Thursday, November 9, 2023

1 Chronicles 16:1–36

¹They brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before God. ²After David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD. ³Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each Israelite man and woman.

⁴He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to make petition, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel: ⁵Asaph was the chief, Zechariah second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals, ⁶and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷That day David first committed to Asaph and his associates this psalm of thanks to the LORD:

⁸Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. ⁹Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. ¹⁰Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. ¹¹Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. ¹²Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, ¹³O descendants of Israel his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

¹⁴He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. ¹⁵He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations, ¹⁶the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. ¹⁷He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: ¹⁸"To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit."

¹⁹When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, ²⁰they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. ²¹He allowed no man to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: ²²"Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm."

²³Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. ²⁴Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. ²⁵For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. ²⁶For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. ²⁷Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy in his dwelling place. ²⁸Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength, ²⁹ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. ³⁰Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. ³¹Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!" ³²Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them! ³³Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.

³⁴Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. ³⁵Cry out, "Save us, O God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise." ³⁶Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.

Then all the people said "Amen" and "Praise the LORD."

 

 

Psalm 119:17–24

¹⁷Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word. ¹⁸Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. ¹⁹I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me. ²⁰My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times. ²¹You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed and who stray from your commands. ²²Remove from me scorn and contempt, for I keep your statutes. ²³Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees. ²⁴Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.

 

 

Mark 15:1–20

¹Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.

²"Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate.

"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

³The chief priests accused him of many things. ⁴So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of."

⁵But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

⁶Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. ⁷A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. ⁸The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

⁹"Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, ¹⁰knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

¹²"What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.

¹³"Crucify him!" they shouted.

¹⁴"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

¹⁵Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

¹⁶The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" ¹⁹Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.