To The Word – Day 225

₁Happy are those who obey the LORD,

who live by his commands.

₂Your work will provide for your needs;

you will be happy and prosperous.

₃Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in your home,

and your children will be like young olive trees round your table.

₄A man who obeys the LORD

will surely be blessed like this.

₅May the LORD bless you from Zion!

May you see Jerusalem prosper

all the days of your life!

₆May you live to see your grandchildren!

Peace be with Israel!

₁Israel, tell us how your enemies have persecuted you

ever since you were young.

₂“Ever since I was young,

my enemies have persecuted me cruelly,

but they have not overcome me.

₃They cut deep wounds in my back

and made it like a ploughed field.

₄But the LORD, the righteous one,

has freed me from slavery.”

₅May everyone who hates Zion

be defeated and driven back.

₆May they all be like grass growing on the housetops,

which dries up before it can grow;

₇no one gathers it up

or carries it away in bundles.

₈No one who passes by will say,

“May the LORD bless you!

We bless you in the name of the LORD.”

₁LORD, I have given up my pride

and turned away from my arrogance.

I am not concerned with great matters

or with subjects too difficult for me.

₂Instead, I am content and at peace.

As a child lies quietly in its mother's arms,

so my heart is quiet within me.

₃Israel, trust in the LORD

now and for ever!

₁LORD, do not forget David

and all the hardships he endured.

₂Remember, LORD, what he promised,

the vow he made to you, the Mighty God of Jacob:

₃“I will not go home or go to bed;

₄I will not rest or sleep,

₅until I provide a place for the LORD,

a home for the Mighty God of Jacob.”

₆In Bethlehem we heard about the Covenant Box,

and we found it in the fields of Jearim.

₇We said, “Let us go to the LORD's house;

let us worship before his throne.”

₈Come to the Temple, LORD, with the Covenant Box,

the symbol of your power,

and stay here for ever.

₉May your priests do always what is right;

may your people shout for joy!

₁₀You made a promise to your servant David;

do not reject your chosen king, LORD.

₁₁You made a solemn promise to David —

a promise you will not take back:

“I will make one of your sons king,

and he will rule after you.

₁₂If your sons are true to my covenant

and to the commands I give them,

their sons, also, will succeed you for all time as kings.”

₁₃The LORD has chosen Zion;

he wants to make it his home:

₁₄“This is where I will live for ever;

this is where I want to rule.

₁₅I will richly provide Zion with all she needs;

I will satisfy her poor with food.

₁₆I will bless her priests in all they do,

and her people will sing and shout for joy.

₁₇Here I will make one of David's descendants a great king;

here I will preserve the rule of my chosen king.

₁₈I will cover his enemies with shame,

but his kingdom will prosper and flourish.”

₁How wonderful it is, how pleasant,

for God's people to live together in harmony!

₂It is like the precious anointing oil

running down from Aaron's head and beard,

down to the collar of his robes.

₃It is like the dew on Mount Hermon,

falling on the hills of Zion.

That is where the LORD has promised his blessing —

life that never ends.

₁Come, praise the LORD,

all his servants,

all who serve in his Temple at night.

₂Raise your hands in prayer in the Temple,

and praise the LORD!

₃May the LORD, who made heaven and earth,

bless you from Zion!