But you, O LORD, are a shield around me;
you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.
I cried out to the LORD,
and he answered me from his holy mountain.
I lay down and slept,
yet I woke up in safety,
for the LORD was watching over me.
“Watch out!
Don’t do your good deeds publicly,
to be admired by others,
for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.
…when you give to someone need,
don’t let your left hand knows what your right hand is doing.
Give your gifts in private,
and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down?
Who holds the wind in his fists?
Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak?
Who has created the whole wide world?
What is his name—and his son’s name?
Tell me if you know!
“I am the Alpha and the Omega—
the beginning and the end,”
says the Lord God.
“I am the one who is,
who always was,
and who is still to come—
the Almighty one.”
…Grace and peace to you from the one who is,
who always was,
and who is still to come;
from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne;
and from Jesus Christ…
All glory to him to who loves us
and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us.
One day as he saw the crowds gathering,
Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down.
His disciples gathered around him,
and he began to teach them.
Jesus traveled…teaching…
and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom.
And he healed every kind of disease and illness.
And whatever their sickness or disease,
or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—
he healed them all.
Matthew 4:23-24
This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah:
“…the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light.
And for those who lived in the land where death casts it shadow,
a light has shined.”
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted there by the devil.
But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,
‘People do not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
“The Scriptures also say,
‘You must not test the LORD your God.’”
“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him.
“For the Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the LORD your God
and serve only him.’”
Then the devil went away…
