Luke 2 Cross References - BSB

¹ Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire. ² This was the first census to take place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ And everyone went to his own town to register. 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. 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. ⁸ And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. 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: ¹¹ Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! ¹² And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!” ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ After they had seen the Child, they spread the message they had received about Him. ¹⁸ And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as the angel had told them. 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. ²² And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer the sacrifice specified in the Law of the Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” ²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ Led by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him what was customary under the Law, ²⁸ Simeon took Him in his arms and blessed God, saying: ²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You now dismiss Your servant in peace. ³⁰ For my eyes have seen Your salvation, ³¹ which You have prepared in the sight of all people, ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.” ³³ The Child’s father and mother were amazed at what was spoken about Him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary: “Behold, this Child is appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your soul as well.” ³⁶ There was also a prophetess named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was well along in years. She had been married for seven years, ³⁷ and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 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. ³⁹ When Jesus’ parents had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him. ⁴¹ Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the Feast. ⁴³ When those days were over and they were returning home, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were unaware He had stayed. ⁴⁴ Assuming He was in their company, they traveled on for a day before they began to look for Him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they could not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for Him. ⁴⁶ Finally, after three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers. ⁴⁸ When His parents saw Him, they were astonished. “Child, why have You done this to us?” His mother asked. “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.” ⁴⁹ “Why were you looking for Me?” He asked. “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand the statement He was making to them. 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. ⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

¹⁷ So tell us what You think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

⁹ And truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

¹ In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

²⁸ One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. (This happened under Claudius.)

¹¹ If, however, I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if there is no truth to their accusations against me, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

²¹ But when Paul appealed to be held over for the decision of the Emperor, I ordered that he be held until I could send him to Caesar.”

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being proclaimed all over the world.

²² All the saints send you greetings, especially those from the household of Caesar.

²⁴ News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed—and He healed them.

³⁷ After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and drew away people after him. He too perished, and all his followers were scattered.

⁷ an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, a man of intelligence, summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.

¹² While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews coordinated an attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat.

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

³⁰ Then the king and the governor rose, along with Bernice and those seated with them.

¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

⁷ Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

¹⁹ So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred because of them, and the women of the city exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

⁴ Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “The LORD be with you.” “The LORD bless you,” they replied.

¹¹ “We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.

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.

²¹ Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed, ²² Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.

¹ Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.”

⁴ So Samuel did what the LORD had said and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?”

¹² Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah who had eight sons in the days of Saul. And Jesse was old and well along in years.

⁵⁸ “Whose son are you, young man?” asked Saul. “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David replied.

⁶ If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David urgently requested my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because there is an annual sacrifice for his whole clan.’

² But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.

¹ This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham: ² Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. ³ Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. ⁴ Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. ⁵ Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse the father of David the king. Next: David was the father of Solomon by Uriah’s wife, ⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. ⁸ Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah. ⁹ Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. ¹⁰ Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, ¹¹ and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. ¹² After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, ¹³ Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor. ¹⁴ Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud. ¹⁵ Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, ¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. ¹⁷ In all, then, there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.

¹ After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, ² asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” ³ When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ⁶ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”

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.”

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.

²³ Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry. He was regarded as the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

¹⁶ Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read,

⁴⁶ “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.

⁴² Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Christ will come from the line of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”

²² If a man is found lying with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. ²³ If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her, ²⁴ you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you must purge the evil from among you. ²⁵ But if the man encounters a betrothed woman in the open country, and he overpowers her and lies with her, only the man who has done this must die. ²⁶ Do nothing to the young woman, because she has committed no sin worthy of death. This case is just like one in which a man attacks his neighbor and murders him. ²⁷ When he found her in the field, the betrothed woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.

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. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and was unwilling to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly.

¹¹ The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.

²¹ Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.

⁵⁷ When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son.

¹ And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ² She was pregnant and crying out in the pain and agony of giving birth. ³ Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads. ⁴ His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth. ⁵ And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

²⁷ At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack.

²¹ But when we came to the place we lodged for the night, we opened our sacks and, behold, each of us found his silver in the mouth of his sack! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us.

²⁴ Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.

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.

² He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him. ³ He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

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

²⁰ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

⁵⁵ “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

¹¹ Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! ¹² And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

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

³⁹ I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night. ⁴⁰ As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

¹ Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed.

³⁴ David replied, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it down, and delivered the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it.

⁷⁰ He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds; ⁷¹ from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.

⁸ ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because My flock lacks a shepherd and has become prey and food for every wild beast, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but fed themselves instead,

⁸ All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness. ¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock.

⁷ and in the morning you will see the LORD’s glory, because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we that you should grumble against us?”

¹⁰ And as Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the desert, and there in a cloud the glory of the LORD appeared.

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

¹¹ Then the angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² And the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

¹¹ so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

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.” ⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. ⁵ Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

² It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.

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.”

¹ Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

²³ So I got up and went out to the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD was present there, like the glory I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell facedown.

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.

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.

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

⁴ While they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in radiant apparel stood beside them.

⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him.

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

⁷ Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists.

⁶ About noon as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ ⁸ ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied. ⁹ My companions saw the light, but they could not understand the voice of the One speaking to me.

¹³ About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

²³ For just last night an angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, stood beside me

¹⁸ And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

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.

²¹ The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

¹ After this I saw another angel descending from heaven with great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory.

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.

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.”

¹ For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song. May God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah ² that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.

² The LORD has proclaimed His salvation and revealed His righteousness to the nations. 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.

⁹ Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”

²⁷ I was the first to tell Zion: ‘Look, here they are!’ And I gave to Jerusalem a herald of good news.

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.”

⁷ How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

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.

¹ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,

¹¹ He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man who is highly precious. Consider carefully the words that I am about to say to you. Stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had said this to me, I stood up trembling. 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.

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.”

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.

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.

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

¹⁵ “The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”

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.

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.

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

³¹ which You have prepared in the sight of all people, ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”

¹ Soon afterward, Jesus traveled from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with Him,

⁴⁷ and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

³² And now we proclaim to you the good news: What God promised our fathers

¹⁵ And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

⁹ so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to Your name.” ¹⁰ Again, it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.” ¹¹ And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and extol Him, all you peoples.” ¹² And once more, Isaiah says: “The Root of Jesse will appear, One who will arise to rule over the Gentiles; in Him the Gentiles will put their hope.”

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,

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.

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, ¹⁸ the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.

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.”

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.

² The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One:

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.

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.

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

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.”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

²⁰ Then He admonished the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.

⁴³ And why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David,

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.

²⁶ The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

⁴¹ Then Jesus declared, “How can it be said that the Christ is the Son of David? 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?”

⁴¹ He first found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated as Christ).

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.”

⁴² They said to the woman, “We now believe not only because of your words; we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man truly is the Savior of the world.”

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

²⁵ Then some of the people of Jerusalem began to say, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? ²⁶ Yet here He is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying anything to Him. Have the rulers truly recognized that this is the Christ? ²⁷ But we know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.”

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

²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she answered, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

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.

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

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

³⁶ He has sent this message to the people of Israel, proclaiming the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

³ explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he declared.

⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.

⁴ But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.

¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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

⁶ Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him,

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. ¹⁰ And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel,

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

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 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.

¹ Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him.

¹² “I will surely be with you,” God said, “and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship God on this mountain.”

³⁴ And this sign shall come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: They will both die on the same day.

² When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’ ³ Then you will go on from there until you come to the Oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. ⁴ They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands. ⁵ After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying. ⁶ Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person. ⁷ When these signs have come, do as the occasion demands, for God is with you.

²⁹ And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

⁸ Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?”

¹¹ “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”

¹ Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? ² He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.

¹² And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.

¹ Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ² When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God.” So he named that place Mahanaim.

¹⁹ Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.

⁷ while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

¹⁷ The chariots of God are tens of thousands—thousands of thousands are they; the Lord is in His sanctuary as He was at Sinai.

²⁰ Bless the LORD, all His angels mighty in strength who carry out His word, who hearken to the voice of His command. ²¹ Bless the LORD, all His hosts, you servants who do His will.

² Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.

² Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 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.”

¹² Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me: ‘Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His dwelling place!’

¹⁰ A river of fire was flowing, coming out from His presence. Thousands upon thousands attended Him, and myriads upon myriads stood before Him. The court was convened, and the books were opened.

¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

¹⁰ His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,

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

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.

¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.

³⁴ Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them. ³⁵ For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it.

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

¹¹ Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea resound, and all that fills it. ¹² Let the fields exult, and all that is in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy ¹³ before the LORD, for He is coming—He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.

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.

²³ Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O depths of the earth. Break forth in song, O mountains, you forests and all your trees. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and revealed His glory in Israel.

¹³ Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; break forth in song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

¹⁹ bringing praise to their lips. Peace, peace to those far and near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal them.”

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.

⁵ And He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land and tramples our citadels. We will raise against it seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men.

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. ¹³ Yes, He will build the temple of the LORD; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. And He will be a priest on His throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between the two.’

⁹ The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”

⁷⁹ to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

²² and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

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

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.

²⁷ Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.

⁴ I have glorified You on earth by accomplishing the work You gave Me to do.

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.

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

⁹ And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ

⁴ But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

⁷ in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace ¹⁶ and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He extinguished their hostility. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

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, ²¹ to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

¹³ For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.

²⁰ and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope,

²⁰ Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹ equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

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.

¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!”

³ So Moses thought, “I must go over and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burning up?”

¹ Shortly before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal,

¹¹ As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.

² Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them.

¹ After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, ² asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great delight. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

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.

⁵¹ While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven.

¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she said, “and we do not know where they have put Him!” ³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out for the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down and looked in at the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Simon Peter arrived just after him. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. ⁷ The cloth that had been around Jesus’ head was rolled up, lying separate from the linen cloths. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. And he saw and believed. ⁹ For they still did not understand from the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes.

²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.

¹⁰ Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

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

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.

¹² And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

³² So those who were sent went out and found it just as Jesus had told them.

¹³ So they went and found it just as Jesus had told them. And they prepared the Passover.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell securely. ¹⁰ For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.

¹⁶ Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for me.

¹⁷ O God, You have taught me from my youth, and to this day I proclaim Your marvelous deeds. ¹⁸ Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

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.

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.

³⁹ “Return home and describe how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and proclaimed all over the town how much Jesus had done for him.

⁴¹ He first found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated as Christ). ⁴² Andrew brought him to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated as Peter). ⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to set out for Galilee. Finding Philip, He told him, “Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the same town as Andrew and Peter. 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.

²⁸ Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

¹⁸ Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

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.

³³ The Child’s father and mother were amazed at what was spoken about Him.

⁴⁷ And all who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers.

³⁶ All the people were overcome with amazement and asked one another, “What is this message? With authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

⁹ For he and his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, ¹⁰ and so were his partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus said to Simon. “From now on you will catch men.”

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

¹² Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

⁴ he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live.

⁹ Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.

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.

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.

⁴³ And they were all astonished at the greatness of God. While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus was doing, He said to His disciples, ⁴⁴ “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”

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. ¹¹ Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. 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.

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

⁸ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.

¹⁵ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.

²¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.

¹⁹ The humble will increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

⁸ When the crowds saw this, they were filled with awe and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

⁴³ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, glorifying God. And all the people who saw this gave praise to God.

³⁷ And as He approached the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began to praise God joyfully in a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen: ³⁸ “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

⁴⁶ With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

¹⁸ When they heard this, their objections were put to rest, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

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

¹⁵ “Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him.

³¹ Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.

⁵⁹ On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him after his father Zechariah.

⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.

¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, ² “Say to the Israelites, ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be unclean for seven days, as she is during the days of her menstruation. ³ And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised. ⁴ The woman shall continue in purification from her bleeding for thirty-three days. She must not touch anything sacred or go into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are complete. ⁵ If, however, she gives birth to a daughter, the woman will be unclean for two weeks as she is during her menstruation. Then she must continue in purification from her bleeding for sixty-six days. ⁶ When the days of her purification are complete, whether for a son or for a daughter, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. ⁷ And the priest will present them before the LORD and make atonement for her; and she shall be ceremonially cleansed from her flow of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or to a female. ⁸ But if she cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. Then the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”

² “Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”

¹² you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD. ¹³ You must redeem every firstborn donkey with a lamb, and if you do not redeem it, you are to break its neck. And every firstborn of your sons you must redeem. ¹⁴ In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹⁵ And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of man and beast. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb, but I redeem all the firstborn of my sons.’

²⁹ You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.

¹⁹ The first offspring of every womb belongs to Me, including all the firstborn males among your livestock, whether cattle or sheep.

¹³ for all the firstborn are Mine. On the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They are Mine; I am the LORD.”

¹⁶ For the Levites have been wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself in place of all who come first from the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. ¹⁷ For every firstborn male in Israel is Mine, both man and beast. I set them apart for Myself on the day I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.

¹⁵ The firstborn of every womb, whether man or beast, that is offered to the LORD belongs to you. But you must surely redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.

² “Say to the Israelites, ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be unclean for seven days, as she is during the days of her menstruation.

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

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.

²⁹ But Moses replied, “Are you jealous on my account? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would place His Spirit on them!”

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.”

⁹ And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

¹ “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.

²² My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.” ²³ The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den, and when Daniel was lifted out of the den, no wounds whatsoever were found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent Council member who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God, boldly went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.

⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.

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

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

⁵¹ who had not consented to their decision or action. He was from the Judean town of Arimathea, and was waiting for the kingdom of God.

² He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly.

²² “Cornelius the centurion has sent us,” they said. “He is a righteous and God-fearing man with a good reputation among the whole Jewish nation. A holy angel instructed him to request your presence in his home so he could hear a message from you.”

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

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.

⁶ “I have installed My King on Zion, upon My holy mountain.”

¹⁴ The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

⁴⁸ What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah ⁴⁹ Where, O Lord, is Your loving devotion of old, which You faithfully swore to David?

⁷ Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.

²⁷ But I tell you truthfully, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

⁵¹ Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”

²⁰ Saul promptly began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, declaring, “He is the Son of God.”

³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.

⁸ But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom. ⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.”

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.

¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

²² And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

⁴¹ Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.

⁴⁸ When His parents saw Him, they were astonished. “Child, why have You done this to us?” His mother asked. “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”

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

²⁹ The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that chariot and stay by it.”

¹⁹ As Peter continued to reflect on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

¹² The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s home.

⁷ And when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them.

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

³ And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.

¹¹ Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous ones; shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the nations. ² Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonders. ³ Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

¹⁹ O house of Israel, bless the LORD; O house of Aaron, bless the LORD; ²⁰ O house of Levi, bless the LORD; you who fear the LORD, bless the LORD!

³⁶ Then He had a little child stand among them. Taking the child in His arms, He said to them,

¹⁶ And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them, and blessed them.

⁴⁶ Then Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁶⁴ Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak, praising God.

⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.

¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!”

²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as the angel had told them.

¹⁵ You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.

³⁰ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Finally I can die, now that I have seen your face and know that you are still alive!”

³⁷ Consider the blameless and observe the upright, for posterity awaits the man of peace.

¹ The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are swept away, while no one considers that the righteous are guided from the presence of evil. ² Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest, lying down in death.

²³ I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them.”

¹⁸ I await Your salvation, O LORD.

¹ These are the last words of David: “The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man raised on high, the one anointed by the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel: ² The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; His word was on my tongue. ³ The God of Israel spoke; the Rock of Israel said to me, ‘He who rules the people with justice, who rules in the fear of God, ⁴ is like the light of the morning at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, the glistening after the rain on the sprouting grass of the earth.’ ⁵ Is not my house right with God? For He has established with me an everlasting covenant, ordered and secured in every part. Will He not bring about my full salvation and my every desire?

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

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

¹⁰ then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ ¹² Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

¹ Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. ² Sing to the LORD, bless His name; proclaim His salvation day after day. ³ Declare His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all peoples.

¹⁰ Declare among the nations: “The LORD reigns!” The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.

⁶ The heavens proclaim His righteousness; all the peoples see His glory. ⁷ All worshipers of images are put to shame—those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods! ⁸ Zion hears and rejoices, and the towns of Judah exult because of Your judgments, O LORD.

¹ “Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations. ² He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the streets. ³ A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. ⁴ He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”

¹⁰ Sing to the LORD a new song—His praise from the ends of the earth—you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who dwell in them. ¹¹ Let the desert and its cities raise their voices; let the villages of Kedar cry aloud. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them cry out from the mountaintops. ¹² Let them give glory to the LORD and declare His praise in the islands.

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. ²³ By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance. ²⁴ Surely they will say of Me, ‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’” All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame. ²⁵ In the LORD all descendants of Israel will be justified and will exult.

¹ For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still, until her righteousness shines like a bright light, her salvation like a blazing torch. ² Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.

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

² On that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors.

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.

⁶ “I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations, 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.

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

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.

¹⁹ No longer will the sun be your light by day, nor the brightness of the moon shine on your night; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your splendor.

¹¹ Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.

⁵ For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within 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.”

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:

⁴⁷ For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” ⁴⁸ When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

²³ that the Christ would suffer, and as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁸ Be advised, therefore, that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!”

⁸ For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs, ⁹ so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to Your name.”

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

²³ And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.

¹⁹ and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

⁷ Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

⁴³ And Moses inspected all the work and saw that they had accomplished it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them.

²² Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having made the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, he stepped down. ²³ Moses and Aaron then entered the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. ⁷ All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads: ⁸ “He trusts in the LORD, let the LORD deliver him; let the LORD rescue him, since He delights in him.”

⁹ because zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me. ¹⁰ I wept and fasted, but it brought me reproach. ¹¹ I made sackcloth my clothing, and I was sport to them. ¹² Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.

¹⁴ And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare. ¹⁵ Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be ensnared and captured.”

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.”

⁴⁶ While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to Him.

⁴⁴ He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

⁶⁵ At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “He has blasphemed! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. ⁶⁶ What do you think?” “He deserves to die,” they answered. ⁶⁷ Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him

⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” ⁴¹ In the same way, the chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked Him, saying, ⁴² “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. ⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ In the same way, even the robbers who were crucified with Him berated Him. ⁴⁵ From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.

⁶³ “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’

²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

¹⁸ Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

⁴⁸ The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right to say that You are a Samaritan and You have a demon?” ⁴⁹ “I do not have a demon,” Jesus replied, “but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰ I do not seek My own glory. There is One who seeks it, and He is the Judge. ⁵¹ Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.” ⁵² “Now we know that You have a demon!” declared the Jews. “Abraham died, and so did the prophets, yet You say that anyone who keeps Your word will never taste death.

²⁴ So a second time they called for the man who had been blind and said, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He answered, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. There is one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see!” ²⁶ “What did He do to you?” they asked. “How did He open your eyes?” ²⁷ He replied, “I already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?” ²⁸ Then they heaped insults on him and said, “You are His disciple; we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.”

³⁶ Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!” ³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 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. ³⁹ This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.” ⁴⁰ With many other words he testified, and he urged them, “Be saved from this corrupt generation.” ⁴¹ Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day.

¹⁵ You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact. ¹⁶ By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know has been made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given him this complete healing in your presence. ¹⁷ And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. ¹⁸ But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer. ¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

²⁶ The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.’

⁷ So the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew rapidly, and a great number of priests became obedient to the faith.

¹ Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He approached the high priest ² and requested letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³ As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” ⁵ “Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” ⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless. They heard the voice but did not see anyone. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could not see a thing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he was without sight, and he did not eat or drink anything. ¹⁰ In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Here I am, Lord,” he answered. ¹¹ “Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹² In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” ¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And now he is here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.” ¹⁵ “Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel. ¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” ¹⁷ So Ananias went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Saul. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ At that instant, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and his sight was restored. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength. And he spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰ Saul promptly began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, declaring, “He is the Son of God.”

⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.

⁶ But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here,

⁵ We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,

²² But we consider your views worth hearing, because we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”

³² Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

¹⁵ For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?

¹ This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

⁷ And indisputably, the lesser is blessed by the greater.

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. 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. ³ Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

⁷ To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” ⁸ and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

¹⁴ If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

² Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.

¹⁵ The princes of Issachar were with Deborah, and Issachar was with Barak, rushing into the valley at his heels. In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision. ¹⁶ Why did you sit among the sheepfolds to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision.

¹⁰ Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons.” ²⁵ Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶ If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. ²⁸ But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²⁹ Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. ³⁰ He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. ³¹ Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. ³² Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come. ³³ Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. ³⁵ The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.

¹⁴ The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus. 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.

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on My own, but He sent Me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me! ⁴⁶ Which of you can prove Me guilty of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother and her sister, as well as Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene.

²¹ You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent, therefore, of your wickedness, and pray to the Lord. Perhaps He will forgive you for the intent of your heart. ²³ For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and captive to iniquity.”

¹⁹ And indeed, there must be differences among you to show which of you are approved.

¹⁹ They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.

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

²⁰ Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.

⁴ Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.

²⁶ You will come to the grave in full vigor, like a sheaf of grain gathered in season.

¹⁴ In old age they will still bear fruit; healthy and green they will remain,

¹⁸ Even on My menservants and maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

⁹ He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

¹ Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.

⁶ from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

⁸ Next he made the bronze basin and its stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

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

² I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest.

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

⁴ One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.

⁴ How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah

¹⁰ For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹³ Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

¹ Hallelujah! Praise the name of the LORD. Give praise, O servants of the LORD, ² who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God.

³³ Then they said to Him, “John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees frequently fast and pray, but Yours keep on eating and drinking.”

³ And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

²³ Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.

⁷ the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to realize as they earnestly serve God day and night. It is because of this hope, O king, that I am accused by the Jews.

⁵ The widow who is truly in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers.

¹² The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.

¹⁵ For this reason, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.

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.

⁶⁴ Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak, praising God.

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

²⁸ Simeon took Him in his arms and blessed God, saying: ²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You now dismiss Your servant in peace. ³⁰ For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

²¹ But we were hoping He was the One who would redeem Israel. And besides all this, it is the third day since these things took place.

¹⁵ Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

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.

³² See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.

²² But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 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.”

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. ²² And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer the sacrifice specified in the Law of the Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

²⁴ So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.

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

²⁶ And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with man.

¹⁹ And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

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

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

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.

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.

⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

³³ With great power the apostles continued to give their testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And abundant grace was upon them all.

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

² that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

¹ You therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴ And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come.

¹⁴ Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me. ¹⁵ You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed. ¹⁶ You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field. ¹⁷ Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.

²³ Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.

⁵ The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.

¹⁶ The fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover.

⁵ Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go. ⁶ To that place you are to bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks. ⁷ There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you.

¹¹ then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD.

¹⁸ Instead, you must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in all you do,

¹ Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. ² You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name. ³ You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt. ⁴ No leaven is to be found in all your land for seven days, and none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day shall remain until morning. ⁵ You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns that the LORD your God is giving you. ⁶ You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt. ⁷ And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents. ⁸ For six days you must eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day you shall hold a solemn assembly to the LORD your God, and you must not do any work.

¹⁶ Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.

³ Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD.

²¹ Then Elkanah and all his house went up to make the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow,

¹³ When the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

⁴ Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover was near.

⁵⁵ Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover.

¹ It was now just before the Passover Feast, and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end.

¹⁵ For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.

¹⁷ Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent word to the king of Israel Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. “Come, let us meet face to face,” he said.

²¹ The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and priests praised the LORD day after day, accompanied by loud instruments of praise to the LORD. ²² And Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who performed skillfully before the LORD. For seven days they ate their assigned portion, sacrificing fellowship offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers. ²³ The whole assembly agreed to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy.

⁴ These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise.

¹ A song of ascents. Of David. I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.” ² Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. ³ Jerusalem is built up as a city united together, ⁴ where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.

³ And many peoples will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

⁵ Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then return to me.” So the people departed.

¹² After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.”

¹ Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me. ² He made My mouth like a sharp sword; He hid Me in the shadow of His hand. He made Me like a polished arrow; He hid Me in His quiver.

⁴ The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

⁶³ “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ ⁶⁴ So give the order that the tomb be secured until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal Him away and tell the people He has risen from the dead. And this last deception would be worse than the first.”

⁴⁴ Assuming He was in their company, they traveled on for a day before they began to look for Him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they could not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for Him.

¹⁷ One day Jesus was teaching, and the Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. People had come from Jerusalem and from every village of Galilee and Judea, and the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick.

³⁴ But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a short time.

⁹⁹ I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation.

²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at His teaching,

²² The people were astonished at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

²² All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.

³² They were astonished at His teaching, because His message had authority.

¹⁵ The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man attain such learning without having studied?”

⁴⁶ “Never has anyone spoken like this man!” the officers answered.

⁴⁹ “Why were you looking for Me?” He asked. “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

²³ Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry. He was regarded as the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,

⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”

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.

¹² Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.

¹⁶ To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.”

³⁴ Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.

¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”

³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.

²⁹ He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.”

⁴ While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

³² But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.

⁴⁵ But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.

³⁴ But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.

²⁸ Thus ends the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and my face turned pale. But I kept the matter to myself.”

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.

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

³⁹ When Jesus’ parents had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

¹ Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ² “Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise),

²¹ For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps:

³ Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man.

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

⁹ Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

¹⁸ For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.