Let Us Sing Songs of Praise
1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us fmake a joyful noise to gthe rock of our salvation!
2 Let us hcome into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us fmake a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is ia great God,
and a great King jabove all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for khe made it,
and his hands formed kthe dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us lkneel before the Lord, our mMaker!
7 For he is our nGod,
and we are the people of his opasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
pToday, if you qhear his voice,
8 rdo not harden your hearts, as at sMeribah,
as on the day at tMassah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the utest
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my vwork.
10 wFor forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known xmy ways.”
11 Therefore I yswore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter zmy rest.”
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!
Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 d“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: eAh, shepherds of Israel fwho have been feeding yourselves! gShould not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 hYou eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, iyou slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 jThe weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, hthe injured you have not bound up, hthe strayed you have not brought back, kthe lost you have not sought, and with force and lharshness you have ruled them. 5 mSo they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and nthey became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, owith none to search or seek for them.
7 “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 pAs I live, declares the Lord God, surely because qmy sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 Thus says the Lord God, rBehold, I am against the shepherds, and sI will require my sheep at their hand and tput a stop to their feeding the sheep. uNo longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. vI will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
The Lord God Will Seek Them Out
11 “For thus says the Lord God: wBehold, I, I xmyself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on ya day of clouds and zthick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples aand gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on bthe mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 cI will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. dThere they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 eI myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, dand I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 16 fI will seek the lost, gand I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and hthe fat and the strong I will destroy.1 I will feed them in justice.
24 f“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant1 above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. gIf they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign2 those of his household.
Have No Fear
26 “So have no fear of them, ifor nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on jthe housetops. 28 And kdo not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him lwho can destroy both soul and body in hell.3 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?4 And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But meven the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; nyou are of more value than many sparrows. 32 oSo everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but pwhoever denies me before men, qI also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Not Peace, but a Sword
34 r“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. sI have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 rFor I have come tto set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 uAnd a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 vWhoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And wwhoever does not take his cross and xfollow me is not worthy of me. 39 yWhoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Rewards
40 z“Whoever receives you receives me, and awhoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41 bThe one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And cwhoever gives one of dthese little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
