1 d“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for ehe was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
3 For the Lord fcomforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like gEden,
her desert like hthe garden of the Lord;
ijoy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4 j“Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
kfor a law1 will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5 lMy righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
mthe coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6 nLift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
ofor the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;2
pbut my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
Psalm 138
Of David.
1 bI give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before cthe gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down dtoward your eholy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.1
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.2
4 fAll the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,
5 and they shall sing of gthe ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 hFor though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.
7 iThough I walk in the midst of trouble,
you jpreserve my life;
you kstretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your lright hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will mfulfill his purpose for me;
nyour steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake othe work of your hands.
Romans 11:33–12:8
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and swisdom and knowledge of God! tHow unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For uwho has known the mind of the Lord,
or vwho has been his counselor?”
35 “Or wwho has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36 For xfrom him and through him and to him are all things. yTo him be glory forever. Amen.
1 zI appeal to you therefore, brothers,1 by the mercies of God, ato present your bodies bas a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.2 2 cDo not be conformed to this world,3 but be transformed by dthe renewal of your mind, that by testing you may ediscern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.4
3 For fby the grace given to me I say to everyone among you gnot to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, heach according to ithe measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For jas in one body we have many members,5 and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, kthough many, lare one body in Christ, and individually mmembers one of another. 6 nHaving gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if oprophecy, pin proportion to our faith; 7 if qservice, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; rthe one who leads,6 with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with scheerfulness.
Matthew 16:13–20
13 xNow when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say yJohn the Baptist, others say zElijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, a“You are bthe Christ, cthe Son of dthe living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, e“Blessed are you, fSimon Bar-Jonah! For gflesh and blood has not revealed this to you, hbut my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, iyou are Peter, and jon this rock1 I will build my church, and kthe gates of lhell2 shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you mthe keys of the kingdom of heaven, and nwhatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed3 in heaven.” 20 oThen he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
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