Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
34 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear thereof and be glad.
3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked unto Him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.
8 O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him!
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.
20 He keepeth all his bones; not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked, and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
22 The Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants, and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate.
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in the palace at Shushan,
2 that Hanani one of my brethren came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who were left behind from the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said unto me, “The remnant who are left behind from the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.”
4 And it came to pass when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven
5 and said: “I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and fearsome God, who keepeth covenant and mercy for those who love Him and observe His commandments,
6 let Thine ear now be attentive and Thine eyes open, that Thou mayest hear the prayer of Thy servant, which I pray before Thee now day and night for the children of Israel Thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against Thee. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.
7 We have dealt very corruptly against Thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments which Thou commanded Thy servant Moses.
8 Remember, I beseech Thee, the word that Thou commanded Thy servant Moses, saying, ‘If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations;
9 but if ye turn unto Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though there were some of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set My name there.’
10 Now these are Thy servants and Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed by Thy great power and by Thy strong hand.
11 O Lord, I beseech Thee, let now Thine ear be attentive to the prayer of Thy servant, and to the prayer of Thy servants who desire to fear Thy name; and prosper, I pray Thee, Thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king’s cupbearer.
11 If therefore perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?
12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
13 For He of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And this is yet far more evident when there ariseth another priest according to the similitude of Melchizedek,
16 who is made not according to the law of a carnal commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.
17 For He testifieth: “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”
18 For there is verily an annulling of the former commandment because of the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by which we draw nigh unto God.
20 And inasmuch as it was not without an oath that He was made priest
21 (for those priests were made without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said unto Him: “The Lord swore and will not repent, ‘Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.’”),
22 by so much more was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
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