Psalm 84:1-4

New International Version

Psalm 84^[a]

For the director of music. According to gittith.^[b] Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹How lovely is your dwelling place,^(A)
    Lord Almighty!
²My soul yearns,^(B) even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.^(C)
³Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,^(D)
    Lord Almighty,^(E) my King^(F) and my God.^(G)
⁴Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
    they are ever praising you.^[c]

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Footnotes

Psalm 84:1 In Hebrew texts 84:1-12 is numbered 84:2-13.
Psalm 84:1 Title: Probably a musical term
Psalm 84:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 8.

Psalm 84:10-12

New International Version

¹⁰Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper^(A) in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
¹¹For the Lord God is a sun^(B) and shield;^(C)
    the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold^(D)
    from those whose walk is blameless.

¹²Lord Almighty,
blessed^(E) is the one who trusts in you.

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Mark 4:26-32

New International Version

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like.^(A) A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”^(B)

The Parable of the Mustard Seed^(C)

³⁰Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like,^(D) or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. ³²Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

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