Taste and See That the Lord Is Good
1 Of David, when he bchanged his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall ccontinually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its dboast in the Lord;
elet the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
faround those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh, gtaste and see that the Lord is good!
hBlessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him ihave no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack jno good thing.
11 kCome, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 lWhat man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
13 mKeep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 nTurn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and opursue it.
15 The peyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the qbrokenhearted
and saves the rcrushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord sdelivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
tnot one of them is broken.
21 Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
The Song of Deborah and Barak
1 Then lsang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:
2 “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
that the people offered themselves mwillingly,
bless the Lord!
3 “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;
to the Lord I will sing;
I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 “Lord, when you went out nfrom Seir,
when you marched from the region of Edom,
the oearth trembled
and the heavens dropped,
yes, the pclouds dropped water.
5 The qmountains quaked before the Lord,
even Sinai before the Lord,1 the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, rthe highways were abandoned,
and travelers kept to the byways.
7 The villagers ceased in Israel;
they ceased to be until I arose;
I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.
8 When snew gods were chosen,
then war was in the gates.
tWas shield or spear to be seen
among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel
who offered themselves willingly among the people.
Bless the Lord.
10 “Tell of it, you who uride on white donkeys,
you who sit on rich carpets2
and you who walk by the way.
11 To the sound of musicians3 at the watering places,
there they repeat the vrighteous triumphs of the Lord,
the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.
“Then down to the gates marched the wpeople of the Lord.
12 “Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, break out in a song!
Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,
O son of Abinoam.
13 Then down marched the remnant of the noble;
the people of the Lord marched down for me against the mighty.
14 From Ephraim their root they marched down into the valley,4
following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;
from Machir marched down the commanders,
and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant’s5 staff;
15 the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,
and Issachar faithful to Barak;
into the valley they rushed at his heels.
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
16 Why did you sit still among the xsheepfolds,
to hear the whistling for the flocks?
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
17 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;
and Dan, why did he stay with the ships?
Asher sat still at the coast of the sea,
staying by his landings.
18 yZebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;
Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field.
19 “The kings came, they fought;
then fought the kings of Canaan,
at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;
they got no spoils of silver.
20 From heaven the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The torrent Kishon swept them away,
the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
March on, my soul, with might!
22 “Then loud beat the horses’ hoofs
with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.
23 “Curse Meroz, says the zangel of the Lord,
curse its inhabitants thoroughly,
because they did not come to the help of the Lord,
to the help of the Lord against the mighty.
24 “Most blessed of women be Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
25 aHe asked for water and she gave him milk;
she brought him curds in a noble’s bowl.
26 bShe sent her hand to the tent peg
and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet;
she struck Sisera;
she crushed his head;
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 Between her feet
he sank, he fell, he lay still;
between her feet
he sank, he fell;
where he sank,
there he fell—dead.
28 “Out of the window she peered,
the mother of Sisera wailed through the clattice:
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’
29 Her wisest princesses answer,
indeed, she answers herself,
30 ‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?—
A womb or two for every man;
spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,
spoil of dyed materials embroidered,
two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’
31 “So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!
But your friends be dlike the sun as he rises in his might.”
And the land had erest for forty years.
Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret
53 vWhen they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might wtouch xeven the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
Traditions and Commandments
1 yNow when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were zdefiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,1 holding to the atradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.2 And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the bwashing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.3) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, c“Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
d“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the ecommandments of men.’
8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, f‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, g‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)4— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
What Defiles a Person
14 hAnd he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 iThere is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, jbut the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”5 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, k“Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”6 (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 lFor from within, out of the mheart of man, come evil thoughts, nsexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
