My Help Comes from the Lord
A Song of Ascents.
1 jI lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 kMy lhelp comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot mbe moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your nkeeper;
the Lord is your oshade pon your right hand.
6 The qsun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will rkeep your life.
8 sThe Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
The Servant of the Lord
1 gListen to me, O coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples from afar.
The Lord called me hfrom the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
2 He made my mouth like a isharp sword;
jin the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, “You are kmy servant,
Israel, lin whom I will be glorified.”1
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the Lord,
and my recompense with my God.”
5 And now the Lord says,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be mgathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
6 he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
nI will make you as a olight for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
7 Thus says the Lord,
the pRedeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply qdespised, abhorred by the nation,
the servant of rulers:
r“Kings shall see and arise;
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
Justified by Faith
15 We ourselves are hJews by birth and not Gentile isinners; 16 yet we know that ja person is not justified1 by works of the law but kthrough lfaith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law mno one will be justified.
17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law nI died to the law, so that I might olive to God. 20 I have been pcrucified with Christ. It is qno longer rI who live, sbut Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me tand gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness2 were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
13 And they wcast out many demons and xanointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
The Death of John the Baptist
14 yKing Herod heard of it, for Jesus’1 name had become known. Some2 said, z“John the Baptist3 has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, a“He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I bbeheaded, has been raised.” 17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not clawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday dgave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for ewhatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, fup to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And gthe king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s4 head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
