Loyalty and faithfulness preserve the king, and his throne is upheld by righteousness. The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Haughty eyes and a proud heart -- the lamp of the wicked -- are sin. The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just.
This is the word of the Lord. Proverbs 20. 28; 21. 1-4, 7
R | Restore us again, O God of hosts; [show the light of your countenance and we shall be saved]. |
The mountains were covered by its shadow
and the towering cedar trees by its boughs.
You stretched out its tendrils to the Sea
and its branches to the River. R
Turn now, O God of hosts,
look down from heaven and see:
behold and tend this vine,
preserve what your right hand has planted. R
Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand,
the son of man you have made so strong for yourself.
And so will we never turn away from you;
give us life, that we may call upon your name. R From Psalm 80
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death. Rejoice then, you heavens and those who dwell in them!"
This is the word of the Lord. Revelation 12. 10-12a
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.Jesus said to the disciples, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's foes will be members of one's own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."
This is the gospel of Christ. Matthew 10. 34-39