Psalm 27

1The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?

2When evildoers assail me

to devour my flesh —

my adversaries and foes —

they shall stumble and fall.

3Though an army encamp against me,

my heart shall not fear;

though war rise up against me,

yet I will be confident.

4One thing I asked of the LORD,

that will I seek after:

to live in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

to behold the beauty of the LORD,

and to inquire in his temple.

5For he will hide me in his shelter

in the day of trouble;

he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;

he will set me high on a rock.

6Now my head is lifted up

above my enemies all around me,

and I will offer in his tent

sacrifices with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make melody to the LORD.

7Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud,

be gracious to me and answer me!

8"Come," my heart says, "seek his face!"

Your face, LORD, do I seek.

9Do not hide your face from me.

Do not turn your servant away in anger,

you who have been my help.

Do not cast me off, do not forsake me,

O God of my salvation!

10If my father and mother forsake me,

the LORD will take me up.

11Teach me your way, O LORD,

and lead me on a level path

because of my enemies.

12Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,

for false witnesses have risen against me,

and they are breathing out violence.

13I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD

in the land of the living.

14Wait for the LORD;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the LORD!

Psalm 147:12-20

12Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!

Praise your God, O Zion!

13For he strengthens the bars of your gates;

he blesses your children within you.

14He grants peace within your borders;

he fills you with the finest of wheat.

15He sends out his command to the earth;

his word runs swiftly.

16He gives snow like wool;

he scatters frost like ashes.

17He hurls down hail like crumbs —

who can stand before his cold?

18He sends out his word, and melts them;

he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.

19He declares his word to Jacob,

his statutes and ordinances to Israel.

20He has not dealt thus with any other nation;

they do not know his ordinances.

Praise the Lord!

1When Israel set out on his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, "Jacob, Jacob." And he said, "Here I am." 3Then he said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. 4I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph's own hand shall close your eyes."

5Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6They also took their livestock and the goods that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, 7his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

28Israel sent Judah ahead to Joseph to lead the way before him into Goshen. When they came to the land of Goshen, 29Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. He presented himself to him, fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. 30Israel said to Joseph, "I can die now, having seen for myself that you are still alive." 31Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, "I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, 'My brothers and my father's household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32The men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.' 33When Pharaoh calls you, and says, 'What is your occupation?' 34you shall say, 'Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our ancestors' - in order that you may settle in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians."

1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

3This is my defense to those who would examine me. 4Do we not have the right to our food and drink? 5Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? 6Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7Who at any time pays the expenses for doing military service? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not get any of its milk?

8Do I say this on human authority? Does not the law also say the same? 9For it is written in the law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10Or does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was indeed written for our sake, for whoever plows should plow in hope and whoever threshes should thresh in hope of a share in the crop. 11If we have sown spiritual good among you, is it too much if we reap your material benefits? 12If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we still more?

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 13Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is sacrificed on the altar? 14In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

15But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this so that they may be applied in my case. Indeed, I would rather die than that - no one will deprive me of my ground for boasting!

30The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat." 37But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?" 38And he said to them, "How many loaves have you? Go and see." When they had found out, they said, "Five, and two fish." 39Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. 42And all ate and were filled; 43and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

45Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

Psalm 126

1When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,

we were like those who dream.

2Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then it was said among the nations,

"The LORD has done great things for them."

3The LORD has done great things for us,

and we rejoiced.

4Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

like the watercourses in the Negeb.

5May those who sow in tears

reap with shouts of joy.

6Those who go out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

carrying their sheaves.

Psalm 102

1Hear my prayer, O LORD;

let my cry come to you.

2Do not hide your face from me

in the day of my distress.

Incline your ear to me;

answer me speedily in the day when I call.

3For my days pass awaylike smoke,

and my bones burn like a furnace.

4My heart is stricken and withered like grass;

I am too wasted to eat my bread.

5Because of my loud groaning

my bones cling to my skin.

6I am like an owl of the wilderness,

like a little owl of the waste places.

7I lie awake;

I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.

8All day long my enemies taunt me;

those who deride me use my name for a curse.

9For I eat ashes like bread,

and mingle tears with my drink,

10because of your indignation and anger;

for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.

11My days are like an evening shadow;

I wither away like grass.

12 But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;

your name endures to all generations.

13You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,

for it is time to favor it;

the appointed time has come.

14For your servants hold its stones dear,

and have pity on its dust.

15The nations will fear the name of the LORD,

and all the kings of the earth your glory.

16For the LORD will build up Zion;

he will appear in his glory.

17He will regard the prayer of the destitute,

and will not despise their prayer.

18Let this be recorded for a generation to come,

so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:

19that he looked down from his holy height,

from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,

20to hear the groans of the prisoners,

to set free those who were doomed to die;

21so that the name of the LORD may be declared in Zion,

and his praise in Jerusalem,

22when peoples gather together,

and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

23He has broken my strength in midcourse;

he has shortened my days.

24"O my God," I say, "do not take me away

at the mid-point of my life,

you whose years endure

throughout all generations."

25Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26They will perish, but you endure;

they will all wear out like a garment.

You change them like clothing, and they pass away;

27but you are the same, and your years have no end.

28The children of your servants shall live secure;

their offspring shall be established in your presence.