Luke 6 Cross References - BSB

¹ One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them. ² But some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” ³ Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He entered the house of God, took the consecrated bread and gave it to his companions, and ate what is lawful only for the priests to eat.” ⁵ Then Jesus declared, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” ⁶ On another Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. ⁸ But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand among us.” So he got up and stood there. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ And after looking around at all of them, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and it was restored. ¹¹ But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus. ¹² In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God. ¹³ When daylight came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated as apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alphaeus and Simon called the Zealot; ¹⁶ Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. ¹⁷ Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples was there, along with a great number of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon. ¹⁸ They had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases, and those troubled by unclean spirits were healed. ¹⁹ The entire crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all. ²⁰ Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ²² Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. ²³ Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way. ²⁴ But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. ²⁵ Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. ²⁶ Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way. ²⁷ But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you. ³² If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. ³⁷ Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” ³⁹ Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰ A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. ⁴¹ Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. ⁴³ No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴ For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor grapes from brambles. ⁴⁵ The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. ⁴⁶ Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say? ⁴⁷ I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them: ⁴⁸ He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—and great was its destruction!”

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.

⁷ On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any regular work.

¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest. ¹¹ And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD so that it may be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.

¹⁵ From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you are to count off seven full weeks.

⁹ You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.

²⁵ When you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.

¹ At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” ³ Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for them to eat, but only for the priests. ⁵ Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are innocent? ⁶ But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. ⁷ If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

²³ One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain as they walked along. ²⁴ So the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ Jesus replied, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? ²⁶ During the high priesthood of Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests. And he gave some to his companions as well.” ²⁷ Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

¹⁰ If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal to be cared for by his neighbor, but it dies or is injured or stolen while no one is watching,

¹⁵ For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.

² For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on that day must be put to death.

³² While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. ³³ Those who found the man gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation, ³⁴ and because it had not been declared what should be done to him, they placed him in custody. ³⁵ And the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death. The whole congregation is to stone him outside the camp.”

¹³ If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,

² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

² “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.”

²³ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

²⁴ So the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

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.”

⁷ Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. ⁸ But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand among us.” So he got up and stood there. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

⁹ Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk. Now this happened on the Sabbath day, ¹⁰ so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.” ¹¹ But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

¹⁶ Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him.

¹⁴ Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath. ¹⁵ So the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. The man answered, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.” ¹⁶ Because of this, some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was division among them.

³ Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” ⁴ “There is no common bread on hand,” the priest replied, “but there is some consecrated bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.” ⁵ David answered, “Women have indeed been kept from us, as is usual when I set out. And the equipment of the young men is holy, as it is even on common missions, and all the more at this time.” ⁶ So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there but the Bread of the Presence, which had been removed from before the LORD and replaced with hot bread on the day it was taken away.

³ Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for them to eat, but only for the priests. ⁵ Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are innocent?

⁴ Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

¹⁶ “Do You hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

³¹ But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you:

²⁵ Jesus replied, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? ²⁶ During the high priesthood of Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests. And he gave some to his companions as well.”

¹⁰ Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

²⁶ But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

⁵ You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf, ⁶ and set them in two rows—six per row—on the table of pure gold before the LORD. ⁷ And you are to place pure frankincense near each row, so that it may serve as a memorial portion for the bread, an offering made by fire to the LORD. ⁸ Every Sabbath day the bread is to be set out before the LORD on behalf of the Israelites as a permanent covenant. ⁹ It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place; for it is to him a most holy part of the offerings made by fire to the LORD—his portion forever.”

⁵ The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. ⁶ Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.” ⁷ As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind? ⁸ Otherwise, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothing are found in kings’ palaces.

²⁷ Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

⁷ Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him!”

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

⁴ Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back.

¹⁷ Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”

²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

⁹ Moving on from there, Jesus entered their synagogue, ¹⁰ and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ¹¹ He replied, “If one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full use, just like the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

¹ Once again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there. ² In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. ³ Then Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, “Stand up among us.” ⁴ And He asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” But they were silent. ⁵ Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored. ⁶ At this, the Pharisees went out and began plotting with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

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,

³¹ Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath He began to teach the people.

¹ One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them.

¹⁰ One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,

¹³ Then He placed His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and began to glorify God. ¹⁴ But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on the Sabbath.”

³ So Jesus asked the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”

³ On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.

¹⁶ Because of this, some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was division among them.

³² Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them, ³³ the LORD will not leave them in their power or let them be condemned under judgment.

¹² Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long.

²¹ those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.

¹⁰ For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”

⁵⁹ Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking false testimony against Jesus in order to put Him to death. ⁶⁰ But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward

² In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.

⁵³ As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things, ⁵⁴ waiting to catch Him in something He might say.

¹⁴ But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on the Sabbath.”

¹ One Sabbath, Jesus went to eat in the home of a leading Pharisee, and those in attendance were watching Him closely. ² Right there before Him was a man with dropsy. ³ So Jesus asked the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” ⁴ But they remained silent. Then Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. ⁵ And He asked them, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?” ⁶ And they were unable to answer these questions.

²⁰ So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor.

¹⁰ so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.” ¹¹ But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” ¹² “Who is this man who told you to pick it up and walk?” they asked. ¹³ But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there. ¹⁴ Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ And the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ¹⁶ Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him.

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.”

⁹ As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

¹⁷ I know, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness. All these things I have given willingly and with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You.

² “I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.

²¹ would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?

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.”

⁴ But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why do you harbor evil in your hearts?

²² Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus replied, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?

²⁵ He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.

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

¹⁷ Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.

²⁴ But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

²⁶ For the king knows about these matters, and I can speak freely to him. I am confident that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.

²⁸ without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a clear sign of their destruction but of your salvation, and it is from God.

¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

¹ Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin.

²³ Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

¹² How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full use, just like the other.

⁴ And He asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” But they were silent.

⁵⁶ And He and His disciples went on to another village.

¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps it. Why are you trying to kill Me?” ²⁰ “You have a demon,” the crowd replied. “Who is trying to kill You?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. ²² But because Moses gave you circumcision, you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath (not that it is from Moses, but from the patriarchs.) ²³ If a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, why are you angry with Me for making the whole man well on the Sabbath?

⁶ Furthermore, the LORD said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, white as snow. ⁷ “Put your hand back inside your cloak,” said the LORD. So Moses put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his skin.

⁶ Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him as it was before.

²⁰ He sent forth His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit.

⁵ Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.

⁸ Then Jesus told him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”

¹ Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? ² The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One:

³ This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.

¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. ¹⁵ Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them all,

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they knew that Jesus was speaking about them.

²⁸ On hearing this, all the people in the synagogue were enraged.

¹ After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jews there were trying to kill Him.

⁴⁷ Then the chief priests and Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs.

¹⁵ So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.

¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.

³³ When the Council members heard this, they were enraged, and they resolved to put the apostles to death.

⁵⁴ On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him.

¹¹ I frequently had them punished in the synagogues, and I tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

²⁴ So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

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

¹⁵ Let death seize them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is with them in their homes. ¹⁶ But I call to God, and the LORD saves me. ¹⁷ Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.

³ They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause. ⁴ In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.

¹⁰ Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

⁶ But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

²³ After He had sent them away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, ²⁴ but the boat was already far from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. ²⁵ During the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them, walking on the sea.

³⁵ Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray.

⁴⁶ After bidding them farewell, He went up on the mountain to pray.

³⁴ Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.” ³⁵ Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour would pass from Him. ³⁶ “Abba, Father,” He said, “all things are possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.”

² Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,

⁷ During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.

³⁶ When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

¹³ Then Jesus went up on the mountain and called for those He wanted, and they came to Him. ¹⁴ He appointed twelve of them, whom He designated as apostles, to accompany Him, to be sent out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have authority to drive out demons. ¹⁶ These are the twelve He appointed: Simon (whom He named Peter), ¹⁷ James son of Zebedee and his brother John (whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”), ¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

⁷ Then Jesus called the Twelve to Him and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits.

³⁰ Meanwhile, the apostles gathered around Jesus and brought Him news of all they had done and taught.

¹ Then Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and power to cure diseases. ² And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

⁴⁹ Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute.’

³⁰ so that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

¹³ When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

¹¹ And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

¹ Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. ² by recalling what was foretold by the holy prophets and commanded by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

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.

²⁰ Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.

¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁸ As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

²¹ Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them,

³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

¹⁹ Going on a little farther, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat, mending their nets.

²⁹ As soon as Jesus and His companions had left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.

³⁷ And He did not allow anyone to accompany Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.

² After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them.

³³ He took with Him Peter, James, and John, and began to be deeply troubled and distressed.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”

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.”

⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s testimony and followed Jesus. 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).

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.”

⁵ When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?”

⁸ One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,

⁸ Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.” ¹⁶ Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd My sheep.” ¹⁷ Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. ¹⁸ Truly, truly, I tell you, when you were young, you dressed yourself and walked where you wanted; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after He had said this, He told him, “Follow Me.” ²⁰ Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper to ask, “Lord, who is going to betray You?” ²¹ When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” ²² Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me!” ²³ Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. However, Jesus did not say that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you?” ²⁴ This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who has written them down. And we know that his testimony is true.

² He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.

¹ Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

⁹ As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.

³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

¹⁴ As He was walking along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.

¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot,

²⁷ After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him,

¹⁶ Then Thomas called Didymus said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

²⁴ Now Thomas called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.

¹³ When they had finished speaking, James declared, “Brothers, listen to me!

¹⁹ But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

⁹ And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.

¹ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve, the one called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ So from then on Judas looked for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

³ When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. ⁴ “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.” ⁵ So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

⁷⁰ Jesus answered them, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” ⁷¹ He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus.

²² Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, why are You going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?”

¹⁶ “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷ He was one of our number and shared in this ministry.” ¹⁸ (Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong and burst open in the middle, and all his intestines spilled out. ¹⁹ This became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so they called that field in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ²⁰ “For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘May another take his position.’

²⁵ to take up this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned to go to his rightful place.”

¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ:

³ He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,

¹⁷ Fools, in their rebellious ways, and through their iniquities, suffered affliction. ¹⁸ They loathed all food and drew near to the gates of death. ¹⁹ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress. ²⁰ He sent forth His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit.

²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 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. ²⁵ The large crowds that followed Him came from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

²¹ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

¹⁵ Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them all,

¹⁴ When He stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.

²¹ Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

⁷ So Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea, accompanied by a large crowd from Galilee, Judea, ⁸ Jerusalem, Idumea, the region beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to Him when they heard what great things He was doing. ⁹ Jesus asked His disciples to have a boat ready for Him so that the crowd would not crush Him. ¹⁰ For He had healed so many that all who had diseases were pressing forward to touch Him. ¹¹ And when the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” ¹² But He warned them sternly not to make Him known.

²⁴ Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre. Not wanting anyone to know He was there, He entered a house, but was unable to escape their notice. ²⁵ Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit soon heard about Jesus, and she came and fell at His feet. ²⁶ Now she was a Greek woman of Syrophoenician origin, and she kept asking Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ “First let the children have their fill,” He said. “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” ²⁸ “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹ Then Jesus told her, “Because of this answer, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ And she went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone. ³¹ Then Jesus left the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.

¹⁵ But the news about Jesus spread all the more, and great crowds came to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

¹² In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God.

²² And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”

¹⁵ “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.

¹⁶ Crowds also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were healed.

⁸ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.

²¹ Once, as the Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders, so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. And as soon as his body touched the bones of Elisha, the man was revived and stood up on his feet.

²⁰ Suddenly a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak. ²¹ She said to herself, “If only I touch His cloak, I will be healed.”

³⁶ and begged Him just to let them touch the fringe of His cloak. And all who touched Him were healed.

¹⁰ For He had healed so many that all who had diseases were pressing forward to touch Him.

³⁰ At once Jesus was aware that power had gone out from Him. Turning to the crowd, He asked, “Who touched My garments?”

⁵⁶ And wherever He went—villages and towns and countrysides—they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged Him just to let them touch the fringe of His cloak. And all who touched Him were healed.

²² When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch 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.

⁴⁵ “Who touched Me?” Jesus asked. But they all denied it. “Master,” said Peter, “the people are crowding and pressing against You.” ⁴⁶ But Jesus declared, “Someone touched Me, for I know that power has gone out from Me.”

¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.

¹⁵ As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. ¹⁶ Crowds also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were healed.

¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and the diseases and evil spirits left them.

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

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

¹⁶ Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many who are wicked.

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

¹⁹ It is better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud.

¹ Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a fool whose lips are perverse.

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

¹⁵ For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite. ¹⁶ For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me, with the breath of those I have made.

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

¹² But I will leave within you a meek and humble people, and they will trust in the name of the LORD.

¹¹ It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of the LORD.

² and He began to teach them, saying: ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ⁵ Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. ⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. ⁷ Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. ⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. ⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. ¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹ Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

⁵ The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

⁴⁹ Pointing to His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers. ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

³⁴ Looking at those seated in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.”

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,

²⁰ Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ²² Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. ²³ Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way. ²⁴ But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

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

²⁸ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out.

¹⁵ When one of those reclining with Him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is everyone who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

²⁵ But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

⁴⁸ “Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the law, they are under a curse.”

²² strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

²⁶ Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast in His presence.

²¹ Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours, ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All of them belong to you, ²³ and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

¹⁰ sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

² In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity.

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.

⁶ And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering.

⁵ All this is clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment. And so you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.

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

¹² Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?

⁹ I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.

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

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

⁶ I am weary from groaning; all night I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. ⁷ My eyes fail from grief; they grow dim because of all my foes. ⁸ Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard my weeping.

¹⁵ As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied in Your presence.

⁷ The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I give thanks to Him with my song.

¹¹ You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, ¹² that my heart may sing Your praises and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks forever.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God. ² My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence? ³ My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?”

¹ A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water. ² So I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and glory. ³ Because Your loving devotion is better than life, my lips will glorify You. ⁴ So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift my hands. ⁵ My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.

⁴ Blessed is the one You choose and bring near to dwell in Your courts! We are filled with the goodness of Your house, the holiness of Your temple.

⁹ For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

¹³⁶ My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.

¹ A song of ascents. When the LORD restored the captives of Zion, we were like dreamers. ² Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

⁵ Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. ⁶ He who goes out weeping, bearing a trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain.

⁶ I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah

² It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart. ³ Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart.

¹ In that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me. ² Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”

⁶ On this mountain the LORD of Hosts will prepare a banquet for all the peoples, a feast of aged wine, of choice meat, of finely aged wine.

¹⁹ O people in Zion who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious when you cry for help; when He hears, He will answer you.

³ For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring. ⁴ They will sprout among the grass like willows by flowing streams.

⁹ to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill. ¹⁰ They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. For He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.

¹ “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! ² Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

¹⁷ I was enraged by his sinful greed, so I struck him and hid My face in anger; yet he kept turning back to the desires of his heart. ¹⁸ I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,

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, ² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn, ³ to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

¹³ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. ¹⁴ My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit.

¹⁰ Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her, all who love her. Rejoice greatly with her, all who mourn over her,

¹ Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.

¹⁷ But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

⁹ They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”

¹³ Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow. ¹⁴ I will fill the souls of the priests abundantly, and will fill My people with My goodness,” declares the LORD.

¹⁸ I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God. ¹⁹ After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ ²⁰ Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.

²⁵ for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.”

¹⁶ The survivors will escape and live in the mountains, moaning like doves of the valley, each for his own iniquity.

⁴ “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

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

⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.

²⁵ Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

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

³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”

³⁵ Jesus wept.

²⁰ Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ²¹ A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

¹ I speak the truth in Christ; I am not lying, as confirmed by my conscience in the Holy Spirit. ² I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,

¹¹ To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.

⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. ⁵ For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. ⁶ If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience.

¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. ¹¹ Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

²⁷ in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.

¹⁰ That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴ Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials ⁷ so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

¹⁶ ‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’

³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.

⁵ They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.

⁵ You who tremble at His word, hear the word of the LORD: “Your brothers who hate you and exclude you because of My name have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified that we may see your joy!’ But they will be put to shame.”

¹⁸ On My account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.

²² You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

³⁹ Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

⁹ So be on your guard. You will be delivered over to the councils and beaten in the synagogues. On My account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. ¹⁰ And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations. ¹¹ But when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand what to say. Instead, speak whatever you are given at that time, for it will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. ¹² Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. ¹³ You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

¹⁵ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

¹⁷ And you will be hated by everyone because of My name.

⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil.

²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. ²³ That was why his parents said, “He is old enough. Ask him.” 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.

³⁴ They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.

⁴² Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue.

¹⁸ If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. ²⁰ Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. ²¹ But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me.

² They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

¹⁴ I have given them Your word and the world has hated them; for they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”

²² The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”

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,

¹⁰ We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored. ¹¹ To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.

²³ Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. ²⁶ In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,

²⁸ without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a clear sign of their destruction but of your salvation, and it is from God. ²⁹ For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him, ³⁰ since you are encountering the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

¹⁴ For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the very things they suffered from the Jews, ¹⁵ who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,

¹¹ my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹² Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

¹⁹ For if anyone endures the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, this is to be commended. ²⁰ How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.

¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.”

¹² Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory. ¹⁴ If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵ Indeed, none of you should suffer as a murderer or thief or wrongdoer, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶ But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear that name.

¹⁶ As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.

⁴ for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)

² So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like the lives of those you killed!”

¹⁰ “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”

¹⁴ “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”

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

⁸ The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.

²⁷ and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’”

³¹ He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”

¹⁶ But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.

²⁶ But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

⁶ Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.

³⁰ “I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.”

¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

¹ “Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

³⁵ But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them.

³¹ So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers. ³³ You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell? ³⁴ Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town. ³⁵ And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation. ³⁷ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!

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

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

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

⁸ He sprang to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and leaping and praising God.

⁴¹ The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

⁵¹ You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did. ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—

¹⁰ In a loud voice Paul called out, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk.

³ Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.

⁵ All this is clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment. And so you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶ After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷ and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels

¹² if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us;

⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

²⁶ He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward.

³² And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵ Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated. ³⁸ The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground. ³⁹ These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,

¹³ But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.

⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.

¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.

¹⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.

²⁶ And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations.

⁵ Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.

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.

⁷ The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.

⁷ Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? ⁸ Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes. ⁹ Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them. ¹⁰ Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry. ¹¹ They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about, ¹² singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute. ¹³ They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. ¹⁴ Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways. ¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

⁶ They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches. ⁷ No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.

¹⁶ Do not be amazed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases. ¹⁷ For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down. ¹⁸ Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—and men praise you when you prosper— ¹⁹ he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of day.

³ For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. ⁴ They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed. ⁵ They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men. ⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace; a garment of violence covers them. ⁷ From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild. ⁸ They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. ⁹ They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut across the earth. ¹⁰ So their people return to this place and drink up waters in abundance. ¹¹ The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?” ¹² Behold, these are the wicked—always carefree as they increase their wealth.

³² For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

⁴ Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God. ⁵ I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains. ⁶ Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.

¹ Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to your husbands, “Bring us more to drink.” ² The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness: “Behold, the days are coming when you will be taken away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. ³ You will go out through broken walls, each one straight ahead of her, and you will be cast out toward Harmon,” declares the LORD.

¹ Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes. ² Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to the great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours? ³ You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence. ⁴ You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. ⁵ You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments. ⁶ You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

⁹ The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the LORD of Hosts. And in this place I will provide peace, declares the LORD of Hosts.”

² So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

⁵ And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

¹⁶ When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ¹⁶ Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance. ¹⁷ So he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’ ²¹ This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

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

²³ But when the ruler heard this, he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy. ²⁴ Seeing the man’s sadness, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

¹⁷ Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.

⁶ But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?

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

⁶ Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup. ⁷ As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’ ⁸ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and grief and famine—and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

¹¹ with houses full of every good thing with which you did not fill them, with wells that you did not dig, and with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied, ¹² be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

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

⁵ the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary? ⁶ Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds, ⁷ he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’

¹¹ They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about, ¹² singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute. ¹³ They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.

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:

¹⁹ he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of day.

¹³ Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in sorrow.

⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.

² I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”

³ Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart.

⁶ For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

²¹ They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.

²⁰ They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.

³ Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see. ⁴ My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror.

⁷ The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan. ⁸ The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent. ⁹ They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume it. ¹⁰ The city of chaos is shattered; every house is closed to entry. ¹¹ In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land. ¹² The city is left in ruins; its gate is reduced to rubble.

⁷ These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments.

¹³ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.

⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. ⁵ At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing, ⁶ his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.

¹⁰ I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.

¹⁰ For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.

¹¹ But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. ¹² ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless. ¹³ Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

⁵³ And they laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead.

²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

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.

⁴ Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.

¹² I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. I am accustomed to any and every situation—to being filled and being hungry, to having plenty and having need. ¹³ I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

³ While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁹ Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

⁷ As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’ ⁸ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and grief and famine—and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” ⁹ Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. ¹⁰ In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” ¹¹ And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo—

⁶ So the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?” “Go up,” they replied, “and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.” ⁷ But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here of whom we can inquire?” ⁸ The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.

¹³ Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah instructed him, “Behold now, with one accord the words of the prophets are favorable to the king. So please let your words be like theirs, and speak favorably.” ¹⁴ But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever the LORD tells me.”

²⁴ Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went up, struck Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go when He departed from me to speak with you?” ²⁵ Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.” ²⁶ And the king of Israel declared, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son, ²⁷ and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’” ²⁸ But Micaiah replied, “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Take heed, all you people!”

¹⁰ They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.

³¹ The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?

¹¹ If a man of wind were to come and say falsely, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be just the preacher for this people!

¹⁵ Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

¹⁹ If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.

¹⁸ For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder, ¹⁰ and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. ¹¹ For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, ¹² in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

⁴ You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.

¹ Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. ³ In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

¹⁸ With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

⁵ They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

³ One of the heads of the beast appeared to be mortally wounded. But the mortal wound was healed, and the whole world marveled and followed the beast. ⁴ They worshiped the dragon who had given authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can wage war against it?”

⁴ If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. ⁵ If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.

²⁹ If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him— ³⁰ I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse— ³¹ if the men of my house have not said, ‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’—

⁴ if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause,

¹⁷ Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

² It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out.

²¹ If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. ²² For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

⁴³ You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

²⁴ He went on to say, “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more will be added to you.

²² Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.

⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprang up and produced a crop—a hundredfold.” As Jesus said this, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

¹⁵ But the seeds on good soil are those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop.

¹⁸ Pay attention, therefore, to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”

³⁴ Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.

⁶⁰ Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

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.

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody. ¹⁸ If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.

¹⁵ Make sure that no one repays evil for evil. Always pursue what is good for one another and for all people.

¹¹ Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

¹⁵ This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because the Philistines acted in vengeance, taking vengeance with malice of soul to destroy Judah with ancient hostility,

⁵ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Surely in My burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who took My land as their own possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, so that its pastureland became plunder.

⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

²⁷ But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

⁵ But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

¹² We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be!

⁹ Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

³⁰ And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Instead, since my lord the king has safely come to his own house, let Ziba take it all!”

²³ Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went up, struck Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go when He departed from me to speak with you?”

⁶ I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.

³⁰ Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with reproach.

¹ Now, O daughter of troops, mobilize your troops; for a siege is laid against us! With a rod they will strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.

³⁹ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also; ⁴⁰ if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well; ⁴¹ and if someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

⁶⁷ Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him

⁶⁴ They blindfolded Him and kept demanding, “Prophesy! Who hit You?”

²² When Jesus had said this, one of the officers standing nearby slapped Him in the face and said, “Is this how You answer the high priest?”

² At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.

⁷ The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?

²⁰ In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face.

³⁴ You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you yourselves had a better and permanent possession.

²⁶ If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset, ²⁷ because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

⁷ If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother. ⁸ Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs. ⁹ Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin. ¹⁰ Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.

¹ About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. ² Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.” ³ Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.” ⁴ Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. ⁵ We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.” ⁶ When I heard their outcry and these complaints, I became extremely angry, ⁷ and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them ⁸ and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!” But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say. ⁹ So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies? ¹⁰ I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending the people money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury. ¹¹ Please restore to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and oil that you have been assessing them.” ¹² “We will restore it,” they replied, “and will require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.” So I summoned the priests and required of the nobles and officials an oath that they would do what they had promised. ¹³ I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake out of His house and possession every man who does not keep this promise. May such a man be shaken out and have nothing!” The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised. ¹⁴ Furthermore, from the day King Artaxerxes appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from his twentieth year until his thirty-second year (twelve years total), neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. ¹⁵ The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people, but I did not do this because of my fear of God. ¹⁶ Instead, I devoted myself to the construction of the wall, and all my servants were gathered there for the work; we did not acquire any land. ¹⁷ There were 150 Jews and officials at my table, besides the guests from the surrounding nations. ¹⁸ Each day one ox, six choice sheep, and some fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine was provided. But I did not demand the food allotted to the governor, because the burden on the people was so heavy. ¹⁹ Remember me favorably, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.

⁹ He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.

²⁷ Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act. ²⁸ Do not tell your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I will provide”—when you already have the means.

²⁴ One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor. ²⁵ A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

¹⁷ Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.

²⁶ All day long he covets more, but the righteous give without restraint.

⁹ A generous man will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

¹⁶ When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—

⁷ Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? ⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. ⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and malicious talk, ¹⁰ and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.

¹ Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders of the people. ² And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked counsel in this city.

⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. ⁴³ You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

¹² And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

²⁷ His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt, and released him. ²⁸ But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’ ³⁰ But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt.

³⁵ That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

⁴¹ But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you.

³³ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

²² On hearing this, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

³⁵ In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

⁶ Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ⁹ As it is written: “He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” ¹⁰ Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store of seed and will increase the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹ You will be enriched in every way to be generous on every occasion, so that through us your giving will produce thanksgiving to God. ¹² For this ministry of service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanksgiving to God. ¹³ Because of the proof this ministry provides, the saints will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all the others. ¹⁴ And their prayers for you will express their affection for you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.

²⁸ He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.

¹² In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.

³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

¹⁴ The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹ But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹ For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. ¹² Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom. ¹³ For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. ¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?

⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?

⁸ Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs. ⁹ Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin. ¹⁰ Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand. ¹¹ For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.

⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

¹² Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

³⁵ Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you. ³⁶ Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you. ³⁷ You must not lend him your silver at interest or sell him your food for profit.

²⁶ They are ever generous and quick to lend, and their children are a blessing.

⁵ It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.

⁹ The LORD is good to all; His compassion rests on all He has made.

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

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

²⁷ But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you.

³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

⁸ This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples.

¹⁷ Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”

⁸ But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him! ¹⁰ For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!

¹⁰ By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother. ¹¹ This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹² Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous. ¹³ So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death.

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 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. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.

¹ Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children, ² and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

¹⁵ But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

⁷ Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

¹⁴ For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.

¹ “Do not judge, or you will be judged. ² For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

³⁰ But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt.

³⁴ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed. ³⁵ That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

²⁵ And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”

³ Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

¹ You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ² And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.

³ The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him. ⁴ Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

¹⁰ Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. ¹¹ It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.” ¹² So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. ¹³ Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. ¹⁴ I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. ¹⁵ If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil.

³ I care very little, however, if I am judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. ⁶ Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

³² Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

¹³ Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

¹¹ Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it. ¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

⁹ Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the door!

¹⁰ Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.

¹⁶ If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime, ¹⁷ both parties to the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD, before the priests and judges who are in office at that time. ¹⁸ The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is proven to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother, ¹⁹ you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. So you must purge the evil from among you. ²⁰ Then the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything so evil among you. ²¹ You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.

⁷ Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.

²⁷ Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put into the heart of the king to so honor the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, ²⁸ and who has shown me favor before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officials. And because the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, I took courage and gathered the leaders of Israel to return with me.

¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.

²⁵ But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

¹⁶ If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail, ¹⁷ if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless— ¹⁸ though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow— ¹⁹ if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak, ²⁰ if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,

¹¹ All his brothers and sisters and prior acquaintances came and dined with him in his house. They consoled him and comforted him over all the adversity that the LORD had brought upon him. And each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

²⁵ To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless; ²⁶ to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble. ² The LORD will protect and preserve him; He will bless him in the land and refuse to surrender him to the will of his foes.

¹² Pay back into the laps of our neighbors sevenfold the reproach they hurled at You, O Lord.

⁹ Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest; ¹⁰ then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

²² The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.

¹ Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. ² Divide your portion among seven, or even eight, for you do not know what disaster may befall the land.

⁶ Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps, ⁷ both for your iniquities and for those of your fathers,” says the LORD. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.”

² For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

⁴² And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back.

¹⁴ At the present time, your surplus will meet their need, so that in turn their surplus will meet your need. Then there will be equality. ¹⁵ As it is written: “He who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall.”

⁶ Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

¹⁷ Not that I am seeking a gift, but I am looking for the fruit that may be credited to your account. ¹⁸ I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

¹³ For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

⁵ And I heard the angel of the waters say: “Righteous are You, O Holy One, who is and was, because You have brought these judgments. ⁶ For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”

¹⁶ For those who guide this people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up.

¹⁰ Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.

¹⁵ Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD.

¹² Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.

¹⁵ Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who prophesy in My name: I did not send them, yet they say, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ By sword and famine these very prophets will meet their end! ¹⁶ And the people to whom they prophesy will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out their own evil upon them.

⁶ Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them. ⁷ Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be disgraced. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.”

¹⁵ And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves. ¹⁷ Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”

¹⁴ Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁶ Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred? ²⁰ So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it. ²² And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it. ²³ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. ²⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.

³³ You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

¹⁹ if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness,

³ If anyone teaches another doctrine and disagrees with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with godly teaching, ⁴ he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and semantics, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions, ⁵ and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.

¹³ while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

²⁴ A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

¹⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

¹⁶ Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

²⁰ Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.

⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.” ⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

⁹ “Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him. ¹⁰ Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.

²⁰ “Far be it!” Joab declared. “Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy! ²¹ That is not the case. But a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him alone, and I will depart from the city.” “Look,” the woman replied, “his head will be thrown to you over the wall.”

³² The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to the sword Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.

⁶ But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count, because the king’s command was detestable to him.

² For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin.

⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

²⁸ Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.

⁷ When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”

⁴⁰ But now you are trying to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. ⁴¹ You are doing the works of your father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they declared. “Our only Father is God Himself.” 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.

¹ You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

²¹ you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? ²² You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³ You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? ²⁴ As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

²⁴ and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

¹⁶ To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips? ¹⁷ For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you. ¹⁸ When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers. ¹⁹ You unleash your mouth for evil and unharness your tongue for deceit. ²⁰ You sit and malign your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. ²¹ You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.

⁹ Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. ¹¹ Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You.

¹⁷ The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

²² The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

¹³ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter. ^{14 15} Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

⁷⁵ Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

¹⁵ “You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water?

³² But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

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.

²¹ You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God.

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.”

¹⁰ and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?

²¹ you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? ²² You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³ You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? ²⁴ As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” ²⁵ Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ²⁶ If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? ²⁷ The one who is physically uncircumcised yet keeps the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. ²⁸ A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. ²⁹ No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.

¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless our conduct was among you who believed. ¹¹ For you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children— ¹² encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

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

¹⁰ I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains. ¹¹ Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

⁹ But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

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

¹² The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. ¹³ Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. ¹⁴ In old age they will still bear fruit; healthy and green they will remain,

⁴ What more could I have done for My vineyard than I already did for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?

³ to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

²¹ I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?

¹⁰ The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.

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.

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

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.

¹² My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

¹² These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.

² They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart. ³ May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue. ⁴ They say, “With our tongues we will prevail. We own our lips—who can be our master?”

³⁰ The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. ³¹ The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not falter.

⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.” ⁹ I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; behold, I do not seal my lips, as You, O LORD, do know. ¹⁰ I have not covered up Your righteousness in my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and salvation; I have not concealed Your loving devotion and faithfulness from the great assembly.

⁶ My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad. ⁷ All who hate me whisper against me; they imagine the worst for me:

² Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit. ³ You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah ⁴ You love every word that devours, O deceitful tongue.

⁷ See what they spew from their mouths—sharp words from their lips: “For who can hear us?”

¹² By the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride, in the curses and lies they utter.

³ who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows, ⁴ ambushing the innocent in seclusion, shooting suddenly, without fear. ⁵ They hold fast to their evil purpose; they speak of hiding their snares. “Who will see them?” they say. ⁶ They devise injustice and say, “We have perfected a secret plan.” For the inner man and the heart are mysterious. ⁷ But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be wounded. ⁸ They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.

¹⁵ My mouth will declare Your righteousness and Your salvation all day long, though I cannot know their full measure. ¹⁶ I will enter in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will proclaim Your righteousness—Yours alone. 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.

⁵ The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me. Selah

²³ Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.

²⁰ The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth. ²¹ The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of judgment.

¹⁸ Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

²³ A man takes joy in a fitting reply—and how good is a timely word!

¹⁷ Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise—apply your mind to my knowledge— ¹⁸ for it is pleasing when you keep them within you and they are constantly on your lips.

² If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people. ³ “They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD. ⁴ “Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander. ⁵ Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.

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. ³⁶ But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷ For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

³⁸ Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?

¹⁹ “Give me this power as well,” he said, “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 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.”

¹³ “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.” ¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

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. ⁷ Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.

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,

²⁹ Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

³ But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed. ⁴ Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.

¹⁹ Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,

¹⁶ Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

⁶ Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

¹⁰ For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.

⁵ In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸ but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

¹⁵ to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.”

⁶ “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the LORD of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’

²¹ Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’

¹¹ Later the other virgins arrived and said, ‘Lord, lord, open the door for us!’

²⁴ Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

⁴⁴ And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’

²⁵ After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ ²⁶ Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷ And he will answer, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’

¹³ You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, because I am. ¹⁴ So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

⁷ Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.

³ Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, so that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant—My loving devotion promised to David.

²⁴ Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”

²⁸ Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

⁵ While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

¹³ The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away.

²⁸ But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.

³⁷ Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away.

⁴⁴ “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me—

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.

²⁷ My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.

¹⁷ If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

¹⁵ If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

²¹ Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.” ²² Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, why are You going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. ²⁴ Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. The word that you hear is not My own, but it is from the Father who sent Me.

⁹ As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. ¹⁰ If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. ¹¹ I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. ¹² This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do what I command you.

⁷ To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life. ⁸ But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger. ⁹ There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek; ¹⁰ but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Greek.

⁹ And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him

²² Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. ²³ For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, ²⁴ and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.

¹⁷ Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

⁴ As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,

¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble,

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

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

¹⁴ Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.

¹⁵ But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁸ You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

³¹ For their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies concede.

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 He said: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.

⁵ For the waves of death engulfed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.

³² For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?

⁴⁷ The LORD lives, and blessed be my Rock! And may God, the Rock of my salvation, be exalted—

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,

⁶ Therefore let all the godly pray to You while You may be found. Surely when great waters rise, they will not come near.

¹ For the choirmaster. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble. ² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas, ³ though their waters roar and foam and the mountains quake in the surge. Selah

² He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress; I will never be shaken.

³ The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves. ⁴ Above the roar of many waters—the mighty breakers of the sea—the LORD on high is majestic.

¹ Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout to the Rock of our salvation!

¹ A song of ascents. Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved; it abides forever. ² As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people, both now and forevermore.

²⁵ When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever.

⁴ Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.

¹⁶ So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

¹⁹ So shall they fear the name of the LORD where the sun sets, and His glory where it rises. For He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD.

⁸ But with an overwhelming flood He will make an end of Nineveh and pursue His enemies into darkness.

²⁵ The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

³³ I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds. ¹¹ For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, ¹³ his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴ If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.

⁵⁵ “Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! ⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

¹⁹ Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”

⁴ As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

¹⁰ But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare. ¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness ¹² as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. ¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.

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

²⁴ Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—

¹⁴ The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. ¹⁷ For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”

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. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

¹⁸ He who walks with integrity will be kept safe, but whoever is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.

¹⁶ “As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you! ¹⁷ Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster.

³¹ So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.

¹⁴ I will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go off with prostitutes and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes. So a people without understanding will come to ruin.

⁴³ When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there; and the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So will it be with this wicked generation.”

²⁰ The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since he has no root, he remains for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. ²² The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

²⁹ ‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go.

³ So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

¹⁰ At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,

¹⁷ But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

⁴⁶ Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say?

⁵ “A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, where it was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the seedlings.

¹² I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. ¹³ Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! ¹⁶ Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”

²⁴ When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ ²⁵ On its return, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first.”

⁴⁷ That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows.

¹⁴ But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’

²⁷ And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’”

² He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.

²⁹ I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.

⁵ For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter had somehow tempted you and caused our labor to be in vain.

²⁶ If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, ²⁷ but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

²² Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. ²³ For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, ²⁴ and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does. ²⁶ If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.

¹⁷ So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead. ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. ¹⁹ You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. ²⁰ O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did. ²³ And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. ²⁴ As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone. ²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route? ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

²⁰ If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.

³ By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. ⁴ If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

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.