⁽⁵⁾ To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, For His mercy endures forever; ⁽⁶⁾ To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, For His mercy endures forever; ⁽⁷⁾ To Him who made great lights, For His mercy endures forever -- ⁽⁸⁾ The sun to rule by day, For His mercy endures forever;

⁽⁹⁾ The moon and stars to rule by night, For His mercy endures forever. ⁽¹⁰⁾ To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn, For His mercy endures forever; ⁽¹¹⁾ And brought out Israel from among them, For His mercy endures forever; ⁽¹²⁾ With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, For His mercy endures forever;

⁽¹³⁾ To Him who divided the Red Sea in two, For His mercy endures forever; ⁽¹⁴⁾ And made Israel pass through the midst of it, For His mercy endures forever; ⁽¹⁵⁾ But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His mercy endures forever; ⁽¹⁶⁾ To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His mercy endures forever;

⁽¹⁷⁾ To Him who struck down great kings, For His mercy endures forever; ⁽¹⁸⁾ And slew famous kings, For His mercy endures forever -- ⁽¹⁹⁾ Sihon king of the Amorites, For His mercy endures forever; ⁽²⁰⁾ And Og king of Bashan, For His mercy endures forever --

⁽²¹⁾ And gave their land as a heritage, For His mercy endures forever; ⁽²²⁾ A heritage to Israel His servant, For His mercy endures forever. ⁽²³⁾ Who remembered us in our lowly state, For His mercy endures forever; ⁽²⁴⁾ And rescued us from our enemies, For His mercy endures forever;

⁽²⁵⁾ Who gives food to all flesh, For His mercy endures forever. ⁽²⁶⁾ Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever.

⁽⁵⁾ And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. ⁽⁶⁾ Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, "What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?" Then they understood that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp. ⁽⁷⁾ So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, "God has come into the camp!" And they said, "Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before. ⁽⁸⁾ "Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

⁽⁹⁾ "Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!" ⁽¹⁰⁾ So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. ⁽¹¹⁾ Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

⁽³⁶⁾ And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus,

⁽⁵⁾ Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. ⁽⁶⁾ And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. ⁽⁷⁾ Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁽⁸⁾ And Peter answered her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?" She said, "Yes, for so much."

⁽⁹⁾ Then Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." ⁽¹⁰⁾ Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. ⁽¹¹⁾ So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.

⁽²⁴⁾ "And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. ⁽²⁵⁾ " And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; ⁽²⁶⁾ "men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. ⁽²⁷⁾ "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

⁽²⁸⁾ "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."

⁽⁵⁾ They do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable. ⁽⁶⁾ I said, "You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High. ⁽⁷⁾ But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes." ⁽⁸⁾ Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.

⁽⁵⁾ Sing to the LORD with the harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm, ⁽⁶⁾ With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King. ⁽⁷⁾ Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it; ⁽⁸⁾ Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the LORD,

⁽⁹⁾ For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.

⁽⁵⁾ And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien -- Because they do not fear Me," Says the LORD of hosts.

⁽²⁶⁾ And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified -- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!" ⁽²⁷⁾ John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. ⁽²⁸⁾ "You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.' ⁽²⁹⁾ "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.

⁽³⁰⁾ "He must increase, but I must decrease.

⁽⁵⁾ You have fed them with the bread of tears, And given them tears to drink in great measure. ⁽⁶⁾ You have made us a strife to our neighbors, And our enemies laugh among themselves. ⁽⁷⁾ Restore us, O God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved! ⁽⁸⁾ You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it.

⁽⁹⁾ You prepared room for it, And caused it to take deep root, And it filled the land. ⁽¹⁰⁾ The hills were covered with its shadow, And the mighty cedars with its boughs. ⁽¹¹⁾ She sent out her boughs to the Sea, And her branches to the River. ⁽¹²⁾ Why have You broken down her hedges, So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?

⁽¹³⁾ The boar out of the woods uproots it, And the wild beast of the field devours it. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; Look down from heaven and see, And visit this vine ⁽¹⁵⁾ And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, And the branch that You made strong for Yourself. ⁽¹⁶⁾ It is burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

⁽¹⁷⁾ Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Then we will not turn back from You; Revive us, and we will call upon Your name. ⁽¹⁹⁾ Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!

⁽⁵⁾ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. ⁽⁶⁾ And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse."

⁽⁶⁾ "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." ⁽⁷⁾ As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁽⁸⁾ "But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. ⁽⁹⁾ "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.

⁽¹⁰⁾ "For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.' ⁽¹¹⁾ "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ⁽¹²⁾ "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. ⁽¹³⁾ "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

⁽¹⁴⁾ "And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. ⁽¹⁵⁾ "He who has ears to hear, let him hear! ⁽¹⁶⁾ "But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, ⁽¹⁷⁾ "and saying: 'We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.'

⁽¹⁸⁾ "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' ⁽¹⁹⁾ "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is justified by her children."