Isaiah 35:4–7; Psalm 146; James 1:17–27; Mark 7:31–37

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Isaiah 35:4–7

Say to those who have an anxious heart,

Be strong; fear not!

aBehold, your God

will come with vengeance,

with the recompense of God.

He will come and save you.

bThen the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

bthen shall the lame man leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

cFor waters break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

dthe burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water;

in the haunt of ejackals, where they lie down,

the grass shall become reeds and rushes.


Psalm 146

Put Not Your Trust in Princes

nPraise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

I will praise the Lord oas long as I live;

pI will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

qPut not your trust in princes,

rin a son of man, in whom there is sno salvation.

When this breath departs, he returns to the earth;

on that very day his plans perish.

uBlessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose vhope is in the Lord his God,

wwho made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

xwho keeps faith forever;

ywho executes justice for the oppressed,

zwho gives food to the hungry.

aThe Lord sets the prisoners free;

bthe Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

cThe Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

dthe Lord loves the righteous.

eThe Lord watches over the sojourners;

fhe upholds the widow and the fatherless,

but gthe way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10  hThe Lord will reign forever,

your God, O Zion, to all generations.

nPraise the Lord!


James 1:17–27

17 zEvery good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from athe Father of lights, bwith whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.1 18 cOf his own will he dbrought us forth by the word of truth, ethat we should be a kind of ffirstfruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word

19 gKnow this, my beloved brothers: let every person hbe quick to hear, islow to speak, jslow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore kput away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with lmeekness the implanted word, mwhich is able to save your souls.

22 But be ndoers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, othe law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, phe will be blessed in his doing.

26 If anyone thinks he is religious qand does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s rreligion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: sto visit torphans and widows in their affliction, and uto keep oneself vunstained from the world.


Mark 7:31–37

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

31 aThen he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to bthe Sea of Galilee, in the region of the cDecapolis. 32 And they brought to him da man who was deaf and dhad a speech impediment, and they begged him to elay his hand on him. 33 And ftaking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and fafter spitting touched his tongue. 34 And glooking up to heaven, hhe sighed and said to him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. 35 dAnd his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And iJesus1 charged them to tell no one. But jthe more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were kastonished beyond measure, saying, He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.