Sunday 8 September 2024

4Tell those who have a fearful heart, “Be strong!Don’t be afraid!Behold, your God will come with vengeance, God’s retribution.He will come and save you.5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.6Then the lame man will leap like a deer,and the tongue of the mute will sing;for waters will break out in the wilderness,and streams in the desert.7The burning sand will become a pool,and the thirsty ground springs of water.Grass with reeds and rushes will be in the habitation of jackals, where they lay.

6who made heaven and earth,the sea, and all that is in them;who keeps truth forever;7who executes justice for the oppressed;who gives food to the hungry.The Lord frees the prisoners.

8The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.The Lord raises up those who are bowed down.The Lord loves the righteous.9The Lord preserves the foreigners.

9He upholds the fatherless and widow,but he turns the way of the wicked upside down.10The Lord will reign forever;your God, O Zion, to all generations.Praise the Lord!

1My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality.2For if a man with a gold ring,in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue,and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in,3and you pay special attention to himwho wears the fine clothing and say,“Sit here in a good place;”and you tell the poor man,“Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”4haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves,and become judges with evil thoughts?5Listen, my beloved brothers.Didn’t God choose thosewho are poor in this world to be rich in faithand heirs of the Kingdomwhich he promised to those who love him?

31Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon,and came to the sea of Galilee through the middle of the region of Decapolis.32They brought to him one who was deafand had an impediment in his speech.They begged him to lay his hand on him.33He took him aside from the multitude privatelyand put his fingers into his ears;and he spat and touched his tongue.34Looking up to heaven,he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha!”that is, “Be opened!”35Immediately his ears were opened,and the impediment of his tongue was released,and he spoke clearly.36He commanded them that they should tell no one,but the more he commanded them,so much the more widely they proclaimed it.37They were astonished beyond measure,saying, “He has done all things well.He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”