Sunday, September 5, 2027

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. He 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 him who 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 those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which 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 deaf and had an impediment in his speech. They begged him to lay his hand on him. ³³He took him aside from the multitude privately and 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!”