Restore Us, O God
To the choirmaster: according to eLilies. A Testimony. Of fAsaph, a Psalm.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead gJoseph like ha flock.
You who are ienthroned upon the cherubim, jshine forth.
2 Before kEphraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
lstir up your might
and mcome to save us!
olet your face shine, that we may be saved!
4 O pLord God of hosts,
qhow long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
5 You have fed them with rthe bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6 sYou make us an object of contention for our sneighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 nRestore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
8 You brought ta vine out of Egypt;
you udrove out the nations and planted it.
9 You vcleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its branches to wthe sea
and its shoots to wthe River.2
12 Why then have you xbroken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 yThe boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, O God of hosts!
zLook down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
15 the stock that your right hand planted,
and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
16 They have aburned it with fire; they have acut it down;
may they perish at bthe rebuke of your face!
17 But clet your hand be on the man of your right hand,
the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
18 Then we shall not turn back from you;
dgive us life, and we will call upon your name!
19 eRestore us, O Lord God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Put Not Your Trust in Princes
1 nPraise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord oas long as I live;
pI will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 qPut not your trust in princes,
rin a son of man, in whom there is sno salvation.
4 When this breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
5 uBlessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose vhope is in the Lord his God,
6 wwho made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
xwho keeps faith forever;
7 ywho executes justice for the oppressed,
zwho gives food to the hungry.
aThe Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 bthe Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
cThe Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
dthe Lord loves the righteous.
9 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!
He Heals the Brokenhearted
1 iPraise the Lord!
For jit is good to sing praises to our God;
for kit is pleasant,1 and la song of praise is fitting.
2 The Lord mbuilds up Jerusalem;
he ngathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals othe brokenhearted
and pbinds up their wounds.
4 He qdetermines the number of the stars;
he rgives to all of them their names.
5 sGreat is our Lord, and tabundant in power;
uhis understanding is beyond measure.
6 The Lord vlifts up the humble;2
he casts the wicked to the ground.
7 wSing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on xthe lyre!
8 He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares yrain for the earth;
he makes zgrass grow on the hills.
9 He agives to the beasts their food,
and to bthe young ravens that cry.
10 His delight is not in cthe strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11 but the Lord dtakes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who ehope in his steadfast love.
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens fthe bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
14 He gmakes peace in your borders;
he hfills you with the ifinest of the wheat.
15 He jsends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives ksnow like wool;
he scatters lfrost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his crystals of mice like crumbs;
who can stand before his ncold?
18 He osends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his pstatutes and rules3 to Israel.
20 He qhas not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his rules.4
rPraise the Lord!
13 And the Lord said:
“Because uthis people vdraw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, wI will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and xthe wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
15 Ah, yyou who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are zin the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 aYou turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while
buntil Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18 In that day cthe deaf shall hear
dthe words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
ethe eyes of the blind shall see.
19 fThe meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and gthe scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21 who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and hlay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea iturn aside him who is in the right.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, jwho redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
kthe work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
lthey will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 And those mwho go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”
22 And oI saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city phas no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for qthe glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light rwill the nations walk, and the kings of the earth swill bring their glory into it, 25 and tits gates will never be shut by day—and uthere will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But vnothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s wbook of life.
The River of Life
1 Then the angel1 showed me xthe river of ythe water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of zthe street of the city; aalso, on either side of the river, bthe tree of life2 with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were cfor the healing of the nations. 3 dNo longer will there be anything accursed, but ethe throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and fhis servants will worship him. 4 gThey will see his face, and hhis name will be on their foreheads. 5 And inight will be no more. They will need no light of lamp jor sun, for kthe Lord God will be their light, and lthey will reign forever and ever.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into rthe hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth swas filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, t“Blessed are you among women, and ublessed is vthe fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of wmy Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And xblessed is she who believed that there would be1 a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat
46 And Mary said,
y“My zsoul amagnifies the Lord,
47 band my zspirit rejoices in cGod my Savior,
48 for dhe has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations ewill call me blessed;
49 for fhe who is mighty ghas done great things for me,
and hholy is his name.
50 And ihis mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 jHe has shown strength with his arm;
khe has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 jhe has brought down the mighty from their thrones
land exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled mthe hungry with good things,
and the rich nhe has sent away empty.
54 He has ohelped phis servant Israel,
qin remembrance of his mercy,
55 ras he spoke to our fathers,
qto Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
