My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord
To the choirmaster: according to pThe Gittith.1 A Psalm of qthe Sons of Korah.
1 How rlovely is your sdwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul tlongs, yes, ufaints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to vthe living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
wmy King and my God.
4 xBlessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever ysinging your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
zin whose heart are the highways to Zion.2
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
athe early rain also covers it with bpools.
7 They go cfrom strength to strength;
each one dappears before God in Zion.
8 O eLord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day hin your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be ia doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is ja sun and gshield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
kNo good thing does he withhold
from those who lwalk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
mblessed is the one who trusts in you!
The Covenant Renewal at Shechem
1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel cto Shechem and dsummoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And ethey presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, fyour fathers lived beyond the Euphrates,1 Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and gthey served other gods.
Choose Whom You Will Serve
14 g“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. hPut away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 iAnd if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, jchoose this day whom you will serve, whether hthe gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or kthe gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. lBut as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, 17 for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. 18 And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood nabides in me, and I in him. 57 As othe living Father psent me, and qI live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 rThis is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread1 the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus2 said these things in the synagogue, as he taught sat Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60 tWhen many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, vknowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see wthe Son of Man xascending to ywhere he was before? 63 zIt is the Spirit who gives life; athe flesh is no help at all. bThe words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But cthere are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus vknew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and dwho it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you ethat no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
66 fAfter this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to gthe twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have hthe words of eternal life, 69 and iwe have believed, and have come to know, that jyou are kthe Holy One of God.”
The Whole Armor of God
10 Finally, ebe strong in the Lord and in fthe strength of his might. 11 gPut on hthe whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against ithe schemes of the devil. 12 For jwe do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against kthe rulers, against the authorities, against lthe cosmic powers over mthis present darkness, against nthe spiritual forces of evil oin the heavenly places. 13 Therefore ptake up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in qthe evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, rhaving fastened on the belt of truth, and shaving put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, tas shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up uthe shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all vthe flaming darts of wthe evil one; 17 and take sthe helmet of salvation, and xthe sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying yat all times zin the Spirit, awith all prayer and supplication. To that end, bkeep alert with all perseverance, making csupplication for all the saints, 19 and dalso for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth eboldly to proclaim fthe mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I gam an ambassador hin chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
