Chapter 16

Ministering Before the Ark

1 They 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. 2 After David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 3 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each Israelite man and woman.

4 He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to extol, thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel: 5 Asaph was the chief, and next to him in rank were Zechariah, then Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

7 That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise to the Lord in this manner:

8 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

9 Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

10 Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

11 Look to the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always.

12 Remember the wonders he has done,

his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

13 you his servants, the descendants of Israel,

his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.

14 He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

15 He remembers his covenant forever,

the promise he made, for a thousand generations,

16 the covenant he made with Abraham,

the oath he swore to Isaac.

17 He 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.”

19 When they were but few in number,

few indeed, and strangers in it,

20 they wandered from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another.

21 He allowed no one to oppress them;

for their sake he rebuked kings:

22 “Do not touch my anointed ones;

do my prophets no harm.”

23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth;

proclaim his salvation day after day.

24 Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

25 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

he is to be feared above all gods.

26 For all the gods of the nations are idols,

but the Lord made the heavens.

27 Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and joy are in his dwelling place.

28 Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

bring an offering and come before him.

Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

30 Tremble before him, all the earth!

The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

31 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;

let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”

32 Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;

let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!

33 Let the trees of the forest sing,

let them sing for joy before the Lord,

for he comes to judge the earth.

34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

35 Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior;

gather us and deliver us from the nations,

that we may give thanks to your holy name,

and glory in your praise.”

36 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”

37 David left Asaph and his associates before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister there regularly, according to each day’s requirements. 38 He also left Obed-Edom and his sixty-eight associates to minister with them. Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun, and also Hosah, were gatekeepers.

39 David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the Lord at the high place in Gibeon 40 to present burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly, morning and evening, in accordance with everything written in the Law of the Lord, which he had given Israel. 41 With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord, “for his love endures forever.” 42 Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.

43 Then all the people left, each for their own home, and David returned home to bless his family.

Psalm 106

1 Praise the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord

or fully declare his praise?

3 Blessed are those who act justly,

who always do what is right.

4 Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people,

come to my aid when you save them,

5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,

that I may share in the joy of your nation

and join your inheritance in giving praise.

6 We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;

we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

7 When our ancestors were in Egypt,

they gave no thought to your miracles;

they did not remember your many kindnesses,

and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.

8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,

to make his mighty power known.

9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;

he led them through the depths as through a desert.

10 He saved them from the hand of the foe;

from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.

11 The waters covered their adversaries;

not one of them survived.

12 Then they believed his promises

and sang his praise.

13 But they soon forgot what he had done

and did not wait for his plan to unfold.

14 In the desert they gave in to their craving;

in the wilderness they put God to the test.

15 So he gave them what they asked for,

but sent a wasting disease among them.

16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses

and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord.

17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;

it buried the company of Abiram.

18 Fire blazed among their followers;

a flame consumed the wicked.

19 At Horeb they made a calf

and worshiped an idol cast from metal.

20 They exchanged their glorious God

for an image of a bull, which eats grass.

21 They forgot the God who saved them,

who had done great things in Egypt,

22 miracles in the land of Ham

and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

23 So he said he would destroy them—

had not Moses, his chosen one,

stood in the breach before him

to keep his wrath from destroying them.

24 Then they despised the pleasant land;

they did not believe his promise.

25 They grumbled in their tents

and did not obey the Lord.

26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand

that he would make them fall in the wilderness,

27 make their descendants fall among the nations

and scatter them throughout the lands.

28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor

and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;

29 they aroused the Lord’s anger by their wicked deeds,

and a plague broke out among them.

30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,

and the plague was checked.

31 This was credited to him as righteousness

for endless generations to come.

32 By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord,

and trouble came to Moses because of them;

33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God,

and rash words came from Moses’ lips.

34 They did not destroy the peoples

as the Lord had commanded them,

35 but they mingled with the nations

and adopted their customs.

36 They worshiped their idols,

which became a snare to them.

37 They sacrificed their sons

and their daughters to false gods.

38 They shed innocent blood,

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,

and the land was desecrated by their blood.

39 They defiled themselves by what they did;

by their deeds they prostituted themselves.

40 Therefore the Lord was angry with his people

and abhorred his inheritance.

41 He gave them into the hands of the nations,

and their foes ruled over them.

42 Their enemies oppressed them

and subjected them to their power.

43 Many times he delivered them,

but they were bent on rebellion

and they wasted away in their sin.

44 Yet he took note of their distress

when he heard their cry;

45 for their sake he remembered his covenant

and out of his great love he relented.

46 He caused all who held them captive

to show them mercy.

47 Save us, Lord our God,

and gather us from the nations,

that we may give thanks to your holy name

and glory in your praise.

48 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the Lord.

Chapter 19

Divorce

1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4  “Haven’t you read,”he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?

6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

The Little Children and Jesus

13 Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

17  “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”'

18 “Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony,19honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.