Luke Cross References - BSB

¹ Many have undertaken to compose an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, ² just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word. ³ Therefore, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. ⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years. ⁸ One day while Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, ⁹ he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside. ¹¹ Just then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” ¹⁸ “How can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.” ¹⁹ “I am Gabriel,” replied the angel. “I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this comes to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.” ²¹ Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he took so long in the temple. ²² When he came out and was unable to speak to them, they realized he had seen a vision in the temple. He kept making signs to them but remained speechless. ²³ And when the days of his service were complete, he returned home. ²⁴ After these days, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. She declared, ²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me. In these days He has shown me favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” ²⁶ In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!” ³⁴ “How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Look, even Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.” ³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her. ³⁹ In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah, ⁴⁰ where she entered the home of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord’s word to her will be fulfilled.” ⁴⁶ Then Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, ⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! ⁴⁸ For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed. ⁴⁹ For the Mighty One has done great things for me. Holy is His name. ⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. ⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts. ⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble. ⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty. ⁵⁴ He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful, ⁵⁵ as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.” ⁵⁶ Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home. ⁵⁷ When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹ On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him after his father Zechariah. ⁶⁰ But his mother replied, “No! He shall be called John.” ⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who bears this name.” ⁶² So they made signs to his father to find out what he wanted to name the child. ⁶³ Zechariah asked for a tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed. ⁶⁴ Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak, praising God. ⁶⁵ All their neighbors were filled with awe, and people throughout the hill country of Judea were talking about these events. ⁶⁶ And all who heard this wondered in their hearts and asked, “What then will this child become?” For the Lord’s hand was with him. ⁶⁷ Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: ⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people. ⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, ⁷⁰ as He spoke through His holy prophets, those of ages past, ⁷¹ salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, ⁷² to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, ⁷³ the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us ⁷⁴ deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear, ⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives. ⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, ⁷⁷ to give to His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, ⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Dawn will visit us from on high, ⁷⁹ to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” ⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.

³¹ But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

¹ In my first book, O Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach, ² until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. ³ After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

¹⁶ By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.

¹⁷ But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion.

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. ¹⁷ For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” ¹⁸ And we ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. ¹⁹ We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

¹ This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

¹⁴ The farmer sows the word.

⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things.

²⁷ And you also must testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

³ After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

²¹ Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²² beginning from John’s baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

²⁰ For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

³⁹ We are witnesses of all that He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And although they put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, ⁴⁰ God raised Him up on the third day and caused Him to be seen— ⁴¹ not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had chosen beforehand, by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.

¹⁶ ‘But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen from Me and what I will show you.

¹⁶ to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹ So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

⁷ I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power. ⁸ Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

¹¹ And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ,

²³ if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. ²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church. ²⁵ I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God,

³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

¹ As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you:

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life. ² And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

⁵ Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us—none can compare to You—if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I can count.

²¹ You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.

⁹ Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also taught the people knowledge; he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs.

¹ Many have undertaken to compose an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,

¹ In my first book, O Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach,

⁴ But Peter began and explained to them the whole sequence of events:

¹⁹ It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not cause trouble for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

²⁵ So we all agreed to choose men to send to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

²⁸ It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements:

²⁶ Claudius Lysias, To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.

³ In every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with all gratitude.

²⁵ But Paul answered, “I am not insane, most excellent Festus; I am speaking words of truth and sobriety.

⁴⁰ In my judgment, however, she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

¹² Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was not at all inclined to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity.

²⁵ He had been instructed in the way of the Lord and was fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.

¹⁸ if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;

¹⁹ But in the church, I would rather speak five coherent words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

⁶ Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor.

¹⁵ And I will make every effort to ensure that after my departure, you will be able to recall these things at all times. ¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

¹⁰ the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,

¹⁹ This was their appointed order for service when they entered the house of the LORD, according to the regulations prescribed for them by their forefather Aaron, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded him.

⁴ Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,

¹⁷ of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin and of Moadiah, Piltai;

¹ After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,

⁹ This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.

¹ Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.

¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

⁴ And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and uprightness, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,

³ “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

¹ There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.

⁸ Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.”

² “Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?

⁶ Then I would not be ashamed when I consider all Your commandments.

¹⁵ So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.

¹ Paul looked directly at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have conducted myself before God in all good conscience to this day.”

¹⁶ In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.

⁹ What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin. ¹⁰ As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one. ¹¹ There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. ¹² All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” ¹³ “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.” ¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” ¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ ruin and misery lie in their wake, ¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.” ¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ²⁰ Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin. ²¹ But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets. ²² And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

² Now I commend you for remembering me in everything and for maintaining the traditions, just as I passed them on to you.

¹² And this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.

¹⁵ so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world

⁶ as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless. ⁷ But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.

²² But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—

¹³ so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone. ¹² It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age, ¹³ as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

³ For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴ But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, ⁵ He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. ⁶ This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life.

¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.

³ By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.

²⁹ If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.

⁷ Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.

² But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

¹ Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. ² So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”

¹¹ And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

²¹ Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

¹ When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.

² Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children. ³ The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son.

² He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

⁵ But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb. ⁶ Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her and taunt her viciously. ⁷ And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat. ⁸ “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah asked. “Why won’t you eat? Why is your heart so grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

¹ Now King David was old and well along in years, and though they covered him with blankets, he could not keep warm.

¹⁴ So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?” “Well, she has no son,” Gehazi replied, “and her husband is old.”

¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.

¹¹ By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised.

¹ “Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.

⁴¹ After you put these garments on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint them, ordain them, and consecrate them so that they may serve Me as priests.

¹ “Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish,

⁹ Wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and tie headbands on them. The priesthood shall be theirs by a permanent statute. In this way you are to ordain Aaron and his sons.

⁴⁴ So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests.

³⁰ Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve Me as priests.

⁷ But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”

² But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and they had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.

¹⁴ In keeping with the ordinances of his father David, Solomon appointed the divisions of the priests over their service, and the Levites for their duties to offer praise and to minister before the priests according to the daily requirement. He also appointed gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate, for this had been the command of David, the man of God.

¹⁴ For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.

² Hezekiah reestablished the divisions of the priests and Levites—each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites—for the burnt offerings and peace offerings, for ministry, for giving thanks, and for singing praises at the gates of the LORD’s dwelling.

¹⁹ As for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who lived on the farmlands around each of their cities or in any other city, men were designated by name to distribute a portion to every male among the priests and to every Levite listed by the genealogies.

¹⁸ They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.

⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron.

⁷ And Aaron is to burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps. ⁸ When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn the incense perpetually before the LORD for the generations to come.

²⁵ He made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns were of one piece. ²⁶ And he overlaid with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns. Then he made a molding of gold around it. ²⁷ He made two gold rings below the molding on opposite sides to hold the poles used to carry it. ²⁸ And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. ²⁹ He also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.

⁴⁰ just as the LORD commanded him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his followers.

²⁸ And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I also gave to the house of your father all the offerings of the Israelites made by fire.

⁴⁹ But Aaron and his sons did all the work of the Most Holy Place. They presented the offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.

¹³ The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister before Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever.

¹⁶ But when Uzziah grew powerful, his arrogance led to his own destruction. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.

¹¹ Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, to minister before Him, and to burn incense.”

⁶ When everything had been prepared in this way, the priests entered regularly into the first room to perform their sacred duties.

¹⁷ No one may be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he leaves, after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel.

¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.

²⁴ For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.

³ Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.

¹ “You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense. ² It is to be square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns must be of one piece. ³ Overlay with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns, and make a molding of gold around it. ⁴ And make two gold rings below the molding on opposite sides to hold the poles used to carry it. ⁵ Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ⁶ Place the altar in front of the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony—before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you. ⁷ And Aaron is to burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps. ⁸ When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn the incense perpetually before the LORD for the generations to come. ⁹ On this altar you must not offer unauthorized incense or a burnt offering or grain offering; nor are you to pour a drink offering on it. ¹⁰ Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he shall make atonement on it annually with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The altar is most holy to the LORD.”

²⁶ Moses placed the gold altar in the Tent of Meeting, in front of the veil, ²⁷ and he burned fragrant incense on it, just as the LORD had commanded him.

¹³ He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat above the Testimony, so that he will not die.

³ The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son.

⁹ And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God returned to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.

¹⁹ “I am Gabriel,” replied the angel. “I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

²⁸ The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:

¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out, saying,

³ One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” ⁴ Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God.

¹⁴ Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

³ Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. ⁴ And the smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, rose up before God from the hand of the angel.

¹³ Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God

²² When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”

²² “We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for we have seen God!”

¹⁴ fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder. ¹⁵ Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.

⁷ Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but a great terror fell upon them, and they ran and hid themselves.

⁵ When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

⁹ Just then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:

⁴ Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God.

¹⁷ When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,

¹⁰ This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.

¹⁹ But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

¹⁴ Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

²³ But the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid, for you will not die.”

³ The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. ⁴ Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean. ⁵ For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

²⁰ So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.” ²¹ Then Elkanah and all his house went up to make the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, ²² but Hannah did not go. “After the boy is weaned,” she said to her husband, “I will take him to appear before the LORD and to stay there permanently.” ²³ “Do what you think is best,” her husband Elkanah replied, “and stay here until you have weaned him. Only may the LORD confirm His word.” So Hannah stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

²¹ So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

¹⁶ And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she said. “Do not lie to your maidservant, O man of God.” ¹⁷ But the woman did conceive, and at that time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

⁹ He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother to her children. Hallelujah!

²¹ I will give You thanks, for You have answered me, and You have become my salvation.

³ Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. ⁴ Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are children born in one’s youth. ⁵ Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts the enemies at the gate.

³ And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

¹² “Do not be afraid, Daniel,” he said, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.

⁴ Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.

⁶ Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them.

⁹ And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God. ¹⁰ Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’

²¹ She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

²⁷ But Jesus spoke up at once: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

⁵ But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

⁶ But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him.

³⁰ So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

⁶⁰ But his mother replied, “No! He shall be called John.” ⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who bears this name.” ⁶² So they made signs to his father to find out what he wanted to name the child. ⁶³ Zechariah asked for a tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed.

²¹ When the eight days until His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.

³⁶ While they were describing these events, Jesus Himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ³⁷ But they were startled and frightened, thinking they had seen a spirit. ³⁸ “Why are you troubled,” Jesus asked, “and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹ Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see—for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” ⁴⁰ And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet.

³¹ and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been remembered before God.

⁶ Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”

²⁰ A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.

¹⁵ My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.

²⁴ The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.

⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.

² I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

¹⁹ But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know!” he said. “He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”

² “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, ³ he is to abstain from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and he must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴ All the days of his separation, he is not to eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.

⁷ Now the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you just as I was with Moses.

¹⁴ On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.

⁴ Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean. ⁵ For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁶ So the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. His appearance was like the angel of God, exceedingly awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.

⁸ I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make for you a name like the greatest in the land.

¹² Both riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler over all. In Your hands are power and might to exalt and give strength to all.

⁹ Yet You brought me forth from the womb; You made me secure at my mother’s breast.

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

¹⁵ The LORD of Hosts will shield them. They will destroy and conquer with slingstones; they will drink and roar as with wine. And they will be filled like sprinkling bowls, drenched like the corners of the altar.

⁹ What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’ ¹¹ Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subject to violence, and the violent lay claim to it. ¹³ For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵ He who has ears, let him hear. ¹⁶ To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: ¹⁷ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ ¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by her actions.”

²⁸ I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John, yet even the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

³³ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

³⁵ John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light.

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, lifted up his voice, and addressed the crowd: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen carefully to my words. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It is only the third hour of the day! ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ¹⁷ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. ¹⁸ Even on My menservants and maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased

¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

³ A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. ⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain. ⁵ And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

⁶ He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

³ Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

¹ “Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.

¹ In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” ³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’” ⁴ John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

³² For John came to you in a righteous way and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,

⁵ Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD on your behalf.”

¹ Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”

¹⁸ “I have not troubled Israel,” Elijah replied, “but you and your father’s house have, for you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals.

²⁰ When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, “So you have found me out, my enemy.” He replied, “I have found you out because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD.

⁴ Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’” So Elijah departed. ⁵ When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?” ⁶ They replied, “A man came up to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him that this is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’”

¹⁶ And Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the LORD says: Is there really no God in Israel for you to inquire of His word? Is that why you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.”

¹⁸ O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this desire forever in the intentions of the hearts of Your people, and direct their hearts toward You.

³⁶ Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had prepared for the people, because everything had been accomplished so quickly.

¹⁷ You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their hearts. You will incline Your ear,

⁸ Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

¹⁰ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!

²⁴ Then the wayward in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction.”

¹² “Therefore, that is what I will do to you, O Israel, and since I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

⁵ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. ⁶ And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

⁴ John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

⁷ But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹ I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.

⁴ because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

¹¹ Jesus replied, “Elijah does indeed come, and he will restore all things. ¹² But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him whatever they wished. In the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.”

²⁹ ‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in a righteous way and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

¹¹ And they asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” ¹² He replied, “Elijah does indeed come first, and he restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected? ¹³ But I tell you that Elijah has indeed come, and they have done to him whatever they wished, just as it is written about him.”

¹⁶ Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God.

⁷ Then John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” ¹⁰ The crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” ¹¹ John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.” ¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” ¹³ “Collect no more than you are authorized,” he answered. ¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” “Do not take money by force or false accusation,” he said. “Be content with your wages.”

¹³ children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.

²¹ “Then who are you?” they inquired. “Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” ²² So they said to him, “Who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet: “I am a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” ²⁴ Then the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands One you do not know. ²⁷ He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ All this happened at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. ²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He of whom I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’

³⁴ I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.’

³³ So I sent for you immediately, and you were kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has instructed you to tell us.”

²³ What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory—

⁹ Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

²¹ So if anyone cleanses himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness ¹² as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. ¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.

²⁸ And now, little children, remain in Christ, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.

⁴ Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

⁸ But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”

¹² So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

²¹ But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’ ²² If all our flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?” ²³ The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”

³⁶ Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said, ³⁷ then behold, I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” ³⁸ And that is what happened. When Gideon arose the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water. ³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time let it be dry, and the ground covered with dew.” ⁴⁰ And that night God did so. Only the fleece was dry, and dew covered the ground.

² But the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” replied Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it.”

²² And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?”

⁷ But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.

³⁴ “How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

¹⁶ And I heard the voice of a man calling from between the banks of the Ulai: “Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.”

²¹ while I was still praying, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. ²² He instructed me and spoke with me, saying: “O Daniel, I have come now to give you insight and understanding. ²³ At the beginning of your petitions, an answer went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly precious. So consider the message and understand the vision:

¹⁰ See that you do not look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven.

²⁶ In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

¹⁰ Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent. ¹¹ And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. ¹² So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” ¹³ And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.” ¹⁵ But Sarah was afraid, so she denied it and said, “I did not laugh.” “No,” replied the LORD, “but you did laugh.”

¹¹ And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

¹² But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

¹⁹ And the officer had answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” So Elisha had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!”

⁹ The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.’”

²⁶ I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.

²⁷ On that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you will speak and no longer be mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.”

¹⁹ “O unbelieving generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.”

¹⁴ Later, as they were eating, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

²² When he came out and was unable to speak to them, they realized he had seen a vision in the temple. He kept making signs to them but remained speechless.

⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord’s word to her will be fulfilled.”

³ What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?

¹³ if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

² in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

¹⁸ Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.

¹⁹ Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.

²³ “Tell Aaron and his sons: This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: ²⁴ ‘May the LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵ may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’ ²⁷ So they shall put My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

⁶² So they made signs to his father to find out what he wanted to name the child.

²⁴ So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus which one He was talking about.

¹⁷ Peter motioned with his hand for silence, and he described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Send word to James and to the brothers,” he said, and he left for another place.

³³ The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward to explain himself, and he motioned for silence so he could make his defense to the people.

⁴⁰ Having received permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew:

⁵ and commanded them, “This is what you are to do: A third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath shall guard the royal palace, ⁶ a third shall be at the gate of Sur, and a third at the gate behind the guards. You are to take turns guarding the temple— ⁷ the two divisions that would go off duty on the Sabbath are to guard the house of the LORD for the king.

²⁵ Their relatives came from their villages at fixed times to serve with them for seven-day periods.

¹ Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised. ² So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.

²² Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb, ²³ and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said.

⁶ Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her and taunt her viciously.

¹⁹ The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. ²⁰ So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”

²¹ So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD. ²² Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

¹ In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own bread and provide our own clothes. Just let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!”

¹ “Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD. ² “Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes in deep. ³ For you will spread out to the right and left; your descendants will dispossess the nations and inhabit the desolate cities. ⁴ Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.

²³ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

⁴ So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.

⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.

⁴¹ Others declared, “This is the Christ.” But still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee?

¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

²² How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”

¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged in marriage to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

²⁰ But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

²³ “Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).

⁴ So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to him in marriage and was expecting a child.

²⁴ Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.

¹² And the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

²⁹ “Many daughters have done noble things, but you surpass them all!” ³⁰ Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. ³¹ Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her at the gates.

⁵ Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west.

¹⁸ Now behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. ¹⁹ They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.

¹⁹ “Do not be afraid, you who are highly precious,” he said. “Peace be with you! Be strong now; be very strong!” As he spoke with me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”

² Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.

⁴⁸ But Jesus replied, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?”

⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

²⁷ As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You!” ²⁸ But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

¹⁰ For I am with you and no one will lay a hand on you, because I have many people in this city.”

⁶ to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

¹³ “Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.” ¹⁴ The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Am I not sending you?” ¹⁵ “Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

²⁰ As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them, for they have been found. And upon whom is all the desire of Israel, if not upon you and all your father’s house?” ²¹ Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of Benjamin? So why would you say such a thing to me?”

⁴⁹ but when they saw Him walking on the sea, they cried out, thinking He was a ghost— ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were terrified. But Jesus spoke up at once: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

⁵ When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ⁶ But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him.

¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear.

⁶⁶ And all who heard this wondered in their hearts and asked, “What then will this child become?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

⁵¹ Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

¹⁷ While Peter was puzzling over the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house and approached the gate.

¹⁰ Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.

¹⁴ Do not fear, O worm of Jacob, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹ Now this is what the LORD says—He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine! ² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze. ³ For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. ⁴ Because you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and nations in place of your life.

² This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

³² Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.

⁹ One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking; do not be silent. ¹⁰ For I am with you and no one will lay a hand on you, because I have many people in this city.”

²⁴ and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And look, God has granted you the lives of all who sail with you.’

³¹ What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

⁶ So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

²⁵ But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a Son. And he gave Him the name Jesus.

²⁷ to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

⁴ But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

¹¹ and have done since the day I appointed judges over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD declares to you that He Himself will establish a house for you. ¹² And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

¹⁶ Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”

¹¹ The LORD swore an oath to David, a promise He will not revoke: “One of your descendants I will place on your throne.

⁶ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

⁵ in loving devotion a throne will be established in the tent of David. A judge seeking justice and hastening righteousness will sit on it in faithfulness.

⁵ Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout for David a righteous Branch, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness. ¹⁷ For this is what the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,

²² This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take a shoot from the lofty top of the cedar, and I will set it out. I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. ²³ I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel so that it will bear branches; it will yield fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it, taking shelter in the shade of its branches. ²⁴ Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the withered tree flourish. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it.’”

²³ I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. I, the LORD, have spoken.

²⁴ My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances and keep and observe My statutes. ²⁵ They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever.

¹¹ “In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, ¹² that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear My name,” declares the LORD, who will do this.

¹ This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

¹¹ I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

⁴² The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

⁷ And he shouted in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God not to torture me!”

⁶¹ But Jesus remained silent and made no reply. Again the high priest questioned Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”

¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.

³⁵ The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.

¹⁶ John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”

²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes. ²² Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵ Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. ²⁷ And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

⁶⁹ We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”

³⁴ The crowd replied, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever. So how can You say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”

³⁰ But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne.

³⁶ Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!”

⁴⁸ However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

¹⁷ This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!”

⁴ and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

²⁰ which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

⁹ Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

² But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. ³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ⁴ So He became as far superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is excellent beyond theirs. ⁵ For to which of the angels did God ever say: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father”? Or again: “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son”? ⁶ And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all God’s angels worship Him.” ⁷ Now about the angels He says: “He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.” ⁸ But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.

⁷ To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.

⁶ Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.

³⁵ Once and for all I have sworn by My holiness—I will not lie to David— ³⁶ his offspring shall endure forever, and his throne before Me like the sun, ³⁷ like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

⁴⁴ In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.

¹³ In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. ¹⁴ And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

¹⁸ But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever—yes, forever and ever.’

²⁷ Then the sovereignty, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey Him.’

²¹ The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to rule over the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will belong to the LORD.

⁷ And I will make the lame into a remnant, and the outcast into a strong nation. Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.

⁶ It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

²⁴ Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. ²⁵ For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.

¹⁶ Peace and mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of God.

³ For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—

⁸ But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.

¹⁵ Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”

⁴ Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵ The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete. This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him. ⁴ They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ There will be no more night in the city, and they will have no need for the light of a lamp or of the sun. For the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.

⁸ Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, let the man of God You sent us come to us again to teach us how to raise the boy who is to be born.” ⁹ And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God returned to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. ¹⁰ The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has reappeared!” ¹¹ So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” “I am,” he said. ¹² Then Manoah asked, “When your words come to pass, what will be the boy’s rule of life and mission?”

⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁴ Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!

¹⁶ how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?

⁴ How then can a man be just before God? How can one born of woman be pure?

⁷ I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by the LORD: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.

⁵ Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

²⁰ But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

³ The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God!”

⁶³ But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to Him, “I charge You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God.” ⁶⁴ “You have said it yourself,” Jesus answered. “But I say to all of you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

⁵⁴ When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”

²⁴ “What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

³¹ Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,

⁴⁹ “Rabbi,” Nathanael answered, “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

³⁶ As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?”

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

³ All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.

²⁶ Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

²³ The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”

² What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.

¹⁷ “Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!

²⁷ “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?

⁶ This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “If this is impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be impossible in My eyes?” declares the LORD of Hosts.

²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

²⁷ But Jesus said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

²¹ who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.

²⁵ And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house. Do as You have promised, ²⁶ so that Your name will be magnified forever when it is said, ‘The LORD of Hosts is God over Israel.’ And the house of Your servant David will be established before You. ²⁷ For You, O LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant when You said, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Therefore Your servant has found the courage to offer this prayer to You. ²⁸ And now, O Lord GOD, You are God! Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant. ²⁹ Now therefore, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with Your blessing the house of Your servant will be blessed forever.”

¹⁶ Truly, O LORD, I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have broken my bonds.

³⁸ Establish Your word to Your servant, to produce reverence for You.

²⁰ Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.

⁴⁰ So Joshua conquered the whole region—the hill country, the Negev, the foothills, and the slopes, together with all their kings—leaving no survivors. He devoted to destruction everything that breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.

⁴⁸ These were in the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, ⁴⁹ Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir), ⁵⁰ Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, ⁵¹ Goshen, Holon, and Giloh—eleven cities, along with their villages. ⁵² Arab, Dumah, Eshan, ⁵³ Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, ⁵⁴ Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior—nine cities, along with their villages. ⁵⁵ Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, ⁵⁶ Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, ⁵⁷ Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah—ten cities, along with their villages. ⁵⁸ Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, ⁵⁹ Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon—six cities, along with their villages.

⁷ So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

⁹ From the tribes of Judah and Simeon, they designated these cities by name ¹⁰ to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them: ¹¹ They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)

⁶⁵ All their neighbors were filled with awe, and people throughout the hill country of Judea were talking about these events.

²² But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD,

¹⁰ From birth I was cast upon You; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.

⁴⁴ For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

⁶⁷ Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

¹ Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people!

³ Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men confirmed to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will appoint this responsibility to them

⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

¹⁰ On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,

¹⁸ And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

⁶ For You grant him blessings forever; You cheer him with joy in Your presence.

² You are the most handsome of men; grace has anointed your lips, since God has blessed you forever.

¹⁷ May his name endure forever; may his name continue as long as the sun shines. In him may all nations be blessed; may they call him blessed. ¹⁸ Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. ¹⁹ And blessed be His glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen.

⁴⁸ For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.

³⁸ “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

²⁶ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell in hope, ²⁷ because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. ²⁸ You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’

⁵ Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.

² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

¹⁰ At this, she fell on her face, bowing low to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me, even though I am a foreigner?”

⁴¹ She arose, then bowed facedown and said, “Here is your maidservant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

¹ A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”

¹¹ Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!

⁷ That is why I did not consider myself worthy to come to You. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁴² For David himself says in the book of Psalms: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand ⁴³ until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’ ⁴⁴ Thus David calls Him ‘Lord.’ So how can He be David’s son?”

⁵ After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel that was around Him. ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who asked Him, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸ “Never shall You wash my feet!” Peter told Him. Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.”

¹³ You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, because I am.

²⁸ Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”

³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.

⁸ More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

²⁰ Early in the morning they got up and left for the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Hear me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be upheld; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.”

²⁰ And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this comes to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

⁴⁰ Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

¹ At that time Hannah prayed: “My heart rejoices in the LORD in whom my horn is exalted. My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, for I rejoice in Your salvation. ² There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God. ³ Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed. ⁴ The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble are equipped with strength. ⁵ The well-fed hire themselves out for food, but the starving hunger no more. The barren woman gives birth to seven, but she who has many sons pines away. ⁶ The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. ⁷ The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts. ⁸ He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world. ⁹ He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail. ¹⁰ Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

² My soul boasts in the LORD; let the oppressed hear and rejoice. ³ Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together.

⁹ Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and exult in His salvation.

¹ Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name. ² Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds—

¹⁵ Therefore glorify the LORD in the east. Extol the name of the LORD, the God of Israel in the islands of the sea. ¹⁶ From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.” But I said, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me.” The treacherous betray; the treacherous deal in treachery.

²⁵ In the LORD all descendants of Israel will be justified and will exult.

¹⁰ I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, ¹⁸ yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

¹¹ Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

³¹ Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

⁸ Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

² Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.” ³ With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation,

²¹ Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me. ²² Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

¹⁸ yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

¹⁴ Sing for joy, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! ¹⁵ The LORD has taken away your punishment; He has turned back your enemy. Israel’s King, the LORD, is among you; no longer will you fear any harm. ¹⁶ On that day they will say to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp. ¹⁷ The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”

⁹ Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

³ This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

³ In His own time He has made His word evident in the proclamation entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.

¹⁰ not stealing from them, but showing all good faith, so that in every respect they will adorn the teaching about God our Savior.

¹³ as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

⁴ But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, ⁵ He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. ⁶ This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.

¹³ Leah said, “How happy I am! For the women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.

¹¹ And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever come over his head.”

⁸ He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.

⁸ Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My people Israel.

¹⁸ Then King David went in, sat before the LORD, and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And as if this was a small thing in Your eyes, O Lord GOD, You have also spoken about the future of the house of Your servant. Is this Your custom with man, O Lord GOD?

¹⁷ He will turn toward the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their prayer.

⁷ He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump ⁸ to seat them with nobles, with the princes of His people.

²³ He remembered us in our low estate His loving devotion endures forever.

⁶ Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.

² Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.

¹² “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,” says the LORD of Hosts.

²⁷ As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You!”

²⁶ Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,

⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?

¹¹ Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?

² There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.

⁸ Who is this King of Glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

¹⁹ Your righteousness reaches to the heavens, O God, You who have done great things. Who, O God, is like You? ²⁰ Though You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes, You will revive me once again. Even from the depths of the earth You will bring me back up. ²¹ You will increase my honor and comfort me once again.

³ Let them praise Your great and awesome name—He is holy!

⁹ Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.

⁹ He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; holy and awesome is His name.

² Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” ³ The LORD has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

²⁴ Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah, I will be relieved of My foes and avenge Myself on My enemies.

³ And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”

¹⁵ For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.

¹ Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”

⁶ There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.

¹¹ But the LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly put to shame, with an everlasting disgrace that will never be forgotten.

¹³ He gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water.

²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,

⁸ And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

⁴ Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”

⁷ I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

⁶ but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

⁶ Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness, ⁷ maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

¹⁹ How great is Your goodness which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have bestowed before the sons of men on those who take refuge in You!

⁹ Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land.

¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.

¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting the loving devotion of the LORD extends to those who fear Him, and His righteousness to their children’s children— ¹⁸ to those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.

¹³ He will bless those who fear the LORD—small and great alike.

⁴ Let those who fear the LORD say, “His loving devotion endures forever.”

¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.

¹¹ The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.

¹⁶ At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name. ¹⁷ “They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. ¹⁸ So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

⁵ Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you who serve Him, and those who fear Him, small and great alike!”

⁵ Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.

²¹ When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

⁶ Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy. ⁷ You overthrew Your adversaries by Your great majesty. You unleashed Your burning wrath; it consumed them like stubble.

⁹ The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’ ¹⁰ But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. ¹¹ Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders? ¹² You stretched out Your right hand, and the earth swallowed them up. ¹³ With loving devotion You will lead the people You have redeemed; with Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling.

¹¹ Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for He did this when they treated Israel with arrogance.”

³⁴ Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?

¹⁹ because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. ²⁰ The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven

³ Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed. ⁴ The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble are equipped with strength.

⁹ Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His? ¹⁰ Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and clothe yourself with honor and glory. ¹¹ Unleash the fury of your wrath; look on every proud man and bring him low. ¹² Look on every proud man and humble him; trample the wicked where they stand.

¹ Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? ² The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One: ³ “Let us break Their chains and cast away Their cords.” ⁴ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them. ⁵ Then He rebukes them in His anger, and terrifies them in His fury: ⁶ “I have installed My King on Zion, upon My holy mountain.”

¹⁰ The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.

⁹ I will praise You forever, because You have done it. I will wait on Your name—for it is good—in the presence of Your saints.

⁵ My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.

¹⁰ You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

¹³ Mighty is Your arm; strong is Your hand. Your right hand is exalted.

¹ A Psalm. Sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand and holy arm have gained Him the victory.

¹⁵ Shouts of joy and salvation resound in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORD performs with valor!

¹² So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes. ¹³ For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers. ¹⁴ My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’” ¹⁵ Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood! ¹⁶ Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame. ¹⁷ And the Light of Israel will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame. In a single day it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and thistles. ¹⁸ The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man. ¹⁹ The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.

¹⁰ Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm establishes His rule. His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him.

⁹ Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?

¹⁰ The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

¹² who sent His glorious arm to lead them by the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to gain for Himself everlasting renown,

²⁹ We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart. ³⁰ I know his insolence,” declares the LORD, “but it is futile. His boasting is as empty as his deeds.

³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

²⁵ Now this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. ²⁶ And this is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. ²⁷ TEKEL means that you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. ²⁸ PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.” ²⁹ Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom. ³⁰ That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain, ³¹ and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

⁵ We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

⁵ Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

⁸ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and grief and famine—and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

⁴ The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble are equipped with strength.

⁶ The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. ⁷ The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts. ⁸ He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.

¹¹ He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety. ¹² He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success. ¹³ He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

²⁴ He shatters the mighty without inquiry and sets up others in their place. ²⁵ Therefore, He recognizes their deeds; He overthrows them in the night and they are crushed. ²⁶ He strikes them for their wickedness in full view, ²⁷ because they turned aside from Him and had no regard for any of His ways. ²⁸ They caused the cry of the poor to come before Him, and He heard the outcry of the afflicted.

⁴⁰ He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland. ⁴¹ But He lifts the needy from affliction and increases their families like flocks.

⁶ He humbles Himself to behold the heavens and the earth.

¹⁴ For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.

²⁴ Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the withered tree flourish. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it.’”

¹¹ “In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,

³ Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?” And they took offense at Him.

¹⁴ I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

⁹ The brother in humble circumstances should exult in his high position. ¹⁰ But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.

¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

⁵ The well-fed hire themselves out for food, but the starving hunger no more. The barren woman gives birth to seven, but she who has many sons pines away.

¹⁰ Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

⁸ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. ⁹ For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

⁷ He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free,

²⁹ And I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations.

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

²⁴ But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

¹⁶ Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance. ¹⁷ So he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’ ²¹ This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

¹⁹ Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor. ²⁰ And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores ²¹ and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴ So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’ ²⁵ But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’ ¹³ But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

²⁴ Seeing the man’s sadness, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. ¹² And when everyone was full, He said to His disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” ¹³ So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

³⁵ Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.

²⁶ Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth.

⁸ Already you have all you want. Already you have become rich. Without us, you have become kings. How I wish you really were kings, so that we might be kings with you!

¹ Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you. ² Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and consume your flesh like fire. You have hoarded treasure in the last days. ⁴ Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. ⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.

¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

¹⁶ ‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’ ¹⁷ For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

³ He has remembered His love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

²¹ Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are My servant, O Israel. I have made you, and you are My servant; O Israel, I will never forget you.

³ “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth. ⁴ Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.

¹⁴ But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!” ¹⁵ “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you! ¹⁶ Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.

⁶ For the LORD has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God. ⁷ “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back. ⁸ In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer. ⁹ “For to Me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. ¹⁰ Though the mountains may be removed and the hills may be shaken, My loving devotion will not depart from you, and My covenant of peace will not be broken,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

⁷ I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion and His praiseworthy acts, because of all that the LORD has done for us—the many good things for the house of Israel according to His great compassion and loving devotion. ⁸ For He said, “They are surely My people, sons who will not be disloyal.” So He became their Savior. ⁹ In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. ¹⁰ But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them. ¹¹ Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them, ¹² who sent His glorious arm to lead them by the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to gain for Himself everlasting renown, ¹³ who led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble? ¹⁴ Like cattle going down to the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. You led Your people this way to make for Yourself a glorious name. ¹⁵ Look down from heaven and see, from Your holy and glorious habitation. Where are Your zeal and might? Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained. ¹⁶ Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.

³ The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.

²⁰ Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.

²⁴ “Have you not noticed what these people are saying: ‘The LORD has rejected the two families He had chosen’? So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation. ²⁵ This is what the LORD says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, ²⁶ then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and will have compassion on them.”

²⁰ You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from the days of old.

¹⁴ Sing for joy, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! ¹⁵ The LORD has taken away your punishment; He has turned back your enemy. Israel’s King, the LORD, is among you; no longer will you fear any harm. ¹⁶ On that day they will say to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp. ¹⁷ The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.” ¹⁸ “I will gather those among you who grieve over the appointed feasts, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. ¹⁹ Behold, at that time, I will deal with all who afflict you. I will save the lame and gather the scattered; and I will appoint praise and fame for the disgraced throughout the earth. ²⁰ At that time I will bring you in; yes, at that time I will gather you. For I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your captives before your very eyes,” says the LORD.

⁹ Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ¹⁰ And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be broken. Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth. ¹¹ As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.

⁷⁰ as He spoke through His holy prophets, those of ages past, ⁷¹ salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, ⁷² to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, ⁷³ the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us ⁷⁴ deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear, ⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

³ I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”

⁴ I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,

¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

⁶ O offspring of His servant Abraham, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones. ⁷ He is the LORD our God; His judgments carry throughout the earth. ⁸ He remembers His covenant forever, the word He ordained for a thousand generations— ⁹ the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac. ¹⁰ He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

¹¹ The LORD swore an oath to David, a promise He will not revoke: “One of your descendants I will place on your throne. ¹² If your sons keep My covenant and the testimony I will teach them, then their sons will also sit on your throne forever and ever.” ¹³ For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home: ¹⁴ “This is My resting place forever and ever; here I will dwell, for I have desired this home. ¹⁵ I will bless her with abundant provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread. ¹⁶ I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will sing out in joy. ¹⁷ There I will make a horn grow for David; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.

²⁸ Regarding the gospel, they are enemies on your account; but regarding election, they are loved on account of the patriarchs. ²⁹ For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.

¹⁶ The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ. ¹⁷ What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise.

² So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised. ³ And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him.

¹⁹ God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

⁶ While they were there, the time came for her Child to be born. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

¹⁹ Your servant has indeed found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness by sparing my life. But I cannot run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die.

¹⁴ Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel. ¹⁵ He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” ¹⁶ And Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a nurse to him. ¹⁷ The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

⁹ Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it?” says the LORD. “Or will I who deliver close the womb?” says your God. ¹⁰ Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her, all who love her. Rejoice greatly with her, all who mourn over her,

¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth,

²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me. In these days He has shown me favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

¹² Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner—even those who are not your offspring.

³ And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him. ⁴ When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.

³ And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised.

⁸ Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;

²⁵ and sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah because the LORD loved him.

⁶³ Zechariah asked for a tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed.

³ Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁸ Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.

¹ “The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus, engraved with a diamond point on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.

² Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.

⁶⁰ But his mother replied, “No! He shall be called John.”

¹⁵ You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do. ¹⁶ He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him.

⁷ O LORD, You favored me; You made my mountain stand strong. When You hid Your face, I was dismayed. ⁸ To You, O LORD, I called, and I begged my Lord for mercy: ⁹ “What gain is there in my bloodshed, in my descent to the Pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it proclaim Your faithfulness? ¹⁰ Hear me, O LORD, and have mercy; O LORD, be my helper.” ¹¹ You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, ¹² that my heart may sing Your praises and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks forever.

¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.

¹⁸ The LORD disciplined me severely, but He has not given me over to death. ¹⁹ Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter and give thanks to the LORD.

¹ In that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me.

⁹ Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

²⁷ But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

²¹ In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth to speak among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

²² Now the evening before the fugitive arrived, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.

³⁴ But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. ³⁵ All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” ³⁶ At the same time my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne, and surpassing greatness was added to me. ³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

³³ And when the demon had been driven out, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”

³² Some people brought to Him a man who was deaf and hardly able to speak, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him. ³³ So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴ And looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). ³⁵ Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak plainly. ³⁶ Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more He ordered them, the more widely they proclaimed it. ³⁷ The people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

⁶ Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, because all the kings of the Amorites from the hill country have joined forces against us.”

³⁹ In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah,

¹⁶ A sense of awe swept over all of them, and they glorified God. “A great prophet has appeared among us!” they said. “God has visited His people!”

⁴³ A sense of awe came over everyone, and the apostles performed many wonders and signs.

⁵ On hearing these words, Ananias fell down and died. And great fear came over all who heard what had happened.

¹¹ And great fear came over the whole church and all who heard about these events.

¹⁷ This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear came over all of them. So the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.

¹¹ But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered the two witnesses, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them.

¹¹ And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.

² And the LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master.

²⁴ So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. ²⁵ And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

¹⁸ Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod.

¹⁸ One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a mighty man of valor, a warrior, eloquent and handsome, and the LORD is with him.”

⁴⁶ And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

¹⁷ Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand, on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.

²¹ My hand will sustain him; surely My arm will strengthen him.

¹¹ I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.

⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.

⁴⁰ And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.

⁴⁴ “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”

²¹ The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

²⁵ Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again.

² The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; His word was on my tongue.

²⁸ And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

²¹ For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

²⁶ He also declared: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the servant of Shem.

²⁰ and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

¹⁶ Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ And I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

³¹ and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.

⁴⁸ saying, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel! Today He has provided one to sit on my throne, and my eyes have seen it.’”

¹⁰ Then David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly and said: “May You be blessed, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.

²⁰ Then David said to the whole assembly, “Blessed be the LORD your God.” So the whole assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers. They bowed down and paid homage to the LORD and to the king.

¹³ Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

⁴⁸ Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Hallelujah!

³⁸ Coming forward at that moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the Child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

⁴⁴ They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

¹ At that time Hannah prayed: “My heart rejoices in the LORD in whom my horn is exalted. My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, for I rejoice in Your salvation.

¹⁰ Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

²⁶ so that Your name will be magnified forever when it is said, ‘The LORD of Hosts is God over Israel.’ And the house of Your servant David will be established before You.

³ My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence.

¹³ Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

² The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³ You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant:

¹⁷ For You are the glory of their strength, and by Your favor our horn is exalted.

²⁰ I have found My servant David; with My sacred oil I have anointed him. ²¹ My hand will sustain him; surely My arm will strengthen him. ²² No enemy will exact tribute; no wicked man will oppress him. ²³ I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him. ²⁴ My faithfulness and loving devotion will be with him, and through My name his horn will be exalted. ²⁵ I will set his hand over the sea, and his right hand upon the rivers. ²⁶ He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock of my salvation.’ ²⁷ I will indeed appoint him as My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. ²⁸ I will forever preserve My loving devotion for him, and My covenant with him will stand fast. ²⁹ I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure. ³⁰ If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments, ³¹ if they violate My statutes and fail to keep My commandments, ³² I will attend to their transgression with the rod, and to their iniquity with stripes. ³³ But I will not withdraw My loving devotion from him, nor ever betray My faithfulness. ³⁴ I will not violate My covenant or alter the utterance of My lips.

¹⁷ There I will make a horn grow for David; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one. ¹⁸ I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown upon him will gleam.”

¹ Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit. ² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD. ³ And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear, ⁴ but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips. ⁵ Righteousness will be the belt around His hips, and faithfulness the sash around His waist. ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and young lion and fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them. ⁷ The cow will graze with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest. ⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is full of water.

¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout for David a righteous Branch, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness. ¹⁷ For this is what the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, ¹⁸ nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.” ¹⁹ And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁰ “This is what the LORD says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night cease to occupy their appointed time, ²¹ then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant and with My ministers the Levites who are priests, so that David will not have a son to reign on his throne. ²² As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.” ²³ Moreover, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

¹⁰ “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest!”

² the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, ³ regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh,

¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”

¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.

⁵ Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

¹⁰ As for you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return to quiet and ease, with no one to make him afraid.

²⁴ Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. ²⁵ Know and understand this: From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of distress. ²⁶ Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed. ²⁷ And he will confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of the temple will come the abomination that causes desolation, until the decreed destruction is poured out upon him.”

³⁶ Speaking by the Holy Spirit, David himself declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’

²⁶ Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.

⁴⁴ Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”

²¹ Heaven must take Him in until the time comes for the restoration of all things, which God announced long ago through His holy prophets. ²² For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He tells you. ²³ Everyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off from among his people.’ ²⁴ Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have proclaimed these days.

²⁵ They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit was right when He spoke to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

² the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,

⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,

¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

¹⁰ So I fell at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who rely on the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

²⁹ Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”

¹⁰ He saved them from the hand that hated them; He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

⁴⁷ Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, that we may glory in Your praise.

¹ For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The foreigner will join them and unite with the house of Jacob. ² The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors. ³ On the day that the LORD gives you rest from your pain and torment, and from the hard labor into which you were forced,

²⁴ Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth, ²⁵ who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense, ²⁶ who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’

⁷ “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back. ⁸ In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer. ⁹ “For to Me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. ¹⁰ Though the mountains may be removed and the hills may be shaken, My loving devotion will not depart from you, and My covenant of peace will not be broken,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. ¹¹ “O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires. ¹² I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. ¹³ Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their prosperity. ¹⁴ In righteousness you will be established, far from oppression, for you will have no fear. Terror will be far removed, for it will not come near you. ¹⁵ If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you. ¹⁶ Behold, I have created the craftsman who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its task; and I have created the destroyer to wreak havoc. ¹⁷ No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.

⁶ In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

⁹ Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. ¹⁰ As for you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return to quiet and ease, with no one to make him afraid. ¹¹ For I am with you to save you, declares the LORD. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have scattered you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”

³⁷ I will surely gather My people from all the lands to which I have banished them in My furious anger and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them dwell in safety.

²⁶ And there they will dwell securely, build houses, and plant vineyards. They will dwell securely when I execute judgments against all those around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.’”

²⁵ I will make with them a covenant of peace and rid the land of wild animals, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest.

²⁸ They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not consume them. They will dwell securely, and no one will frighten them.

⁸ After a long time you will be summoned. In the latter years you will enter a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and all now dwell securely.

⁹ Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ¹⁰ And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be broken. Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

⁷⁴ deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear,

⁸ The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

⁴ “As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. ⁵ No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. ⁷ I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.” ⁹ God also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant—you and your descendants in the generations after you.

⁴² then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

⁴⁵ And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.

⁵ He provides food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever.

⁸ Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD.

⁶⁰ But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.

⁵⁴ He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful, ⁵⁵ as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”

²⁵ And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ ²⁶ When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

²⁸ Regarding the gospel, they are enemies on your account; but regarding election, they are loved on account of the patriarchs.

¹⁵ Brothers, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is ratified, cannot be canceled or amended.

¹³ When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself, ¹⁴ saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.” ¹⁵ And so Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise. ¹⁶ Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument. ¹⁷ So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath. ¹⁸ Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.

¹⁶ saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. ¹⁸ And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

⁷ The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father’s house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you so that you can take a wife for my son from there.

³ Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.

⁸ But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

¹² If you listen to these ordinances and keep them carefully, then the LORD your God will keep His covenant and the loving devotion that He swore to your fathers.

⁹ the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.

⁵ This was in order to establish the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is to this day.” “Amen, LORD,” I answered.

¹³ When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,

¹⁶ Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument. ¹⁷ So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath.

⁹ No lion will be there, and no vicious beast will go up on it. Such will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk upon it. ¹⁰ So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.

¹⁷ But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated, to ages everlasting.

¹³ Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their prosperity. ¹⁴ In righteousness you will be established, far from oppression, for you will have no fear. Terror will be far removed, for it will not come near you.

²¹ They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ²² No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit, nor plant for others to eat. For as is the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands. ²³ They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them. ²⁴ Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear. ²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the food of the serpent will be dust. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.

²⁵ I will make with them a covenant of peace and rid the land of wild animals, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. ²⁶ I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season—showers of blessing. ²⁷ The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and delivered them from the hands that enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not consume them. They will dwell securely, and no one will frighten them.

²⁸ Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, when I regather them to their own land, not leaving any of them behind after their exile among the nations. ²⁹ And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”

⁸ But I will camp around My house because of an army, because of those who march to and fro, and never again will an oppressor overrun My people, for now I keep watch with My own eyes.

⁷¹ salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,

²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life.

¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

² so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the LORD your God all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, and so that your days may be prolonged.

⁴⁴ He gave them the lands of the nations, that they might inherit the fruit of others’ labor, ⁴⁵ that they might keep His statutes and obey His laws. Hallelujah!

³³ “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. ³⁴ No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”

³⁹ I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them. ⁴⁰ I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from Me.

²⁴ For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land. ²⁵ I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.

⁴ For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love

¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

¹ Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. This is how you already live, so you should do so all the more.

⁷ For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness.

¹³ But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth.

⁹ He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.

¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

⁴ Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵ And it will be said of Zion: “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High Himself will establish her.”

⁵ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.

³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’”

⁹ What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’

⁵ Although Herod wanted to kill John, he was afraid of the people, because they regarded John as a prophet.

²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard John as a prophet.”

² As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.” ³ “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’”

³² But if we say, ‘From men’...” they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John truly was a prophet.

¹⁶ Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,

⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him. ⁵ Every valley shall be filled in, and every mountain and hill made low. The crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth. ⁶ And all humanity will see God’s salvation.’”

²⁷ This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’ ²⁸ I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John, yet even the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

²³ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet: “I am a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”

²⁷ He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

²⁴ Before the arrival of Jesus, John preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ As John was completing his course, he said, ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not that One. But He is coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

³⁴ No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”

³ “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’” ⁴ John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

³ He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

⁶ And all humanity will see God’s salvation.’”

⁴⁷ Therefore I tell you, because her many sins have been forgiven, she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ But those at the table began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ And Jesus told the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

⁷ He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. ⁹ The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world.

¹⁵ John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’” ¹⁶ From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

²⁷ John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.’ ²⁹ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰ He must increase; I must decrease. ³¹ The One who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The One who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He testifies to what He has seen and heard, yet no one accepts His testimony. ³³ Whoever accepts His testimony has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴ For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

³¹ God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior, in order to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

⁴³ All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”

³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. ³⁹ Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

⁴ Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

²⁵ God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

⁶ And David speaks likewise of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: ⁷ “Blessed are they whose lawless acts are forgiven, whose sins are covered. ⁸ Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

¹⁷ I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and strike down all the sons of Sheth.

⁶ Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion, for they are from age to age.

¹ Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

⁷ I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion and His praiseworthy acts, because of all that the LORD has done for us—the many good things for the house of Israel according to His great compassion and loving devotion.

¹⁵ Look down from heaven and see, from Your holy and glorious habitation. Where are Your zeal and might? Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained.

⁸ Hear now, O high priest Joshua, you and your companions seated before you, who are indeed a sign. For behold, I am going to bring My servant, the Branch.

¹² And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Here is a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build the temple of the LORD.

² “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

⁴ But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!

¹⁴ So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

⁸ God is my witness how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,

¹² Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

¹⁹ We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

¹⁷ If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?

⁹ This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

⁵ May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it; may the blackness of the day overwhelm it.

²² to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

⁸ Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He shows sinners the way. ⁹ He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way. ¹⁰ All the LORD’s ways are loving and faithful to those who keep His covenant and His decrees.

¹² Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the path chosen for him.

¹⁹ But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals; You have covered us with deepest darkness.

¹⁰ Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together; righteousness and peace have kissed. ¹¹ Faithfulness sprouts from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. ¹² The LORD will indeed provide what is good, and our land will yield its increase. ¹³ Righteousness will go before Him to prepare the way for His steps.

¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and chains,

¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke away their chains.

¹⁷ All her ways are pleasant, and all her paths are peaceful.

²⁰ I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,

² The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.

⁷ to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.

¹⁶ I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.

¹⁷ Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who directs you in the way you should go.

²² “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

⁹ to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.

¹⁹ bringing praise to their lips. Peace, peace to those far and near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal them.” ²⁰ But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck. ²¹ “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

⁸ The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace.

¹ Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. ² For behold, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear over you. ³ Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

⁶ They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’

¹⁶ This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’

¹⁶ the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.”

²⁸ Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”

⁹ The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world.

¹² Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.

¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.”

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

⁴ But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief. ⁵ For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

⁵ And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

¹⁹ And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. ²⁰ So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.

¹ In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea

⁷ As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

³¹ I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.”