Mark 4:26-34; Psalm 65

Mark 4:26-34

26 He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,²⁷and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. ²⁸The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’

30 He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; ³⁴he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. 

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Psalm 65

1  Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; 
   to you that answer prayer shall vows be paid.
2  To you shall all flesh come to confess their sins; 
   when our misdeeds prevail against us,
      you will purge them away.
3  Happy are they whom you choose
      and draw to your courts to dwell there. 
   We shall be satisfied with the blessings of your house,
      even of your holy temple.
4  With wonders you will answer us in your righteousness,
      O God of our salvation, 
   O hope of all the ends of the earth
      and of the farthest seas.
5  In your strength you set fast the mountains 
   and are girded about with might.
6  You still the raging of the seas, 
   the roaring of their waves
      and the clamour of the peoples.
7  Those who dwell at the ends of the earth
      tremble at your marvels; 
   the gates of the morning and evening sing your praise.
8  You visit the earth and water it; 
   you make it very plenteous.
9  The river of God is full of water; 
   you prepare grain for your people,
      for so you provide for the earth.
10  You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges; 
   you soften the ground with showers and bless its increase.
11  You crown the year with your goodness, 
   and your paths overflow with plenty.
12  May the pastures of the wilderness flow with goodness 
   and the hills be girded with joy.
13  May the meadows be clothed with flocks of sheep 
   and the valleys stand so thick with corn
      that they shall laugh and sing.

Genesis 16:15-17:14; Psalm 81

Genesis 16:15-17:14

[15]Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
[16]Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

[1]When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. [2]And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous."
[3]Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, [4]"As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. [5]No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. [6]I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. [7]I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. [8]And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God."

[9]God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. [10]This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. [11]You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
[12]Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring.
[13]Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.
[14]Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."


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Psalm 81

[1]   Sing aloud to God our strength;
          shout for joy to the God of Jacob.
[2]   Raise a song, sound the tambourine,
          the sweet lyre with the harp.
[3]   Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
          at the full moon, on our festal day.
[4]   For it is a statute for Israel,
          an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
[5]   He made it a decree in Joseph,
          when he went out over the land of Egypt.

     I hear a voice I had not known:
[6]   "I relieved your shoulder of the burden;
          your hands were freed from the basket.
[7]   In distress you called, and I rescued you;
          I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
          I tested you at the waters of Meribah.                    Selah
[8]   Hear, O my people, while I admonish you;
          O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
[9]   There shall be no strange god among you;
          you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
[10]  I am the LORD your God,
          who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
          Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

[11]"But my people did not listen to my voice;
          Israel would not submit to me.
[12]  So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
          to follow their own counsels.
[13]  O that my people would listen to me,
          that Israel would walk in my ways!
[14]  Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
          and turn my hand against their foes.
[15]  Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him,
          and their doom would last forever.
[16]  I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
          and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

Genesis 16:1-14; Psalm 91

Genesis 16:1-14
[1]Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, [2]and Sarai said to Abram, "You see that the LORD has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. [3]So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife.[4]He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

[5]Then Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave-girl to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!" [6]But Abram said to Sarai, "Your slave-girl is in your power; do to her as you please." Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.

[7]The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. [8]And he said, "Hagar, slave-girl of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?" She said, "I am running away from my mistress Sarai." [9]The angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit to her." [10]The angel of the LORD also said to her, "I will so greatly multiply your offspring that they cannot be counted for multitude." [11]And the angel of the LORD said to her,

"Now you have conceived and shall bear a son;
you shall call him Ishmael,
for the LORD has given heed to your affliction.
[12]He shall be a wild ass of a man,
with his hand against everyone,
and everyone's hand against him;
and he shall live at odds with all his kin."

[13]So she named the LORD who spoke to her, "You are El-roi"; for she said, "Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?" [14]Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

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Psalm 91
[1]   You who live in the shelter of the Most High,  
          who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,  
[2]   will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress;  
          my God, in whom I trust."  
[3]   For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler  
          and from the deadly pestilence;  
[4]   he will cover you with his pinions,  
          and under his wings you will find refuge;  
          his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.  
[5]   You will not fear the terror of the night,  
          or the arrow that flies by day,  
[6]   or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,  
          or the destruction that wastes at noonday.

[7]   A thousand may fall at your side,  
          ten thousand at your right hand,  
          but it will not come near you.  
[8]   You will only look with your eyes  
          and see the punishment of the wicked.

[9]   Because you have made the LORD your refuge,  
          the Most High your dwelling place,  
[10]  no evil shall befall you,  
          no scourge come near your tent.

[11]  For he will command his angels concerning you  
          to guard you in all your ways.  
[12]  On their hands they will bear you up,  
          so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.  
[13]  You will tread on the lion and the adder,  
          the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

[14]  Those who love me, I will deliver;  
          I will protect those who know my name.  
[15]  When they call to me, I will answer them;  
          I will be with them in trouble,  
          I will rescue them and honor them.

[16]  With long life I will satisfy them,  
          and show them my salvation.

Genesis 15:1-11, 17-21

[1]After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." [2]But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" [3]And Abram said, "You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir." [4]But the word of the LORD came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir." [5]He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." [6]And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness. 

[7]Then he said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess." [8]But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" [9]He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." [10]He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. [11]And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 

[17]When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. [18]On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, [19]the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, [20]the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, [21]the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." 

Psalm 57

[1]   Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,  
          for in you my soul takes refuge;  
     in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,  
          until the destroying storms pass by.  
[2]   I cry to God Most High,  
          to God who fulfills his purpose for me.  
[3   ]He will send from heaven and save me,  
          he will put to shame those who trample on me.           Selah  
     God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.

[4]   I lie down among lions  
          that greedily devour human prey;  
     their teeth are spears and arrows,  
          their tongues sharp swords.

[5]   Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.  
          Let your glory be over all the earth.

[6]   They set a net for my steps;  
          my soul was bowed down.  
     They dug a pit in my path,  
          but they have fallen into it themselves.                      
Selah  
[7]   My heart is steadfast, O God,  
          my heart is steadfast.  
     I will sing and make melody.  
[8]        Awake, my soul!  
     Awake, O harp and lyre!  
          I will awake the dawn.  
[9]   I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;  
          I will sing praises to you among the nations.  
[10]   For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;  
          your faithfulness extends to the clouds.

[11]   Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.  
     Let your glory be over all the earth.

Psalm 32

[1]   Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,   
         whose sin is covered.   
[2]   Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity,   
         and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

[3]   While I kept silence, my body wasted away   
         through my groaning all day long.   
[4]   For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;   
         my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.     Selah

[5]   Then I acknowledged my sin to you,   
         and I did not hide my iniquity;   
    I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,"   
         and you forgave the guilt of my sin.                                
  Selah

[6]   Therefore let all who are faithful   
         offer prayer to you;   
    at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters   
         shall not reach them.   


[7]   You are a hiding place for me;   
         you preserve me from trouble;   
         you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.             Selah

[8]   I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;   
         I will counsel you with my eye upon you.   
[9]   Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,   
         whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,   
         else it will not stay near you.

[10]   Many are the torments of the wicked,   
         but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.   
[11]   Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous,   
         and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

John 4:1-15

[1]Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, "Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John" [2] — although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized — [3]he left Judea and started back to Galilee.
[4]But he had to go through Samaria. [5]So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
[6]Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

[7]A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." [8](His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) [9]The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) [10]Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." [11]The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? [12]Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" [13]Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, [14]but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." [15]The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."

John 3:22-36

[22]After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. [23]John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized [24] — John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison. [25]Now a discussion about purification arose between John's disciples and a Jew. [26]They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him." [27]John answered, "No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. [28]You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.' [29]He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. [30]He must increase, but I must decrease." [31]The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all. [32]He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. [33]Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true. [34]He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. [35]The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. [36]Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath.

Psalm 88

[1]   Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me,  
          for I am poor and needy.  
[2]   Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you;  
          save your servant who trusts in you.  
     You are my God; [3] be gracious to me, O Lord,  
          for to you do I cry all day long.  
[4]   Gladden the soul of your servant,  
          for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  
[5]   For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,  
          abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.  
[6]   Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;  
          listen to my cry of supplication.  
[7]   In the day of my trouble I call on you,  
          for you will answer me.

[8]   There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,  
          nor are there any works like yours.  
[9]   All the nations you have made shall come  
          and bow down before you, O Lord,  
          and shall glorify your name.  
[10]  For you are great and do wondrous things;  
          you alone are God.  
[11]  Teach me your way, O LORD,  
          that I may walk in your truth;  
          give me an undivided heart to revere your name.  
[12]  I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,  
          and I will glorify your name forever.  
[13]  For great is your steadfast love toward me;  
          you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

[14]  O God, the insolent rise up against me;  
          a band of ruffians seeks my life,  
          and they do not set you before them.  
[15]  But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,  
          slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.  
[16]  Turn to me and be gracious to me;  
          give your strength to your servant;  
          save the child of your serving girl.

[17]  Show me a sign of your favor,  
          so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame,  
          because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

Genesis 8:6-22

[6]At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made [7]and sent out the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. [8]Then he sent out the dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; [9]but the dove found no place to set its foot, and it returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark with him. [10]He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark; [11]and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. [12]Then he waited another seven days, and sent out the dove; and it did not return to him any more. 

[13]In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and saw that the face of the ground was drying. [14]In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. [15]Then God said to Noah, [16]"Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. [17]Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." [18]So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. [19]And every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out of the ark by families. 

[20]Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. [21]And when the LORD smelled the pleasing odor, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done. 

[22]As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."

John 2:1-12

[1]On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. [2]Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. [3]When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." [4]And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." [5]His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." [6]Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. [7]Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. [8]He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it. [9]When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom [10]and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now."
[11]Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 

[12]After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they remained there a few days. 

John 1:29-42

[29]The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! [30]This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'
[31]I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." [32]And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. [33]I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' [34]And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."

[35]The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, [36]and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!"
[37]The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. [38]When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?" [39]He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. [40]One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. [41]He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointed). [42]He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).

Psalm 42

[1]   As a deer longs for flowing streams,  
          so my soul longs for you, O God.  
[2]   My soul thirsts for God,  
          for the living God.  
     When shall I come and behold  
          the face of God?  
[3]   My tears have been my food  
          day and night,  
     while people say to me continually,  
          "Where is your God?"

[4]   These things I remember,  
          as I pour out my soul:  
     how I went with the throng,  
          and led them in procession to the house of God,  
     with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,  
          a multitude keeping festival.  
[5]   Why are you cast down, O my soul,  
          and why are you disquieted within me?  
     Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,  
          my help [6]and my God.

     My soul is cast down within me;  
          therefore I remember you  
     from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,  
          from Mount Mizar.  
[7]   Deep calls to deep  
          at the thunder of your cataracts;  
     all your waves and your billows  
          have gone over me.  
[8]   By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,  
          and at night his song is with me,  
          a prayer to the God of my life.

[9]   I say to God, my rock,  
          "Why have you forgotten me?  
     Why must I walk about mournfully  
          because the enemy oppresses me?"  
[10]  As with a deadly wound in my body,  
          my adversaries taunt me,  
     while they say to me continually,  
          "Where is your God?"

[11]  Why are you cast down, O my soul,  
          and why are you disquieted within me?  
     Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,  
          my help and my God.

John 1:1-18

[1]In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2]He was in the beginning with God. [3]All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being [4]in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. [5]The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

[6]There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7]He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. [8]He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. [9]The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

[10]He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. [11]He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. [12]But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, [13]who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

[14]And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. [15](John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") [16]From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. [17]The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18]No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

Psalm 47

[1]   Clap your hands, all you peoples;   
         shout to God with loud songs of joy.   
[2]   For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome,   
         a great king over all the earth.   
[3]   He subdued peoples under us,   
         and nations under our feet.   
[4]   He chose our heritage for us,   
         the pride of Jacob whom he loves.                    Selah

[5]   God has gone up with a shout,   
         the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.   
[6]   Sing praises to God, sing praises;   
         sing praises to our King, sing praises.   
[7]   For God is the king of all the earth;   
         sing praises with a psalm.

[8]   God is king over the nations;   
         God sits on his holy throne.   
[9]   The princes of the peoples gather   
         as the people of the God of Abraham.   
    For the shields of the earth belong to God;   
         he is highly exalted.

Psalm 46

[1]   God is our refuge and strength,   
         a very present help in trouble.   
[2]   Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,   
         though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;   
[3]   though its waters roar and foam,   
         though the mountains tremble with its tumult.                   
Selah

[4]   There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,   
         the holy habitation of the Most High.   
[5]   God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;   
         God will help it when the morning dawns.   
[6]   The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;   
         he utters his voice, the earth melts.   
[7]   The LORD of hosts is with us;   
         the God of Jacob is our refuge.                                     
                Selah

[8]   Come, behold the works of the LORD;   
         see what desolations he has brought on the earth.   
[9]   He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;   
         he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;   
         he burns the shields with fire.   
[10]  "Be still, and know that I am God!   
         I am exalted among the nations,   
         I am exalted in the earth."   
[11]  The LORD of hosts is with us;   
         the God of Jacob is our refuge.   

                                             Selah

Psalm 111

[1]   Praise the LORD!   
    I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,   
         in the company of the upright, in the congregation.   
[2]   Great are the works of the LORD,   
         studied by all who delight in them.   
[3]   Full of honor and majesty is his work,   
         and his righteousness endures forever.   
[4]   He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds;   
         the LORD is gracious and merciful.   
[5]   He provides food for those who fear him;   
         he is ever mindful of his covenant.   
[6]   He has shown his people the power of his works,   
         in giving them the heritage of the nations.   
[7]   The works of his hands are faithful and just;   
         all his precepts are trustworthy.   
[8]   They are established forever and ever,   
         to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.   
[9]   He sent redemption to his people;   
         he has commanded his covenant forever.   
         Holy and awesome is his name.   
[10]  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;   
         all those who practice it have a good understanding.   
         His praise endures forever.

John 6:1-14

[1]After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. [2]A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. [3]Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. [4]Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. [5]When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" [6]He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. [7]Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." [8]One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, [9]"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?" [10]Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. [11]Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. [12]When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." [13]So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. [14]When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world." 

Psalm 99

[1]   The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!   
         He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!   
[2]   The LORD is great in Zion;   
         he is exalted over all the peoples.   
[3]   Let them praise your great and awesome name.   
         Holy is he!   
[4]   Mighty King, lover of justice,   
         you have established equity;   
    you have executed justice   
         and righteousness in Jacob.   
[5]   Extol the LORD our God;   
         worship at his footstool.   
         Holy is he!   



[6]   Moses and Aaron were among his priests,   
         Samuel also was among those who called on his name.   
         They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.   
[7]   He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;   
         they kept his decrees,   
         and the statutes that he gave them.

[8]   O LORD our God, you answered them;   
         you were a forgiving God to them,   
         but an avenger of their wrongdoings.   
[9]   Extol the LORD our God,   
         and worship at his holy mountain;   
         for the LORD our God is holy.