Psalm 5

1Give ear to my words, O LORD;

give heed to my sighing.

2Listen to the sound of my cry,

my King and my God,

for to you I pray.

3O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;

in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.

4For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;

evil will not sojourn with you.

5The boastful will not stand before your eyes;

you hate all evildoers.

6You destroy those who speak lies;

the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.

7But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,

will enter your house,

I will bow down toward your holy temple

in awe of you.

8Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness

because of my enemies;

make your way straight before me.

9For there is no truth in their mouths;

their hearts are destruction;

their throats are open graves;

they flatter with their tongues.

10Make them bear their guilt, O God;

let them fall by their own counsels;

because of their many transgressions cast them out,

for they have rebelled against you.

11But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;

let them ever sing for joy.

Spread your protection over them,

so that those who love your name may exult in you.

12For you bless the righteous, O LORD;

you cover them with favor as with shield

Psalm 145

1I will extol you, my God and King,

and bless your name forever and ever.

2Every day I will bless you,

and praise your name forever and ever.

3Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

his greatness is unsearchable.

4One generation shall laud your works to another,

and shall declare your mighty acts.

5On the glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

6The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,

and I will declare your greatness.

7They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9The Lord is good to all,

and his compassion is over all that he has made.

10All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,

and all your faithful shall bless you.

11They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,

and tell of your power,

12to make known to all people your mighty deeds,

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The Lord is faithful in all his words,

and gracious in all his deeds.

14The Lord upholds all who are falling,

and raises up all who are bowed down.

15The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food in due season.

16You open your hand,

satisfying the desire of every living thing.

17The Lord is just in all his ways,

and kind in all his doings.

18The Lord is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth.

19He fulfills the desire of all who fear him;

he also hears their cry, and saves them.

20The Lord watches over all who love him,

but all the wicked he will destroy.

21My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

1Now when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah and to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had built the wall and that there was no gap left in it (though up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, "Come and let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono." But they intended to do me harm. 3So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to come down to you?" 4They sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. 5In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6In it was written, "It is reported among the nations — and Geshem also says it — that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall; and according to this report you wish to become their king. 7You have also set up prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, 'There is a king in Judah!' And now it will be reported to the king according to these words. So come, therefore, and let us confer together." 8Then I sent to him, saying, "No such things as you say have been done; you are inventing them out of your own mind" 9 — for they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done." But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

10One day when I went into the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house, he said, "Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, tonight they are coming to kill you." 11But I said, "Should a man like me run away? Would a man like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!" 12Then I perceived and saw that God had not sent him at all, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13He was hired for this purpose, to intimidate me and make me sin by acting in this way, and so they could give me a bad name, in order to taunt me. 14Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.

15So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem; for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 17Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them. 18For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah. 19Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence, and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.

1When the seventh month came, and the Israelites were in the towns, the people gathered together in Jerusalem. 2Then Jeshua son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his kin set out to build the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as prescribed in the law of Moses the man of God. 3They set up the altar on its foundation, because they were in dread of the neighboring peoples, and they offered burnt offerings upon it to the LORD, morning and evening. 4And they kept the festival of booths, as prescribed, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance, as required for each day, 5and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the sacred festivals of the LORD, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the LORD.6From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. 7So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from King Cyrus of Persia.

8In the second year after their arrival at the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their people, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work on the house of the LORD. 9And Jeshua with his sons and his kin, and Kadmiel and his sons, Binnui and Hodaviah along with the sons of Henadad, the Levites, their sons and kin, together took charge of the workers in the house of God.

10When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the LORD with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel; 11and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel." And all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted so loudly that the sound was heard far away.

1And I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2He held a little scroll open in his hand. Setting his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3he gave a great shout, like a lion roaring. And when he shouted, the seven thunders sounded. 4And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down." 5Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and the land raised his right hand to heaven 6and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: "There will be no more delay, 7but in the days when the seventh angel is to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, as he announced to his servants the prophets."

8Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, "Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." 9So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll; and he said to me, "Take it, and eat; it will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth." 10So I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

11Then they said to me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and languages and kings."

36Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." 37He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!"

Psalm 82

1God has taken his place in the divine council;

in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

2"How long will you judge unjustly

and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

3Give justice to the weak and the orphan;

maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.

4Rescue the weak and the needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

5They have neither knowledge nor understanding,

they walk around in darkness;

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6I say, "You are gods,

children of the Most High, all of you;

7nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,

and fall like any prince."

8Rise up, O God, judge the earth;

for all the nations belong to you!

Psalm 29

1Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,

ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

2Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name;

worship the LORD in holy splendor.

3The voice of the LORD is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the LORD, over mighty waters.`

4The voice of the LORD is powerful;

the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

5The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;

the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

6He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

and Sirion like a young wild ox.

7The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.

8The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;

the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

9The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl,

and strips the forest bare;

and in his temple all say, "Glory!"

10The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;

the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.

11May the LORD give strength to his people!

May the LORD bless his people with peace!