will tell you all about me. He is a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Master’s cause. I\V{8} send him to you expressly that you may learn our circumstances, and that he may give you encouragement. With\V{9} him will be Onesimus, our dear faithful friend, who is one of yourselves. They will tell you all that is going on here.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  My\V{10} fellow prisoner, Aristarchus, sends you his greeting, and Barnabas’s cousin, Mark, sends his. (You have received directions about him. If he comes to you, make him welcome.) Joshua,\V{11} who is called Justus, also sends his greeting. These are the only converts from Judaism who have worked with me for the kingdom of God; I have found them a great comfort. Epaphras,\V{12} who is one of yourselves, sends you his greeting. He is a servant of Christ Jesus, and is always most earnest in your behalf in his prayers, praying that you may stand firm, with a matured faith and with a sure conviction of all that is in accordance with God’s will. I\V{13} can bear testimony to the deep interest he takes in you, as well as in the followers at Laodicea and at Hierapolis. Luke,\V{14} our dear doctor, sends you his greeting, and Demas sends his. Give\V{15} my greeting to the followers at Laodicea, and to Nymphe, and to the church that meets at her house. And\V{16} when this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read before the church at Laodicea, and that you yourselves read the letter which will be forwarded from there. Give\V{17} this message to Archippus – ‘Take care to discharge to the best of your ability the office to which you were appointed in the Master’s cause.’\blank 

\par 
 I,\V{18} Paul, add this greeting in my own handwriting. Remember these chains of mine. God’s blessing be with you.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{1 Thessalonians}

\MTT{Paul’s First Letter to the}

\MT{Thessalonians}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  To\C{1} the Thessalonian church in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. May God bless you and give you peace.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Apostle and his Converts}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  We\V{2} always mention you in our prayers and thank God for you all; recalling\V{3} continually before our God and Father the efforts that have resulted from your faith, the toil prompted by your love, and the patient endurance sustained by your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Friends,\V{4} whom God loves, we know that he has chosen you, because\V{5} the good news that we brought came home to you, not merely as so many words, but with a power and a fulness of conviction due to the Holy Spirit. For you know the life that we lived among you for your good. And\V{6} you yourselves began to follow, not only our example, but the Master’s also; and, in spite of much suffering, you welcomed the message with a joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, and\V{7} so became a pattern to all who believed in Christ throughout Macedonia and Greece. For\V{8} it was from you that the Lord’s message resounded throughout Macedonia and Greece; and, more than that, your faith in God has become known far and wide; so that there is no need for us to say another word. Indeed,\V{9} in speaking about us, the people themselves tell of the reception you gave us, and how, turning to God from your idols, you became servants of the true and living God, and\V{10} are now awaiting the return from heaven of his Son whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, our deliverer from the coming wrath. 
\par 
\indentation  Yes,\C{2} friends, you yourselves know that your reception of us was not without result. For,\V{2} although we had experienced suffering and ill treatment, as you know, at Philippi, we had the courage, by the help of our God, to tell you God’s good news in spite of great opposition. Our\V{3} appeal to you was not based on a delusion, nor was it made from unworthy motives, or with any intention of misleading you. But,\V{4} having been found worthy by God to be entrusted with the good news, therefore we tell it; with a view to please, not people, but God who proves our hearts. Never\V{5} at any time, as you know, did we use the language of flattery, or make false professions in order to hide selfish aims. God will bear witness to that. Nor\V{6} did we seek to win honor from people, whether from you or from others, although, as apostles of Christ, we might have burdened you with our support. But\V{7} we lived among you with the simplicity of a child; we were like a woman nursing her own children. In\V{8} our strong affection for you, that seemed to us the best way of sharing with you, not only God’s good news, but our lives as well – so dear had you become to us. You\V{9} will not have forgotten, friends, our labor and toil. Night and day we used to work at our trades, so as not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you God’s good news. You\V{10} will bear witness, and God also, that our relations with you who believed in Christ were pure, and upright, and beyond reproach. Indeed,\V{11} you know that, like a father with his own children, we used to encourage and comfort every one of you, and solemnly plead with you; so\V{12} that you should make your daily lives worthy of God who is calling you into the glory of his kingdom.\blank 

\par 
 This,\V{13} too, is a reason why we, on our part, are continually thanking God – because, in receiving the teaching that you had from us, you accepted it, not as the teaching of humans, but as what it really is – the teaching of God, which is even now doing its work within you who believe in Christ. For\V{14} you, friends, began to follow the example of the churches of God in Judea which are in union with Jesus Christ; you, in your turn, suffering at the hands of your fellow citizens, in the same way as those churches did at the hands of their people – who\V{15} killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and persecuted us also. They do not try to please God, and they are enemies to all humanity, for\V{16} they try to prevent us from speaking to the Gentiles with a view to their salvation, and so are always filling up the measure of their iniquity. But the wrath of God has come upon them to the full!
\par 
 As\V{17} for ourselves, friends, our having been bereaved of you even for a short time – though in body only, and not in spirit – made us all the more eager to see your faces again; and the longing to do so was strong on us. That\V{18} was why we made up our minds to go and see you – at least I, Paul, did, more than once – but Satan put difficulties in our way. For\V{19} what hope or joy will be ours, or what crown will we have to boast of, in the presence of our Lord Jesus, at his coming, if it isn’t you? You\V{20} are our pride and our delight! 
\par 
 And\C{3} so, as we could bear it no longer, we made up our minds to remain behind alone at Athens, and\V{2} sent Timothy, our dear friend and God’s minister of the good news of the Christ, to strengthen you, and to encourage you in your faith, so\V{3} that none of you should be shaken by the troubles through which you are passing. You yourselves know that we are destined to meet with such things. For,\V{4} even while we were with you, we warned you beforehand that we were certain to encounter trouble. And so it proved, as you know. Therefore,\V{5} since I could no longer endure the uncertainty, I sent to make inquiries about your faith, fearing that the Tempter had tempted you, and that our toil might prove to have been in vain. But,\V{6} when Timothy recently returned to us from you with good news of your faith and love, and told us how kindly you think of us – always longing, he said, to see us, just as we are longing to see you – on\V{7} hearing this, we felt encouraged about you, friends, in the midst of all our difficulties and troubles, by your faith. For\V{8} it is new life to us to know that you are holding fast to the Lord. How\V{9} can we thank God enough for all the happiness that you are giving us in the sight of our God? Night\V{10} and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face, and make good any deficiency in your faith.
\par 
 May\V{11} our God and Father himself, and Jesus, our Lord, make the way plain for us to come to you. And\V{12} for you, may the Lord fill you to overflowing with love for one another and for everyone, just as we are filled with love for you; and\V{13} so make your hearts strong, and your lives pure beyond reproach, in the sight of our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus, with all his Holy Ones. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Advice on Daily Life}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Further,\C{4} friends, we beg and urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus to carry out more fully than ever – as indeed you are already doing – all that you have heard from us as to what your daily life must be, if it is to please God. For\V{2} you have not forgotten the directions that we gave you on the authority of our Lord Jesus.
\par 
\indentation  For\V{3} this is God’s purpose – that you should be pure; abstaining from all immorality; each\V{4} of you learning to gain control over your own body, in a way that is holy and honorable, and\V{5} not for the mere gratification of your passions, like the Gentiles who know nothing of God; none\V{6} of you overreaching or taking advantage of their fellow follower of the Lord in such matters. The Lord takes vengeance on all who do such things, as we have already warned you and solemnly declared. For\V{7} God’s call to us does not permit of an impure life, but demands purity. Therefore\V{8} the person who disregards this warning disregards, not people, but God who gives you his Holy Spirit.
\par 
 As\V{9} to love for each other there is no need to write to you; for you have yourselves been taught by God to love one another; and\V{10} indeed you do act in this spirit towards all his people throughout Macedonia.
\par 
Yet, friends, we beg you to do even more. Make\V{11} it your ambition to live quietly, and to attend to your own business, and to work with your hands, as we directed you; so\V{12} that your conduct may win respect from those outside the church, and that you may not want for anything.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Dead in Christ at the coming of the Lord}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  We\V{13} don’t want you to be ignorant, friends, about those who have passed to their rest. We don’t want you to grieve like other people who have no hope. For,\V{14} as we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring, with Jesus, those who through him have passed to their rest. This\V{15} we tell you on the authority of the Lord – that those of us who are still living at the coming of the Lord will not anticipate those who have passed to their rest. For,\V{16} with a loud summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the trumpet-call of God, the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Then\V{17} those who died in union with Christ will rise first; and afterward we who are still living will be caught up in the clouds, with them, to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be for ever with the Lord. Therefore,\V{18} comfort one another with what I have told you. 
\par 
\indentation  But\C{5} as to the times and the moments, there is no need, friends, for anyone to write to you. You\V{2} yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come just as a thief comes in the night. When\V{3} people are saying ‘All is quiet and safe,’ it is then that, like birth pains on a pregnant woman, ruin comes suddenly upon them, and there will be no escape! You,\V{4} however, friends, are not in darkness, that the daylight should take you by surprise as if you were thieves. For\V{5} you all are children of light and children of the day.
\par 
We have nothing to do with night, or darkness. Therefore\V{6} let us not sleep as others do. No, let us be watchful and self-controlled. It\V{7} is at night that people sleep, and at night that drunkards get drunk. But\V{8} let us, who belong to the day, control ourselves, and put on faith and love as a breast plate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For\V{9} God destined us, not for wrath, but to win salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that,\V{10} whether we are still watching or have fallen asleep, we may live with him. Therefore\V{11} encourage one another, and try to build up one another’s characters, as indeed you are doing.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  We\V{12} beg you, friends, to value those who toil among you, and are your leaders in the Lord’s service, and give you counsel. Hold\V{13} them in the very greatest esteem and affection for the sake of their work. Live at peace with one another. We\V{14} entreat you also, friends – warn the disorderly, comfort the faint-hearted, give a helping hand to the weak, and be patient with everyone. Take\V{15} care that none of you ever pays back wrong for wrong, but always follow the kindest course with one another and with everyone. Always\V{16} be joyful; never\V{17} cease to pray; under\V{18} all circumstances give thanks to God. For this is his will for you as made known in Christ Jesus. Do\V{19} not quench the Spirit; do\V{20} not make light of preaching. Bring\V{21} everything to the test; cling to what is good; shun\V{22} every form of evil. May\V{23} God himself, the giver of peace, make you altogether holy; and may your spirits, souls, and bodies be kept altogether faultless until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He\V{24} who calls you will not fail you; he will complete his work.
\par 
\indentation  Friends,\V{25} pray for us.\blank 

\par 
 Greet\V{26} all the Lord’s followers with a sacred kiss. I\V{27} order you in the Lord’s name to have this letter read to all the brethren.\blank 

\par 
 May\V{28} the blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{2 Thessalonians}

\MTT{Paul’s Second Letter to the}

\MT{Thessalonians}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  To\C{1} the Thessalonian church in union with God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, From Paul, Silas, and Timothy. May\V{2} God, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Apostle and his Converts}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Friends,\V{3} it is our duty always to thank God about you, as is but right, considering the wonderful growth of your faith, and because, without exception, your love for one another is continually increasing. So\V{4} much is this the case that we ourselves speak with pride, before the churches of God, of the patience and faith which you have shown, in spite of all the persecutions and troubles that you are enduring. These\V{5} persecutions will vindicate the justice of God’s judgment, and will result in your being reckoned worthy of God’s kingdom, for the sake of which you are now suffering; since\V{6} God deems it just to inflict suffering on those who are now inflicting suffering on you, and\V{7} to give relief to you who are suffering, as well as to us, at the appearing of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire. Then\V{8} he will inflict punishment on those who refuse to know God, and on those who turn a deaf ear to the good news of Jesus, our Lord. They\V{9} will pay the penalty of unutterable ruin – banished from the presence of the Lord and from the glorious manifestation of his might, when\V{10} he comes to be honored in his people, and to be revered in all who have learned to believe in him (for you also believed our testimony) – as he will be on that day. With\V{11} this in view, our constant prayer for you is that our God may count you worthy of the call that you have received, and by his power make perfect your delight in all goodness and the efforts that have resulted from your faith. Then,\V{12} in the loving kindness of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ, will the name of Jesus, our Lord, be honored in you, and you in him. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Events that must precede the Lord’s Coming}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  As\C{2} to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our being gathered to meet him, we beg you, friends, not\V{2} lightly to let your minds become unsettled, or disturbed by any revelation, or by any message, or by any letter, purporting to come from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is come. Do\V{3} not let anyone deceive you, whatever he may do. For it will not come until after the Great Apostasy, and the appearing of that Incarnation of Wickedness, that Lost Soul, who\V{4} so opposes himself to everyone that is spoken of as a God or as an object of worship, and so exalts himself above them, that he seats himself in the Temple of God, and displays himself as God! Don’t\V{5} you remember how, when I was with you, I used to speak to you of all this? And\V{6} you know now what the restraining influence is which prevents his appearing before his appointed time. Wickedness,\V{7} indeed, is already at work in secret; but only until he who at present restrains it is removed out of the way. Then\V{8} will ‘Wickedness Incarnate’ appear, but the Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his lips, and annihilate him by the splendor of his coming. For\V{9} at the coming of the Lord there will be great activity on the part of Satan, in the form of all kinds of deceptive miracles, signs, and marvels, as well as of wicked attempts to delude – to\V{10} the ruin of those who are on the path to destruction, because they have never received and loved the truth to their own salvation. That\V{11} is why God places them under the influence of a delusion, to cause them to believe a lie; so\V{12} that sentence may be passed on all those who refuse to believe the truth, but delight in wickedness.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  But,\V{13} friends, whom the Lord loves, it is our duty always to thank God about you, for, from the first, God chose you for salvation through the purifying influence of the Spirit, and your belief in the truth. To\V{14} this you were called by the good news which we brought you, to attain to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stand\V{15} firm then, friends, and hold fast to the truths that we taught you, whether by word or by letter. And\V{16} may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and, in his loving kindness, gave us unfailing consolation and good ground for hope, console\V{17} your hearts, and strengthen you to do and to say all that is right. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  In\C{3} conclusion, friends, pray for us – pray that the Lord’s message may spread rapidly, and be received everywhere with honor, as it was among you; and\V{2} that we may be preserved from wrong-headed and wicked people – for it is not everyone who believes in Christ. But\V{3} the Lord will not fail you; he will give you strength, and guard you from evil. Yes,\V{4} and the confidence that our union with the Lord enables us to place in you leads us to believe that you are doing, and will do, what we direct you. May\V{5} the Lord bring you to the love of God, and to the patience of the Christ.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  We\V{6} beg you, friends, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to avoid any follower who is living an ill-ordered life, which is not in agreement with the teaching that you received from us. For\V{7} you know well that you ought to follow our example. When we were with you, our life was not ill-ordered, nor\V{8} did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it. Night and day, laboring and toiling, we used to work at our trades, so as not to be a burden on any of you. This\V{9} was not because we had not a right to receive support, but our object was to give you a pattern for you to copy. Indeed,\V{10} when we were with you, the rule we laid down was – ‘Whoever does not choose to work will not get to eat.’ We\V{11} hear that there are among you people who are living ill-ordered lives, and who, instead of attending to their own business, are mere busybodies. All\V{12} such people we beg, and implore, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to attend quietly to their business, and earn their own living. You,\V{13} friends, must not grow weary of doing what is right. If\V{14} anyone disregards what we have said in this letter, take note of them and avoid their company, so that they may feel ashamed. Yet\V{15} do not think of them as an enemy, but caution them as you would a brother or sister. May\V{16} the Lord, from whom all peace comes, himself give you his peace at all times and in all ways. May he be with you all.\blank 

\par 
 I,\V{17} Paul, add this greeting in my own handwriting. It is my signature to every letter. This is how I write. May\V{18} the blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{1 Timothy}

\MTT{Paul’s First Letter to}

\MT{Timothy}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  From\C{1} Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the appointment of God, our Savior, and Christ Jesus, our hope. To\V{2} Timothy, my true child in the faith: May God, the Father, and Christ Jesus, our Lord, bless you, and be merciful to you, and give you peace.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  I\V{3} beg you, as I did when I was on my way into Macedonia, to remain at Ephesus; so that you may instruct certain people there not to teach new and strange doctrines, nor\V{4} to devote their attention to legends and interminable genealogies, which tend to give rise to argument rather than to further that divine plan which is revealed in the faith. The\V{5} object of all instruction is to call forth that love which comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith. And\V{6} it is because they have not aimed at these things that the attention of certain people has been diverted to unprofitable subjects. They\V{7} want to be teachers of the Law, and yet do not understand either the words they use, or the subjects on which they speak so confidently. We\V{8} know, of course, that the Law is excellent, when used legitimately, by\V{9} one who recognizes that laws were not made for good people, but for the lawless and disorderly, for irreligious and wicked people, for those who are irreverent and profane, for those who ill-treat their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for\V{10} the immoral, for perverts, for slave-dealers, for liars, for perjurers, and for whatever else is opposed to sound Christian teaching – as\V{11} is taught in the glorious good news of the ever-blessed God, with which I was entrusted.
\par 
 I\V{12} am thankful to Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has been my strength, for showing that he thought me worthy of trust by appointing me to his ministry, though\V{13} I once used to blaspheme, and to persecute, and to insult. Yet mercy was shown me, because I acted in ignorance, while still an unbeliever; and\V{14} the loving kindness of our Lord was boundless, and filled me with that faith and love which come from union with Christ Jesus. How\V{15} true the saying is, and worthy of the fullest acceptance, that ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’! And there is no greater sinner than I! Yet\V{16} mercy was shown me for the express purpose that Christ Jesus might exhibit in my case, beyond all others, his exhaustless patience, as an example for those who were afterward to believe on him and attain eternal life. To\V{17} the eternal King, ever-living, invisible, the one God, be ascribed honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
\par 
 This,\V{18} then, is the charge that I lay on you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with what was predicted of you – Fight the good fight in the spirit of those predictions, with\V{19} faith, and with a clear conscience; and it is because they have thrust this aside, that, as regards the faith, some have wrecked their lives. Hymenaeus\V{20} and Alexander are instances – the men whom I delivered over to Satan so that they might be taught not to blaspheme. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{General Directions on Church Matters}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  First\C{2} of all, then, I ask that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be offered for everyone, especially\V{2} for kings and all who are in high positions, in order that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in a deeply religious and reverent spirit. This\V{3} will be good and acceptable in the eyes of God, our Savior, whose\V{4} will is that everyone should be saved, and attain to a full knowledge of the truth. There\V{5} is but one God, and one mediator between God and humanity – the human, Christ Jesus, who\V{6} gave himself as a ransom on behalf of all.
\par 
\indentation This must be our testimony, as opportunities present themselves; and\V{7} it was for this that I was myself appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the simple truth and no lie) – a teacher of the Gentiles in the faith and truth.
\par 
 My\V{8} desire, then, is that it should be the custom everywhere for the men to lead the prayers, with hands reverently uplifted, avoiding heated controversy.
\par 
 I\V{9} also desire that women should adorn themselves with appropriate dress, worn quietly and modestly, and not with wreaths or gold ornaments for the hair, or pearls, or costly clothing, but\V{10} – as is proper for women who profess to be religious – with good actions. They\V{11} must learn, listening quietly to their teachers and showing them all deference. I\V{12} do not consent to them becoming teachers, or exercising authority over men; they ought to not make a fuss. Adam\V{13} was formed first, not Eve. And\V{14} it was not Adam who was deceived; it was the woman who was entirely deceived and fell into sin. But\V{15} she will be saved by the birth of a child, if they never abandon faith, love, or holiness, and behave with modesty. 
\par 
 How\C{3} true is this saying:‘To aspire to be to be a supervisor in the church is to be ambitious for a noble task.’ The\V{2} supervisor should be of blameless character; a faithful partner; living a temperate, discreet, and well-ordered life; hospitable, and a skillful teacher, not\V{3} addicted to drink or brawling, but of a forbearing and peaceable disposition, and not a lover of money; they\V{4} should provide for own household well, and their children should kept under control and be well-behaved. If\V{5} someone does not know how to provide for their own household, how can they take charge of the church of God? The\V{6} supervisor should not be a recent convert, or they might become blinded by pride and fall under the same judgment as the devil. They\V{7} should also be well spoken of by outsiders, so that they may not incur censure and so fall into the devil’s trap. So,\V{8} too, assistants should be serious and straightforward, not given to taking much drink or to questionable money-making, but\V{9} people who hold the deep truths of the faith and have a clear conscience. They\V{10} should be tested first, and only appointed to their office if no objection is raised against them. It\V{11} should be the same with the women in this office. They should be serious, not gossips, sober, and trustworthy in all respects. assistants\V{12} should be faithful partners who manage their children and their households well. Those\V{13} who have filled that post with honor gain for themselves an honorable position, as well as great confidence through the faith that they place in Christ Jesus.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Special Directions to Timothy}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  I\V{14} am writing this to you, though I hope that I will come to see you before long; but\V{15} in case I should be delayed, I want you to know what your conduct ought to be in the Household of God, which is the church of the living God – the pillar and stay of the truth. Yes,\V{16} and confessedly wonderful are the deep truths of our religion; for –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘He was revealed in our nature,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Pronounced righteous in spirit,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Seen by angels,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Proclaimed among the Gentiles,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Believed on in the world,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{Taken up into glory.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]   But\C{4} the Spirit distinctly says that in later times there will be some who will fall away from the faith, and devote their attention to misleading spirits, and to the teaching of demons, who\V{2} will make use of the hypocrisy of lying teachers. These people’s consciences are seared, and\V{3} they discourage marriage and enjoin abstinence from certain kinds of food; though God created these foods to be enjoyed thankfully by those who hold the faith and have attained a full knowledge of the truth. Everything\V{4} created by God is good, and there in nothing that need be rejected – provided only that it is received thankfully; for\V{5} it is consecrated by God’s blessing and by prayer.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Put\V{6} all this before the followers, and you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, sustained by the precepts of the faith and of that good teaching by which you have guided your life. As\V{7} for profane legends and old wives’ tales, leave them alone. Train yourself to lead a religious life; for\V{8} while the training of the body is of service in some respects, religion is of service in all, carrying with it, as it does, a promise of life both here and hereafter. How\V{9} true that saying is and worthy of the fullest acceptance! With\V{10} that aim we toil and struggle, for we have set our hopes on the living God, who is the Savior of all, and especially of those who hold the faith.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Remember\V{11} these things in your teaching. Do\V{12} not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but, by your conversation, your conduct, your love, your faith, and your purity, be an example to those who hold the faith. Until\V{13} I come, apply yourself to public reading, preaching, and teaching. Do\V{14} not neglect the divine gift within you, which was given you, amid many a prediction, when the hands of the church elders were laid on your head. Practice\V{15} these things, devote yourself to them, so that your progress may be plain to everyone. Look\V{16} to yourself as well as to your teaching. Persevere in this, for your doing so will mean salvation for yourself as well as for your hearers. 
\par 
 Do\C{5} not reprimand an older man, but plead with him as if he were your father. Treat the young men as brothers, the\V{2} older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters – with all purity. Show\V{3} consideration for widows – I mean those who are really widowed. but,\V{4} if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should learn to show proper regard for the members of their own family first, and to make some return to their parents; for that is pleasing in God’s sight. As\V{5} for the woman who is really widowed and left quite alone, her hopes are fixed on God, and she devotes herself to prayers and supplications night and day. But\V{6} the life of a widow who is devoted to pleasure is a living death. Those\V{7} are the points you should teach, so that there may be no call for your censure. Anyone\V{8} who fails to provide for their own relatives, and especially for those under their own roof, has disowned the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever. A\V{9} widow, when her name is added to the list, should not be less than sixty years old; she should have been a faithful wife, and\V{10} be well spoken of for her kind actions. She should have brought up children, have shown hospitality to strangers, have washed the feet of her fellow Christians, have relieved those who were in distress, and devoted herself to every kind of good action. But\V{11} you should exclude the younger widows from the list; for, when they grow restive under the yoke of the Christ, they want to marry, and\V{12} so they bring condemnation on themselves for having broken their previous promise. And\V{13} not only that, but they learn to be idle as they go about from house to house. Nor are they merely idle, but they also become gossips and busybodies, and talk of what they ought not. Therefore\V{14} I advise young widows to marry, bear children, and attend to their homes, and so avoid giving the enemy an opportunity for scandal. There\V{15} are some who have already left us, to follow Satan. Any\V{16} Christian woman, who has relatives who are widows, ought to relieve them and not allow them to become a burden to the church, so that the church may relieve those widows who are really widowed.
\par 
 Those\V{17} church elders who fill their office well should be held deserving of especial consideration, particularly those whose work lies in preaching and teaching. The\V{18} words of scripture are –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You should not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain.’}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft] and again –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘The worker is worth their wages.’ \stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Do\V{19} not entertain a charge against an church elder, unless it is supported by two or three witnesses; but\V{20} rebuke offenders publicly, so that others may take warning. I\V{21} charge you solemnly, before God and Christ Jesus and the chosen angels, to carry out these directions, unswayed by prejudice, never acting with partiality. Never\V{22} ordain anyone hastily, and take no part in the wrong-doing of others. Keep your life pure. Do\V{23} not continue to drink water only, but take a little wine because of the weakness of your stomach, and your frequent ailments. There\V{24} are some people whose sins are conspicuous and lead on to judgment, while there are others whose sins dog their steps. In\V{25} the same way noble deeds become conspicuous, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed. \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  All\C{6} who are in the position of slaves should regard their masters as deserving of the greatest respect, so that the name of God, and our teaching, may not be maligned. Those\V{2} who have Christian masters should not think less of them because they are also followers of Christ, but on the contrary they should serve them all the better, because those who are to benefit by their good work are dear to them as their fellow Christians.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
\par 
\indentation Those are the things to insist on in your teaching.
\par 
\noindentation  Anyone\V{3} who teaches otherwise, and refuses their assent to sound instruction – the instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ – and to the teaching of religion, is\V{4} puffed up with conceit, not really knowing anything, but having a morbid craving for discussions and arguments. Such things only give rise to envy, quarreling, recriminations, base suspicions, and\V{5} incessant wrangling on the part of these corrupt-minded people who have lost all hold on the truth, and who think of religion only as a source of gain. Of\V{6} course religion is a great source of gain – when combined with contentment! For\V{7} we brought nothing into the world, because we cannot even carry anything out of it. So,\V{8} with food and shelter, we will be content. Those\V{9} who want to be rich fall into the net of temptation, and become the prey of many foolish and harmful ambitions, which plunge people into destruction and ruin. Love\V{10} of money is a source of all kinds of evil; and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith, and have been pierced to the heart by many a regret.
\par 
\indentation  But\V{11} you must, servant of God, avoid all this. Aim at righteousness, piety, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Run\V{12} the great race of the faith, and win the eternal life. It was for this that you received the call, and, in the presence of many witnesses, made the great profession of faith. I\V{13} beg you, as in the sight of God, the source of all life, and of Christ Jesus who before Pontius Pilate made the great profession of faith – I\V{14} implore you to keep his command free from stain or reproach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. This\V{15} will be brought about in his own time by the one ever-blessed Potentate, the king of all kings and Lord of all lords, who\V{16} alone is possessed of immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or ever can see – to whom be ascribed honor and power for ever. Amen.
\par 
 Teach\V{17} those who are wealthy in this life not to pride themselves, or fix their hopes, on so uncertain a thing as wealth, but on God, who gives us a wealth of enjoyment on every side. Teach\V{18} them to show kindness, to exhibit a wealth of good actions, to be open-handed and generous, storing\V{19} up for themselves what in the future will prove to be a good foundation, so that they may gain the only true life.
\par 
 Timothy,\V{20} guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the profane prattle and contradictions of what some miscall ‘theology,’ for\V{21} there are those who, while asserting their proficiency in it, have yet, as regards the faith, gone altogether astray.\blank 

\par 
God bless you all.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{2 Timothy}

\MTT{Paul’s Second Letter to}

\MT{Timothy}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  From\C{1} Paul who, by the will of God, is an apostle of Christ Jesus, charged to proclaim the life that comes from union with Christ Jesus, to\V{2} Timothy, my dear child: may God, the Father, and Christ Jesus, our Lord, bless you, and be merciful to you, and give you peace.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  I\V{3} am thankful to God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, when I remember you, as I never fail to do, in my prayers – night and day alike, as\V{4} I think of your tears, longing to see you, that my happiness may be completed, now\V{5} that I have been reminded of the sincere faith that you have shown. That faith was seen first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and is now, I am convinced, in you also. And\V{6} that is my reason for reminding you to stir into flame that gift of God, which is yours through your ordination at my hands. For\V{7} the Spirit which God gave us was not a spirit of cowardice, but a spirit of power, love, and self-control. Do\V{8} not, therefore, be ashamed of the testimony which we have to bear to our Lord, or of me imprisoned for his sake; but join with me in suffering for the good news, as far as God enables you. It\V{9} was God who saved us, and from him we received our solemn call – not as a reward for anything that we had done, but in fulfillment of his own loving purpose. For that love was extended to us, through Christ Jesus, before time began, and\V{10} has now been made apparent through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus; who has made an end of death, and has brought life and Immortality to light by that good news, of\V{11} which I was myself appointed a herald and apostle, and teacher. That\V{12} is why I am undergoing these sufferings; yet I feel no shame, for I know in whom I have put my faith, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. Keep\V{13} before you, as an example of sound teaching, all that you learnt from me as you listened with that faith and love which come from union with Christ Jesus. Guard\V{14} by the help of the Holy Spirit, who is within us, the glorious trust that has been committed to you.
\par 
 You\V{15} know, of course, that all our friends in Roman Asia turned their backs on me, including Phygellus and Hermogenes. May\V{16} the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus; for he often cheered me and was not ashamed of my chains. On\V{17} the contrary, when he arrived in Rome, he sought eagerly for me until he found me. The\V{18} Lord grant that he may find mercy at the hands of the Lord on that day. The many services that he rendered at Ephesus you have the best means of knowing. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Injunctions to Timothy}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  You\C{2} must, then, my child, find strength in the help which comes from the union with Christ Jesus; and\V{2} what you learnt from me, in the presence of many listeners, entrust to reliable people, who will be able in their turn to teach others. Share\V{3} hardships with me, as a true soldier of Christ Jesus. A\V{4} soldier on active service, to please his superior officer, always avoids entangling himself in the affairs of ordinary life. No\V{5} athlete is ever awarded the wreath of victory unless they have kept the rules. The\V{6} laborer who does the work should be the first to receive a share of the fruits of the earth. Reflect\V{7} on what I say; the Lord will always help you to understand. Keep\V{8} before your mind Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David, as told in the good news entrusted to me; in\V{9} the service of which I am suffering hardships, even to being put in fetters as a criminal. But the message of God is not fettered; and\V{10} that is why I submit to anything for the sake of God’s people: so that they also may obtain the salvation which comes from union with Christ Jesus, and imperishable glory. How\V{11} true this saying is – ‘If we have shared his death, we will also share his life. If\V{12} we continue to endure, we will also share his throne. If we should ever disown him, he, too, will disown us. If\V{13} we lose our trust, he is still to be trusted, for he cannot be false to himself!’
\par 
\indentation  Remind\V{14} people of all this; tell them solemnly, as in the sight of God, to avoid controversy, a useless thing and the ruin of those who listen to it. Do\V{15} your utmost to show yourself true to God, a worker with no reason to be ashamed, accurate in delivering the message of the truth. Avoid\V{16} profane prattle. Those who indulge in it only get deeper into irreligious ways, and\V{17} their teaching will spread like a cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are instances of this. They\V{18} have gone completely astray as regards the truth; they say that a resurrection has already taken place, and so upset some people’s faith. Yet\V{19} God’s firm foundation still stands unmoved, and it bears this inscription –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘THE LORD KNOWS THOSE WHO ARE HIS’;}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] and this –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘LET ALL THOSE WHO USE THE NAME OF THE LORD TURN AWAY FROM WICKEDNESS.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Now\V{20} in a large house there are not only things of gold and silver, but also others of wood and earthenware, some for better and some for common use. If,\V{21} then, a person has escaped from the pollution of such errors as I have mentioned, they will be like a thing kept for better use, set apart, serviceable to its owner, ready for any good purpose. Flee\V{22} from the passions of youth, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, in the company of those who, with a pure heart, invoke the Lord. Shun\V{23} foolish and ignorant discussions, for you know that they only breed quarrels; and\V{24} a servant of the Lord should never quarrel. They ought, on the contrary, to be courteous to everyone, skillful teachers, and forbearing. They\V{25} should instruct their opponents in a gentle spirit; for, possibly, God may give those opponents a repentance that will lead to a fuller knowledge of truth, and\V{26} they may yet come to a sober mind, and escape from the devil’s net, when captured by the Lord’s servant to do the will of God. \stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Be\C{3} sure of this, that in the last days difficult times will come. People\V{2} will be selfish, mercenary, boastful, haughty, and blasphemous; disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, impure, incapable\V{3} of affection, merciless, slanderous, wanting in self-control, brutal, careless of the right, treacherous,\V{4} reckless, and puffed up with pride; they will love pleasure more than they love God; and\V{5} while they retain the outward form of religion, they will not allow it to influence them. Turn your back on such people as these. For\V{6} among them are to be found those who creep into homes and captivate weak women – women who, loaded with sins, and slaves to all kinds of passions, are\V{7} always learning, and yet never able to attain to a real knowledge of the truth. Just\V{8} as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so do these people, in their turn, oppose the truth. Their minds are corrupted, and, as regards the faith, they are utterly worthless. They\V{9} will not, however, make further progress; for their wicked folly will be plain to everyone, just as the folly Jannes and Jambres was. But\V{10} you, Timothy, were a close observer of my teaching, my conduct, my purposes, my faith, my forbearance, my love, and my patient endurance, as\V{11} well as of my persecutions, and of the sufferings which I met with at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. You know what persecutions I underwent; and yet the Lord brought me safe out of all! Yes,\V{12} and all who aim at living a religious life in union with Christ Jesus will have to suffer persecution; but\V{13} wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves. You,\V{14} however, must stand by what you learnt and accepted as true. You know who they were from whom you learnt it; and\V{15} that, from your childhood, you have known the sacred writings, which can give you the wisdom that, through belief in Christ Jesus, leads to salvation. All\V{16} scripture is God-breathed: helpful for teaching, for refuting error, for giving guidance, and for training others in righteousness; so\V{17} that God’s people may be capable and equipped for good work of every kind. 
\par 
\indentation  I\C{4} solemnly charge you, in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus, who will one day judge the living and the dead – I charge you by his appearing and by his kingdom: – Proclaim\V{2} the message, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, encourage, never failing to instruct with forbearance. For\V{3} a time will come when people will not tolerate sound teaching. They will follow their own wishes, and, in their itching for novelty, procure themselves a crowd of teachers. They\V{4} will turn a deaf ear to the truth, and give their attention to legends instead. But\V{5} you, Timothy, must always be temperate. Face hardships; do the work of a missionary; discharge all the duties of your office.
\par 
 As\V{6} for me, my life blood is already being poured out; the time of my departure is close at hand. I\V{7} have run the great race; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith. And\V{8} now the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will give me on that day – and not only to me, but to all who have loved his appearing.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Do\V{9} your utmost to come to me soon; for\V{10} Demas, in his love for the world, has deserted me. He has gone to Thessalonica, Crescens to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. There\V{11} is no one but Luke with me. Pick up Mark on your way, and bring him with you, for he is useful to me in my work. I\V{12} have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. Bring\V{13} with you, when you come, the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments. Alexander,\V{14} the coppersmith, showed much ill feeling towards me. The Lord will give him what his actions deserve. You\V{15} must also on your guard against him, for he is strongly opposed to our teaching. At\V{16} my first trial no one stood by me. They all deserted me. May it never be counted against them! But\V{17} the Lord came to my help and strengthened me, in order that, through me, the proclamation should be made so widely that all the Gentiles should hear it; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. The\V{18} Lord will rescue me from all evil, and bring me safe into his Heavenly kingdom. All glory to him for ever and ever! Amen.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Give\V{19} my greeting to Prisca and Aquila, and to the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus\V{20} remained at Corinth, and I left Thophimus ill at Miletus. Do\V{21} your utmost to come before winter. Eubulus, Pudens, Linus and Claudia send you their greetings, and so do the rest of the Lord’s followers.\blank 

\par 
 May\V{22} the Lord be with your soul. God bless you all.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Titus}

\MTT{Paul’s Letter to}

\MT{Titus}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  From\C{1} Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, on behalf of the faith of God’s chosen people, and their knowledge of that truth which makes for godliness –\V{2} and is based on the hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began, and\V{3} has revealed at his own time in his message, with the preaching of which I was entrusted by the command of God our Savior. To\V{4} Titus, my true child in our shared faith: May God, the Father, and Christ Jesus, our Savior, bless you and give you peace.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Mission of Titus in Crete}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  My\V{5} reason for leaving you in Crete was that you might put in order what had been left unfinished, and appoint church elders in the various towns, as I myself directed you. They\V{6} are to be of irreproachable character, faithful to their partners, whose children are believers in Christ and have never been open to the charge of being wild or unruly. For\V{7} a supervisor, as God’s steward, ought to be of blameless character – not arrogant or quick-tempered, not given to drunkeness, violence or shady money-making. Instead,\V{8} they should be hospitable, love what is good, self-controlled, upright, people of holy life and disciplined, holding\V{9} firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught – so that they may be able to encourage others by sound teaching, as well as to refute those who contradict it.
\par 
\indentation  For\V{10} there are many undisciplined persons who lead others astray with their nonsense, especially those of the group advocating the necessity of circumcision. They\V{11} need to be kept quiet as they disrupt whole households by teaching what they ought not to teach, simply to make shameful financial gain. It\V{12} was a Cretan – one of their own prophets – who said: ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons.’ This statement is true. Therefore\V{13} rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith, and\V{14} may pay no attention to Jewish legends, or to the directions of those who turn their backs on the truth. To\V{15} those whose minds are pure, all things are ritually pure, but to those whose minds are tainted and unbelieving nothing is pure, as their minds and consciences are alike polluted. They\V{16} claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable and disobedient and useless for any good work. \blank 

\par 
 You\C{2} however, should speak of such subjects as properly have a place in sound teaching. Teach\V{2} that the older men should be soberly clear minded, dignified and self-controlled – sound in faith, love, and patient endurance. So,\V{3} too, that the older women should live reverent lives, not slanderers, not slaves to excessive drinking. They\V{4} should teach what is good, so as to train the younger women to love their husbands and children, and\V{5} to be self-controlled, pure-minded, to be watching over their home, to be kind, respecting the authority of their husbands, so that no one will speak badly of God’s message. In\V{6} the same way with the younger men – encourage them to be self-controlled. In\V{7} all things, set an example of doing good. In your teaching, show integrity and seriousness – let\V{8} the instruction that you give be sound and above reproach, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed when they fail to find anything bad to say about us. Tell\V{9} slaves to respect their owner’s authority in all circumstances, and to try their best to please them. Teach\V{10} them not to contradict or to pilfer, but to show such praiseworthy fidelity in everything, as to recommend the teaching about God our Savior by all that they do.
\par 
 For\V{11} the loving kindness of God has been revealed, bringing salvation for all, leading\V{12} us to renounce ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives here in this present age, while\V{13} awaiting our blessed hope – the appearing in glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. For\V{14} he gave himself on our behalf, to deliver us from all wickedness, and to purify for himself a people who should be truly his own and eager to do good. Tell\V{15} them of all this, and encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone belittle you.  Remind\C{3} them to respect and obey the rulers and authorities, to be ready for every kind of good work, to slander no one, to avoid quarreling, to\V{2} be reasonable, and under all circumstances to show a gentle spirit with all. There\V{3} was a time when we ourselves were foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to all kinds of desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hating ourselves and hating one another. But,\V{4} when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for humanity appeared, he saved us, not\V{5} as the result of any righteous actions that we had done, but due to his mercy. He saved us though the washing of rebirth and renewal by the power of the Holy Spirit, which\V{6} he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior – so\V{7} that, having been put right with God through his grace, we become heirs to the hope of eternal life. This\V{8} saying is trustworthy! And it is on these subjects that I want you to lay special emphasis, so that those who have learned to trust in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing good. Such subjects are excellent in themselves, and of benefit to all. But\V{9} have nothing to do with foolish controversies, or with genealogies, or with quarrels, or fights about the Law. They are useless and futile. If\V{10} someone is causing divisions among you then, after giving them a second warning, excuse yourself from them. You\V{11} can be sure that such a person has forsaken the truth and is in the wrong; they stand self-condemned.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  As\V{12} soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, join me as quickly as possible at Nicopolis, for I have arranged to spend the winter there. Do\V{13} your best to help Zenas, the teacher of the Law, and Apollos, on their way, and see that they want for nothing. Let\V{14} all our people learn to devote themselves to doing good, so as to meet the most pressing needs, and that their lives may not be unfruitful.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  All\V{15} who are with me here send you their greeting. Give my greeting to our friends in the faith.\blank 

\par 
God bless you all.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Philemon}

\MTT{Paul’s Letter to}

\MT{Philemon}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  From\C{1} Paul, now a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and from Timothy, a fellow follower of the Lord. To\V{2} our dear friend and fellow worker Philemon, to our sister Apphia, to our fellow soldier Archippus; and to the church that meets at Philemon’s house; may\V{3} God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Request regarding runaway slave}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  I\V{4} always mention you in my prayers and thank God for you, because\V{5} I hear of the love and the faith which you show, not only to the Lord Jesus, but also to all his people; and\V{6} I pray that your participation in the faith may result in action, as you come to a fuller realization of everything that is good and Christlike in us. I\V{7} have indeed found great joy and encouragement in your love, knowing, as I do, how the hearts of Christ’s People have been cheered, friend, by you.
\par 
\indentation  And\V{8} so, though my union with Christ enables me, with all confidence, to dictate the course that you should adopt, yet\V{9} the claims of love make me prefer to plead with you – yes, even me, Paul, though I am an ambassador for Christ Jesus and, now a prisoner for him as well. I\V{10} plead with you for this child of mine, Onesimus, to whom, in my prison, I have become a father. Once\V{11} he was of little service to you, but now he has become of great service, not only to you, but to me as well; and\V{12} I am sending him back to you with this letter – though it is like tearing out of my heart. For\V{13} my own sake I should like to keep him with me, so that, while I am in prison for the good news, he might attend to my wants on your behalf. But\V{14} I do not wish to do anything without your consent, because I want your generosity to be voluntary and not, as it were, compulsory. It\V{15} may be that he was separated from you for an hour, for this reason, so that you might have him back for ever, no\V{16} longer as a slave, but as something better – a dearly loved friend and follower of the Lord, especially dear to me, and how much more so to you, not only as a person, but as your fellow Christian! If,\V{17} then, you count me your friend, receive him as you would me. If\V{18} he has caused you any loss, or owes you anything, charge it to me. I,\V{19} Paul, put my own hand to it – I will repay you myself. I say nothing about your owing me your self. Yes,\V{20} friend, let me gain something from you because of your union with the Lord. Cheer my heart by your Christlike spirit.\blank 

\par 
 Even\V{21} as I write, I have such confidence in your compliance with my wishes, that I am sure that you will do even more than I am asking. Please\V{22} also get a lodging ready for me, for I hope that I will be given back to you all in answer to your prayers.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Messages and Blessing}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Epaphras,\V{23} who is my fellow prisoner for Christ Jesus, sends you his greeting; and\V{24} Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers, send theirs.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  May\V{25} the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ rest on your souls.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Hebrews}

\MTT{The Letter to the}

\MT{Hebrews}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Christ the Mediator}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  God,\C{1} who, of old, at many times and in many ways, spoke to our ancestors, by the prophets, has\V{2} in these latter days spoken to us by the Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. For\V{3} he is the radiance of the glory of God and the expression of his being, upholding all creation by the power of his word; and, when he had made an expiation for the sins of humanity, he took his seat at the right hand of God’s Majesty on high, having\V{4} shown himself as much greater than the angels as the name that he has inherited surpasses theirs.
\par 
\indentation  For\V{5} to which of the angels did God ever say –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You are my Son; this day I have become your Father’?}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft] or again –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son’?\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{6} again, when God brought the first-born into the world, he said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Let all the angels of God bow down before him.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Speaking\V{7} of the angels, he said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘He makes the winds his angels}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And the flames of fire his servants’;\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  while\V{8} of the Son he said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘God is your throne for ever and ever;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{The scepter of his kingdom is the scepter of Justice;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{9} love righteousness and hates iniquity;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the festal oil more abundantly than your peers.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Again\V{10} –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You, Lord, in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and the heavens are the work of your hands.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ They\V{11} will perish, but you remain;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{as a garment they will all grow old;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ As\V{12} a mantle you will fold them up,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{and as a garment they will be changed,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but you are the same, and your years will know no end.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  To\V{13} which of the angels has God ever said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Sit you at my right hand}
\noindentation \Q{2}{until I put your enemies as a stool for your feet’?\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Are\V{14} not all the angels spirits in the service of God, sent out to minister for the sake of those who are destined to obtain salvation? \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Therefore\C{2} we must give still more heed to what we were taught, so we do not drift away. For,\V{2} if the message which was delivered by angels had its authority confirmed, so that every offense against it, or neglect of it, met with a fitting requital, how\V{3} can we, of all people, expect to escape, if we disregard so great a salvation? It was the Master who at the outset spoke of this salvation, and its authority was confirmed for us by those who heard him, while\V{4} God himself added his testimony to it by signs, and marvels, and many different miracles, as well as by imparting the Holy Spirit as he saw fit.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  God\V{5} has not given to angels the control of that future world of which we are speaking! No;\V{6} a writer has declared somewhere –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘What are mere mortals that you should remember them?}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Or human beings that you should care for them?}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ You\V{7} have made them, for a while, lower than angels;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{With glory and honor you have crowned them;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{You have set them over all that your hands have made;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ You\V{8} have placed all things beneath their feet.’}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft] This ‘placing of everything’ under humanity means that there was nothing which was not placed under them. As yet, however, we do not see everything placed under humanity. What\V{9} our eyes do see is Jesus, who was made for a while lower than angels, now, because of his sufferings and death, crowned with glory and honor; so that his tasting the bitterness of death should, in God’s loving kindness, be on behalf of all humanity. It\V{10} was, indeed, fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, should, when leading many children to glory, make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. For\V{11} he who purifies, and those whom he purifies, all spring from One; and therefore he is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. He\V{12} says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{In the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{13} again –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘As for me, I will put my trust in God.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft] And yet again –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘See, here am I and the children whom God gave me.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Therefore,\V{14} since human nature is the common heritage of the children, Jesus also shared it, in order that by death he might render powerless him whose power lies in death – that is, the devil – and\V{15} so might deliver all those who, from fear of death, had all their lives been living in slavery. It\V{16} was not, surely, to the help of the angels that Jesus came, but to the help of the descendants of Abraham. And\V{17} consequently it was necessary that he should in all points be made like his brothers and sisters, in order that he might prove a merciful as well as a faithful high priest in humanity’s relations with God, for the purpose of expiating the sins of his people. The\V{18} fact that he himself suffered under temptation enables him to help those who are tempted. \stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Therefore,\C{3} my Christian friends, you who, all alike, have received the call from heaven, fix your attention on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our religion. See\V{2} how faithful he was to the God who appointed him, as Moses was in the whole house of God. He\V{3} has been deemed worthy of far higher honor than Moses, just as the founder of the house is held in greater regard than the house itself. For\V{4} every house has its founder, and the founder of the universe is God. While\V{5} the faithful service of Moses in the whole house of God was that of a servant, whose duty was to bear testimony to a message still to come, the\V{6} faithfulness of Christ was that of a son set over the house of God. And we are his house – if only we retain, unshaken to the end, the courage and confidence inspired by our hope.
\par 
\indentation  Therefore,\V{7} as the Holy Spirit says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘If today you hear God’s voice,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ harden\V{8} not your hearts, as when Israel provoked me}
\noindentation \Q{2}{On the day when they tried my patience in the desert,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Where\V{9} your ancestors tried my forbearance,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And saw my mighty deeds for forty years.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Therefore\V{10} I was sorely vexed with that generation,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And I said – “Their hearts are always straying;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{They have never learned my ways”;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ While\V{11} in my wrath I swore –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“They will never enter upon my rest.”’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Be\V{12} careful, friends, that there is never found in anyone of you a wicked and faithless heart, shown by that person separating themselves from the living God. Rather\V{13} encourage one another daily – while there is a today – to prevent anyone among you from being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For\V{14} we now all share in the Christ, if indeed we retain, unshaken to the end, the confidence that we had at the first. To\V{15} use the words of scripture –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘If today you hear God’s voice,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Harden not your hearts, as when Israel provoked me.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Who\V{16} were they who heard God speak and yet provoked him? Were not they all those who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses? And\V{17} with whom was it that God was sorely vexed for forty years? Was not it with those who had sinned, and who fell dead in the desert? And\V{18} who were they to whom God swore that they should not enter upon his rest, if not those who had proved faithless? We\V{19} see, then, that they failed to enter upon it because of their want of faith.  We\C{4} must, therefore, be very careful, though there is a promise still standing that we will enter upon God’s rest, that none of you even appear to have missed it. For\V{2} we have had the good news told us just as they had. But the message which they heard did them no good, since they did not share the faith of those who were attentive to it. Upon\V{3} that rest we who have believed are now entering. As God has said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘In my wrath I swore –}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“They will never enter upon my rest;”’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft] Although God’s work was finished at the creation of the world; for,\V{4} in a passage referring to the seventh day, you will find these words –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘God rested on the seventh day after all his work.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  On\V{5} the other hand, we read in that passage –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘They will never enter upon my rest.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Since,\V{6} then, there is still a promise that some will enter upon this rest, and since those who were first told the good news did not enter upon it, because of their disbelief, again\V{7} God fixed a day. ‘Today,’ he said, speaking after a long interval through the mouth of David, in the passage already quoted –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘If today you hear God’s voice}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Harden not your hearts.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Now\V{8} if Joshua had given ‘rest’ to the people, God would not have spoken of another and later day. There\V{9} is, then, a Sabbath rest still awaiting God’s people. For\V{10} the person who enters upon God’s rest do themselves rest after their work, just as God did. Let\V{11} us, therefore, make every effort to enter upon that rest, so that none of us fall through such disbelief as that of which we have had an example. God’s\V{12} message is a living and active power, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing its way until it penetrates soul and spirit – not the joints only but the marrow – and detecting the inmost thoughts and purposes of the mind. There\V{13} is no created thing that can hide itself from the sight of God. Everything is exposed and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we have to give account.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  We\V{14} have, then, in Jesus, the Son of God, a great high priest who has passed into the highest heaven; let us, therefore, hold fast to the faith which we have professed. Our\V{15} high priest is not one unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has in every way been tempted, exactly as we have been, but without sinning. Therefore,\V{16} let us draw near boldly to the throne of love, to find pity and love for the hour of need. \blank 

\par 
\indentation  Every\C{5} high priest, taken from among the people, is appointed as their representative in their relations with God, to offer both gifts and sacrifices in expiation of sins. And\V{2} he is able to sympathize with the ignorant and deluded, since he is himself subject to weakness, and\V{3} is therefore bound to offer sacrifices for sins, not only for the people, but equally so for himself. Nor\V{4} does anyone take that high office on themselves, until they have been called to do so by God, as Aaron was. In\V{5} the same way, even the Christ did not take the honor of the high priesthood on himself, but he was appointed by him who said to him –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You are my Son; this day I have become your Father’;}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  and\V{6} on another occasion also –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You are a priest for all time of the order of Melchizedek.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Jesus,\V{7} in the days of his earthly life, offered prayers and supplications, with earnest cries and with tears, to him who was able to save him from death; and he was heard because of his devout submission. Son\V{8} though he was, he learned obedience from his sufferings; and,\V{9} being made perfect, he became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation, while\V{10} God himself pronounced him a high priest of the order of Melchizedek.\stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Now\V{11} on this subject I have much to say, but it is difficult to explain it to you, because you have shown yourselves so slow to learn. For\V{12} whereas, considering the time that has elapsed, you ought to be teaching others, you still need someone to teach you the alphabet of the divine revelation, and need again to be fed with milk instead of with ‘solid food.’ For\V{13} everyone who still has to take milk knows nothing of the teaching of righteousness; they are a mere infant. But\V{14} solid food is for Christians of mature faith – those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish right from wrong.  Therefore,\C{6} let us leave behind the elementary teaching about the Christ and press on to perfection, not always laying over again a foundation of repentance for a lifeless formality, of faith in God – teaching\V{2} concerning baptisms and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and a final judgment. Yes\V{3} and, with God’s help, we will. For\V{4} if those who were once for all brought into the light, and learned to appreciate the gift from heaven, and came to share in the Holy Spirit, and\V{5} learned to appreciate the beauty of the divine message, and the new powers of the coming age – if\V{6} those, I say, fell away, it would be impossible to bring them again to repentance; they would be crucifying the Son of God over again for themselves, and exposing him to open contempt. Ground\V{7} that drinks in the showers that from time to time fall on it, and produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is tilled, receives a blessing from God; but,\V{8} if it bears thorns and thistles, it is regarded as worthless, it is in danger of being cursed, and its end will be the fire.
\par 
\indentation  But\V{9} about you, dear friends, even though we speak in this way, we are confident of better things – of things that point to your salvation. For\V{10} God is not unjust; he will not forget the work that you did, and the love that you showed for his name, in sending help to your fellow Christians – as you are still doing. But\V{11} our great desire is that every one of you should be equally earnest to attain to a full conviction that our hope will be fulfilled, and that you should keep that hope to the end. Then\V{12} you will not show yourselves slow to learn, but you will copy those who, through faith and patience, are now entering upon the enjoyment of God’s promises.
\par 
 When\V{13} God gave his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater by whom he could swear, he swore by himself. His\V{14} words were –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘I will assuredly bless you and increase your numbers.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{15} so, after patiently waiting, Abraham obtained the fulfillment of God’s promise. People,\V{16} of course, swear by what is greater than themselves, and with them an oath is accepted as putting a matter beyond all dispute. And\V{17} therefore God, in his desire to show, with unmistakable plainness, to those who were to enter on the enjoyment of what he had promised, the unchangeableness of his purpose, bound himself with an oath. For\V{18} he intended us to find great encouragement in these two unchangeable things, which make it impossible for God to prove false – we, I mean, who fled for safety where we might lay hold on the hope set before us. This\V{19} hope is an anchor for our souls, secure and strong, and it reaches into the sanctuary that lies behind the curtain, where\V{20} Jesus, our forerunner, has entered on our behalf, after being made for all time a high priest of the order of Melchizedek. \stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Paramount Priesthood of the Christ}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  It\C{7} was this Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and gave him his blessing; and\V{2} it was to him that Abraham allotted a tithe of all the spoil. The meaning of his name is ‘king of righteousness,’ and besides that, he was also king of Salem, which means ‘king of peace.’ There\V{3} is no record of his father, or mother, or lineage, nor again of any beginning of his days, or end of his life. In this he resembles the Son of God, and stands before us as a priest whose priesthood is continuous.
\par 
\indentation  Consider,\V{4} then the importance of this Melchizedek, to whom even the patriarch Abraham himself gave a tithe of the choicest spoils. Those\V{5} descendants of Levi, who are from time to time appointed to the priesthood, are directed to collect tithes from the people in accordance with the Law – that is from their own kindred, although they also are descended from Abraham. But\V{6} Melchizedek, although not of this lineage, received tithes from Abraham, and gave his blessing to the man who had God’s promises. Now\V{7} no one can dispute that it is the superior who blesses the inferior. In\V{8} the one case the tithes are received by people who are mortal; in the other case by one about whom there is the statement that his life still continues. Moreover,\V{9} in a sense, even Levi, who is the receiver of the tithes, has, through Abraham, paid tithes; for\V{10} Levi was still in the body of his ancestor when Melchizedek met Abraham.
\par 
 If,\V{11} then, perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood – and it was under this priesthood that the people received the Law – why was it still necessary that a priest of a different order should appear, a priest of the order of Melchizedek and not of the order of Aaron? With\V{12} the change of the priesthood a change of the Law became a necessity. And\V{13} he of whom all this is said belonged to quite a different tribe, no member of which has ever served at the altar. For\V{14} it is plain that our Lord had sprung from the tribe of Judah, though of that tribe Moses said nothing about their being priests. All\V{15} this becomes even yet plainer when we remember that a new priest has appeared, resembling Melchizedek, and\V{16} that he was appointed, not under a Law regulating only earthly matters, but by virtue of a life beyond the reach of death; for\V{17} that is the meaning of the declaration –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You are for all time a priest of the order of Melchizedek.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  On\V{18} the one hand, we have the abolition of a previous regulation as being both inefficient and useless (for\V{19} the Law never brought anything to perfection); and, on the other hand, we have the introduction of a better hope, which enables us to draw near to God. Then\V{20} again, the appointment of this new priest was ratified by an oath, which is not so with the Levitical priests, but\V{21} his appointment was ratified by an oath, when God said to him –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The Lord has sworn, and will not change, “You are a priest for all time.”’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{22} the oath shows the corresponding superiority of the covenant of which Jesus is appointed the surety. Again,\V{23} new Levitical priests are continually being appointed, because death prevents their remaining in office; but\V{24} Jesus remains for all time, and therefore the priesthood that he holds will never pass to another. And\V{25} that is why he is able to save perfectly those who come to God through him, living for ever, as he does, to intercede of their behalf.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  This\V{26} was the high priest that we needed – holy, innocent, spotless, withdrawn from sinners, exalted above the highest heaven, one\V{27} who has no need to offer sacrifices daily as those high priests have, first for their own sins, and then for those of the people. For this he did once and for all, when he offered himself as the sacrifice. The\V{28} Law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the words of God’s oath, which was later than the Law, name the Son as, for all time, the perfect priest. 
\par 
\indentation  To\C{8} sum up what I have been saying: Such is the high priest that we have, one who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God’s Majesty in heaven, where\V{2} he serves in the sanctuary, in that true tent set up by the Lord and not by man. Every\V{3} high priest is appointed for the purpose of offering gifts and sacrifices to God; it follows, therefore, that this high priest must have some offering to make. If\V{4} he were, however, still on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there are already priests who offer the gifts as the Law directs. (These\V{5} priests, it is true, are engaged in a service which is only a copy and shadow of the heavenly realities, as is shown by the directions given to Moses when he was about to construct the tent. ‘Look to it,’ are the words, ‘that you make every part in accordance with the pattern shown you on the mountain.’) But\V{6} Jesus, as we see, has obtained a ministry as far excelling theirs, as the covenant of which he is the intermediary, based, as it is, on better promises, excels the former covenant. If\V{7} that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second. But,\V{8} finding fault with the people, God says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘“A time is coming,” says the Lord,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“When I will ratify a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Not\V{9} such a covenant as I made with their ancestors}
\noindentation \Q{2}{On the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For they did not abide by their covenant with me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And therefore I disregarded them,” says the Lord.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ “This\V{10} is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel}
\noindentation \Q{2}{After those days,” says the Lord.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“I will impress my laws on their minds,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And will inscribe them on their hearts;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{And I will be their God,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And they will be my people.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ There\V{11} will be no need for anyone to instruct their fellow citizen,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Or for a person to say to their relatives ‘Learn to know the Lord’;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{For everyone will know me,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{From the lowest to the highest.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{12} I will be merciful to their wrong-doings,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And I will no longer remember their sins.”’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  By\V{13} speaking of a new covenant, God at once renders the former covenant obsolete; and whatever becomes obsolete and loses its force is virtually annulled. \stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The New Revelation and the Old}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  It\C{9} is true that even the first covenant had its regulations for divine worship, and its sanctuary – though only a material one. For\V{2} a tent was constructed, with an outer part which contained the stand for the lamps, and the table, and the consecrated bread. This is called the sanctuary. The\V{3} part of the tent behind the second curtain is called the inner sanctuary. In\V{4} it is the gold incense-altar, and the ark containing the covenant, completely covered with gold. In the ark is a gold casket containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets on which the covenant was written; while\V{5} above it, and overshadowing the cover on which atonement was made, are the cherubim of the presence. Now is not the time to discuss these things in detail. Such,\V{6} then, was the arrangement of the tent. Into the outer part priests are constantly going, in the discharge of their sacred duties; but\V{7} into the inner only the high priest goes, and that but once a year, and never without taking the blood of a victim, which he offers on his own behalf, and on behalf of the errors of the people. By\V{8} this the Holy Spirit is teaching that the way into the sanctuary was hidden, as long as the outer part of the tent still remained. For\V{9} that was only a type, to continue down to the present time; and, in keeping with it, both gifts and sacrifices are offered, though incapable of satisfying the conscience of the worshiper; the\V{10} whole system being concerned only with food and drink and various ablutions – external ceremonials imposed until the coming of the new order.
\par 
\indentation  But,\V{11} when Christ came, he appeared as high priest of that better system which was established; and he entered through that nobler and more perfect tent, not made by human hands – that is to say, not a part of this present creation. Nor\V{12} was it with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, that he entered, once and for all, into the sanctuary, and obtained our eternal deliverance. For,\V{13} if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, purify those who have been defiled (as far as ceremonial purification goes), how\V{14} much more will the blood of the Christ, who, through his eternal Spirit, offered himself up to God, as a victim without blemish, purify our consciences from a lifeless formality, and fit us for the service of the living God! And\V{15} that is why he is the intermediary of a new covenant; in order that, as a death has taken place to effect a deliverance from the offenses committed under the first covenant, those who have received the call may obtain the eternal inheritance promised to them. Whenever\V{16} such a covenant as a will is in question, the death of the testator must of necessity be alleged. For\V{17} such a covenant takes effect only on death, it does not come into force as long as the testator is alive. This\V{18} explains why even the first covenant was not ratified without the shedding of blood. For,\V{19} when every command had been announced to all the people by Moses in accordance with the Law, he took the blood of the calves and of the goats, with water, scarlet wool, and a bunch of hyssop, and sprinkled even the book of the Law, as well as all the people, saying,\V{20} as he did so – “This is the blood that renders valid the covenant which God has commanded to be made with you.” And\V{21} in the same way he also sprinkled with the blood the tent and all the things that were used in public worship. Indeed,\V{22} under the Law, almost everything is purified with blood; and, unless blood is shed, no forgiveness is to be obtained.
\par 
 While,\V{23} then, it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly realities to be purified by such means as these, the heavenly realities themselves required better sacrifices. For\V{24} it was not into a sanctuary made by human hands, which merely foreshadowed the true one, that Christ entered, but into heaven itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor\V{25} yet was it to offer himself may times, as year after year the high priest entered the sanctuary with an offering of blood – but not his own blood; for\V{26} then Christ would have had to undergo death many times since the creation of the world. But now, once and for all, at the close of the age, he has appeared, in order to abolish sin by the sacrifice of himself. And,\V{27} as it is ordained for people to die but once (death being followed by judgment), so\V{28} it is with the Christ. He was offered up once and for all, to bear away the sins of many; and the second time he will appear – but without any burden of sin – to those who are waiting for him, to bring salvation. \blank 

\par 
 The\C{10} Law, though able to foreshadow the better system which was coming, never had its actual substance. Its priests, with those sacrifices which they offer continuously year after year, can never make those who come to worship perfect. Otherwise,\V{2} would not the offering of these sacrifices have been abandoned, as the worshipers, having been once purified, would have had their consciences clear from sins? But,\V{3} on the contrary, these sacrifices recall their sins to mind year after year. For\V{4} the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to remove sins. That\V{5} is why, when he was coming into the world, the Christ declared –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you provide for me a body;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{ You\V{6} take no pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ So\V{7} I said, “See, I have come” (as is written of me in the pages of the book),}
\noindentation \Q{2}{“To do your will, God.”’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  First\V{8} come the words – ‘You do not desire, nor do you take pleasure in, sacrifices, offerings, burnt offerings, and sacrifices for sin’ (offerings regularly made under the Law), and\V{9} then there is added – ‘See, I have come to do your will.’ The former sacrifices are set aside to be replaced by the latter. And\V{10} it is in the fulfillment of the will of God that we have been purified by the sacrifice, once and for all, of the body of Jesus Christ. Every\V{11} other priest stands day after day at his ministrations, and offers the same sacrifices over and over again – sacrifices that can never take sins away. But,\V{12} this priest, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, which should serve for all time, ‘took his seat at the right hand of God,’ and\V{13} has since then been waiting ‘for his enemies to be put as a stool for his feet.’ By\V{14} a single offering he has made perfect for all time those who are being purified. We\V{15} have also the testimony of the Holy Spirit. For, after saying –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘“This\V{16} is the covenant that I will make with them}
\noindentation \Q{2}{After those days,” says the Lord;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{“I will impress my laws on their hearts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And will inscribe them on their minds,”’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  then\V{17} we have –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘And their sins and their iniquities I will no longer remember.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And,\V{18} when these are forgiven, there is no further need of an offering for sin.\stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Encouragement and Warning}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Therefore,\V{19} friends, since we may enter the sanctuary with confidence, in virtue of the blood of Jesus, by\V{20} the way which he inaugurated for us – a new and living way, a way through the sanctuary curtain (that is, his human nature); and,\V{21} since we have in him ‘a great priest set over the house of God,’ let\V{22} us draw near to God in all sincerity of heart and in perfect faith, with our hearts purified by the sprinkled blood from all consciousness of wrong, and with our bodies washed with pure water. Let\V{23} us maintain the confession of our hope unshaken, for he who has given us his promise will not fail us. Let\V{24} us vie with one another in a rivalry of love and noble actions. And\V{25} let us not, as some do, cease to meet together; but, on the contrary, let us encourage one another, and all the more, now that you see the day drawing near. Remember,\V{26} if we sin willfully after we have gained a full knowledge of the truth, there can be no further sacrifice for sin; there\V{27} is only a fearful anticipation of judgment, and a burning indignation which will destroy all opponents. When\V{28} someone disregarded the Law of Moses, they were, on the evidence of two or three witnesses, put to death without pity. How\V{29} much worse then, think you, will be the punishment deserved by those who have trampled underfoot the Son of God, who have treated the blood that rendered the covenant valid – the blood by which they were purified – as if it were not holy, and who have outraged the Spirit of love? We\V{30} know who it was that said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘It is for me to avenge, I will requite’;}
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft] and again –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The Lord will judge his people.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  It\V{31} is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Call\V{32} to mind those early days in which, after you had received the light, you patiently underwent a long and painful conflict. Sometimes,\V{33} in consequence of the taunts and injuries heaped on you, you became a public spectacle; and sometimes you suffered through having shown yourselves to be the friends of people who were in the same position in which you had been. For\V{34} you not only sympathised with those who were in prison, but you even took the confiscation of your possessions joyfully, knowing, as you did, that you had in yourselves a greater possession and a lasting one. Do\V{35} not, therefore, abandon the confidence that you have gained, for it has a great reward awaiting it. You\V{36} still have need of patient endurance, in order that, when you have done God’s will, you may obtain the fulfillment of his promise.
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘For\V{37} there is indeed but a very little while}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Ere He who is coming will have come, without delay;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ And\V{38} through faith the righteous will find life,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{But, if anyone draws back, my heart can find no pleasure in them.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  But\V{39} we do not belong to those who draw back, to their ruin, but to those who have faith, to the saving of their souls. \stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Heroes of Faith}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Faith\C{11} is the realization of things hoped for – the proof of things not seen. And\V{2} it was for faith that the people of old were renowned. Faith\V{3} enables us to perceive that the universe was created at the bidding of God – so that we know that what we see was not made out of visible things. Faith\V{4} made the sacrifice which Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain’s, and won him renown as a righteous man, God himself establishing his renown by accepting his gifts; and it is by the example of his faith that Abel, though dead, still speaks. Faith\V{5} led to Enoch’s removal from earth, so that he might not experience death. ‘He could not be found because God had removed him.’ For, before his removal, he was renowned as having pleased God; but\V{6} without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that God exists, and that he rewards those who seek for him.
\par 
\indentation  It\V{7} was faith that enabled Noah, after he had received the divine warning about what could not then be foreseen, to build, in reverent obedience, an ark in which to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world, and became possessed of that righteousness which follows on faith.
\par 
 It\V{8} was faith that enabled Abraham to obey the call that he received, and to set out for the place which he was afterward to obtain as his own; and he set out not knowing where he was going. It\V{9} was faith that made him go to live as an emigrant in the promised land – as in a strange country – living there in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him. For\V{10} he was looking for the city with the sure foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
\par 
 Again,\V{11} it was faith that enabled Sarah to conceive (though she was past the age for child-bearing), because she felt sure that he who had given her the promise would not fail her. And\V{12} so from one man – and that when his powers were dead – there sprang a people as numerous ‘as the stars in the heavens or the countless grains of sand on the shore.’
\par 
 All\V{13} these died sustained by faith. They did not obtain the promised blessings, but they saw them from a distance and welcomed the sight, and they acknowledged themselves to be only aliens and strangers on the earth. Those\V{14} who speak like this show plainly that they are seeking their homeland. If\V{15} they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they could have found opportunities to return. But\V{16} no, they were longing for a better, a heavenly, land! And therefore God was not ashamed to be called their God; indeed he had already prepared them a city. It\V{17} was faith that enabled Abraham, when put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice – he who had received the promises offering up his only son, of\V{18} whom it had been said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘It is through Isaac that there will be descendants to bear your name.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  For\V{19} he argued that God was even able to raise a man from the dead – and indeed, figuratively speaking, Abraham did receive Isaac back from the dead. It\V{20} was faith that enabled Isaac to bless Jacob and Esau, even with regard to the future. Faith\V{21} enabled Jacob, when dying, to give his blessing to each of the sons of Joseph, and ‘to bow himself in worship as he leant on the top of his staff.’ Faith\V{22} caused Joseph, when his end was near, to speak of the future migration of the Israelites, and to give instructions with regard to his bones. Faith\V{23} caused the parents of Moses to hide the child for three months after his birth, for they saw that he was a beautiful child; and they would not respect the king’s order. It\V{24} was faith that caused Moses, when he was grown up, to refuse the title of ‘son of a daughter of Pharaoh.’ He\V{25} preferred sharing the hardships of God’s people to enjoying the short-lived pleasures of sin. For\V{26} he counted ‘the reproaches that are heaped on the Christ’ of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, looking forward, as he did, to the reward awaiting him. Faith\V{27} caused him to leave Egypt, though undaunted by the king’s anger, for he was strengthened in his endurance by the vision of the invisible God. Faith\V{28} led him to institute the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the Destroyer might not touch the eldest children of the Israelites. Faith\V{29} enabled the people to cross the Red Sea, as if it had been dry land, while the Egyptians, when they attempted to do so, were drowned. Faith\V{30} caused the walls of Jericho to fall after being encircled for seven days. Faith\V{31} saved Rahab, the prostitute, from perishing with the unbelievers, after she had entertained the spies with friendliness.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Need\V{32} I add anything more? Time would fail me if I attempted to relate the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, and those of David, Samuel, and the prophets. By\V{33} their faith they subdued kingdoms, ruled righteously, gained the fulfillment of God’s promises, shut the mouths of lions, quelled\V{34} the fury of the flames, escaped the edge of the sword, found strength in the hour of weakness, displayed their prowess in war, and routed hostile armies. Women\V{35} received back their dead raised to life. Some were tortured on the wheel, and refused release in order that they might rise to a better life. Others\V{36} had to face taunts and blows, and even chains and imprisonment. They\V{37} were stoned to death, they were tortured, they were swan asunder, they were put to the sword; they wandered about clothed in the skins of sheep or goats, destitute, persecuted, ill-used – people\V{38} of whom the world was not worthy – roaming in lonely places, and on the mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet,\V{39} though they all won renown by their faith, they did not obtain the final fulfillment of God’s promise; since\V{40} God had in view some better thing for us, so that they would only reach perfection together with us. \blank 

\par 
\indentation  Seeing,\C{12} therefore, that there is on every side of us such a throng of witnesses, let us also lay aside everything that hinders us, and the sin that clings about us, and run with patient endurance the race that lies before us, our\V{2} eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfect example of our faith, who, for the joy that lay before him, endured the cross, heedless of its shame, and now ‘has taken his seat at the right hand’ of the throne of God. Weigh\V{3} well the example of him who had to endure such opposition from ‘people who were sinning against themselves,’ so that you should not grow weary or faint-hearted. You\V{4} have not yet, in your struggle with sin, resisted to the death; and\V{5} you have forgotten the encouraging words which are addressed to you as God’s children –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘My child, think not lightly of the Lord’s discipline,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{Do not despond when he rebukes you;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{6} it is him whom he loves that he disciplines,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And he chastises every child whom he acknowledges.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  It\V{7} is for your discipline that you have to endure all this. God is dealing with you as his children. For where is there a child whom his father does not discipline? If\V{8} you are left without that discipline, in which all children share, it shows that you are bastards, and not true children. Further,\V{9} when our earthly fathers disciplined us, we respected them. Should we not, then, much rather yield submission to the Father of souls, and live? Our\V{10} fathers disciplined us for only a short time and as seemed best to them; but God disciplines us for our true good, to enable us to share his holiness. No\V{11} discipline is pleasant at the time; on the contrary, it is painful. But afterward its fruit is seen in the peacefulness of a righteous life which is the lot of those who have been trained under it. Therefore\V{12} ‘lift again the down-dropped hands and straighten the weakened knees; make\V{13} straight paths for your feet,’ so that the lame limb may not be put out of joint, but rather be cured.\stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Try\V{14} earnestly to live at peace with everyone, and to attain to that purity without which no one will see the Lord. Take\V{15} care that no one fails to use the loving help of God, ‘that no bitterness is allowed to take root and spring up, and cause trouble,’ and so poison the whole community. Take\V{16} care that no one becomes immoral, or irreligious like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For\V{17} you know that even afterward, when he wished to claim his father’s blessing, he was rejected – for he never found an opportunity to repair his error – though he begged for the blessing with tears.
\par 
\indentation  It\V{18} is not to tangible ‘flaming fire’ that you have drawn near, nor to ‘gloom, and darkness, and storm, and\V{19} the blast of a trumpet, and an audible voice.’ Those who heard that voice entreated that they might hear no more, for\V{20} they could not bear to think of the command – ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it is to be stoned to death;’ and\V{21} so fearful was the sight that Moses said – ‘I tremble with fear.’ No,\V{22} but it is to Mount Zion that you have drawn near, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless hosts of angels, to\V{23} the festal gathering and assemblage of God’s firstborn whose names are enrolled in heaven, to God the judge of all people, to the spirits of the righteous who have attained perfection, to\V{24} Jesus, the intermediary of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that tells of better things than the blood of Abel. Beware\V{25} how you refuse to hear him who is speaking. For, if the Israelites did not escape punishment, when they refused to listen to him who taught them on earth the divine will, far worse will it be for us, if we turn away from him who is teaching us from heaven. Then\V{26} his voice shook the earth, but now his declaration is –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Still once more I will cause not only the earth to tremble, but also the heavens.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{27} those words ‘still once more’ indicate the passing away of all that is shaken – that is, of all created things – in order that only what is unshaken may remain. Therefore,\V{28} let us, who have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, be thankful, and so offer acceptable worship to God, with awe and the deepest respect. For\V{29} our God is ‘a consuming fire.’ \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Let\C{13} your love for the Lord’s followers continue. Do\V{2} not neglect to show hospitality; for, through being hospitable, people have all unawares entertained angels. Remember\V{3} the prisoners, as if you were their fellow prisoners, and the oppressed, not forgetting that you also are still in the body. Let\V{4} marriage be honored by all and the married life be pure; for God will judge those who are immoral and those who commit adultery. Do\V{5} not let your conduct be ruled by the love of money. Be content with what you have, for God himself has said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘I will never forsake you, nor will I ever abandon you.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Therefore\V{6} we may say with confidence –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.}
\noindentation \Q{2}{What can mere people do to me?’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Do\V{7} not forget your leaders, who told you God’s message. Recall the close of their lives, and imitate their faith.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Jesus\V{8} Christ is the same yesterday and today – yes, and for ever! Do\V{9} not let yourselves be carried away by the various novel forms of teaching. It is better to rely for spiritual strength on the divine help, than on regulations regarding food; for those whose lives are guided by such regulations have not found them of service. We\V{10} are not without an altar; but it is one at which those who still worship in the tent have no right to eat. The\V{11} bodies of those animals whose blood is brought by the high priest into the sanctuary, as an offering for sin, are burnt outside the camp. And\V{12} so Jesus, also, to purify the people by his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore\V{13} let us go out to him ‘outside the camp,’ bearing the same reproaches as he; for\V{14} here we have no permanent city, but are looking for the city that is to be. Through\V{15} him let us offer, as our sacrifice, continual praise to God – an offering from lips that glorify his name. Never\V{16} forget to do kindly acts and to share what you have with others, for such sacrifices are acceptable to God. Obey\V{17} your leaders, and submit to their control, for they are watching over your souls, since they will have to render an account, so that they may do it with joy, and not in sorrow. That would not be to your advantage.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Pray\V{18} for us, for we are sure that our consciences are clear, since our wish is to be occupied with what is good. And\V{19} I the more earnestly ask for your prayers, so that I may be restored to you the sooner.
\par 
 May\V{20} God, the source of all peace, who brought back from the dead him who, ‘by virtue of the blood that rendered valid the unchangeable covenant, is the great shepherd of God’s Sheep,’ Jesus, our Lord – may\V{21} God make you perfect in everything that is good, so that you may be able to do his will. May he bring out in us all that is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be all glory for ever and ever. Amen.
\par 
 I\V{22} beg you, friends, to bear with these words of advice. For I have written only very briefly to you.
\par 
 You\V{23} will be glad to hear that our friend, Timothy, has been set free. If he comes here soon, we will visit you together.\blank 

\par 
 Give\V{24} our greeting to all your leaders, and to all Christ’s people. Our friends from Italy send their greetings to you.\blank 

\par 
 May\V{25} God bless you all.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{James}

\MTT{The Letter from}

\MT{James}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Greeting}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  James,\C{1} a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, greets the twelve tribes that are living abroad.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Advice on Various Subjects}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  My\V{2} friends, whatever trials you may face from time to time, always regard them as a reason for rejoicing, knowing,\V{3} as you do, that the testing of your faith develops endurance. And\V{4} let endurance do its work perfectly, so that you may be altogether perfect, and in no respect lacking.
\par 
\indentation  If\V{5} any one of you lacks wisdom, they should ask wisdom from the God who gives freely to everyone without reproach, and it will be given to them. But\V{6} they should ask with confidence, never doubting; for the person who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven here and there at the mercy of the wind – Such\V{7} a person must not expect that they will receive anything from the Lord, vacillating\V{8} as they are, irresolute at every turn.
\par 
 Let\V{9} a follower in humble circumstances be proud of their exalted position, but\V{10} a rich follower of their humiliation; for the rich will pass away like a wild flower. As\V{11} the sun rises, and the hot wind blows, the plant withers, its flower fades, and all its beauty is gone. So is it with the rich. In the midst of their pursuits they will wither away.
\par 
 Blessed\V{12} is the person who remains firm under temptation, for, when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Let\V{13} no one say, when they are tempted, “It is God who is tempting me!” For God, who cannot be tempted to do wrong, does not himself tempt anyone. A\V{14} man is in every case tempted by their own passions – allured and enticed by them. Then\V{15} passion conceives and gives birth to sin, and sin, on reaching maturity, brings forth death. Do\V{16} not be deceived, my dear friends. Every\V{17} good thing given us, and every perfect gift, is from above, and comes down to us from the Father of the lights in the heavens, who is himself never subject to change or to eclipse. Because\V{18} he so willed, he gave us life, through the message of the truth, so that we should be, as it were, a kind of first fruits of his creation.\blank 

\par 
 Mark\V{19} this, my dear friends – Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry; for\V{20} human anger does not forward the righteous purpose of God. Therefore,\V{21} get rid of all filthiness and whatever wickedness still remains, and in a humble spirit receive that message which has been planted in your hearts and is able to save your souls. Put\V{22} that message into practice, and do not merely listen to it – deceiving yourselves. For,\V{23} when anyone listens to it and does not practice it, they are like a person looking at their own face in a mirror. They\V{24} look at themselves, then go on their way, but\V{25} the person who looks carefully into the perfect Law, the Law of freedom, and continues to do so, not listening to it and then forgetting it, but putting it into practice – that person will be blessed in what they do. When\V{26} a person appears to be religious, yet does not bridle their tongue, but imposes on their own conscience, that person’s religious observances are valueless. That\V{27} religious observance which is pure and spotless in the eyes of God our Father is this – to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the world. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Warning on Various Subjects}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  My\C{2} friends, are you really trying to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with discrimination? Suppose\V{2} a visitor should enter your synagogue, with gold rings and in grand clothes, and suppose a poor man should come in also, in shabby clothes, and\V{3} you show more respect to the visitor who is wearing grand clothes, and say – “There is a good seat for you here,” but to the poor man – “You must stand; or sit down there by my footstool,” Haven’t\V{4} you made distinctions among yourselves, and used evil standards of judgement? Listen,\V{5} my dear friends. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the things of this world to be rich through their faith, and to possess the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him? But\V{6} you – you insult the poor man! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you? Isn’t it they who drag you into law courts? Isn’t\V{7} it they who malign that honorable name spoken over you at your baptism? If\V{8} you keep the royal law which runs – ‘You must love your neighbor as you love yourself,’ you are doing right; but,\V{9} if you discriminate, you commit a sin, and stand convicted by that same law of being offenders against it. For\V{10} a person who has laid the Law, as a whole, to heart, but has failed in one particular, is accountable for breaking all its provisions. He\V{11} who said ‘You must not commit adultery’ also said ‘You must not murder.’ If, then, you commit murder but not adultery, you are still an offender against the Law. Therefore,\V{12} speak and act as people who are to be judged by the ‘Law of freedom.’ For\V{13} there will be justice without mercy for the person who has not acted mercifully. Mercy triumphs over Justice.
\par 
\indentation  My\V{14} friends, what good is it if someone claims that they have faith, but they do not prove it by actions? Can such faith save them? Suppose\V{15} some brother or sister should be in need of clothes and of daily bread, and\V{16} one of you says to them – “Go, and peace be with you; keep warm and eat well!” and yet you do not actually give them the necessities of life, what good would it be to them? In\V{17} just the same way faith, if not followed by actions, is, by itself, a lifeless thing. Someone,\V{18} indeed, may say – “You are a man of faith, and I am a man of action.”
\par 
“Then show me your faith,” I reply, “apart from any actions, and I will show you my faith by my actions.” It\V{19} is a part of your faith, is it not, that there is one God? Good; yet even the demons have that faith, and tremble at the thought. Now\V{20} do you really want to understand, fool, how it is that faith without actions leads to nothing? Look\V{21} at our ancestor, Abraham. Was he not justified by his actions after he had offered his son, Isaac, on the altar? You\V{22} see how, in his case, faith and actions went together; that his faith was perfected as the result of his actions; and\V{23} that in this way the words of scripture came true – “Abraham believed God, and that was regarded by God as righteousness,” and “He was called the friend of God.” You\V{24} see, then, that a person is justified by actions, and not by faith alone. Wasn’t\V{25} it the same with the prostitute, Rahab? Was she not justified by her actions, after she had welcomed the messengers and helped them escape by another road? Just\V{26} as a body is dead without a spirit, so faith is dead without actions. 
\par 
 Not\C{3} many of you should become teachers, my friends, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly than others. We\V{2} often make mistakes, every one of us. Anyone who does not make mistakes when speaking is indeed a perfect person, able to bridle their whole body as well. When\V{3} we put bits into horses’ mouths to make them obey us, we change their course the rest of their bodies. Again,\V{4} think of ships. Large as they are, and even when driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder and steered in whatever direction the man at the helm may determine. So\V{5} is it with the tongue. Small as it is, it is a great boaster. Think how a tiny spark may set the largest forest ablaze! And\V{6} the tongue is like a spark. It is a world of unrighteousness among the parts of our body. It contaminates the whole body; it sets the whole course of our existence on fire, and is itself set on fire by the flames of Gehenna. For\V{7} while all kinds of animals, birds and reptiles and sea creatures can be tamed and have been tamed by humans, no\V{8} human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless plague! It is charged with deadly poison! With\V{9} it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made ‘in God’s likeness.’ From\V{10} the very same mouth come blessings and curses! My friends, it is not right that this should be so. Does\V{11} a spring give both good and bad water from the same source? Can\V{12} a fig tree, my friends, bear olives? Or a vine bear figs? No, nor can a brackish well give good water.
\par 
 Who\V{13} among you claims to be wise and intelligent? They should show that their actions are the outcome of a good life lived in the humility of true wisdom. But\V{14} if you harbor bitter envy and a spirit of rivalry in your hearts, do not boast or deny the truth. That\V{15} is not the wisdom which comes from above; no, it is earthly, animalistic, demonic. For\V{16} where envy and rivalry exist, there you will also find disorder and all kinds of bad, worthless actions. But\V{17} the wisdom from above is, before everything else, pure; then peace-loving, gentle, open to conviction, rich in compassion and good deeds, and free from partiality and insincerity. Justice\V{18} is the harvest peacemakers will reap from seeds sown in a spirit of peace. \blank 

\par 
 What\C{4} is the cause of the fighting and quarreling that goes on among you? Isn’t it to be found in the desires which are always at war within you? You\V{2} crave, yet do not have, so you commit murder, so You covet, yet cannot gain your end. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. You\V{3} ask, yet do not receive, because you ask for a wrong purpose – to spend what you get on your pleasures. Unfaithful\V{4} people! Don’t you know that to be friends with the world means to be at enmity with God? Therefore whoever chooses to be friends with the world makes himself an enemy to God. Do\V{5} you suppose scripture means nothing when it says, ‘Envy results from the longings of the spirit which God has implanted within you?’ But\V{6} he gives us greater grace; and that is why it says, –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘God opposes the haughty,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{but gives grace to the humble.’ }
\blank[medium] \blank 
\par {\startalignment[flushleft] Therefore\V{7} submit to God. Stand up to the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw\V{8} near to God, and he will draw near to you. Make your hands clean, you sinners; and your hearts pure, you vacillators! Grieve,\V{9} mourn, and lament! Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your happiness to gloom! Humble\V{10} yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Do\V{11} not disparage one another, friends. The person who disparages others, or passes judgment on them, disparages the Law and passes judgment on the Law. But, if you pass judgment on the Law, you are not obeying it, but judging it. There\V{12} is only one lawgiver and judge – he who has the power both to save and to destroy. So then who who are you to pass judgment on your neighbor?\stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Listen\V{13} to me, you who say ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money,’ yet\V{14} you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow! For you are but a a puff of smoke that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead\V{15} you should say ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ But\V{16} as it is, you are boasting presumptuously! All such boasting is wicked. The\V{17} person, then, who knows what is right but fails to do it – that is sin in them. 
\par 
\indentation  Listen\C{5} to me, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming upon you! Your\V{2} riches have wasted away, and your clothes have become moth-eaten. Your\V{3} gold and silver are rusted; and the rust on them will be evidence against you, and will eat into your flesh. It was fire, so to speak, that you stored up for yourselves in these last days. Listen!\V{4} The wages you have held back from the laborers who mowed your fields are crying out against you, and the outcries of your harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts! You\V{5} have lived on earth a life of extravagance and luxury; you have indulged your fancies in a time of bloodshed. You\V{6} have condemned, you have murdered, the righteous one! Must not God be opposed to you?
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Concluding Appeal}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Be\V{7} patient, then, friends, until the coming of the Lord. Even the farmer has to wait for the precious fruit of the earth, watching over it patiently, until it has had the spring and summer rains. And\V{8} you must be patient also, and not be discouraged; for the Lord’s coming is near. Do\V{9} not make complaints against one another, friends, or judgment will be passed on you. The judge is already standing at the door! Friends,\V{10} as an example of the patient endurance of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We\V{11} count those who displayed such endurance blessed! You have heard, too, of Job’s endurance, and have seen what the Lord’s purpose was, for ‘the Lord is full of pity and compassion.’
\par 
\indentation  Above\V{12} all things, my friends, never take an oath, either by heaven, or by earth, or by anything else. Let your ‘Yes’ suffice for yes, and ‘No’ for no, so that you may escape condemnation.
\par 
 If\V{13} anyone of you is in trouble, they should pray; if anyone is happy, they should sing hymns. If\V{14} anyone of you is ill, they should send for the church elders, and let them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The\V{15} prayer offered in faith will save the person who is sick, and the Lord will raise them from their bed; and if they have committed sins, they will be forgiven. Therefore,\V{16} confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be cured. Great is the power of a good person’s fervent prayer. Elijah\V{17} was only human like ourselves, but, when he prayed fervently that it might not rain, no rain fell on the land for three and a half years. And,\V{18} when he prayed again, the clouds brought rain, and the land bore crops. My\V{19} friends, should one of you be led astray from the truth, and someone bring them back again, be\V{20} sure that the person who brings a sinner back from their mistaken ways will save that person’s soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{1 Peter}

\MT{Peter’s First Letter}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  To\C{1} the people of God who are living abroad, dispersed throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Roman Asia, and Bithynia, and\V{2} who were chosen in accordance with the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the consecration of the Spirit, to learn obedience, and to be purified by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. May blessing and peace be yours in ever increasing measure.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Christian’s Hope of Salvation}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Blessed\V{3} is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has, in his great mercy, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, given\V{4} us the new life of undying hope, that promises an inheritance, imperishable, stainless, unfading, which has been reserved for you in heaven – for\V{5} you who, through faith, are being guarded by the power of God, awaiting a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last days. At\V{6} the thought of this you are full of exultation, though (if it has been necessary) you have suffered for the moment somewhat from various trials; that\V{7} the genuineness of your faith – a thing far more precious than gold, which is perishable, yet has to be tested by fire – may win praise and glory and honor at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Though\V{8} you have never seen him, yet you love him; though you do not even now see him, yet you believe in him, and exalt with a triumphant happiness too great for words, as\V{9} you receive the reward of your faith in the salvation of your souls! It\V{10} was this salvation that the prophets, who spoke long ago of the blessing intended for you, sought, and strove to comprehend; as\V{11} they strove to discern what that time could be, to which the Spirit of Christ within them was pointing, when foretelling the sufferings that Christ would have to endure, and the glories that would follow. And\V{12} it was revealed to them that it was not for themselves, but for you, that they were acting as Ministers of the truths which have now been told to you, by those who, with the help of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, have brought you the good news – truths into which even angels long to look.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Christian’s Character}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Therefore\V{13} concentrate your minds, with the strictest self-control, and fix your hopes on the blessing that is coming for you at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Be\V{14} like obedient children; do not let your lives be shaped by the passions which once swayed you in the days of your ignorance, but\V{15} in your whole life show yourselves to be holy, after the pattern of the Holy One from whom you received your call. For\V{16} scripture says –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You will be holy, because I am holy.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{17} since you call on him as ‘Father,’ who judges everyone impartially by what he has done, let respectful awe be the spirit of your lives during the time of your stay on earth. For\V{18} you know that it was not by perishable things, such as silver and gold, that you were ransomed from the aimless way of living which was handed down to you from your ancestors, but\V{19} by precious blood, as it were of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Destined\V{20} for this before the beginning of the world, he has been revealed in these last days for your sakes, who,\V{21} through him, are faithful to God who raised him from the dead and gave him honor, so that your faith and hope are now in God.\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Now\V{22} that, by your obedience to the truth, you have purified your lives, so that there is growing up among you a genuine affection, love one another earnestly with all your hearts; since\V{23} your new life has come, not from perishable, but imperishable, seed, through the message of the Everliving God. For\V{24} –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘All earthly life is but as grass,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and all its splendor as the flower of grass.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{The grass fades,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{its flower falls,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{ but\V{25} the teaching of the Lord remains for ever.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] And that is the teaching of the good news which has been told to you.  Now\C{2} that you have done with all malice, all deceitfulness, insincerity, jealous feelings, and all backbiting, like\V{2} newly born infants, crave pure spiritual milk, so that you may be enabled by it to grow until you attain salvation – since\V{3} ‘you have found by experience that the Lord is kind.’ Come\V{4} to him, then, as to a living stone, rejected, indeed, by men, but in God’s eyes choice and precious; and,\V{5} as living stones, form yourselves into a spiritual house, to be a consecrated priesthood, for the offering of spiritual sacrifices that will be acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For\V{6} there is a passage of scripture that runs –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘See, I am placing in Zion a choice and precious corner-stone;}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And those who believe in him will have no cause for shame.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  It\V{7} is to you, then, who believe in him that he is precious, but to those who do not believe he is ‘a stone which, though rejected by the builders, has now itself become the corner-stone,’ and\V{8} ‘a stumbling-block, and a rock which will prove a hindrance.’ They stumble because they do not accept the message. This was the fate destined for them. But\V{9} you are ‘a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, God’s own people,’ entrusted with the proclamation of the goodness of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once\V{10} you were ‘not a people,’ but now you are ‘God’s people’; once you ‘had not found mercy,’ but now you ‘have found mercy.’\stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Practical Appeals in view of the Dangers of the Times.}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Dear\V{11} friends, I beg you, as pilgrims and strangers on earth, to refrain from indulging the cravings of your earthly nature, for they make war on the soul. Let\V{12} your daily life among the Gentiles be so upright, that, whenever they malign you as evil-doers, they may learn, as they watch, from the uprightness of your conduct, to praise God ‘at the time when he will visit them.’
\par 
\indentation  Submit\V{13} to all human institutions for the Lord’s sake, alike to the emperor as the supreme authority, and\V{14} to governors as sent by him to punish evil-doers and to commend those who do right. For\V{15} God’s will is this – that you should silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing what is right. Act\V{16} as free people, yet not using your freedom as those do who make it a cloak for wickedness, but as Servants of God. Show\V{17} honor to everyone, love the Lord’s followers, ‘revere God, honor the emperor.’
\par 
 Those\V{18} of you who are domestic servants should always be submissive and respectful to their masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are arbitrary. For\V{19} this wins God’s approval when, because conscious of God’s presence, a person who is suffering unjustly bears their troubles patiently. What\V{20} credit can you claim when, after doing wrong, you take your punishment for it patiently? But, on the other hand, if, after doing right, you take your sufferings patiently, that does win the approval of God. For\V{21} it was to this that you were called! For Christ, too, suffered – on your behalf – and left you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He\V{22} ‘never sinned, nor was anything deceitful ever heard from his lips.’ He\V{23} was abused, but he did not answer with abuse; he suffered, but he did not threaten; he entrusted himself to him whose judgments are just. And\V{24} he ‘himself carried our sins’ in his own body to the cross, so that we might die to our sins, and live for righteousness. ‘His bruising was your healing.’ Once\V{25} you were straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. 
\par 
 Again,\C{3} you married women should submit to your husbands, so that if any of them reject the message, they may, apart from the message, be won over, by the conduct of their wives, as\V{2} they see your pure, reverent conduct. Yours\V{3} should be, not the external adornment of the arrangement of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or the putting on of dresses, but\V{4} the inner life with the imperishable beauty of a quiet and gentle spirit; for this is very precious in God’s sight. It\V{5} was by this that the holy women of old, who rested their hopes on God, adorned themselves; submitting to their husbands, as\V{6} Sarah did, who obeyed Abraham, and called him master. And you are her true children, as long as you live good lives, and let nothing terrify you.
\par 
 Again,\V{7} those of you who are married men should live considerately with their wives, showing due regard to their sex, as physically weaker than their own, and not forgetting that they share with you in the gift of life. Then you will be able to pray without hindrance.
\par 
 Lastly,\V{8} you should all be united, sympathetic, full of love for each other, kind-hearted, humble-minded; never\V{9} returning evil for evil, or abuse for abuse, but, on the contrary, blessing. It was to this that you were called – to obtain a blessing!
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘The\V{10} person who wants to enjoy life}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And see happy days –}
\noindentation \Q{1}{They should keep their tongue from evil}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And their lips from deceitful words,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ they\V{11} should turn from evil and do good,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{They should seek for peace and follow after it;}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ For\V{12} the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{And his ears are attentive to their prayers,}
\noindentation \Q{3}{But the face of the Lord is set against those who do wrong.’}
\blank[medium] \blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Who,\V{13} indeed, is there to harm you, if you prove yourselves to be eager for what is good? Even\V{14} if you should suffer for righteousness, count yourselves blessed! ‘Do not let people terrify you, or allow yourselves to be dismayed.’ Revere\V{15} the Christ as Lord in your hearts; always ready to give an answer to anyone who asks your reason for the hope that you cherish, but giving it with courtesy and respect, and\V{16} keeping your consciences clear, so that, whenever you are maligned, those who vilify your good and Christian conduct may be put to shame. It\V{17} is better that you should suffer, if that should be God’s will, for doing right, than for doing wrong. For\V{18} Christ himself died to atone for sins once for all – the good on behalf of the bad – that he might bring you to God; his body being put to death, but his spirit entering on new life. And\V{19} it was then that he went and preached to the imprisoned spirits, who\V{20} once were disobedient, at the time when God patiently waited, in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared; in which some few lives, eight in all, were saved by means of water. And\V{21} baptism, which this foreshadowed, now saves you – not the mere cleansing of the body, but the search of a clear conscience after God – through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who\V{22} has gone into heaven, and is at God’s right hand, where angels and archangels and the powers of heaven now yield submission to him. 
\par 
\indentation  Since,\C{4} then, Christ suffered in body, arm yourselves with the same resolve as he; for he who has suffered in body has ceased to sin, and\V{2} so will live the rest of his earthly life guided, not by human passions, but by the will of God. Surely\V{3} in the past you have spent time enough living as the Gentiles delight to live. For your path has lain among scenes of debauchery, licentiousness, drunkenness, revelry, hard-drinking, and profane idolatry. And,\V{4} because you do not run to the same extremes of profligacy as others, they are astonished, and malign you. But\V{5} they will have to answer for their conduct to him who is ready to judge both the living and the dead. For\V{6} that was why the good news was told to the dead also – that, after they have been judged in the body, as people are judged, they might live in the spirit, as God lives.\blank 

\par 
 But\V{7} the end of all things is near. Therefore exercise self-restraint and be calm, so that you may be able to pray. Above\V{8} all things, let your love for one another be earnest, for ‘Love throws a veil over countless sins.’ Never\V{9} grudge hospitality to one another. Whatever\V{10} the gift that each has received, use it in the service of others, as good stewards of the varied bounty of God. When\V{11} anyone speaks, they should speak as one who is delivering the oracles of God. When anyone is endeavoring to serve others, they should do so in reliance on the strength which God supplies; so that in everything God may be honored through Jesus Christ – to whom be ascribed all honor and might for ever and ever. Amen.\blank 

\par 
 Dear\V{12} friends, do not be astonished at the trial of fire that you are passing through, to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. No,\V{13} the more you share the sufferings of the Christ, the more may you rejoice, that, when the time comes for the manifestation of his glory, you may rejoice and exult. If\V{14} you are insulted for bearing the name of Christ, count yourselves blessed; because the divine glory and the Spirit of God are resting on you. I\V{15} need hardly say that no one among you must suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a criminal, or for interfering in matters which do not concern Christians. But,\V{16} if someone suffers as a Christian, they should not be ashamed of it; they should bring honor to God even though they bear that name. For\V{17} the time has come for judgment to begin with the house of God; and, if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who reject God’s good news? If\V{18} ‘a good person is saved only with difficulty, what will become of the godless and the sinful?’ Therefore,\V{19} I say, let those who suffer, because God wills it so, commit their lives into the hands of a faithful Creator, and persevere in doing right. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  As\C{5} for the older ones among you, who are elders in the church, I, their fellow elder, and a witness to the sufferings of the Christ, who will also share in the glory that is to be revealed – I\V{2} beg you to be true shepherds of the flock of God among you, not because you are compelled, but of your own free will; not from a base love of gain, but with a ready spirit; not\V{3} as lords of your charges, but as examples to your flock. Then,\V{4} when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades. Again,\V{5} you younger ones should show deference to the older. And all of you should put on the badge of humility in mutual service, for ‘God is opposed to the proud, but gives his help to the humble.’\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Humble\V{6} yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in his good time, laying\V{7} all your anxieties on him, for he makes you his care. Exercise\V{8} self-control, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion, is prowling about, eager to devour you. Stand\V{9} firm against him, strong in your faith; knowing, as you do, that the sufferings which you are undergoing are being endured to the full by the Lord’s followers throughout the world. God,\V{10} from whom all help comes, and who called you, by your union with Christ, into his eternal glory, will, when you have suffered for a little while, himself perfect, establish, strengthen you. To\V{11} him be ascribed dominion for ever. Amen.\blank 

\par 
 I\V{12} have been writing to you briefly by the hand of Silas, our true-hearted friend (for so I regard him), to encourage you, and to bear my testimony that in what I have written is to be found the true love of God. On that take your stand. Your\V{13} sister church in ‘Babylon’ sends you greeting, and so does Mark, who is as a son to me. Greet\V{14} one another with the kiss of love.\blank 

\par 
May God give his peace to you all in your union with Christ.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{2 Peter}

\MT{Peter’s Second Letter}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  To\C{1} those to whom, through the justice of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, there has been granted faith equally privileged with our own, from Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ.\blank 

\par 
\indentation  May\V{2} blessing and peace be yours in ever increasing measure, as you advance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord. For\V{3} his divine power has given us everything that is needful for a life of piety, as we advance in the knowledge of him who called us by a glorious manifestation of his goodness. For\V{4} it was through this that he gave us what we prize as the greatest of his promises, that through them you might participate in the divine nature, now that you have fled from the corruption in the world, resulting from human passions. Yes,\V{5} and for this reason do your best to supplement your faith by goodness, goodness by knowledge, knowledge\V{6} by self-control, self-control by endurance, endurance by piety, piety\V{7} by mutual affection, and mutual affection by love. For,\V{8} when these virtues are yours, in increasing measure, they prevent your being indifferent to, or destitute of, a fuller knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Surely\V{9} the person who has not these virtues is shortsighted even to blindness, and has chosen to forget that they have been purified from their sins of the past! Therefore,\V{10} friends, do your best to put God’s call and selection of you beyond all doubt; for, if you do this, you will never fall. For\V{11} in this way you will be given a triumphant admission into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Transfiguration and the ‘Second Coming’ of the Christ}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  I\V{12} will, therefore, always be ready to remind you of all this, even though you know it and are firmly established in the truth that you now hold. But\V{13} I think it my duty, as long as I live in this ‘tent,’ to rouse you by awakening memories of the past; for\V{14} I know that the time for this ‘tent’ of mine to be put away is soon coming, as our Lord Jesus Christ himself assured me. So\V{15} I will do my best to enable you, at any time after my departure, to call these truths to mind. For\V{16} we were not following cleverly devised stories when we told you of the coming in power of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eye-witnesses of his majesty. For\V{17} he received honor and glory from God the Father, when from the glory of the Divine Majesty there were borne to his ears words such as these – ‘This is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy.’ These\V{18} were the words that we heard, borne to our ears from heaven, when we were with him on that sacred mountain. And\V{19} still stronger is the assurance that we have in the teaching of the prophets; to which you will do well to pay attention (as if it were a lamp shining in a gloomy place), until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. But\V{20} first be assured of this: – There is no prophetic teaching found in scripture that can be interpreted by a person’s unaided reason; for\V{21} no prophetic teaching ever came in the old days at the mere wish of people, but people, moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke direct from God. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Warning against separating Christianity from a Holy Life}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  But\C{2} there were false prophets also in the nation, just as there will be false teachers among you, people who will secretly introduce ruinous divisions, disowning even the Lord who bought them, and bringing speedy ruin on themselves. There\V{2} will be many, too, who will follow their licentious courses, and cause the way of the truth to be maligned. In\V{3} their covetousness they will try to make you a source of profit by their fabrications; but for a long time past their sentence has not been standing idle, nor their ruin slumbering. Remember,\V{4} God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them down to Tartarus, and consigned them to caverns of darkness, to be kept under guard for judgment. Nor\V{5} did he spare the world of old; though he preserved Noah, the preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought a flood on the godless world. He\V{6} condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and reduced them to ashes, holding them up as a warning to the godless of what was in store for them; but\V{7} he rescued righteous Lot, whose heart was vexed by the wanton licentiousness of his neighbors; for,\V{8} seeing and hearing what he did, as he lived his righteous life among them, day after day, Lot’s righteous soul was tortured by their wicked doings. The\V{9} Lord, therefore, knows how to deliver the pious from temptation, and to keep the wicked, who are even now suffering punishment, in readiness for ‘the day of judgment’ – especially\V{10} those who, following the promptings of their lower nature, indulge their polluting passions and despise all control. Audacious and self-willed, they feel no awe of the celestial beings, maligning them, even\V{11} where angels, though excelling them in strength and power, do not bring against them a malignant charge before the Lord. These\V{12} people, however, like animals without reason, intended by nature to be caught and killed – these people, I say, malign those of whom they know nothing, and will assuredly perish through their own corruption, suffering\V{13} themselves, as the penalty for the suffering that they have inflicted. They think that pleasure consists in the self-indulgence of the moment. They are a stain and a disgrace, indulging, as they do, in their wanton revelry, even while joining you at your feasts. They\V{14} have eyes only for adulteresses, eyes never tired of sin; they entice weak souls; their minds are trained to covet; they live under a curse. Leaving\V{15} the straight road, they have gone astray and followed in the steps of Balaam, the son of Beor, who set his heart on the reward for wrong-doing, but\V{16} was rebuked for his offense. A dumb animal spoke with a human voice, and checked the prophet’s madness. These\V{17} people are like springs without water, or mists driven before a gale; and for them the blackest darkness has been reserved. With\V{18} boastful and foolish talk, they appeal to the passions of people’s lower nature, and, by their profligacy, entice those who are just escaping from the people who live such misguided lives. They\V{19} promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to corrupt habits; for a person is the slave of anything to which they give way. If,\V{20} after having escaped the polluting influences of the world, through knowing our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, people are again entangled in them, and give way to them, their last state has become worse than their first. It\V{21} would, indeed, have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn away from the holy command delivered to them. In\V{22} their case is seen the truth of the proverb – ‘A dog returns to what it has vomited’ and ‘A sow after washing to her wallowing-place in the mud.’ 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{A Reassertion of the ‘Second Coming’ of the Christ}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  This,\C{3} dear friends, is my second letter to you. In both of them I have tried, by appealing to your remembrance, to arouse your better feelings. I\V{2} want you to recall what was foretold by the holy prophets, as well as the command of our Lord and Savior given to you through your apostles. First\V{3} be assured of this, that, as the age draws to an end, scoffers, led by their own passions, will\V{4} come and ask scoffingly – ‘Where is his promised coming? Ever since our ancestors passed to their rest, everything remains just as it was when the world was first created!’ For\V{5} they willfully shut their eyes to the fact that long ago the heavens existed; and the earth, also – formed out of water and by the action of water, by the fiat of God; and\V{6} that by the same means the world which then existed was destroyed in a deluge of water. But\V{7} the present heavens and earth, by the same fiat, have been reserved for fire, and are being kept for the day of the judgment and destruction of the godless.
\par 
\indentation  But\V{8} you, dear friends, must never shut your eyes to the fact that, to the Lord, one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The\V{9} Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness; but he is forbearing with you, as it is not his will that any of you should perish, but that all should be brought to repentance. The\V{10} day of the Lord will come like a thief; and on that day the heavens will pass away with a crash, the elements will be burnt up and dissolved, and the earth and all that is in it will be disclosed. Now,\V{11} since all these things are in the process of dissolution, think what you yourselves ought to be – what holy and pious lives you ought to lead, while\V{12} you wait for the coming of the day of God and strive to make it come soon\footnote{  3:12    Or: and desire its coming.} . At its coming the heavens will be dissolved in fire, and the elements melted by heat, but\V{13} we look for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will have its home, in fulfillment of the promise of God.
\par 
 Therefore,\V{14} dear friends, in expectation of these things, make every effort to be found by him spotless, blameless, and at peace. Regard\V{15} our Lord’s forbearance as your one hope of salvation. This is what our dear friend Paul wrote to you, with the wisdom that God gave him. It\V{16} is the same in all his letters, when he speaks in them about these subjects. There are some things in them difficult to understand, which untaught and weak people distort, just as they do all other writings, to their own ruin. You\V{17} must, therefore, dear friends, now that you know this beforehand, be on your guard against being led away by the errors of reckless people, and so lapsing from your present steadfastness; and\V{18} advance in the love and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All glory be to him now and for ever.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{1 John}

\MT{John’s First Letter}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Preface}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  We\C{1} write to you about the Word of life, which has been in existence from the beginning. We write of what we have heard, of what we have seen with our eyes, of what we watched reverently and touched with our hands. That\V{2} life was made visible, and we have seen it. We bear our testimony to it, and tell you of that eternal life which was with the Father and was made visible to us. It\V{3} is of what we have seen and heard that we now tell you, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We\V{4} are writing all this to you that our joy may be complete.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Fellowship with God}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  This\V{5} is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. If\V{6} we say that we have fellowship with him and yet continue to walk in the darkness, our words and our lives are a lie. But\V{7} if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If\V{8} we say, “we have no sin,” then we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If\V{9} we confess our sins, he is just and may be trusted to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all wrongdoing. If\V{10} we say that we haven’t sinned, we make God a liar, and his Word is not in us. 
\par 
\indentation  My\C{2} children, I am writing to you to keep you from sinning. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the righteous. He\V{2} is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but the sins of the whole world. It\V{3} is by keeping God’s commands that we can be sure we know him. Whoever\V{4} says “I know him,” but does not keep his commands, is a liar. The truth has no place in them. But\V{5} the person who keeps God’s word, in them the love of God has indeed reached its perfection. This is how we can be sure we are in him: whoever\V{6} claims to live in him should live just as Jesus did.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{A new commandment}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Dear\V{7} friends, it is no new command that I am writing to you, but an old command, which you have had from the beginning. That old command is the message you have already heard. Yet,\V{8} in a way, it is a new command that I am writing to you – which is shown true in Christ’s life and in yours – for the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. The\V{9} person who says that they are in the light, and yet hates others, is still in the darkness. The\V{10} person who loves others is always in the light, and there is nothing within them to cause them to stumble. The\V{11} person who hates is in the dark. They stumble along in the darkness; they do not know where they are going because the darkness blinds them.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Those who know God should not love the world}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation 
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Little\V{12} children, I am writing to you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because your sins have been forgiven for Christ’s sake.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Parents,\V{13} I am writing to you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because you have come to know him who has been from the beginning.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Young people, I am writing to you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because you have conquered the evil one.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Children, I write to you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because you have come to know the Father.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ Parents,\V{14} I write to you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because you have learned to know him who has been from the beginning.}
\noindentation \Q{1}{Young people, I write to you}
\noindentation \Q{2}{because you are strong,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and God’s message is always in your hearts,}
\noindentation \Q{2}{and you have conquered the evil one.}
\blank[medium] 
\par 
\noindentation  Do\V{15} not love the world or what the world can offer. When anyone loves the world, there is no love for the Father in them. For\V{16} all that the world can offer – the desires for physical pleasure, the enticements to the eye, the arrogance of wealth – belongs, not to the Father, but to the world. And\V{17} the world, and all that it gratifies, is passing away, but they who do God’s will remain for ever.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Warnings against an antichrist}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  My\V{18} children, it is the last hour. You were told that an antichrist was coming; and many antichrists have already arisen. This is why we know that this is the last hour. These\V{19} people come from our ranks, but they were never truly part of us – if they had been then they would have stayed with us. They left so it would be clear that none of them really belonged to us. You,\V{20} however, have have been annointed by the Holy One. You all know the truth. I\V{21} am not writing to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie can come from the truth.
\par 
\indentation  Who\V{22} is a liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? That person is the antichrist – one who rejects the Father and the Son. No\V{23} one who rejects the Son has the Father; to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father also. As\V{24} for you, you must let what you have heard from the beginning continue to live in you. If what you heard from the beginning dwells in you, you will remain both in the Son and the Father. And\V{25} this is what he himself promised us – eternal life!
\par 
 In\V{26} writing this to you, I have in mind those who are trying to mislead you. As\V{27} for you, the anointing which you received from him remains with you. You do not need anyone to teach you. His anointing teaches you about everything. What it teaches you is true, it is not a lie. Do what it has taught you: abide in him. Yes,\V{28} my children, remain in him, so that when he appears our confidence doesn’t fail us, and we are not ashamed to meet him at his coming. Since\V{29} you know he is righteous, you realize that that everyone who does what is right is his child. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{God’s Children}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  See\C{3} what great love the Father has lavished on us: he lets us be called God’s children! For that is what we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it has not learned to know him. Dear\V{2} friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is that, when it is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. And\V{3} just as he is pure, everyone who has this hope, makes and keeps themselves pure.
\par 
\indentation  Everyone\V{4} who lives sinfully is living in violation of God’s law. Sin is lawlessness. You\V{5} know that Christ appeared to take away our sins and that there is no sin in him. No\V{6} one who lives in him continues to sin; the sinner has not seen or known him. My\V{7} children, don’t let anyone mislead you. The person who does what is right is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. The\V{8} person who lives in sin is a child of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To undo the devil’s work is the reason the Son of God appeared.
\par 
 No\V{9} child of God sins, because God’s nature dwells in them. They can’t live in sin, because they are God’s children. By\V{10} this it is made clear who are the children of God and who are the devil’s: anyone who doesn’t do what is right or doesn’t love others is not a child of God. For\V{11} this is the message we heard from the beginning: we are to love one another. We\V{12} must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his actions were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Love each other}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Do\V{13} not be suprised, friends, if the world hates you. We\V{14} know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love each other. The person who does not love remains in a state of death. The\V{15} person who hates another is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life dwelling within them.
\par 
\indentation  This\V{16} is how we know that love is: Christ gave his life for us. So we should lay down our own lives for each other. If\V{17} anyone has material possessions, and and sees one of our own in need, but closes their heart against that person, how can it be said that the love of God is within them? My\V{18} children, our love must not be mere words or talk. It must be true and show itself in actions.
\par 
 This\V{19} is how we will know we belong to the truth and reassure ourselves in God’s presence: though\V{20} our conscience condemns us, God is greater than our conscience and knows everything. Dear\V{21} friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, then we approach God with confidence, and\V{22} we receive from him whatever we ask, because we are keeping his commands, and are doing what pleases him. His\V{23} command is that we should believe in his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, as Christ commanded us. The\V{24} person who keeps his commands dwells in God and God dwells in them. And we are sure he lives in us because of the Spirit he has given us. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{True and False Inspiration}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Dear\C{4} friends, do not trust every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
\par 
\indentation  This\V{2} is the way to recognize the Spirit of God: those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as come in the flesh have God’s Spirit, while\V{3} a spirit that doesn’t acknowledge Jesus isn’t from God. Instead it is the spirit of the antichrist; you have heard that it was coming, and it is now already in the world!
\par 
 You,\V{4} my children, come from God, and you have successfully resisted such people as these, because he who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. Those\V{5} people belong to the world and therefore they speak as the world speaks, and the world listens to them. We\V{6} come from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; the person who does not come from God does not listen to us. This is how we distinguish the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{God is love}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Dear\V{7} friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. Those\V{8} who do not love know nothing of God, for God is love. This\V{9} is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This\V{10} is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
\par 
\indentation  Dear\V{11} friends, since God loved us in this way, we should love one another. No\V{12} one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love reaches perfection within us. We\V{13} know that we live in him, and he lives in us, because he has given us a measure of his Spirit. Moreover,\V{14} we have seen for ourselves and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever\V{15} acknowledges that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God lives in them, and they live in God. And\V{16} so we have come to know and believe the love which God has for us.
\par 
God is love; and whoever lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them. This\V{17} is the way love has reached its perfection among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Christ. There\V{18} is no fear in love; perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. So anyone who is afraid has not reached perfection in love. We\V{19} love, because God first loved us. If\V{20} someone says ‘I love God,’ and yet hates others, they are a liar. For the person who does not love their brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. Indeed,\V{21} we have this command from Christ: Those who love God must also love each other. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Faith and Confidence}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Everyone\C{5} who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God, and everyone who loves a parent loves his child. By\V{2} this we know that we love God’s children – when we love God and carry out his commands. For\V{3} to love God is to do what he commands and his commands are not a burden, for\V{4} whatever is born of God overcomes the world. What is the victory by which the world is overcome? Our faith! Who\V{5} can overcome the world but the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Jesus\V{6} Christ, the one who came by water and blood – not by water only but by water and blood – and the Spirit testifies to this because the Spirit is truth. Indeed\V{7} three testify: the\V{8} Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree. We\V{9} accept human testimony, surely God’s testimony is even stronger! And God’s testimony is the testimony he has given about his Son. The\V{10} person who believes in the Son of God has that testimony within them. The person who does not believe God has made God a liar, by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son. And\V{11} this is that testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever\V{12} has the Son has life; whoever who doesn’t have God’s Son does not have life.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Final words}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  I\V{13} have written these things to you who believe in the name of God’s Son, so that you may know that you have eternal life. We\V{14} can approach him with this confidence, that whenever we ask anything that is in accordance with his will, he listens to us. And\V{15} if we know he hears us – whatever we ask – we know also that what we ask for is ours. If\V{16} anyone sees one of our people committing some sin that is not a sin leading to death, they should ask, and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All\V{17} wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
\par 
\indentation  We\V{18} know that those who have been born of God do not keep sinning. God protects his children and the evil one cannot get hold of them. We\V{19} know that we are God’s children, though the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. We\V{20} also know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know the true God – and we are in him who is true, by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. My\V{21} children, guard yourselves against false ideas of God.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{2 John}

\MT{John’s Second Letter}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Greetings}
\par 
 From\C{1} the elder, to the lady chosen by God and her children. I truly love you all, and I am not the only one but all who know the truth love you as well. We\V{2} love you for the sake of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever.
\par 
\noindentation  Grace,\V{3} mercy, and peace will be ours – the gift of God, the Father, and of Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son – in truth and love.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Live in truth and love}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  It\V{4} was a great joy to me to find the lives of some of your children guided by the truth, in obedience to the command that we received from the Father. And\V{5} now I implore you, dear lady, let us love one another This is not a new command I am writing to you. It is the command we have had from the beginning. – Let us love one another. And\V{6} this is love – to live in obedience to the Father’s commands. This is the command as you learned from the beginning, to live a life of love. I\V{7} say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world – men who do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ came in flesh and blood. Any such person is a deceiver and antichrist. Take\V{8} care so that you do not what we have worked for but instead receive your full reward. Anyone\V{9} who goes beyond and fails to live inside of the teaching of Christ does not have God. The person who lives inside that teaching – they have both the Father and the Son. If\V{10} anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive them into your house or even welcome them; because\V{11} the person who welcomes them is sharing with them in his evil work.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Final words}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Though\V{12} I have many other things to tell you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come and see you, and to speak with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. The\V{13} children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send you their greetings.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{3 John}

\MT{John’s Third Letter}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Greetings}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  From\C{1} the elder to his dear friend Gaius, whom he sincerely loves.
\par 
\indentation  Dear\V{2} friend, I pray that all may be well with you and that you may have good health – I know that all is well with your soul. For\V{3} it was a great joy to me, when some followers of the Lord came and testified to your fidelity to the truth. I know that your own life is guided by the truth. Nothing\V{4} gives me greater pleasure than to hear from time to time that the lives of my children are guided by the truth.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Gaius}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Dear\V{5} friend, you are faithful in all the things you do for other followers – even when they are strangers to you. They\V{6} themselves have testified before the church to your love. You will do well to help them on their way in a manner worthy of the service of God. For\V{7} it was on behalf of Christ’s name that they set out, not accepting even one thing from the Gentiles. Therefore,\V{8} we should support people like them, and so take our share in their work for the truth.
\par 
\indentation 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Diotrephes and Demetrius}
\par 
 I\V{9} wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes (who loves to be the leader among them) doesn’t welcome us. So\V{10} if I come, I will bring up his actions in telling wicked nonsense about us. Not content with that, he not only refuses to personally welcome our friends who are followers, but actually stops those who would, and expels them from the church.
\par 
\noindentation  Dear\V{11} friend, do not follow a bad example, but a good one. The person who does what is good is from God; the person who does what is bad has never seen God. Everyone\V{12} has always had a good word for Demetrius, and the truth itself speaks for him. Yes, and we also add our good word, and you know that what we say is true.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Final words}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  I\V{13} have many things to tell you, but I would rather not use pen and ink. I\V{14} hope to see you soon, and then we will speak face to face. Peace\V{15} be with you. The friends here send you their greetings. Greet each one of our friends.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Jude}

\MTT{The Letter from}

\MT{Jude}
 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Introduction}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  To\C{1} those who, having received the call, have been loved by God the Father and protected by Jesus Christ, From Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and the brother of James. May\V{2} mercy, peace, and love be yours in ever increasing measure.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Warnings against moral corruption}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Dear\V{3} friends, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt that I must write to you at once to encourage you to fight in defense of the faith that has once for all been entrusted to the keeping of Christ’s people. For\V{4} there have crept in among you certain godless people, whose sentence has long since been pronounced, and who make the mercy of God an excuse for profligacy, and disown our only lord and master, Jesus Christ.
\par 
\indentation  Now\V{5} I want to remind you – but you already know it all – that, though the Lord delivered the people from Egypt, yet he afterward destroyed those who refused to believe in him; and\V{6} that even those angels, who did not keep to their appointed spheres, but left their proper homes, have been kept by him for the judgment of the great day in everlasting chains and black darkness. Like\V{7} Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns near them, which gave themselves up to fornication, and fell into unnatural vice, these angels now stand out as a warning, undergoing, as they are, punishment in eternal fire.
\par 
 Yet\V{8} in the same way these people, too, cherishing vain dreams, pollute our human nature, reject control, and malign the celestial beings. Yet\V{9} even Michael, the archangel, when, in his dispute with the devil, he was arguing about the body of Moses, did not venture to charge him with maligning, but said merely ‘The Lord rebuke you!’ But\V{10} these people malign whatever they do not understand; while they use such things as they know by instinct (like the animals that have no reason) for their own corruption. Alas\V{11} for them! They walk in the steps of Cain; led astray by Balaam’s love of gain, they plunge into sin, and meet their ruin through rebellion like Korah. These\V{12} are the people who are blots on your ‘love-feasts,’ when they feast together and provide without scruple for themselves alone. They are clouds without rain, driven before the winds; they are leafless trees without a vestige of fruit, dead through and through, torn up by the roots; they\V{13} are wild sea waves, foaming with their own shame; they are ‘wandering stars,’ for which the blackest darkness has been reserved for ever.
\par 
 To\V{14} these people, as to others, Enoch, the seventh in descent from Adam, declared – ‘See! The Lord has come with his hosts of holy ones around him, to\V{15} execute judgment on all people, and to convict all godless people of all their godless acts, which in their ungodliness they have committed, and of all the harsh words which they have spoken against him, godless sinners that they are!’
\par 
 These\V{16} people are always murmuring, and complaining of their lot; they follow where their passions lead them; they have arrogant words on their lips; and they flatter others for the sake of what they can get from them.\blank 

\par 
 But\V{17} you should, dear friends, recall what was foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how\V{18} they used to say to you – ‘As time draws to an end, there will be scoffers, who will be led by their godless passions.’ These\V{19} are the people – animal and unspiritual – who cause divisions. But\V{20} you must, dear friends, build up your characters on the foundation of your most holy faith, pray under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and\V{21} keep within the love of God, while waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, to bring you to eternal life. To\V{22} some show pity, because they are in doubt. ‘Drag them out of the fire,’ and save them. To\V{23} others show pity, but with caution, hating the clothing polluted by their touch.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Ascription}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  To\V{24} him who is able to guard you from falling, and to bring you into his glorious presence, blameless and rejoicing – to\V{25} the one God, our Savior, be ascribed, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, glory, majesty, power, and dominion, as it was before time began, is now, and will be for all time to come. Amen.\marking[RAChapter]{ } \marking[RABook]{ } \marking[RASection]{ }

\RAHeader{Revelation}

\MT{The Revelation to John}
  The\C{1} Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to make known to his servants, concerning what must shortly take place, and which he sent and revealed by his angel to his servant John, who\V{2} testified to the message of God and to the testimony to Jesus Christ, omitting nothing of what he had seen. Blessed\V{3} is the one who reads, and blessed are they who listen to, the words of this prophecy, and lay to heart what is here written; for the time is near.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Messages to the Seven Churches}
\par 
\indentation 
\par 
\noindentation  From\V{4} John, to the seven churches which are in Roman Asia. Blessing and peace be yours from him who is, and who was, and who will be, and from the seven spirits that are before his throne, and\V{5} from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born from the dead, and the Ruler of all the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his own blood – and\V{6} he made us a kingdom of priests in the service of God, his Father! – to Him be ascribed glory and dominion for ever. Amen. He\V{7} is coming among the clouds! Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him and all the nations of the earth will mourn over him. So will it be. Amen.\blank 

\par 
\indentation   ‘I\V{8} am the Alpha and the Omega,’  says the Lord,  the God who is, and who was, and who will be, the Almighty. \blank 
 I,\V{9} John, who am your brother, and who share with you in the suffering and kingship and endurance of Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos, for the sake of the message of God and the testimony to Jesus. I\V{10} fell into a trance on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like the blast of a trumpet. It\V{11} said –  ‘Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicaea.’  I\V{12} turned to see what voice it was that spoke to me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lamps, and\V{13} in the midst of the lamps one like a man, in a robe reaching to his feet, and with a golden sash across his breast. The\V{14} hair of his head was as white as wool, as white as snow; his eyes were like flaming fire; and\V{15} his feet were like brass as when molten in a furnace; his voice was like the sound of many streams, in\V{16} his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun in the fulness of its power. And,\V{17} when I saw him, I fell at his feet like one dead. He laid his hand on me and said –  ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,   the\V{18} Everliving. I died, and I am alive for ever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and of Hades.   Therefore\V{19} write of what you have seen and of what is happening now and of what is about to take place –   the\V{20} mystic meaning of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamps. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lamps are the seven churches.  \blank 
  “To\C{2} the angel of the church in Ephesus write: –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, and walks among the seven golden lamps: –   I\V{2} know your life, your toil and endurance, and I know that you cannot tolerate evil-doers. I know, too, how you tested those who declare that they are apostles, though they are not, and how you proved them false.   You\V{3} possess endurance, and have borne much for my name, and have never grown weary.   But\V{4} this I have against you – You have abandoned your first love.   Therefore\V{5} remember from what you have fallen, and repent, and live the life that you lived before; or else, I will come and remove your Lamp from its place, unless you repent.   But\V{6} this is in your favor – You hate the life lived by the Nikolaitans, and I also hate it.   Anyone\V{7} with ears should hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To him who conquers – to him I will give the right to eat the fruit of the Tree of life, which stands in the Paradise of God. }
\blank[medium] \blank 

\par 
\noindentation   “To\V{8} the angel of the church in Smyrna write: –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died, but is restored to life: –   I\V{9} know your persecution and your poverty – yet you are rich! I know, too, the slander that comes from those who declare that they are God’s people, \footnote{  2:9    God’s people: Literally ‘Jews.’ These people claimed to be God’s people because they were Jews.}   though they are not, but are a congregation of Satan.   Do\V{10} not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tempted, and may undergo persecution for ten days. Be faithful even to death, and I will give you the Crown of life.   Let\V{11} those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Those who conquer will suffer no hurt from the Second Death. }
\blank[medium] \blank 

\par 
\noindentation   “To\V{12} the angel of the church in Pergamus write: –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{These are the words of him who holds the sharp two-edged sword: –   I\V{13} know where you live, where the throne of Satan stands. And yet you hold to my name, and you did not disown my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death among you where Satan dwells.   Yet\V{14} I have a few things against you – You have among you those who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put temptations in the way of the Israelites, so that they should eat idol-offerings and commit licentious acts.   Again\V{15} you have among you those who hold in the same way to the teaching of the Nikolaitans.   Therefore\V{16} repent, or else, I will come quickly and contend with such people with words that will cut like a sword.   Let\V{17} those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To those who conquer – to them I will give a share of the mystic manna, and I will give them a white stone; and on the stone will be inscribed a new name, which no one knows except the person who receives it. }
\blank[medium] \blank 

\par 
\noindentation   “To\V{18} the angel of the church in Thyatira write: –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like flaming fire, and whose feet are like brass: –   I\V{19} know your life, your love, faith, service, and endurance; and I know that your life of late has been better than it was at first.   Yet\V{20} I have this against you – You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who declares that she is a prophet, and misleads my servants by her teaching, until they commit licentious acts and eat idol-offerings.   I\V{21} gave her time to repent, but she is determined not to turn from her licentiousness.   Therefore\V{22} I am laying her on a bed of sickness, and bringing great suffering on those who are unfaithful with her, unless they repent and turn from a life like hers.   I\V{23} will also put her children to death; and all the churches will learn that I am he who looks into people’s hearts and souls; and I will give to each one of you what their life deserves.   But\V{24} I say to the rest of you at Thyatira – all who do not accept such teaching, whose who did not learn the secrets of Satan, as people call them – I am not laying on you any further burden;   only\V{25} hold fast to what you have received, until I come.   To\V{26} those who conquer and are careful to live my life to the end – to them I will give authority over the nations,   and\V{27} they will rule them with an iron rod, as when earthen vessels are broken in pieces (as I myself have received from my Father)   and\V{28} I will give them the morning star.   Let\V{29} those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.  }
\blank[medium] \blank 

\par 
\noindentation   “To\C{3} the angel of the church in Sardis write: –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars; – I know your life, and that people say of you that you are living, though you are dead.   Be\V{2} on the watch, and strengthen what still survives, though once it was all but dead; for I have not found your life perfect in the eyes of my God.   Therefore\V{3} remember what you have received and heard, and lay it to heart and repent. Unless you are on the watch, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I am coming to you.   Yet\V{4} there are some few among you at Sardis who did not soil their robes; they will walk with me, robed in white, for they are worthy.   Those\V{5} who conquer will be clothed in these white robes, and I will not strike their name out of the book of life; but I will own them before my Father, and before his angels.   Let\V{6} those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. }
\blank[medium] \blank 

\par 
\noindentation   “To\V{7} the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the Key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and shuts and no one opens: –   I\V{8} know your life (see, I have set a door open before you which no one is able to shut), I know that, though you have but little strength, you kept my teaching in mind, and did not disown my name.   Listen,\V{9} I give some of the congregation of Satan, the people who declare that they are God’s people, \footnote{  3:9    God’s people: Literally ‘Jews.’ These people claimed to be God’s people because they were Jews.}   though they are not, but are lying – I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will learn that I loved you.   Because\V{10} you kept in mind the story of my endurance, I will keep you in the hour of trial that is about to come on the whole world, the hour that will test all who are living on earth.   I\V{11} will come quickly. Hold to what you have received so that no one may take your crown.   Those\V{12} who conquer – I will make them a pillar in the Temple of my God; and never more will they leave it; and I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God, and I will write on them my new name.   Let\V{13} those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. }
\blank[medium] \blank 

\par 
\noindentation   “To\V{14} the angel of the church in Laodicaea write: –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{These are the words of the Unchanging One, the witness faithful and true, the beginning of the Creation of God: –   I\V{15} know your life; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. If only you were either cold or hot!   But\V{16} now, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.   You\V{17} say ‘I am rich and have grown rich, and I want for nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked!   Therefore\V{18} I counsel you to buy from me gold which has been refined by fire so that you may grow rich; and white robes, so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness be hidden; and ointment to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.   All\V{19} whom I love I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be in earnest and repent.   I\V{20} am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in, and will feast with them, and they will feast with me.   To\V{21} those who conquer – to them I will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, as I, when I conquered, took my seat beside my Father on his throne.   Let\V{22} those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”  }
\blank[medium] 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The Vision of the Seven Seals}
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\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  After\C{4} this, in my vision, I saw an open door in the heavens, and the first voice that I heard was like the blast of a trumpet speaking to me. It said – ‘Come up here and I will show you what must take place.’ Immediately\V{2} after this I fell into a trance. There stood a throne in heaven, and on the throne was One seated. He\V{3} who was seated on it was in appearance like a jasper and a sardius; and around the throne there was a rainbow of the color of an emerald. And\V{4} around the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and on these I saw twenty-four elders sitting clothed in white robes; and on their heads they had crowns of gold. Out\V{5} from the throne come flashes of lightning, cries, and peals of thunder! There are seven torches burning in front of the throne, which are the seven spirits of God; and\V{6} in front of the throne is what seemed to be a sea of glass, resembling crystal, while within the space before the throne and around the throne are four creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The\V{7} first creature is like a lion, the second creature like a calf, the third creature has a face like a man’s, and the fourth creature is like an eagle on the wing. These\V{8} four creatures have each of them six wings, and all around, and within, they are full of eyes; and day and night they never cease to say –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, our God, the Almighty, who was, and who is, and who will be.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And,\V{9} whenever these creatures give praise and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, to him who lives for ever and ever, the\V{10} twenty-four elders prostrate themselves before him who is seated on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever, and throw down their crowns before the throne, saying –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{ ‘Worthy\V{11} are you, our Lord and God, to receive all praise, and honor, and power, for you did create all things, and at your bidding they came into being and were created.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]   Then\C{5} I saw at the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a book, with writing inside and out, and sealed with seven seals; and\V{2} I saw a mighty angel who was proclaiming in a loud voice – ‘Who is worthy to open the book and break its seals?’ But\V{3} no one either in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the book or look within it. At\V{4} this I wept long, because no one could be found who was worthy to open the book or look within it. But\V{5} one of the elders said to me – ‘Do not weep. The Lion conquered – the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Scion of David – and can therefore open the book with its seven seals.’\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Then,\V{6} within the space between the throne and the four creatures, and in the midst of the elders, I saw, standing, a Lamb, which seemed to have been sacrificed. It had seven horns and seven eyes. (These eyes are the seven spirits of God, and they are sent into all the world.) The\V{7} Lamb came forward; and he has taken the book from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And,\V{8} when he had taken the book, the four creatures and the twenty-four elders prostrated themselves before the Lamb, each of them holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense. (These are the prayers of Christ’s people.) And\V{9} they are singing a new song –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘You are worthy to take the book and break its seals, for you were sacrificed, and with your blood you did buy for God people of every tribe, and language, and people, and nation, and\V{10} did make them a kingdom of priests in the service of our God, and they are reigning on the earth.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Then,\V{11} in my vision, I heard the voices of many angels around the throne, and of the creatures, and of the elders. In number they were ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, and\V{12} they cried in a loud voice –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Worthy is the Lamb that was sacrificed to receive all power, and wealth, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and praise, and blessing.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{13} I heard every created thing in the air, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all that is in them crying –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘To him who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb be ascribed all blessing, and honor, and praise, and dominion for ever and ever.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{14} the four creatures said ‘Amen,’ and the elders prostrated themselves and worshiped. \stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Then\C{6} I saw the Lamb break one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four creatures crying with a voice like thunder – ‘Come.’ And\V{2} in my vision I saw a white horse. Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
\par 
\indentation  When\V{3} the Lamb broke the second seal, I heard the second creature crying – ‘Come.’ Then\V{4} there went out another horse, a red horse, and to its rider was given the power to deprive the earth of peace, so that people should kill one another; and he was given a great sword.
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 When\V{5} the Lamb broke the third seal, I heard the third creature crying – ‘Come.’ And in my vision I saw a black horse. Its rider held scales in his hand. And\V{6} I heard what seemed to be a voice, coming from among the four creatures, crying – ‘A quart of wheat for a silver coin, and three quarts of barley for a silver coin! But do not harm the oil and the wine.’
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 When\V{7} the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth creature crying – ‘Come.’ And\V{8} in my vision I saw a grey horse. His rider’s name was Death, and Hades rode behind him; and power was given them over the fourth part of the earth, so that they might destroy with sword and famine and death, and by means of the wild Beasts of the earth.
\par 
 When\V{9} the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the sake of God’s message and for the testimony which they had borne. They\V{10} cried in a loud voice – ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, before you will give judgment and avenge our blood on all who are living on the earth?’ Then\V{11} to each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to rest yet a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and of their friends in Christ’s service who were about to be put to death, as they had been, should be complete.
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 And\V{12} I saw the Lamb break the sixth seal, and then there was a great earthquake. The sun became black, like sackcloth, and the moon, which was at its full, like blood. The\V{13} stars of the heavens fell to the earth, as when a fig-tree, shaken by a strong wind, drops its unripe fruit. The\V{14} heavens disappeared like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. Then\V{15} all the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the generals, and the rich, and the powerful, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and under the rocks of the mountains; and\V{16} they are crying to the mountains and the rocks – ‘Fall on us, and hide us from the eyes of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for\V{17} the great day of their wrath is come, and who can stand to meet it?’ 
\par 
 After\C{7} this, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth, so that no wind should blow over the earth, or over the sea, or against any tree. And,\V{2} in the east, I saw another angel, ascending, holding the seal of the living God; and he cried in a loud voice to the four angels, to whom there had been given power to harm the earth and the sea – ‘Do\V{3} not harm the earth, or the sea, or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.’ I\V{4} heard, too, the number of those who had been sealed. It was one hundred and forty-four thousand; and they were from every tribe of the Israelites.
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\noindentation \Q{1}{ From\V{5} the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ from\V{6} the tribe of Asher twelve thousand,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the tribe of Napthali twelve thousand,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ from\V{7} the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{ from\V{8} the tribe of Zebulon twelve thousand,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand,}
\noindentation \Q{1}{from the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  After\V{9} this, in my vision, I saw a vast throng which no one could number, of people from every nation and of all tribes, and peoples, and languages. They stood in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, robed in white, holding palm branches in their hands. And\V{10} they are crying in a loud voice –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Salvation be ascribed to our God who is seated on his throne and to the Lamb.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  And\V{11} all the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four creatures, and they prostrated themselves on their faces in front of the throne and worshiped God, saying\V{12} –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Amen. Blessing and praise, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be ascribed to our God for ever and ever. Amen.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft] \stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Then\V{13} one of the elders turned to me and said ‘Who are these who are robed in white? And where did they come from?’
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\indentation  ‘My\V{14} Lord,’ I answered, ‘it is you who know.’
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‘These,’ he said, ‘are they who come through the Great Persecution; they washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. And\V{15} therefore it is that they are before the throne of God, and are serving him day and night in his Temple; and he who is seated on the throne will shelter them. Never\V{16} again will they be hungry, never again will they be thirsty, nor will the sun smite them, nor any scorching heat; for\V{17} the Lamb that stands in the space before the throne will be their shepherd, and will lead them to life-giving springs of water; and God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.’ 
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 As\C{8} soon as the Lamb had broken the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for, it might be, half an hour.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Vision of Seven Trumpet-Blasts}
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\noindentation  Then\V{2} I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
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\indentation  Next,\V{3} another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer in his hand; and a great quantity of incense was given to him, to mingle with the prayers of all Christ’s people on the golden altar before the throne. The\V{4} smoke of the incense ascended, with the prayers of Christ’s people, from the hand of the angel before God. Then\V{5} the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it down on the earth; and there followed peals of thunder, cries, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. Then\V{6} the seven angels holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow their blasts.\blank 

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 The\V{7} first blew; and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it fell on the earth. A third part of the earth was burnt up, and a third of the trees, and every blade of grass.
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 Then\V{8} the second angel blew; and what appeared to be a great mountain, burning, was hurled into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, and\V{9} a third part of all created things that are in the sea – that is, of all living things – died, and a third of the ships was destroyed.
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 Then\V{10} the third angel blew; and there fell from the heavens a great star, burning like a torch. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs. (The\V{11} star is called ‘Wormwood.’) A third of the water became bitter as wormwood, and so bitter was the water that many died from drinking it.
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 Then\V{12} the fourth angel blew; and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were blasted, so that a third of them was eclipsed, and for a third part of the day there was no light, and at night it was the same.
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 And,\V{13} in my vision, I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven and crying in a loud voice – ‘Woe, woe, woe for all who live on the earth, at the other trumpet-blasts of the three angels who have yet to blow.’ 
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 Then\C{9} the fifth angel blew; and I saw a star that had fallen on the earth from the heavens, and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. He\V{2} opened the bottomless pit, and from the pit rose a smoke like the smoke of a great furnace. The sun and the air grew dark because of the smoke from the pit. Out\V{3} of the smoke locusts descended on the earth, and they received the same power as that possessed by scorpions. They\V{4} were told not to harm the grass, or any plant, or any tree, but only those who have not the seal of God on their foreheads. Yet\V{5} they were not allowed to kill them, but it was ordered that those men should be tortured for five months. Their torture was like the torture caused by a scorpion when it stings a person. In\V{6} those days people will seek Death and will not find it; They will long to die, but Death flees from them. In\V{7} appearance the locusts were like horses equipped for battle. On their heads there were what appeared to be crowns that shone like gold, their faces resembled human faces, and\V{8} they had hair like the hair of a woman, their teeth were like lions’ teeth, and\V{9} they had what seemed to be iron breastplates, while the noise of their wings was like the noise of chariots drawn by many horses, galloping into battle. They\V{10} have tails like scorpions, and stings, and in their tails lies their power to harm people for five months. They\V{11} have as their king the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name, in Hebrew, is ‘Abaddon,’ while, in Greek, his name is ‘Apollyon’ (the Destroyer).
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 The\V{12} first Woe has passed; and still there are two Woes to follow!\blank 

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 Then\V{13} the sixth angel blew; and I heard a voice proceeding from the corners of the golden altar that stood before God. It\V{14} spoke to the sixth angel – the angel with the trumpet – and said ‘Let loose the four angels that are in chains at the great river Euphrates.’ Then\V{15} the four angels, that were held in readiness for that hour and day and month and year, were let loose, to destroy a third of mankind. The\V{16} number of the hosts of cavalry was ten thousand times ten thousand, twice told; I heard their number. And\V{17} this is what the horses and their riders appeared to be like in my vision: – They had breastplates of fire, blood-red and sulphurous, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, while out of their mouths issue fire, and smoke, and sulfur. Through\V{18} these three curses a third of humanity perished – because of the fire, and the smoke, and the sulfur that issued from their mouths; for\V{19} the power of the horses lies in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails are like snakes, with heads, and it is with them that they do harm. But\V{20} those who were left of humanity, who had not perished through these curses, did not repent and turn away from what their own hands had made; they would not abandon the worship of demons, and of idols made of gold or silver or brass or stone or wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk; and\V{21} they did not repent of their murders, or their sorceries, or their licentiousness, or their thefts. 
\par 
 Then\C{10} I saw another mighty angel, descending from heaven. His robe was a cloud; over his head was the rainbow; his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; in\V{2} his hand he held a little book open. He set his right foot on the sea, and his left on the land; and\V{3} he cried in a loud voice like the roaring of a lion. At his cry the seven peals of thunder spoke, each with its own voice. And,\V{4} when they spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say – ‘Keep secret what the seven peals of thunder said, and do not write it down.’ Then\V{5} the angel, whom I had seen standing on the sea and on the land, raised his right hand to the heavens, and\V{6} swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, and the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, that time should cease to be. Moreover\V{7} at the time when the seventh angel will speak, when he is ready to blow his blast, then the hidden purposes of God, of which he told the good news to his servants, the prophets, are at once fulfilled. Then\V{8} came the voice which I had heard from heaven. It spoke to me again, and said – ‘Go and take the book that is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.’ So\V{9} I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. And he said ‘Take it, and eat it. It will be bitter to your stomach, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’ I\V{10} took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and, while in my mouth, it was like the sweetest honey; but, when I had eaten it, it was bitter to my stomach. And\V{11} I was told – ‘You must prophesy again about men of many peoples, and nations, and languages, and about many kings.’ 
\par 
 Then\C{11} I was given a measure like a rod, and a voice said to me – ‘Go and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count the worshiper there. But\V{2} omit the court outside the Temple, and do not measure that, for it has been given up to the nations; and the holy City will be under their heel for forty-two months. Then\V{3} I will give permission to my Two Witnesses, and for those twelve hundred and sixty days they will continue teaching, clothed in sackcloth.’ These\V{4} men are represented by the two olive trees and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the earth. When\V{5} anyone wishes to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies; and whoever wishes to harm them will, in this way, inevitably perish. These\V{6} men have the power to close the heavens, so that no rain may fall during the time that they are teaching; and they have power to turn the streams into blood, and to smite the land with any curse, whenever they will. As\V{7} soon as they have completed their testimony, the wild Beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer and kill them. Their\V{8} dead bodies will lie in the streets of the great city, which is mystically spoken of as ‘Sodom’ and ‘Egypt,’ where their Master was crucified. People\V{9} of all nations, and tribes, and languages, and races look at their dead bodies for three days and a half, and do not allow them to be laid in a grave. Those\V{10} who live on the earth rejoice over them and are merry, and they will send presents to one another, because these two prophets brought torments on those who live on the earth. After\V{11} three days and a half the life-giving breath of God entered these men, and they stood up on their feet, and a great terror took possession of those who were watching them. The\V{12} two men heard a loud voice from heaven which said to them – ‘Come up here,’ and they went up to heaven in the cloud, while their enemies watched them. At\V{13} that very time a great earthquake occurred. A tenth part of the city fell, and seven thousand people perished in the earthquake. Those who escaped were much terrified, and praised the God of heaven.
\par 
 The\V{14} second Woe has passed; and there is a third Woe soon to follow!\blank 

\par 
 Then\V{15} the seventh angel blew; and loud voices were heard in heaven saying –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  At\V{16} this the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, prostrated themselves on their faces and worshiped Him, saying\V{17} –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘We thank you, Lord, our God, the Almighty, who is and who was, that you have assumed your great power and reigned. The\V{18} nations were enraged, and your wrath fell on them; the time came for the dead to be judged, and for you to give the reward to your servants the prophets, and to the people of Christ, and to those who honor your name – the high and the low alike – and to destroy those who are destroying the earth.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Then\V{19} the Temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark containing his covenant was seen in his Temple; and there followed flashes of lightning, cries, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a great storm of hail. \stopalignment }
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Vision of Seven Figures}
\par 
\noindentation 
\par 
\noindentation  Then\C{12} a great portent was seen in the heavens – a woman whose robe was the sun, and who had the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She\V{2} was pregnant; and she is crying out in the pain and agony of childbirth. Another\V{3} portent also was seen in the heavens There was a great red Dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. His\V{4} tail draws after it a third of the stars in the heavens, and it hurled them down on the earth. The Dragon is standing in front of the woman who is about to give birth to the child, so that he may devour it as soon as it is born. The\V{5} woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was at once caught up to God on his throne. But\V{6} the woman fled into the wilderness, where there is a place prepared for her by God, to be tended there for twelve hundred and sixty days.
\par 
\indentation  Then\V{7} a battle took place in the heavens. Michael and his angels fought with the Dragon. But though the Dragon, with his angels, fought, he\V{8} did not prevail; and there was no place left for them any longer in the heavens. Then\V{9} the great Dragon, the primeval snake, known as the ‘devil’ and ‘Satan,’ who deceives all the world, was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. And\V{10} I heard a loud voice in heaven which said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Now has begun the day of the salvation, and Power, and Dominion of our God, and the Rule of his Christ; for the Accuser of our people has been hurled down, he who has been accusing them before our God day and night. Their\V{11} victory was due to the blood of the Lamb, and to the message to which they bore their testimony. In their love of life they shrank not from death. Therefore,\V{12} be glad, heaven, and all who live in heaven! Alas for the earth and for the sea, for the devil has gone down to you in great fury, knowing that he has but little time.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  when\V{13} the Dragon saw that he was hurled down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But\V{14} to the woman were given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she might fly to her place in the wilderness, where she is being tended for one year, and for two years, and for half a year in safety from the snake. Then\V{15} the snake poured water from its mouth after the woman, like a river, so that it might sweep her away. But\V{16} Earth came to her help, and opened her mouth and drank up the river which the Dragon had poured out of its mouth. The\V{17} Dragon was enraged at the woman, and went to fight with the rest of her offspring – those who lay to heart the commands of God and bear their testimony to Jesus; and\V{18} he took his stand on the sea-shore. \stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  Then\C{13} I saw, rising out of the sea, a wild Beast with ten horns and seven heads. On its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names. The\V{2} Beast that I saw was like a leopard; but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth like the mouth of a lion. The Dragon gave it his power and his throne, and wide dominion. One\V{3} of its heads seemed to me to have been mortally wounded, but its deadly wound had been healed. The whole earth followed the Beast, wondering; and\V{4} men worshiped the Dragon, because he had given his dominion to the Beast; while, as they worshiped the Beast, they said – ‘Who can compare with the Beast? And who can fight with it?’ The\V{5} Beast was given a mouth that spoke proudly and blasphemously, and it was empowered to work its will for forty-two months. It\V{6} opened its mouth only to blaspheme God, to blaspheme his name and his tent – those who live in his tent in heaven. It\V{7} had been permitted to fight with Christ’s people and to conquer them, and it had received power over men of every tribe, and people, and language, and nation. All\V{8} who are living on earth will worship it – all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb that has been sacrificed from the foundation of the world. Let\V{9} those who have ears hear. Whoever\V{10} is destined for captivity goes into captivity. Whoever will kill with the sword must inevitably be killed with the sword. (Here there is need for endurance and faith on the part of Christ’s people.)
\par 
\indentation  Then\V{11} I saw, rising out of the earth, another wild Beast. It had two horns like those of a lamb, and its voice was like a dragon’s. It\V{12} exercises all the authority of the first Beast under its eyes; and it makes the earth and all who are living on it worship that first Beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It\V{13} performs great marvels, even causing fire to fall from the heavens to the earth, before people’s eyes; and\V{14} in consequence of the marvels which it was allowed to perform under the eyes of the Beast, it is able to deceive all who are living on the earth. It tells those who live on the earth to make a statue in honor of the Beast, who, despite the wound from the sword, yet lived. It\V{15} was permitted to breathe life into the image of the Beast, so that the image of the Beast might speak; and it was also permitted to cause all who refused to worship the image of the Beast to be put to death. High\V{16} and low, rich and poor, free and enslaved – it causes a brand to be put on the right hand or on the forehead of every one of them, so\V{17} that no one is able to buy or sell, except those that bear this brand – either the name of the Beast or the number indicated by the letters of his name. (Here\V{18} there is need for discernment.) The person with ability can compute the number of the Beast; for the number indicates a person’s name. Its number is six hundred and sixty-six. \blank 

\par 
 Then,\C{14} in my vision, I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. With him were a hundred and forty-four thousand, with his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. And\V{2} I heard a sound from heaven, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of a loud peal of thunder; the sound that I heard was like the music of harpers playing on their harps. They\V{3} are singing what seems to be a new song, before the throne, and before the four creatures and the elders; and no one was able to learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from earth. These\V{4} are the men who never defiled themselves in their intercourse with women; they are as pure as virgins. These are the men who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed as the first-fruits of mankind for God and for the Lamb. No\V{5} lie was ever heard on their lips. They are beyond reach of blame.\blank 

\par 
 Then\V{6} I saw another angel, flying in mid-heaven. He had the good news, decreed from eternity, to announce to those who live on the earth – to men of every nation, and tribe, and language, and people; and\V{7} he cried in a loud voice – ‘Reverence God, and give him praise (for the hour of his judgment has come) and worship him who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all springs of water.’
\par 
 Then\V{8} a second angel followed, crying – ‘She has fallen! She has fallen – Babylon the Great, who has made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her licentiousness!’
\par 
 Then\V{9} a third angel followed them, crying in a loud voice – ‘Whoever worships the Beast and its image, and receives its brand on his forehead or on his hand, that\V{10} person will drink the maddening wine of God that has been poured unmixed into the cup of his wrath, and they will be tortured with fire and sulfur before the eyes of the holy angels and before the eyes of the Lamb. The\V{11} smoke from their torture rises for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night – those who worship the Beast and its image, and all who are branded with its name.’ (Here\V{12} there is need for endurance on the part of Christ’s people – those who lay to heart the commands of God and the faith of Jesus.) Then\V{13} I heard a voice from heaven saying ‘Write: “Blessed are the dead who from this hour die in union with the Lord.”’
\par 
“Yes,” answers the Spirit, “that they may rest from their toil. Their good deeds go with them.”\blank 

\par 
 Then,\V{14} in my vision, I saw a white cloud, and on the cloud there was sitting one like a man. On his head he had a crown of gold, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
\par 
 Then\V{15} another angel came out from the Temple, crying in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud – ‘Take your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come; the Harvest of Earth is ready.’ He\V{16} who was sitting on the cloud brought his sickle down on the earth, and the Harvest of Earth was reaped.
\par 
 Then\V{17} another angel came out of the Temple in heaven; he, also, had a sharp sickle.
\par 
 Then\V{18} another angel came out of the altar; he had power over fire, and he called in a loud voice to the angel that had the sharp sickle – ‘Take your sharp sickle, and gather the bunches from the vine of Earth, for its grapes are ripe.’ The\V{19} angel brought his sickle down on the earth and gathered the fruit of the vine of Earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. The\V{20} grapes were trodden in the press outside the city; and blood came out of the press, rising as high as the bridles of the horses for a distance of two hundred miles. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Vision of Seven Curses}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Then\C{15} I saw another portent in the heavens – a great and marvelous portent – seven angels with the seven last curses; because with them the wrath of God is ended.
\par 
\indentation  Then\V{2} I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire; and, standing by this sea of glass, holding the harps of God, I saw those who had come victorious out of the conflict with the Beast and its image and the number that formed its name. They\V{3} are singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord, our God, the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, eternal King. Who\V{4} will not honor and praise your name, Lord? You alone are holy! All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have become manifest.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  After\V{5} this I saw that the inmost shrine of the tent of testimony in heaven was opened, and\V{6} out of it came the seven angels with the seven curses. They were adorned with precious stones, pure and bright, and had golden girdles around their breasts. One\V{7} of the four creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls, filled with the wrath of God who lives for ever and ever. The\V{8} Temple was filled with smoke from the glory and majesty of God; and no one could enter the Temple, until the seven curses inflicted by the seven angels were at an end.  Then\C{16} I heard a loud voice, which came from the Temple, saying to the seven angels – ‘Go and empty the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.’\stopalignment }
\par 
\noindentation  The\V{2} first angel went and emptied his bowl on the earth; and it turned to loathsome and painful sores on all who bore the brand of the Beast and who worshiped its image.
\par 
\indentation  Then\V{3} the second angel emptied his bowl on the sea; and it turned to blood like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died – everything in the sea.
\par 
 Then\V{4} the third angel emptied his bowl on the rivers and springs of water; and it turned to blood. And\V{5} I heard the angel of the Waters saying – ‘Righteous are you, you who is and who is, the Holy One, in inflicting this judgment; for\V{6} men shed the blood of Christ’s people and of the prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve.’ And\V{7} I heard the response from the altar – ‘Yes, Lord, our God, the Almighty, true and righteous are they judgments.’
\par 
 Then\V{8} the fourth angel emptied his bowl on the sun; and he was permitted to scorch men with fire; and\V{9} men were scorched by the intense heat. They blasphemed the name of God who controlled these curses, yet they did not repent and give him praise.
\par 
 Then\V{10} the fifth angel emptied his bowl on the throne of the Beast; and darkness fell on its kingdom. Men gnawed their tongues for pain, and\V{11} blasphemed the God of heaven, because of their pains and because of their sores; yet they did not repent of what they had done.
\par 
 Then\V{12} the sixth angel emptied his bowl on the great river Euphrates; and the water in the river was dried up, so that the road for the kings of the East might be made ready. And\V{13} I saw three foul spirits, like frogs, come from the mouth of the Dragon and from the mouth of the Beast and from the mouth of the false prophet. They\V{14} are the spirits of demons, and perform marvels; they go to kings all over the world, to collect them for the battle on the great day of Almighty God.  (‘I\V{15} am coming like a thief! Happy will he be who is on the watch, and keeps his clothing at hand, so that he will not have to walk about unclothed and let men see his nakedness.’)  And\V{16} the spirits collected the kings at the place called in Hebrew ‘Har-Magedon.’
\par 
 Then\V{17} the seventh angel emptied his bowl on the air. (A loud voice came from the throne in the Temple; it said ‘All is over.’) There\V{18} followed flashes of lightning, cries, and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as had not occurred since man began to be on the earth – none so great; and\V{19} the great city was torn in three, and the cities of the nation fell, and God remembered Babylon the Great, and gave her the maddening wine-cup of his wrath; and\V{20} every island vanished, and the mountains disappeared. Great\V{21} hailstones, a pound in weight, are falling on men from the heavens. And men blasphemed God because of the curse of the hail, for it was a very terrible curse. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Doom of the Enemies of Christ}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Then\C{17} one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls came and spoke to me. ‘Come here,’ he said, ‘and I will show you the sentence passed on that Great Harlot who is seated at the meeting of many waters, and\V{2} with whom all the kings of the earth have had licentious intercourse; while all who live on the earth have been make drunk by the wine of her licentiousness.’ And\V{3} he bore me away in a trance to a lonely place, and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet Beast, which was covered with blasphemous names; it had seven heads and ten horns. The\V{4} woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold ornaments, precious stones, and pearls. In her hand she held a gold cup, full of idolatrous abominations, and the unclean fruits of her licentiousness; while\V{5} on her forehead there was written this mystic name – ‘BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF ALL IDOLATROUS ABOMINATIONS ON EARTH.’ And\V{6} I saw the woman drunk with the blood of Christ’s people and with the blood of the martyrs for Jesus. When I saw her, I was amazed beyond measure; but\V{7} the angel said to me – ‘Why were you amazed? I will tell you the mystic meaning of the vision of this woman, and of the Beast, with the seven heads and ten horns, that carries her. The\V{8} Beast that you saw was, but is not, and is about to rise out of the bottomless pit, and is on its way to destruction. Those who are living on earth will be amazed – those whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world – when they see that the Beast was, but is not, and yet will come.’ (Here\V{9} there is need for the discerning mind.) The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated. They\V{10} are also seven kings; of whom five have fallen and one remains, while one is not yet come. When he comes, he must stay for a little while. So\V{11} must the Beast that was, but is not. He counts as an eighth king, although he is one of the seven, and is on his way to destruction. The\V{12} ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received their kingdoms, but for an hour they receive the authority of kings, together with the Beast. These\V{13} kings are of one mind in surrendering their power and authority to the Beast. They\V{14} will fight with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings; so, too, will those with him who have received the call and are chosen and faithful. And\V{15} the angel said to me – ‘The waters that you saw, where the Harlot is seated, are throngs of people and men of all nations and languages. The\V{16} ten horns that you saw, and the Beast – they will hate the Harlot, and cause her to become deserted and strip her bare; they will eat her flesh and utterly consume her with fire. For\V{17} God has put it into their minds to carry out his purpose, in carrying out their common purpose and surrendering their kingdoms to the Beast, until God’s decrees will be executed. As\V{18} for the woman whom you saw, she is the great city that holds sway over all the kings of the earth.’ 
\par 
\indentation  After\C{18} this I saw another angel, descending from heaven, invested with great authority; and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With\V{2} a mighty voice he cried – “She has fallen! She has fallen – Babylon the Great! She has become an abode of demons, a stronghold of every wicked spirit, a stronghold of every foul and hateful bird. For,\V{3} after drinking the maddening wine of her licentiousness, all the nations have fallen; while all the kings of the earth have had licentious intercourse with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich through the excess of her luxury.” Then\V{4} I heard another voice from heaven saying – “Come out of her, my people, so that you may not participate in her sins, and that you may not suffer from the curses inflicted on her. For\V{5} her sins are heaped up to the heavens, and God has not forgotten her misdeeds. Pay\V{6} her back the treatment with which she has treated you; yes, repay twice over what her actions deserve; in the cup which she mixed for you, mix for her as much again; for\V{7} her self-glorification and her luxury, give her now an equal measure of torture and misery. In her heart she says ‘I sit here a queen; no widow am I; I will never know misery.’ Therefore\V{8} in one day will these curses strike her – death, misery, and famine, and she will be utterly consumed by fire; for mighty is the Lord God who condemned her.” All\V{9} the kings of the earth who had licentious intercourse with her and shared her luxury will weep and lament over her, when they see the smoke from the burning city, while\V{10} they stand at a distance, horrified at her torture, and cry – “Alas! Alas! Great city! Mighty city of Babylon! In a single hour your judgment fell.” And\V{11} the merchants of the earth weep and wail over her, because no longer does anyone buy their cargoes – their\V{12} cargoes of gold, or silver, or precious stones, or pearls, or fine linen, or purple robes, or silk, or scarlet cloth; nor their many scented woods; nor their many articles of ivory; nor their many articles of choicest wood, or brass, or iron, or marble; nor\V{13} their cinnamon, or spice, or incense, or perfumes, or frankincense, or wine, or oil, or fine flour, or wheat, or cattle, or sheep; nor their horses, or chariots, or slaves; nor the bodies and souls of people. The\V{14} fruit that your soul craved is no longer within your reach, and all dainties and luxuries are lost to you, never to be found again. The\V{15} merchants who sold these things, and grew rich by her, will stand at a distance weeping and wailing, horrified at her torture, and crying – “Alas!\V{16} Alas! Great city! City clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet cloth! City adorned with gold ornaments, and precious stones, and pearls! In\V{17} a single hour your vast wealth vanished.” Every ship’s captain and all who sail to any port, and sailors, and all who get their living from the sea, stood at a distance, and\V{18} seeing the smoke from the burning city, cried – “What city can compare with the Great city?” They\V{19} threw dust on their heads, and, as they wept and wailed, they cried – “Alas! Alas! Great city! All who have ships on the sea grew rich through her magnificence. In a single hour it has vanished.” Rejoice\V{20} over her, heaven, and people of Christ, and apostles, and prophets, for God has avenged you on her! Then\V{21} a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and threw it into the sea, crying – “So will Babylon, the great city, be violently overthrown, never more to be seen. No\V{22} more will the music of harpers, or minstrels, or flute players, or trumpeters be heard in you, no more will any worker, skilled in any art, be found in you; no more will the sound of a mill be heard in you; no\V{23} more will the light of a lamp shine in you; no more will the voices of groom and bride be heard in you. Your merchants were the great men of the earth, for all the nations were deceived by your magical charms.” Yes,\V{24} and in her was to be found the blood of the prophets and of Christ’s people, and of all who have been put to death on the earth. \blank 

\par 
 After\C{19} this, I heard what seemed to be a great shout from a vast throng in heaven, crying –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Hallelujah! To our God belong salvation, and glory, and Power, for\V{2} true and righteous are his judgments. For he has passed judgment on the Great Harlot who was corrupting the earth by her licentiousness, and he has taken vengeance on her for the blood of his servants.’}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Again\V{3} they cried – ‘Hallelujah!’ And the smoke from her ruins rises for ever and ever. Then\V{4} the twenty-four elders and the Four creatures prostrated themselves and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, crying – ‘Amen, Hallelujah!’; and\V{5} from the throne there came a voice which said –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Praise our God all you who serve him, You who worship him, both high and low.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Then\V{6} I heard what seemed to be the shout of a vast throng, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of loud peals of thunder, crying –
\blank[medium] 
\noindentation \Q{1}{‘Hallelujah! For the Lord is king, our God, the Almighty. Let\V{7} us rejoice and exalt; and we will pay him honor, for the hour for the Marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready. And\V{8} to her it has been granted to robe herself in fine linen, white and pure, for that linen is the good deeds of the people of Christ.’\stopalignment }}
\blank[medium] \par {\startalignment[flushleft]  Then\V{9} a voice said to me ‘Write – “Blessed are those who have been summoned to the marriage feast of the Lamb.”’ And the voice said – ‘These words of God are true.’ I\V{10} prostrated myself at the feet of him who spoke to worship him, but he said to me – ‘No! I am your fellow servant, and the fellow servant of your brothers and sisters who bear their testimony to Jesus. Worship God. For to bear testimony to Jesus needs the inspiration of the prophets.’ Then\V{11} I saw that heaven lay open. There appears a white horse; its rider is called ‘Faithful’ and ‘True’; righteously does he judge and make war. His\V{12} eyes are flaming fires; on his head there are many diadems, and he bears a name, written, which no one knows but himself; he\V{13} has been clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood; and the name by which he is called is ‘The Word of God.’ The\V{14} armies of heaven followed him, mounted on white horses and clothed in fine linen, white and pure. From\V{15} his mouth comes a sharp sword, with which to smite the nations; and he will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the grapes in the press of the maddening wine of the wrath of Almighty God; and\V{16} on his robe and on his thigh he has this name written – ‘KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.’\stopalignment }\blank 

\par 
\noindentation  Then\V{17} I saw an angel standing on the sun. He cried in a loud voice to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven – ‘Gather and come to the great feast of God, to\V{18} eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all free and enslaved, and of high and low.’ Then\V{19} I saw the Beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to fight with him who sat on the horse and with his army. The\V{20} Beast was captured, and with him was taken the false prophet, who performed the marvels before the eyes of the Beast, with which he deceived those who had received the brand of the Beast and those who worshiped his image. Alive, they were thrown, both of them, into the lake of fire – of burning sulfur. The\V{21} rest were killed by the sword which came out of the mouth of him who rode on the horse; and all the birds fed on their flesh. \blank 

\par 
\indentation  Then\C{20} I saw an angel coming down from heaven, with the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He\V{2} seized the Dragon, the primeval snake (who is the ‘devil’ or ‘Satan’), and bound him in chains for a thousand years. He\V{3} flung him into the bottomless pit and locked it, and set his seal on it; that he should not deceive the nations any more, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be let loose for a while.
\par 
 Then\V{4} I saw thrones, and to those who took their seats on them authority was given to act as judges. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony to Jesus and because of the message of God, for they had refused to worship the Beast or its image, and had not received the brand on their foreheads and on their hands. They were restored to life, and they reigned with the Christ for a thousand years. (The\V{5} rest of the dead were not restored to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed\V{6} and holy will he be who shares in that first resurrection. The second Death has no power over them; but they will be priests of God, and the Christ, and they will reign with him for the thousand years.
\par 
 When\V{7} the thousand years are ended, Satan will be let loose from his prison, and\V{8} he will come out to deceive the nations that live in the four corners of the earth – Gog and Magog. He will come to gather them together for battle; and their number will be as great as the sand on the sea-shore. They\V{9} went up over the breadth of the whole earth, and surrounded the camp of Christ’s people and the city that he loves. Then fire fell from the heavens and consumed them; and\V{10} the devil, their deceiver, was hurled into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the Beast and the false prophet already were, and they will be tortured day and night for ever and ever.\blank 

\par 
 Then\V{11} I saw a great white throne, and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence; no place was left for them. And\V{12} I saw the dead, high and low, standing before the throne; and books were opened. Then another book was opened, the book of life; and the dead were judged, according to their actions, by what was written in the books. The\V{13} sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead; and they were judged, one by one, each according to his actions. Then\V{14} Death and Hades were hurled into the lake of fire. This is the Second Death – the lake of fire; and\V{15} all whose names were not found written in the book of life were hurled into the lake of fire. 
\blank[big] 
\MSS{The New Creation}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Then\C{21} I saw new heavens and a new earth. The former heavens and the former earth had passed away; and the sea has ceased to be. And\V{2} I saw the Holy City, Jerusalem, descending new out of heaven from God, like a bride adorned in readiness for her husband. And\V{3} I heard a loud voice from the throne, which said – ‘See! The tent of God is set up among people. God will live among them, and they will be his Peoples, and God himself will be among them, and\V{4} he will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, nor will there be any more grief or crying or pain. The old order has passed away.’ And\V{5} he who was seated on the throne said – ‘See, I make all things new!’ And he said – ‘Write this, for these words may be trusted and are true.’ And\V{6} he said to me – ‘They are fulfilled. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the End. To those who thirst I will give of the spring of the water of life, freely. Those\V{7} who conquer will enter into possession of these things, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. But\V{8} as for cowards, unbelievers, the degraded, murderers, the impure, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars – their place will be in the burning lake of fire and sulfur. That is the Second Death.’\blank 

\par 
\indentation  Then\V{9} one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, and were laden with the seven last curses, came and spoke to me. ‘Come here,’ he said, ‘and I will show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb.’ He\V{10} carried me away in a trance to a great high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the Holy City, descending out of heaven from God, filled with the glory of God. Its\V{11} brilliance was like a precious stone, like a jasper, transparent as crystal. It\V{12} had a great high wall, in which were twelve gates; and at these gates there were twelve angels, and there were names inscribed on the gates, the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites. There\V{13} were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. The\V{14} wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, on which were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And\V{15} the angel who was speaking to me had as a measure a gold rod, with which to measure the city and its gates and its wall. The\V{16} city is square; the length and the breadth are the same. The angel measured with his rod; it was twelve hundred miles; its length, and breadth, and height are equal. Then\V{17} he measured the wall; it was two hundred and eighty-eight feet, as people measure, that is as the angel measured. The\V{18} material of the wall of the city was jasper, and the city was built of pure gold, which shone like clear glass. The\V{19} foundations of the wall of the city were ornamented with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was a jasper; the second a sapphire; the third a chalcedony; the fourth an emerald; the\V{20} fifth a sardonyx; the sixth a carnelian; the seventh a chrysolite; the eighth a beryl; the ninth a topaz; the tenth a chrysoprase; the eleventh a hyacinth; and the twelfth an amethyst. The\V{21} twelve gates were made of twelve pearls, each gate of one pearl. The street of the city was of pure gold, transparent as glass. And\V{22} I saw no Temple there, for the Lord, our God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are its Temple. The\V{23} city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and its Lamp was the Lamb. The\V{24} nations walk by the light of it; and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. Its\V{25} gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. And\V{26} people will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. Never\V{27} will any unhallowed thing enter it, nor they whose life is shameful and false, but only those whose names have been written in the Lamb’s book of life.  And\C{22} the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, issuing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in\V{2} the middle of the street of the city. On each side of the river was a Tree of life which bore twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Every\V{3} thing that is accursed will cease to be. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within it, and his servants will worship him; they\V{4} will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night\V{5} will cease to be. They have no need of the light of a lamp, nor have they the light of the sun; for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever.
\blank[big] 
\MSS{Conclusion}
\par 

\par 
\noindentation  Then\V{6} the angel said to me – “These words may be trusted and are true. The Lord, the God that inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants what must quickly take place; and\V{7} they said  ‘I will come quickly.’  Blessed will he be who lays to heart the words of the prophecy contained in this book.”
\par 
\indentation  It\V{8} was I, John, who heard and saw these things; and, when I heard and saw them, I prostrated myself in worship at the feet of the angel that showed them to me. But\V{9} he said to me – “Forbear; I am your fellow servant, and the fellow servant of your fellow prophets, and of all who lay to heart the words in this book. Worship God.”
\par 
 Then\V{10} the angel said to me – “Do not keep secret the words of the prophecy contained in this book; for the time is near. Let\V{11} the wrong-doer continue to do wrong; the filthy-minded continue to be filthy; the righteous continue to act righteously; and the holy-minded continue to be holy.”  (‘I\V{12} will come quickly. I bring my rewards with me, to give to each what their actions deserve.   I\V{13} am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the beginning and the End.’)  Blessed\V{14} will they be who wash their robes! They will have the right to approach the Tree of life, and may enter the city by the gates. Outside\V{15} will be the filthy, the sorcerers, the impure, the murderers, the idolaters, and all who love the false and live it.\blank 

\par 
  ‘I,\V{16} Jesus, sent my angel to bear testimony to you about these things before the churches. I am the Scion and the Offspring of David, the bright star of the Morning.’ \blank 

\par 
 ‘Come,’\V{17} say the Spirit and the Bride; and all who hear, say ‘Come.’ All who thirst, come; anyone who wants, take the water of life freely.\blank 

\par 
 I\V{18} declare to all who hear the words of the prophecy contained in this book – ‘If anyone adds to it, God will add to his troubles the curses described in this book; and\V{19} if anyone takes away any of the words in the book containing this prophecy, God will take away his share in the Tree of life, and in the Holy City – as described in this book.’\blank 

\par 
 He\V{20} whose testimony this is says –  ‘Assuredly I will come quickly.’  ‘Amen, come, Lord Jesus.’\blank 

\par 
 May\V{21} the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ, be with his people.
    \stoptext
    