The Ark Placed in a Tent

¹And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside cthe tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. ²And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord ³and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat,1 and a cake of raisins.

⁴Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁵dAsaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals, ⁶and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God. ⁷Then on that day eDavid first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord by Asaph and his brothers.

David's Song of Thanks

⁸fOh give thanks to the Lord; gcall upon his name;

hmake known his deeds among the peoples!

⁹Sing to him, sing praises to him;

tell of all his wondrous works!

¹⁰Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

¹¹iSeek the Lord and his strength;

seek his presence continually!

¹²jRemember the wondrous works that he has done,

khis miracles and the judgments he uttered,

¹³O offspring of Israel his servant,

children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

¹⁴He is the Lord our God;

lhis judgments are in all the earth.

¹⁵Remember his covenant forever,

the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

¹⁶the covenant mthat he made with Abraham,

his sworn promise to Isaac,

¹⁷which nhe confirmed to Jacob as a statute,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

¹⁸saying, o“To you I will give the land of Canaan,

as your portion for an inheritance.”

¹⁹When you were pfew in number,

of little account, and qsojourners in it,

²⁰wandering from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another people,

²¹he allowed no one to oppress them;

he rrebuked kings on their account,

²²saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,

do my sprophets no harm!”

²³tSing to the Lord, all the earth!

Tell of his salvation from day to day.

²⁴Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous works among all the peoples!

²⁵For ugreat is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,

and he is to be feared vabove all gods.

²⁶For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,

wbut the Lord made the heavens.

²⁷Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and joy are in his place.

²⁸Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

xascribe to the Lord glory and strength!

²⁹Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

bring an offering and come before him!

yWorship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;2

³⁰tremble before him, all the earth;

yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.

³¹zLet the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,

and let them say among the nations, a“The Lord reigns!”

³²bLet the sea roar, and all that fills it;

let the field exult, and everything in it!

³³Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy

before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.

³⁴Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever!

³⁵cSay also:

“Save us, O God of our salvation,

and gather and deliver us from among the nations,

that we may give thanks to your holy name

and glory in your praise.

³⁶dBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!”

eThen all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.

Worship Before the Ark

³⁷So David left Asaph and his brothers there fbefore the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister regularly before the ark gas each day required, ³⁸and also hObed-edom and his3 sixty-eight brothers, while hObed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and iHosah were to be gatekeepers. ³⁹And he left jZadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of the Lord kin the high place that was at Gibeon ⁴⁰to offer burnt offerings to the Lord lon the altar of burnt offering mregularly morning and evening, to do all that is written in the Law of the Lord that he commanded Israel. ⁴¹With them were nHeman and Jeduthun oand the rest of those chosen and pexpressly named to give thanks to the Lord, qfor his steadfast love endures forever. ⁴²Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments rfor sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate.

⁴³sThen all the people departed each to his house, and David went home to bless his household.

Taming the Tongue

¹cNot many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ²For dwe all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, ehe is a perfect man, fable also to bridle his whole body. ³If we put gbits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵So also the tongue is a small member, yet hit boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶And ithe tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, jstaining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,1 and set on fire by hell.2 ⁷For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, kfull of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people lwho are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,3 these things ought not to be so. ¹¹Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Wisdom from Above

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? mBy his good conduct let him show his works nin the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴But if you have bitter ojealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵This is not pthe wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, qdemonic. ¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. ¹⁷But rthe wisdom from above is first pure, then speaceable, gentle, open to reason, tfull of mercy and good fruits, uimpartial and vsincere. ¹⁸And wa harvest of righteousness xis sown in peace by those who make peace.

¹The vision of Obadiah.

Edom Will Be Humbled

Thus says the Lord God aconcerning Edom:

bWe have heard a report from the Lord,

and a messenger has been sent among the nations:

“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”

²Behold, I will make you small among the nations;

you shall be utterly despised.1

³cThe pride of your heart has deceived you,

you who live in the clefts of the rock,2

in your lofty dwelling,

dwho say in your heart,

“Who will bring me down to the ground?”

⁴Though you soar aloft like the eagle,

though your nest is set among the stars,

from there I will bring you down,

declares the Lord.

⁵If ethieves came to you,

if plunderers came by night—

how you have been destroyed!—

would they not steal only enough for themselves?

If egrape gatherers came to you,

would they not leave gleanings?

⁶fHow Esau has been pillaged,

his treasures sought out!

⁷All your allies have driven you to your border;

those at peace with you have deceived you;

they have prevailed against you;

gthose who eat your bread3 have set a trap beneath you—

hyou have4 no understanding.

⁸iWill I not on that day, declares the Lord,

destroy the wise men out of Edom,

and understanding out of jMount Esau?

⁹And your mighty men shall be dismayed, kO Teman,

so that every man from jMount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.

Edom's Violence Against Jacob

¹⁰lBecause of the violence done to your brother Jacob,

shame shall cover you,

mand you shall be cut off forever.

¹¹nOn the day that you stood aloof,

oon the day that strangers carried off his wealth

and foreigners entered his gates

pand cast lots for Jerusalem,

you were like one of them.

¹²qBut do not gloat over the day of your brother

in the day of his misfortune;

rdo not rejoice over the people of Judah

in the day of their ruin;

sdo not boast5

in the day of distress.

¹³tDo not enter the gate of my people

in the day of their calamity;

tdo not gloat over his disaster

in the day of his calamity;

udo not loot his wealth

in the day of his calamity.

¹⁴vDo not stand at the crossroads

to cut off his fugitives;

do not hand over his survivors

in the day of distress.

The Day of the Lord Is Near

¹⁵For wthe day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.

xAs you have done, it shall be done to you;

your deeds shall return on your own head.

¹⁶yFor as you have drunk on zmy holy mountain,

so all the nations shall drink continually;

they shall drink and swallow,

and shall be as though they had never been.

¹⁷aBut in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,

and it shall be holy,

band the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.

¹⁸cThe house of Jacob shall be a fire,

and the house of Joseph a flame,

and the house of Esau dstubble;

they shall burn them and consume them,

eand there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,

for the Lord has spoken.

The Kingdom of the Lord

¹⁹Those of fthe Negeb bshall possess gMount Esau,

and those of the Shephelah shall possess hthe land of the Philistines;

they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of iSamaria,

and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

²⁰The exiles of this host of the people of Israel

shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as jZarephath,

and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad

shall possess the cities of the Negeb.

²¹kSaviors shall go up to Mount Zion

to rule gMount Esau,

and lthe kingdom shall be the Lord's.

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

¹On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by uthe lake of Gennesaret, ²vand he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were wwashing their nets. ³Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And xhe sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, y“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵And Simon answered, “Master, zwe toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶And when they had done this, athey enclosed a large number of fish, and atheir nets were breaking. ⁷They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. bAnd they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, c“Depart from me, for dI am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”1 ¹¹And when they had brought their boats to land, ethey left everything and followed him.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

¹²While he was in one of the cities, fthere came a man full of leprosy.2 And when he saw Jesus, he gfell on his face and begged him, “Lord, hif you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³And Jesus3 stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴And he charged him ito tell no one, but “go and show jyourself to the priest, and kmake an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, lfor a proof to them.” ¹⁵mBut now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶But nhe would withdraw to desolate places and npray.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹⁷On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and oteachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And pthe power of the Lord was with him to heal.4 ¹⁸qAnd behold, some men were bringing ron a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on sthe roof and let him down with his bed tthrough the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰And uwhen he saw their faith, he said, “Man, vyour sins are forgiven you.” ²¹And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks wblasphemies? xWho can forgive sins but God alone?” ²²When Jesus yperceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴But that you may know that zthe Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, aglorifying God. ²⁶And amazement seized them all, and they aglorified God and were filled awith awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Jesus Calls Levi

²⁷bAfter this he went out and saw ca tax collector named dLevi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸And eleaving everything, he rose and followed him.

²⁹And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company fof tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. ³⁰And the Pharisees and gtheir scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, h“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ³²iI have not come to call the righteous jbut sinners kto repentance.”

A Question About Fasting

³³And they said to him, l“The disciples of John mfast often and moffer prayers, nand so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” ³⁴And Jesus said to them, o“Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? ³⁵pThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and qthen they will fast in those days.” ³⁶He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷And no one puts new wine into old rwineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. ³⁸But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”5