); Isaiah 49:13-23 (God comforts the suffering); Matthew 18:1-14 (Become like a child) (World English Bible)
Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
148 Praise Yah!
Praise Yahweh from the heavens!
Praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all his army!
3 Praise him, sun and moon!
Praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you heavens of heavens,
you waters that are above the heavens.
5 Let them praise Yahweh’s name,
for he commanded, and they were created.
6 He has also established them forever and ever.
He has made a decree which will not pass away.
7 Praise Yahweh from the earth,
you great sea creatures, and all depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy wind, fulfilling his word,
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all livestock,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all judges of the earth,
12 both young men and maidens,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise Yahweh’s name,
for his name alone is exalted.
His glory is above the earth and the heavens.
14 He has lifted up the horn of his people,
the praise of all his saints,
even of the children of Israel, a people near to him.
Praise Yah!
13 Sing, heavens, and be joyful, earth!
Break out into singing, mountains!
For Yahweh has comforted his people,
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,
and the Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Yes, these may forget,
yet I will not forget you!
16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
Your walls are continually before me.
17 Your children hurry.
Your destroyers and those who devastated you will leave you.
18 Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
all these gather themselves together, and come to you.
As I live,” says Yahweh, “you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament,
and dress yourself with them, like a bride.
19 “For, as for your waste and your desolate places,
and your land that has been destroyed,
surely now that land will be too small for the inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 The children of your bereavement will say in your ears,
‘This place is too small for me.
Give me a place to live in.’
21 Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has conceived these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children
and am alone, an exile, and wandering back and forth?
Who has brought these up?
Behold, I was left alone. Where were these?’”
22 The Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
and lift up my banner to the peoples.
They shall bring your sons in their bosom,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth,
and lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am Yahweh;
and those who wait for me won’t be disappointed.”
18 In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
2 Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them 3 and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5 Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a huge millstone were hung around his neck and that he were sunk in the depths of the sea.
7 “Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling! For it must be that the occasions come, but woe to that person through whom the occasion comes! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire. 9 If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna[a] of fire. 10 See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 11 For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost.[b]
12 “What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray? 13 If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
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