Sunday 27 February 2033

16“Therefore behold, I will allure her,and bring her into the wilderness,and speak tenderly to her.17I will give her vineyards from there,and the valley of Achor for a door of hope;and she will respond thereas in the days of her youth,and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.· · · verses 18–20 are not read21I will betroth you to me forever.Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.22I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness;and you shall know the Lord.

1Praise the Lord, my soul!All that is within me, praise his holy name!2Praise the Lord, my soul,and don’t forget all his benefits,

3who forgives all your sins,who heals all your diseases,4who redeems your life from destruction,who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,

8The Lord is merciful and gracious,slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.9He will not always accuse;neither will he stay angry forever.10He has not dealt with us according to our sins,nor repaid us for our iniquities.

12As far as the east is from the west,so far has he removed our transgressions from us.13Like a father has compassion on his children,so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.

1Are we beginning again to commend ourselves?Or do we need, as do some,letters of commendation to you or from you?2You are our letter,written in our hearts,known and read by all men,3being revealed that you are a letter of Christ,served by us, written not with ink,but with the Spirit of the living God;not in tablets of stone,but in tablets that are hearts of flesh.

4Such confidence we have through Christ toward God,5not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as from ourselves;but our sufficiency is from God,6who also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant,not of the letter but of the Spirit.For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

18John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting,and they came and asked him,“Why do John’s disciplesand the disciples of the Pharisees fast,but your disciples don’t fast?”

19Jesus said to them,“Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them?As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they can’t fast.20But the days will comewhen the bridegroom will be taken away from them,and then they will fast in that day.21No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment,or else the patch shrinksand the new tears away from the old,and a worse hole is made.22No one puts new wine into old wineskins;or else the new wine will burst the skins,and the wine pours out,and the skins will be destroyed;but they put new wine into fresh wineskins.”