Ascribe to the Lord Glory
A Psalm of David.
1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,1
cascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
3 The voice of the Lord is over ethe waters;
the God of glory fthunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is gpowerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks hthe cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon to iskip like a calf,
7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of lKadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes mthe deer give birth3
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned over nthe flood;
the Lord sits enthroned oas king forever.
11 May the Lord give pstrength to his people!
Joy Comes with the Morning
A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of rthe temple.
1 I will sextol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes trejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I ucried to you for help,
and you have vhealed me.
3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from wSheol;
you restored me to life from among those who xgo down to the pit.1
4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you yhis saints,
and zgive thanks to his holy name.2
5 aFor his anger is but for a moment,
and bhis favor is for a lifetime.3
cWeeping may tarry for the night,
but djoy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my eprosperity,
“I shall never be fmoved.”
7 By your favor, O Lord,
you made my gmountain stand strong;
you hhid your face;
I was idismayed.
8 To you, O Lord, I cry,
and jto the Lord I plead for mercy:
9 “What profit is there in my death,4
if I go down to the pit?5
Will kthe dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 lHear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
O Lord, be my helper!”
11 You have turned for me my mourning into mdancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my nglory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
The Great Day of the Lord
1 “For behold, rthe day is coming, sburning like an oven, when tall the arrogant and tall evildoers uwill be stubble. The day that is coming ushall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you vwho fear my name, wthe sun xof righteousness shall rise ywith healing in its wings. You shall go out zleaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, aon the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.
4 b“Remember cthe law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules1 that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 d“Behold, I will send you eElijah the prophet fbefore the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will gturn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and hstrike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”2
2 eNow when John heard fin prison about the deeds of gthe Christ, he sent word by hhis disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you ithe one who is to come, or shall we jlook for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 kthe blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers1 are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and lthe poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who mis not offended by me.”
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ninto the wilderness to see? oA reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man2 dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? pA prophet?3 Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,
q“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’
11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 rFrom the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,4 and the violent take it by force. 13 rFor all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is sElijah who is to come. 15 tHe who has ears to hear,5 let him hear.
16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,
17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came uneither eating vnor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came weating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, xa friend of ytax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”6
