Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
5 O Yahweh, your loyal love extends into the heavens,
your faithfulness unto the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,[a]
your judgments like the great deep.
You save man and beast, O Yahweh.
7 How precious is your loyal love, O God,
and the children of humankind
take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They are refreshed with the fullness[b] of your house,[c]
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
10 Prolong your loyal love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart.
4 If you return, O Israel,” declares[a] Yahweh,
“you return to me.
And if you remove your abominations from my presence,[b]
and you do not wander,
2 and you swear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’[c]
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then nations will be blessed by him,
and in him they will boast.”
3 For thus says Yahweh
to the men[d] of Judah and to Jerusalem,
“Break up for yourselves prepared virgin soil,
and you must not sow among thornbushes.
4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh,
and remove the foreskins of your hearts,[e]
men[f] of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
lest my wrath goes forth like the fire and burns,
and there is no one who extinguishes it,[g]
because of the evil of your deeds.”
A House Divided Cannot Stand
14 And he was expelling a mute demon.[a] Now it happened that when[b] the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were astonished. 15 But some of them said, “By Beelzebul the ruler of demons he expels demons!” 16 And others, in order to[c] test him,[d] were demanding from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household[e] falls. 18 So if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I expel demons by Beelzebul. 19 But if I expel demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons expel them?[f] For this reason they will be your judges! 20 But if I expel demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you! 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his possessions are safe.[g] 22 But when a stronger man attacks him and[h] conquers him, he takes away his full armor in which he trusted and distributes his plunder. 23 The one who is not with me is against me, and the one who does not gather with me scatters.
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