The Law, Love, and the Harvest's Call

1. In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that same day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2. When they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mountain. 3. Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him out of the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall tell the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4. ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself. 5. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; 6. and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” 7. Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which Yahweh commanded him. 8. All the people answered together, and said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do.” Moses reported the words of the people to Yahweh. 9. Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh. 10. Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, 11. and be ready against the third day; for on the third day Yahweh will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai. 12. You shall set bounds to the people all around, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t go up onto the mountain, or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain shall be surely put to death. 13. No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether it is animal or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come up to the mountain.” 14. Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. 15. He said to the people, “Be ready by the third day. Don’t have sexual relations with a woman.” 16. On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17. Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lower part of the mountain. 18. All of Mount Sinai smoked, because Yahweh descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. 19. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. 20. Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21. Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to gaze, and many of them perish. 22. Let the priests also, who come near to Yahweh, sanctify themselves, lest Yahweh break out on them.” 23. Moses said to Yahweh, “The people can’t come up to Mount Sinai, for you warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain, and sanctify it.’” 24. Yahweh said to him, “Go down! You shall bring Aaron up with you, but don’t let the priests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest he break out against them.” 25. So Moses went down to the people, and told them. 1. God spoke all these words, saying, 2. “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3. “You shall have no other gods before me. 4. “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5. you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6. and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7. “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 8. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, 10. but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; 11. for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy. 12. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 13. “You shall not murder. 14. “You shall not commit adultery. 15. “You shall not steal. 16. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” 18. All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance. 19. They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let God speak with us, lest we die.” 20. Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won’t sin.” 21. The people stayed at a distance, and Moses came near to the thick darkness where God was. 22. Yahweh said to Moses, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23. You shall most certainly not make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves to be alongside me. 24. You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you. 25. If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it. 26. You shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.’ 1. “Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them. 2. “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything. 3. If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. 5. But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’ 6. then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever. 7. “If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do. 8. If she doesn’t please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. 9. If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter. 10. If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights. 11. If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money. 12. “One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death, 13. but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen: then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee. 14. If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. 15. “Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. 16. “Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. 17. “Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. 18. “If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed; 19. if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed. 20. “If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. 21. Notwithstanding, if he gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his property. 22. “If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow. 23. But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life, 24. eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25. burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise. 26. “If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. 27. If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake. 28. “If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its meat shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible. 29. But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and it has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death. 30. If a ransom is laid on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid on him. 31. Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. 32. If the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned. 33. “If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn’t cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it, 34. the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his. 35. “If one man’s bull injures another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live bull, and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal. 36. Or if it is known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall be his own.

1. Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place, where he was about to come. 2. Then he said to them, “The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers into his harvest. 3. Go your ways. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. 4. Carry no purse, nor wallet, nor sandals. Greet no one on the way. 5. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6. If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7. Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don’t go from house to house. 8. Into whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat the things that are set before you. 9. Heal the sick who are therein, and tell them, ‘God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’ 10. But into whatever city you enter, and they don’t receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11. ‘Even the dust from your city that clings to us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’ 12. I tell you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. 13. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. 15. You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. 16. Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.” 17. The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18. He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven. 19. Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you. 20. Nevertheless, don’t rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” 21. In that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.” 22. Turning to the disciples, he said, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son, and he to whomever the Son desires to reveal him.” 23. Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see, 24. for I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.” 25. Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26. He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” 27. He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28. He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” 29. But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” 30. Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33. But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, 34. came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’ 36. Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?” 37. He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” 38. As they went on their way, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 39. She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. 40. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me.” 41. Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42. but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.” 1. When he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” 2. He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. 3. Give us day by day our daily bread. 4. Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” 5. He said to them, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6. for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’ 7. and he from within will answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you’? 8. I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs. 9. “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. 10. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened. 11. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12. Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? 13. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” 14. He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the multitudes marveled. 15. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.” 16. Others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven. 17. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls. 18. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19. But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore will they be your judges. 20. But if I by God’s finger cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come to you. 21. “When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe. 22. But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes from him his whole armor in which he trusted, and divides his plunder. 23. “He that is not with me is against me. He who doesn’t gather with me scatters. 24. The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my house from which I came out.’ 25. When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order. 26. Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.” 27. It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!” 28. But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.” 29. When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet. 30. For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation. 31. The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here. 32. The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, one greater than Jonah is here. 33. “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light. 34. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is full of darkness. 35. Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’t darkness. 36. If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light.” 37. Now as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. He went in, and sat at the table. 38. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner. 39. The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. 40. You foolish ones, didn’t he who made the outside make the inside also? 41. But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you. 42. But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. 43. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don’t know it.” 45. One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.” 46. He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens. 47. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48. So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49. Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute, 50. that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 51. from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52. Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.” 53. As he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him; 54. lying in wait for him, and seeking to catch him in something he might say, that they might accuse him. 1. Meanwhile, when a multitude of many thousands had gathered together, so much so that they trampled on each other, he began to tell his disciples first of all, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2. But there is nothing covered up, that will not be revealed, nor hidden, that will not be known. 3. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light. What you have spoken in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. 4. “I tell you, my friends, don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5. But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him, who after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6. “Aren’t five sparrows sold for two assaria coins? Not one of them is forgotten by God. 7. But the very hairs of your head are all counted. Therefore don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows. 8. “I tell you, everyone who confesses me before men, him will the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God; 9. but he who denies me in the presence of men will be denied in the presence of the angels of God. 10. Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, don’t be anxious how or what you will answer, or what you will say; 12. for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you must say.” 13. One of the multitude said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14. But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15. He said to them, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.” 16. He spoke a parable to them, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man produced abundantly. 17. He reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What will I do, because I don’t have room to store my crops?’ 18. He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19. I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20. “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’ 21. So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” 22. He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear. 23. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24. Consider the ravens: they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds! 25. Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height? 26. If then you aren’t able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest? 27. Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28. But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? 29. Don’t seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. 30. For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. 31. But seek God’s Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you. 32. Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. 33. Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don’t grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn’t fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys. 34. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 35. “Let your waist be dressed and your lamps burning. 36. Be like men watching for their lord, when he returns from the marriage feast; that, when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him. 37. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord will find watching when he comes. Most certainly I tell you, that he will dress himself, and make them recline, and will come and serve them. 38. They will be blessed if he comes in the second or third watch, and finds them so. 39. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40. Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you don’t expect him.” 41. Peter said to him, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everybody?” 42. The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times? 43. Blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing so when he comes. 44. Truly I tell you, that he will set him over all that he has. 45. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My lord delays his coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken, 46. then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he isn’t expecting him, and in an hour that he doesn’t know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful. 47. That servant, who knew his lord’s will, and didn’t prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes, 48. but he who didn’t know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked. 49. “I came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already kindled. 50. But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! 51. Do you think that I have come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division. 52. For from now on, there will be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 53. They will be divided, father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against her mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” 54. He said to the multitudes also, “When you see a cloud rising from the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it happens. 55. When a south wind blows, you say, ‘There will be a scorching heat,’ and it happens. 56. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you don’t interpret this time? 57. Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? 58. For when you are going with your adversary before the magistrate, try diligently on the way to be released from him, lest perhaps he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59. I tell you, you will by no means get out of there, until you have paid the very last penny.”

1. May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high, 2. send you help from the sanctuary, grant you support from Zion, 3. remember all your offerings, and accept your burned sacrifice. Selah. 4. May He grant you your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your counsel. 5. We will triumph in your salvation. In the name of our God, we will set up our banners. May Yahweh grant all your requests. 6. Now I know that Yahweh saves his anointed. He will answer him from his holy heaven, with the saving strength of his right hand. 7. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust the name of Yahweh our God. 8. They are bowed down and fallen, but we rise up, and stand upright. 9. Save, Yahweh! Let the King answer us when we call!