Sunday, 18 August

1.   <> Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! 0.   2Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3.   Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4.   Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5.   For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

1.   <> I will sing of mercy and justice; To You, O LORD, I will sing praises. 0.   2I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. 3.   I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me. 4.   A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness. 5.   Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure. 6.   My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, That they may dwell with me; He who walks in a perfect way, He shall serve me. 7.   He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence. 8.   Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD.

1.   <> Hear my prayer, O LORD, And let my cry come to You. 0.   2Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily. 3.   For my days are consumed like smoke, And my bones are burned like a hearth. 4.   My heart is stricken and withered like grass, So that I forget to eat my bread. 5.   Because of the sound of my groaning My bones cling to my skin. 6.   I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert. 7.   I lie awake, And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop. 8.   My enemies reproach me all day long, Those who deride me swear an oath against me. 9.   For I have eaten ashes like bread, And mingled my drink with weeping, 10.   Because of Your indignation and Your wrath; For You have lifted me up and cast me away. 11.   My days are like a shadow that lengthens, And I wither away like grass. 12.   But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, And the remembrance of Your name to all generations. 13.   You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor her, Yes, the set time, has come. 14.   For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, And show favor to her dust. 15.   So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, And all the kings of the earth Your glory. 16.   For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory. 17.   He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, And shall not despise their prayer. 18.   This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD. 19.   For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; From heaven the LORD viewed the earth, 20.   To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To release those appointed to death, 21.   To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, And His praise in Jerusalem, 22.   When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD. 23.   He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days. 24.   I said, "O my God, Do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations. 25.   Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26.   They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed. 27.   But You are the same, And Your years will have no end. 28.   The children of Your servants will continue, And their descendants will be established before You."

27.   "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28.   "bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29.   "To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30.   "Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31.   "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. 32.   "But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33.   "And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34.   "And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35.   "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36.   "Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. 37.   "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38.   "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." 39.   And He spoke a parable to them: "Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? 40.   "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. 41.   "And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? 42.   "Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye. 43.   "For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44.   "For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45.   "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 46.   "But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say? 47.   "Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48.   "He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49.   "But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great."