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Sing to the LORD, all the world!
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Worship the LORD with joy; come before him with happy songs!
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Acknowledge that the LORD is God. He made us, and we belong to him; we are his people, we are his flock.
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Enter the Temple gates with thanksgiving; go into its courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise him.
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The LORD is good; his love is eternal and his faithfulness lasts forever.
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Listen to my prayer, O LORD, and hear my cry for help!
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When I am in trouble, don't turn away from me! Listen to me, and answer me quickly when I call!
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My life is disappearing like smoke; my body is burning like fire.
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I am beaten down like dry grass; I have lost my desire for food.
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I groan aloud; I am nothing but skin and bones.
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I am like a wild bird in the desert, like an owl in abandoned ruins.
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I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on a housetop.
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All day long my enemies insult me; those who mock me use my name in cursing.
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Because of your anger and fury, ashes are my food, and my tears are mixed with my drink. You picked me up and threw me away.
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My life is like the evening shadows; I am like dry grass.
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But you, O LORD, are king forever; all generations will remember you.
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You will rise and take pity on Zion; the time has come to have mercy on her; this is the right time.
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Your servants love her, even though she is destroyed; they have pity on her, even though she is in ruins.
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The nations will fear the LORD; all the kings of the earth will fear his power.
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When the LORD rebuilds Zion, he will reveal his greatness.
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He will hear his forsaken people and listen to their prayer.
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Write down for the coming generation what the LORD has done, so that people not yet born will praise him.
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The LORD looked down from his holy place on high, he looked down from heaven to earth.
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He heard the groans of prisoners and set free those who were condemned to die.
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And so his name will be proclaimed in Zion, and he will be praised in Jerusalem
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when nations and kingdoms come together and worship the LORD.
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The LORD has made me weak while I am still young; he has shortened my life.
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O God, do not take me away now before I grow old. O LORD, you live forever;
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long ago you created the earth, and with your own hands you made the heavens.
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They will disappear, but you will remain; they will all wear out like clothes. You will discard them like clothes, and they will vanish.
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But you are always the same, and your life never ends.
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Our children will live in safety, and under your protection their descendants will be secure.
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In the past, when the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the other tribes of Israel were afraid; they looked up to Ephraim. But the people sinned by worshiping Baal, and for this they will die.
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They still keep on sinning by making metal images to worship---idols of silver, designed by human minds, made by human hands. And then they say, "Offer sacrifices to them!" How can anyone kiss those idols---idols in the shape of bulls!
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And so these people will disappear like morning mist, like the dew that vanishes early in the day. They will be like chaff which the wind blows from the threshing place, like smoke from a chimney.
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The LORD says, "I am the LORD your God, who led you out of Egypt. You have no God but me. I alone am your savior.
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I took care of you in a dry, desert land.
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But when you entered the good land, you became full and satisfied, and then you grew proud and forgot me.
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So I will attack you like a lion. Like a leopard I will lie in wait along your path.
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I will attack you like a bear that has lost her cubs, and I will tear you open. Like a lion I will devour you on the spot, and will tear you to pieces like a wild animal.
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"I will destroy you, people of Israel! Then who can help you?
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You asked for a king and for leaders, but how can they save the nation?
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In my anger I have given you kings, and in my fury I have taken them away.
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"Israel's sin and guilt are on record, and the records are safely stored away.
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Israel has a chance to live, but is too foolish to take it---like a child about to be born, who refuses to come out of the womb.
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I will not save this people from the world of the dead or rescue them from the power of death. Bring on your plagues, death! Bring on your destruction, world of the dead! I will no longer have pity for this people.
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Even though Israel flourishes like weeds, I will send a hot east wind from the desert, and it will dry up their springs and wells. It will take away everything of value.
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Samaria must be punished for rebelling against me. Her people will die in war; babies will be dashed to the ground, and pregnant women will be ripped open."
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Return to the LORD your God, people of Israel. Your sin has made you stumble and fall.
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Return to the LORD, and let this prayer be your offering to him: "Forgive all our sins and accept our prayer, and we will praise you as we have promised.
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Assyria can never save us, and war horses cannot protect us. We will never again say to our idols that they are our God. O LORD, you show mercy to those who have no one else to turn to."
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The LORD says, "I will bring my people back to me. I will love them with all my heart; no longer am I angry with them.
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I will be to the people of Israel like rain in a dry land. They will blossom like flowers; they will be firmly rooted like the trees of Lebanon.
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They will be alive with new growth, and beautiful like olive trees. They will be fragrant like the cedars of Lebanon.
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Once again they will live under my protection. They will grow crops of grain and be fruitful like a vineyard. They will be as famous as the wine of Lebanon.
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The people of Israel will have nothing more to do with idols; I will answer their prayers and take care of them. Like an evergreen tree I will shelter them; I am the source of all their blessings."
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May those who are wise understand what is written here, and may they take it to heart. The LORD's ways are right, and righteous people live by following them, but sinners stumble and fall because they ignore them.
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Every high priest is chosen from his fellow-men and appointed to serve God on their behalf, to offer sacrifices and offerings for sins.
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Since he himself is weak in many ways, he is able to be gentle with those who are ignorant and make mistakes.
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And because he is himself weak, he must offer sacrifices not only for the sins of the people but also for his own sins.
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No one chooses for himself the honor of being a high priest. It is only by God's call that a man is made a high priest---just as Aaron was.
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In the same way, Christ did not take upon himself the honor of being a high priest. Instead, God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father."
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He also said in another place, "You will be a priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek."
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In his life on earth Jesus made his prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to God, who could save him from death. Because he was humble and devoted, God heard him.
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But even though he was God's Son, he learned through his sufferings to be obedient.
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When he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him,
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and God declared him to be high priest, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.
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There is much we have to say about this matter, but it is hard to explain to you, because you are so slow to understand.
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There has been enough time for you to be teachers---yet you still need someone to teach you the first lessons of God's message. Instead of eating solid food, you still have to drink milk.
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Anyone who has to drink milk is still a child, without any experience in the matter of right and wrong.
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Solid food, on the other hand, is for adults, who through practice are able to distinguish between good and evil.
