Luke 24 Cross References - ISV

¹ Jesus is Raised from the Dead
But at early dawn on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in, they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were puzzling over this, two men in dazzling robes suddenly stood beside them. ⁵ While the women remained terrified, bowing their faces to the ground, the men asked them, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is living? ⁶ He is not here, but has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day.’”
⁸ Then the women remembered Jesus’ words. ⁹ They returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven disciples and all the others. ¹⁰ The women who told the apostles about it were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some others. ¹¹ But what they said seemed nonsense to them, so they did not believe them. ¹² Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. He stooped down and saw only the linen cloths. Then he went home, wondering about what had happened.
¹³ Jesus Meets Two Disciples
On the same day, two of Jesus’ followers were walking to a village called Emmaus, about 60 stadia from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking with each other about all these things that had taken place. ¹⁵ While they were discussing and analyzing what had happened, Jesus himself approached and began to walk with them, ¹⁶ but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing with each other as you’re walking along?” They stood still and looked gloomy.
¹⁸ The one whose name was Cleopas answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn’t know what happened there in the past few days?”
¹⁹ He asked them, “What things?”
They answered him, “The events involving Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in what he said and did before God and all the people, ²⁰ and how our high priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and had him crucified. ²¹ But we kept hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel. What is more, this is now the third day since these things occurred. ²² Even some of our women have startled us by what they told us. They were at the tomb early this morning ²³ and didn’t find his body there, so they came back and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who were saying that he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said. However, they didn’t see him.”
²⁵ Then Jesus told them, “O, how foolish you are! How slow you are to believe everything the prophets said! ²⁶ The Messiah had to suffer these things and then enter his glory, didn’t he?” ²⁷ Then, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them all the passages of Scripture about himself.
²⁸ As they came near the village where the two men were headed, Jesus acted as though he were going farther. ²⁹ But they strongly urged him, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the daylight is nearly gone.” So he went in to stay with them.
³⁰ While he was at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it in pieces, and gave it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened, and they knew who he was. And he vanished from them.
³² Then they asked each other, “Our hearts kept burning within us as he was talking to us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us, didn’t they?”
³³ They got up right away, went back to Jerusalem, and found the eleven disciples and their companions all together. ³⁴ They kept saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ Then the two men began to tell what had happened on the road and how they had recognized him when he broke the bread in pieces.
³⁶ Jesus Appears to the Disciples
While they were all talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and told them, “Peace be with you.”
³⁷ They were startled and terrified, thinking they were seeing a ghost. ³⁸ But Jesus told them, “What’s frightening you? And why are you doubting? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet, because it’s really me. Touch me and look at me, because a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰ After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹ Even though they were still skeptical due to their joy and astonishment, Jesus asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³ and he took it and ate it in their presence. ⁴⁴ Then he told them, “These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled.”
⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so that they might understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is how it is written: the Messiah was to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and then repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ I am sending to you what my Father promised, so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
⁵⁰ Jesus is Taken up to Heaven
Later, he led them out as far as Bethany, lifted up his hands, and blessed them. ⁵¹ While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. ⁵² They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. ⁵³ They were continually in the Temple, blessing God.

⁵⁵ Now many women were also there, watching from a distance. They had accompanied Jesus from Galilee and had ministered to him. ⁵⁶ Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

¹ Jesus is Raised from the Dead
After the Sabbaths, around dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to take a look at the burial site. ² Suddenly, there was a powerful earthquake, because an angel of the Lord had come down from heaven, approached the stone, rolled it away, and was sitting on top of it. ³ His appearance was bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ Trembling from fear, even the guards themselves became catatonic.
⁵ Responding to the women, the angel said, “Stop being frightened! I know you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here. He has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. He is going ahead of you into Galilee, and you will see him there. Remember, I have told you!”
⁸ So they quickly left the tomb, terrified but also ecstatic, and ran to tell Jesus’ disciples.

⁴⁰ Now there were women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of young James and Joseph, and Salome.

¹ Jesus is Raised from the Dead
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices to go and anoint Jesus. ² Very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had just come up, they were going to the tomb. ³ They kept saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” ⁴ Then they looked up and saw that the stone had been rolled away. (It was a very large stone.)
⁵ As they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were utterly astonished. ⁶ But he told them, “Stop being astonished! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised. He is not here. Look at the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go and tell his disciples—especially Peter—that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”
⁸ So they left the tomb and ran away, overwhelmed by shock and astonishment. They didn’t say a thing to anyone, because they were afraid.

² as well as some women who had been healed of evil spirits and illnesses: Mary, also called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out; ³ Joanna, the wife of Herod’s household manager Chuza; Susanna; and many others. These women continued to support them out of their personal resources.

⁵⁵ So the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee, following close behind, saw the tomb and how his body was laid. ⁵⁶ Then they went back and prepared spices and perfumes, and on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

¹⁰ The women who told the apostles about it were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some others.

¹ Jesus is Raised from the Dead
On the first day of the week, early in the morning and while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and noticed that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ² So she ran off and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus kept loving. She told them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

⁶⁰ Then he placed it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out of the rock. After rolling a large stone across the door of the tomb, he left, ⁶¹ but Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained there, sitting in front of the tomb.
⁶² The Tomb is SecuredThe following day (that is, after the Day of Preparation), the high priests and Pharisees gathered before Pilate ⁶³ and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘I will be raised after three days.’ ⁶⁴ Therefore, order the tomb to be secured until the third day, or his disciples may go and steal him and then tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ Then the last deception would be worse than the first one.”
⁶⁵ Pilate told them, “You have a military guard. Go and make the tomb as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and secured the tomb by putting a seal on the stone in the presence of the guards.

² Suddenly, there was a powerful earthquake, because an angel of the Lord had come down from heaven, approached the stone, rolled it away, and was sitting on top of it.

⁴⁶ Joseph bought some linen cloth, took the body down, wrapped it in the cloth, laid it in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. ⁴⁷ Now Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph observed where the body had been laid.

³ They kept saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” ⁴ Then they looked up and saw that the stone had been rolled away. (It was a very large stone.)
⁵ The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees
When his disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to take any bread along.

²³ and didn’t find his body there, so they came back and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who were saying that he was alive.

⁶ At this point Simon Peter arrived, following him, and went straight into the tomb. He observed that the linen cloths were lying there, ⁷ and that the handkerchief that had been on Jesus’ head was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up in a separate place.

² he glanced up and saw three men standing there, not far from him. As soon as he noticed them, Abraham ran from the tent entrance to greet them and bowed low to the ground.

² Suddenly, there was a powerful earthquake, because an angel of the Lord had come down from heaven, approached the stone, rolled it away, and was sitting on top of it. ³ His appearance was bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ Trembling from fear, even the guards themselves became catatonic.
⁵ Responding to the women, the angel said, “Stop being frightened! I know you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here. He has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying.

⁵ As they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were utterly astonished.

¹¹ Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
Meanwhile, Mary stood crying outside the tomb. As she cried, she bent over and looked into the tomb. ¹² She saw two angels in white clothes who were sitting down, one at the head and the other at the foot of the place where Jesus’ body had been lying.

¹⁰ While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, two men in white robes stood right beside them.

¹⁷ “As he approached where I was standing, I became terrified and fell on my face. But he told me, ‘Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.’
¹⁸ “While he had been speaking with me, I had fainted on my face, but he touched me and enabled me to stand upright on my feet.

⁷ “Now I, Daniel, was the only one to receive the vision—the men who were with me didn’t see it. However, an enormous fear overwhelmed them, so they ran away to hide, ⁸ and I was left alone to observe this magnificent vision. Nevertheless, no strength remained in me—my face lost its color, and I became weak. ⁹ As I listened to the sound of his words, I fell down on my face unconscious, with my face to the ground.”
¹⁰ Daniel is Given Understanding“All of a sudden, a hand touched me and lifted me upon my hands and knees. ¹¹ He told me, ‘Daniel, man highly regarded, understand the message that I’m about to relate to you. Stand up, because I’ve been sent to you.’ When he spoke this statement to me, I stood there trembling.
¹² “‘Don’t be afraid, Daniel,’ he told me, ‘because from the first day that you committed yourself to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I’ve come in answer to your prayers.

¹⁶ But suddenly someone who resembled a human being touched my lips, so addressing the one who was standing in front of me, I opened my mouth and said, ‘Sir, I’m overwhelmed with anguish by this vision. I have no strength left.

¹⁹ and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, man highly regarded. Be at peace, and be strong.’
“As soon as he spoke to me, I gained strength and replied, ‘Sir, please speak, now that you’ve strengthened me.’

³ His appearance was bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ Trembling from fear, even the guards themselves became catatonic.
⁵ Responding to the women, the angel said, “Stop being frightened! I know you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

⁵ As they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were utterly astonished. ⁶ But he told them, “Stop being astonished! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised. He is not here. Look at the place where they laid him.

¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled, and fear overwhelmed him. ¹³ But the angel told him, “Stop being afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John.

²⁹ Startled by his statement, she tried to figure out what his greeting meant.

³ One day, about three in the afternoon, he had a vision and clearly saw an angel of God coming to him and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
⁴ He stared at the angel in terror and asked, “What is it, Lord?”
The angel answered him, “Your prayers and your gifts to the poor have arisen as a reminder to God.

⁸ Mortal men collect tithes, but we are informed by Scripture that Melchizedek keeps on living.

¹⁸ the living one. I was dead—but look!—I am alive forever and ever! I have the keys of Death and Hades.

⁸ The Letter to the Church in Smyrna“To the messenger of the church in Smyrna, write:
‘The first and the last, who was dead and became alive, says this:

⁴⁰ because just as Jonah was in the stomach of the sea creature for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

²¹ Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he would have to go to Jerusalem and suffer a great deal because of the elders, the high priests, and the scribes. Then he would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised.

²² Jesus Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection
While they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands. ²³ They will kill him, but he will be raised on the third day.” Then they were filled with grief.

¹⁸ “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death. ¹⁹ Then they will hand him over to unbelievers to be mocked, whipped, and crucified, but on the third day he will be raised.”

⁶³ and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘I will be raised after three days.’

⁶ He is not here. He has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying.

³¹ Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man would have to suffer a great deal and be rejected by the elders, the high priests, and the scribes. Then he would be killed, but after three days he would rise again.

⁹ On their way down the mountain, Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. ¹⁰ They kept the matter to themselves but argued about what “rising from the dead” meant.

³⁰ Jesus Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection
Then they left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus didn’t want anyone to find out about it, ³¹ because he was teaching his disciples, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into human hands. They will kill him, but after being dead for three days he will be raised.” ³² They didn’t understand what this statement meant, and they were afraid to ask him.

³³ “Pay attention! We’re going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and the scribes, and they’ll condemn him to death. Then they’ll hand him over to the unbelievers, ³⁴ and they’ll make fun of him, spit on him, whip him, and kill him. But after three days he’ll be raised.”

²² He said, “The Son of Man must suffer a great deal and be rejected by the elders, the high priests, and the scribes. Then he must be killed, but on the third day he will be raised.”

⁴⁴ “Listen carefully to these words. The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.”

³¹ Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time
Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “Pay attention! We’re going up to Jerusalem. Everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled, ³² because he’ll be handed over to the unbelievers, and will be mocked, insulted, and spit on. ³³ After they have whipped him, they’ll kill him, but on the third day he’ll rise again.”

⁴⁴ Then he told them, “These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled.”
⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so that they might understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is how it is written: the Messiah was to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will rebuild it.”
²⁰ The Jewish leaders said, “This sanctuary has been under construction for 46 years, and you’re going to rebuild it in three days?” ²¹ But the sanctuary he was speaking about was his own body. ²² After he had been raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this. So they believed the Scripture and the statement that Jesus had made.

¹⁶ At first, his disciples didn’t understand these things. However, when Jesus had been glorified, they remembered that these things had been written about him and that people had done these things to him.

²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything that I have told you.

¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with Jesus and who now were grieving and crying.

²² Even some of our women have startled us by what they told us. They were at the tomb early this morning ²³ and didn’t find his body there, so they came back and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who were saying that he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said. However, they didn’t see him.”

⁵⁶ Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

³⁰ Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand People
The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught.

⁴⁰ Now there were women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of young James and Joseph, and Salome. ⁴¹ They used to accompany him and care for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come up to Jerusalem with him were there, too.

⁹ Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
After Jesus had risen early on the first day of that week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with Jesus and who now were grieving and crying. ¹¹ When they heard that he was alive and that he had been seen by her, they refused to believe Mary.

¹¹ Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
Meanwhile, Mary stood crying outside the tomb. As she cried, she bent over and looked into the tomb. ¹² She saw two angels in white clothes who were sitting down, one at the head and the other at the foot of the place where Jesus’ body had been lying. ¹³ They asked her, “Lady, why are you crying?”
She told them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put him.”
¹⁴ After she had said this, she turned around and noticed Jesus standing there, without realizing that it was Jesus.
¹⁵ Jesus asked her, “Dear lady, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she told him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away.”
¹⁶ Jesus told her, “Mary!”
She turned around and told him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means “Teacher”).
¹⁷ Jesus told her, “Don’t hold on to me, because I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I’m ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
¹⁸ So Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord!” She also told them what he had told her.

¹⁴ Lot then went out and told his sons-in-law (they had married his daughters), “Get out of here! The LORD is going to destroy this city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

² But the royal attendant on whom the king depended responded to the man of God: “Look here! Even if the LORD were to open a window in the sky, how could this happen?”
He replied, “No, you look! You’ll see it with your eyes, but you won’t eat any of it!”

¹⁶ “Were I to be summoned, and he were to answer me, I wouldn’t even believe that he was listening to what I have to say.

¹ A Song of Ascents
The Exiles Restored When the LORD brought back Zion’s exiles, we were like dreamers.

¹¹ When they heard that he was alive and that he had been seen by her, they refused to believe Mary.

²⁵ Then Jesus told them, “O, how foolish you are! How slow you are to believe everything the prophets said!

⁹ So Peter went out and began to follow him, not realizing that what was being done by the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.

³ So Peter and the other disciple took off for the tomb. ⁴ The two of them were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. ⁵ Bending over to look inside, he noticed the linen cloths lying there, but didn’t go in. ⁶ At this point Simon Peter arrived, following him, and went straight into the tomb. He observed that the linen cloths were lying there, ⁷ and that the handkerchief that had been on Jesus’ head was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up in a separate place. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who arrived at the tomb first, went inside, looked, and believed. ⁹ For they did not yet understand the Scripture that said that Jesus had to rise from the dead. ¹⁰ So the disciples went back to their homes.

¹² Jesus Appears to Two Disciples
After this, Jesus appeared in a different form to two disciples as they were walking into the country. ¹³ They went back and told the others, who didn’t believe them, either.

¹⁸ The one whose name was Cleopas answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn’t know what happened there in the past few days?”

⁷ Teach them repeatedly to your children. Talk about them while sitting in your house or walking on the road, and as you lie down or get up.

⁶ “Because I the LORD don’t change; therefore you children of Jacob aren’t destroyed.”

⁴⁵ A good person produces good from the good treasure of his heart, and an evil person produces evil from an evil treasure, because the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.”

²⁰ because where two or three have come together in my name, I am there among them.”

³⁶ Jesus Appears to the Disciples
While they were all talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and told them, “Peace be with you.”

¹⁸ I’m not going to forsake you like orphans. I will come back to you.
¹⁹ “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.

¹⁸ When the army approached him, Elisha spoke to the LORD, asking him, “LORD, I’m asking you please to afflict this group of people with blindness!” So he afflicted them with blindness, just as Elisha had asked.
¹⁹ Then Elisha told the army, “This isn’t the way, and this isn’t the city! Follow me, and I’ll bring you to the man you’re seeking. Then he led them to Samaria. ²⁰ When they arrived in Samaria, Elisha asked the LORD, “Enable them to see again.” So the LORD did so, and there they were—right in the middle of Samaria!

¹² Jesus Appears to Two Disciples
After this, Jesus appeared in a different form to two disciples as they were walking into the country.

³¹ Then their eyes were opened, and they knew who he was. And he vanished from them.

¹⁴ After she had said this, she turned around and noticed Jesus standing there, without realizing that it was Jesus.

⁴ Just as dawn was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore. The disciples didn’t realize it was Jesus.

⁴ The LORD told him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of everyone who sighs and moans over all of the loathsome things that are happening in it.”
⁵ As I continued to listen, he also told the others, “Follow him through the city and start killing. Don’t spare anyone you see, and don’t show pity of any kind. ⁶ You are to execute old men, young men, young women, little children, and women. But don’t touch anyone who has been marked. Begin at my Holy Place!” And so they started with the elders who were in standing in front of the Temple.

⁶ But because I have told you this, sorrow has filled your hearts.

²⁰ Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, you’ll cry and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You’ll be deeply distressed, but your pain will turn into joy. ²¹ When a woman is in labor she has pain, because her time has come. Yet when she has given birth to her child, she doesn’t remember the agony anymore because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. ²² Now you are having pain. But I’ll see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

²⁵ Meanwhile, standing near Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

¹¹ The crowds kept saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, the man from Nazareth in Galilee.”

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

¹⁶ Fear gripped everyone, and they began to praise God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said, and “God has helped his people.”

² He came to Jesus at night and told him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, because no one can perform these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.”

¹⁹ The woman told him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet!

¹⁴ When the people saw the sign that he had done, they kept saying, “Truly this is the Prophet who was to come into the world!”

⁴⁰ Division among the PeopleWhen they heard these words, some in the crowd were saying, “This really is the Prophet,” ⁴¹ while others were saying, “This is the Messiah!”
But some were saying, “The Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? ⁴² Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah is from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”

⁵² They answered him, “You aren’t from Galilee, too, are you? Search and see that no prophet comes from Galilee.”

²² “Fellow Israelis, listen to these words: Jesus from Nazareth was a man authenticated to you by God through miracles, wonders, and signs that God performed through him among you, as you yourselves know.

²² So Moses learned all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man, both in words and in deeds.

³⁸ God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, he went around doing good and healing everyone who was oppressed by the devil.

¹ Jesus is Taken to Pilate
When morning came, all the high priests and elders of the people conspired against Jesus to put him to death. ² They bound him with chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pontius Pilate, the governor.

²⁰ But the high priests and elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to demand that Jesus be put to death.

¹ Jesus is Taken to Pilate
As soon as it was morning, the high priests convened a meeting with the elders and scribes and the whole Council. They bound Jesus with chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.

⁶⁶ As soon as day came, the elders of the people, the high priests, and the scribes assembled and brought him before their Council.

¹³ Jesus is Sentenced to Death
Then Pilate called the high priests, the other leaders, and the people together

¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of our ancestors—has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and rejected in the presence of Pilate, even though he had decided to let him go. ¹⁴ You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you, ¹⁵ and you killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead. We are witnesses to that.

⁸ Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, told them, “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being questioned today for a good deed done for someone who was sick or to learn how this man was healed, ¹⁰ you and all the people of Israel must understand that this man stands healthy before you because of the name of Jesus from Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead.

²⁷ For in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate actually met together with unbelievers and the people of Israel to oppose your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ²⁸ to carry out everything that your hand and will had predetermined to take place.

³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus to life after you killed him by hanging him on a tree. ³¹ God has exalted to his right hand this very man as our Leader and Savior in order to extend repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

²⁷ For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders, not knowing who Jesus was, condemned him and so fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. ²⁸ Although they found no reason to sentence him to death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹ When they had finished doing everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb.

⁸ And he will redeem Israel from all its sins.

²⁰ “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” says the LORD.

⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel! He has taken care of his people and has set them free.

³⁸ Just then she came forward and began to thank God and to speak about Jesus to everyone who was waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

⁶ Now those who had gathered together began to ask Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”

¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things like silver or gold that you have been ransomed from the worthless way of life handed down to you by your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of the Messiah, like that of a lamb without blemish or defect.

⁹ They sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slaughtered. With your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation.

⁹ Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
After Jesus had risen early on the first day of that week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with Jesus and who now were grieving and crying.

¹ Jesus is Raised from the Dead
But at early dawn on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in, they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were puzzling over this, two men in dazzling robes suddenly stood beside them. ⁵ While the women remained terrified, bowing their faces to the ground, the men asked them, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is living? ⁶ He is not here, but has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day.’”
⁸ Then the women remembered Jesus’ words. ⁹ They returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven disciples and all the others. ¹⁰ The women who told the apostles about it were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some others. ¹¹ But what they said seemed nonsense to them, so they did not believe them.

¹⁸ So Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord!” She also told them what he had told her.

¹² Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. He stooped down and saw only the linen cloths. Then he went home, wondering about what had happened.

¹ Jesus is Raised from the Dead
On the first day of the week, early in the morning and while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and noticed that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ² So she ran off and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus kept loving. She told them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

¹⁸ He asked them, “Are you so ignorant? Don’t you know that nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean?

¹⁷ Knowing this, Jesus asked them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you understand or perceive yet? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸ Do you have eyes, but fail to see? Do you have ears, but fail to hear? Don’t you remember?

¹⁹ Jesus told them, “You unbelieving generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!”

¹⁴ Jesus Commissions His Disciples
Finally he appeared to his eleven disciples while they were eating. He rebuked them for their unbelief and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen.

¹¹ You Still Need Someone to Teach YouWe have much to say about this, but it is difficult to explain because you have become too lazy to understand. ¹² In fact, though by now you should be teachers, you still need someone to teach you the basic truths of God’s word. You have become people who need milk instead of solid food.

¹ To the Director: To the tune of “Doe of the Dawn”.
A Davidic Psalm.
God Delivers His Suffering Servant My God! My God! Why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from delivering me— from my groaning words? ² My God, I cry out to you throughout the day, but you do not answer; and throughout the night, but I have no rest. ³ You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. ⁴ Our ancestors trusted in you; they trusted and you delivered them. ⁵ They cried out to you and escaped; they trusted in you and were not put to shame. ⁶ But as for me, I am only a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by people. ⁷ Everyone who sees me mocks me; they gape at me with open mouths and shake their heads at me. ⁸ They say, “Commit yourself to the LORD; perhaps the LORD will deliver him, perhaps he will cause him to escape, since he delights in him.” ⁹ Yet, you are the one who took me from the womb, and kept me safe on my mother’s breasts. ¹⁰ I was dependent on you from birth; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. ¹¹ Do not be so distant from me, for trouble is at hand; indeed, there is no deliverer. ¹² Many bulls have surrounded me; the vicious bulls of Bashan have encircled me. ¹³ Their mouths are opened wide toward me, like roaring and attacking lions. ¹⁴ I am poured out like water; all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me. ¹⁵ My strength is dried up like broken pottery; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, and you have brought me down to the dust of death. ¹⁶ For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of those who practice of evil has encircled me. They gouged my hands and my feet. ¹⁷ I can count all my bones. They look at me; they stare at me. ¹⁸ They divide my clothing among themselves; they cast lots for my clothing! ¹⁹ But as for you, LORD, do not be far away from me; My Strength, come quickly to help me. ²⁰ Deliver me from the sword; my precious life from the power of the dog. ²¹ Deliver me from the mouth of the lion, from the horns of the wild oxen. You have answered me. ²² I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you, saying, ²³ “All who fear the LORD, praise him! All the seed of Jacob, glorify him! All the seed of Israel, fear him! ²⁴ For he does not despise nor detest the afflicted person; he does not hide his face from him, but he hears him when he cries out to him.” ²⁵ My praise in the great congregation is because of you; I will pay my vows before those who fear you. ²⁶ The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him, “May you live forever!” ²⁷ All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of the nations will bow in submission to the LORD. ²⁸ Indeed, the kingdom belongs to the LORD; he rules over the nations. ²⁹ All the prosperous people will eat and bow down in submission. All those who are about to go down to the grave will bow down in submission, along with the one who can no longer keep himself alive. ³⁰ Our descendants will serve him, and that generation will be told about the Lord. ³¹ They will come and declare his righteousness to a people yet to be born; indeed, he has accomplished it!

¹ To the Director: To the tune of “The Lilies”. Davidic.
When God Seems Distant Deliver me, God, because the waters are up to my neck. ² I am sinking in deep mire, and there is no solid ground. I have come into deep water, and the flood overwhelms me. ³ I am exhausted from calling for help. My throat is parched. My eyes are strained from looking for God. ⁴ Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head. My persecutors are mighty, and they want to destroy me. Must I be forced to return what I did not steal? ⁵ God, you know my sins, and my guilt is not hidden from you. ⁶ Do not let those who look up to you be ashamed because of me, Lord God of the Heavenly Armies. Let not those who seek you be humiliated because of me, God of Israel. ⁷ I am being mocked because of you. Dishonor overwhelms me. ⁸ I am a stranger to my brothers, a foreigner to my mother’s sons. ⁹ Zeal for your house consumes me, and the mockeries of those who insult you fall on me. ¹⁰ I weep and fast, and I am mocked for it. ¹¹ When I dressed in sackcloth, I became an object of gossip among them. ¹² The prominent people mock me, composing drinking songs.
¹³ Seeking God for DeliveranceAs for me, LORD, may my prayer to you come at a favorable time. God, in the abundance of your gracious love, answer me with your sure deliverance. ¹⁴ Rescue me from the mud and do not let me sink. Rescue me from those who hate me, and from the deep waters. ¹⁵ Let neither the floodwaters overwhelm me nor let the deep swallow me up, nor the mouth of the well close over me. ¹⁶ Answer me, LORD, for your gracious love is good; Turn to me in keeping with your great compassion, ¹⁷ and do not ignore your servant, because I am in distress. Hurry to answer me! ¹⁸ Draw near and redeem me; ransom me because of my enemies. ¹⁹ Truly you know my reproach, shame, and disgrace. All my enemies are known to you. ²⁰ Insults broke my heart. I despaired and looked for sympathy; but there was none, for comforters, but I found none. ²¹ They put poison in my food, in my thirst they forced me to drink vinegar. ²² May their dining tables entrap them, and become a snare for their allies. ²³ May their eyes be blinded and may their bodies tremble continuously. ²⁴ May you pour out your fury on them. May your burning anger overtake them. ²⁵ May their camp become desolate and their tents remain unoccupied. ²⁶ For they persecute those whom you have struck, and they brag about the pain of those you have wounded. ²⁷ May you punish them for their crimes; may they receive no verdict of innocence from you. ²⁸ May they be erased from the Book of Life, and their names not be written with the righteous. ²⁹ As for me, I am afflicted and hurting; may your deliverance, God, establish me on high. ³⁰ Let me praise the name of God with a song that I may magnify him with thanksgiving. ³¹ That will please the LORD more than oxen and bulls with horns and hooves. ³² The afflicted will watch and rejoice. May you who seek God take courage. ³³ For the LORD listens to the needy and doesn’t despise those in bondage. ³⁴ Let the heavens and earth praise him, along with the sea and its swarming creatures. ³⁵ For God will deliver Zion and will rebuild the cities of Judah so they may live there and possess them. ³⁶ The descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who cherish his name will live there.

¹ “Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? ² For he grew up before him like a tender plant, and like a root out of a dry ground; he had no form and he had no majesty that we should look at him, and there is no attractiveness that we should desire him. ³ “He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, intimately familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces; and we despised him and did not value him. ⁴ “Surely he has borne our sufferings and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him stricken, and struck down by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that made us whole was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, each of us, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷ He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he didn’t open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ⁸ “From detention and judgment he was taken away— and who can even think about his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living, he was stricken for the transgression of my people. ⁹ Then they made his grave with the wicked, and with rich people in his death, although he had committed no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth.”
¹⁰ The Exaltation of the Servant“Yet the LORD was willing to crush him, and he made him suffer. Although you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring, and he will prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will triumph in his hand. ¹¹ Out of the suffering of his soul he will see light and find satisfaction. And through his knowledge his servant, the righteous one, will make many righteous, and he will bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong; because he poured out his life to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he carried the sins of many, and made intercession for their transgressions.”

⁷ “Arise, sword, against my shepherd, against the mighty one who is related to me,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. “Strike the shepherd, the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn against the insignificant ones.

⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day.’”

⁴⁴ Then he told them, “These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled.”

⁴⁶ He told them, “This is how it is written: the Messiah was to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

³ He explained and showed them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: “This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Messiah.”

³ For I passed on to you the most important points that I received: The Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ he was buried, he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures—and is still alive!—

⁸ and put everything under his feet.”Now when God put everything under him, he left nothing outside his control. However, at the present time we do not yet see everything put under him. ⁹ But we do see someone who was made a little lower than the angels. He is Jesus, who is crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might experience death for everyone.
¹⁰ It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering as part of his plan to glorify many children,

²² In fact, under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of the blood there is no forgiveness.
²³ The Messiah’s Perfect SacrificeThus it was necessary for these earthly copies of the things in heaven to be cleansed by these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves are made clean with better sacrifices than these.

² fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of the joy set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³ Our Hope and Joy are in the MessiahBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead

¹¹ They tried to find out what era or specific time the Spirit of the Messiah in them kept referring to when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.

¹⁵ “I’ll place hostility between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. He’ll strike you on the head, and you’ll strike him on the heel.”

³ I’ll bless those who bless you, but I’ll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed.”

¹⁸ Furthermore, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my command.”

⁴ I’ll cause you to have as many descendants as the stars of the heavens, and I’ll certainly give all these lands to your descendants. Later on, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless one another.

¹⁰ The scepter will never depart from Judah, nor a ruler’s staff from between his feet, until the One comes, who owns them both, and to him will belong the allegiance of nations.

⁶ In response, the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people to bite them. As a result, many people of Israel died. ⁷ Then the people approached Moses and admitted, “We’ve sinned by speaking against the LORD and you. Pray to the LORD, that he’ll remove the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed in behalf of the people.
⁸ Then the LORD instructed Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent out of brass and fasten it to a pole. Anyone who has been bitten and who looks at it will live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent and fastened it to a pole. If a person who had been bitten by a poisonous serpent looked to the serpent, he lived.

¹⁵ Discerning the True Prophet“The LORD your God will raise up a prophet like me for you from among your relatives. You must listen to him,

¹² When your life is complete and you go to join your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who will come forth from your body, and I will fortify his kingdom. ¹³ He will build a Temple dedicated to my Name, and I will make the throne of his kingdom last forever. ¹⁴ I will be a father to him, and he will be to me a son who, when he commits iniquity, I will discipline with the rod wielded by armies and with wounds inflicted by human beings. ¹⁵ But I’ll never remove my gracious love from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed from your presence. ¹⁶ Your dynasty and your kingdom will remain forever in my presence—your throne will be secure forever.”’”

⁹ Therefore, my heart is glad, my whole being rejoices, and my body will dwell securely. ¹⁰ For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, you will not allow your holy one to experience corruption.

¹¹ The LORD made an oath to David from which he will not retreat: “One of your sons I will set in place on your throne.

¹⁴ “Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign. Watch! The virgin is conceiving a child, and will give birth to a son, and his name will be called Immanuel.

⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the growth of his government and peace there will be no end. He will rule over his kingdom, sitting on the throne of David, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this.

¹⁰ Look! The Lord GOD comes with strength, and his arm rules for him. Look! His reward is with him, and his payment accompanies him. ¹¹ Like a shepherd, he tends his flock. He gathers the lambs in his arms, carries them close to his heart, and gently leads the mother sheep.”

⁶ I gave my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not turn away my face from insults and spitting.

¹³ The Suffering Servant“Look! My servant will prosper, and he will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high. ¹⁴ Just as many were astonished at you— so was he marred in his appearance, more than any human, and his form beyond that of human semblance—

⁵ “The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I’ll raise up a righteous branch for David. He will be a king who rules wisely, and he will administer justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In his time Judah will be delivered and Israel will dwell in safety. This is the name by which he will be known: ‘The LORD Our Righteousness.’

¹⁴ The Righteous Branch and the Davidic Covenant“‘Look, the time is coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I’ll fulfill the good promise that I spoke concerning the house of Israel and Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I’ll cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he will uphold justice and righteousness in the land.

²³ God’s Shepherd: His Servant David“‘Then I’ll install one shepherd for them—my servant David—and he will feed them, will be there for them, and will serve as their shepherd.

²⁵ They will live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob and on which your ancestors lived. They will live in that land, along with their children and grandchildren, forever. David my servant will be their everlasting leader.

¹³ The Vision of the Son of Man“I continued to observe the night vision—and look!—someone like the Son of Man was coming, accompanied by heavenly clouds. He approached the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.

²⁴ Seventy weeks have been decreed concerning your people and your holy city: to restrain transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for lawlessness, to establish everlasting righteousness, to conclude vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. ²⁵ So be informed and discern that seven weeks and 62 weeks will elapse from the issuance of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed Commander. The plaza and moat will be rebuilt, though in troubled times. ²⁶ Then after the 62 weeks, the anointed one will be cut down (but not for himself). Then the people of the Coming Commander will destroy both the city and the Sanctuary. Its ending will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war, with desolations having been decreed.

² The Ruler from Bethlehem“As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, even though you remain least among the clans of Judah, nevertheless, the one who rules in Israel for me will emerge from you. His existence has been from antiquity, even from eternity. ³ Therefore that ruler will abandon them until the woman in labor gives birth. Then the rest of his countrymen will return to the Israelis.” ⁴ “Then he will take his stand, shepherding by means of the strength of the LORD, by the power of the name of the LORD his God. And they will be firmly established; indeed, from then on he will become great— to the ends of the earth.

²⁰ You will remain true to Jacob, and merciful to Abraham, as you promised our ancestors long ago.

⁹ The Coming of Zion’s King“Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; cry out, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is able to save. He is humble, and is riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹ The Coming of the Messenger“Watch out! I’m sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
² But who will survive the day when he comes? Or who can stand when he appears? Because he’s like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s soap, ³ he will sit refining and purifying silver, purifying the descendants of Levi, refining them like gold and silver. Then they’ll bring a righteous offering to the LORD.

² But the Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in its light for those who fear my name. You will go out and leap like calves released from their stalls

⁴⁵ Philip found Nathaniel and told him, “We have found the man about whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote—Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

³⁹ You examine the Scriptures carefully because you suppose that in them you have eternal life. Yet they testify about me.

⁴⁵ Do not suppose that I will be the one to accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope, ⁴⁶ because if you believed Moses, you would believe me, since he wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe my words?”

²² In fact, Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to everything he tells you.

²⁴ “Indeed, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who followed him, also announced these days.

³⁷ It was this Moses who told the Israelis, ‘God will raise up a prophet for you from among your own brothers, just as he did me.’

⁴³ All the prophets testify to this: everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

²⁷ For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders, not knowing who Jesus was, condemned him and so fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. ²⁸ Although they found no reason to sentence him to death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹ When they had finished doing everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead,

¹⁰ I bowed down at his feet to worship him, but he told me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who rely on what Jesus is saying. Worship God, because what Jesus is saying is the spirit of prophecy!”

² and said, “Look, my lords! Please come inside your servant’s house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and be on your way.”
But they responded, “No, we would rather spend the night in the town square.”

²⁶ and said, “Let me go, because the dawn has come.”
“I won’t let you go,” Jacob replied, “unless you bless me.”

⁷ As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he knew who they were, but he remained disguised and asked them gruffly, “Where are you from?”
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We’re here to buy food.”

⁴⁸ He saw that his disciples were straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he came to them, walking on the sea. He intended to go up right beside them,

³ But Lot kept urging them strongly, so they turned aside and entered his house. He prepared a festival and baked unleavened flat bread for them, and they ate.

⁸ The Hospitality of a Woman from ShunemSome time later, Elisha went to Shunem, where he met a prominent and wealthy woman who persuaded him to have a meal with her. As a result, whenever he was in the area, he stopped by to eat with her.

²³ Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full.

¹⁴ A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple goods, was listening to us. She was a worshiper of God, and the Lord opened her heart to listen carefully to what was being said by Paul.

¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

³⁶ he took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks. Then he broke them in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

²⁶ The Lord’s Supper
While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and handed it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it. This is my body.”

⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

⁶ So he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and gave thanks. He broke them in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples to distribute. So they served them to the crowd.

²² The Lord’s Supper
While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and handed it to them, saying, “Take some. This is my body.”

¹⁶ Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to the disciples to pass on to the crowd.

¹⁹ Then he took a loaf of bread, gave thanks, broke it in pieces, and handed it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Keep on doing this in memory of me.”

³⁵ Then the two men began to tell what had happened on the road and how they had recognized him when he broke the bread in pieces.

¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were seated. He also distributed as much fish as they wanted.

³⁵ After he said this, he took some bread, thanked God in front of everyone, broke it, and began to eat.

³⁰ But he walked right through the middle of them and went away.

¹⁶ but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.

⁵⁹ At this, they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the Temple.

¹³ They asked her, “Lady, why are you crying?”
She told them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put him.”
¹⁴ After she had said this, she turned around and noticed Jesus standing there, without realizing that it was Jesus.
¹⁵ Jesus asked her, “Dear lady, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she told him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away.”
¹⁶ Jesus told her, “Mary!”
She turned around and told him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means “Teacher”).

³ My heart within me became incensed; as I thought about it, the fire burned. Then I spoke out:

³⁴ May my thoughts be pleasing to him; indeed, I will rejoice in the LORD!

⁹ Ointments and perfume encourage the heart; in a similar way, a friend’s advice is sweet to the soul.

¹⁷ Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens a friend’s character.

⁴ The Servant’s Obedience“The Lord GOD has given me a learned tongue, so that I may know how to sustain the weary with words. And morning after morning he wakens, and he wakens my ear to listen like those who are being taught.

¹⁶ Your words were found, and I consumed them. Your words were joy and my hearts delight, because I bear your name, LORD God of the Heavenly Armies.

⁹ When I say, “I won’t remember the LORD, nor will I speak in his name anymore, then there is this burning fire in my heart. It is bound up in my bones, I grow weary of trying to hold it in, and I cannot do it!

²⁹ “My message is like fire or like a hammer that shatters rock, is it not?” declares the LORD.

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so that they might understand the Scriptures.

⁶³ It’s the Spirit who gives life; the flesh accomplishes nothing. The words that I’ve spoken to you are spirit and life.

² As usual, Paul entered there and on three Sabbaths discussed the Scriptures with them. ³ He explained and showed them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: “This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Messiah.”

²³ So they set a day to meet with Paul and came out in large numbers to see him where he was staying.
From morning until evening, he continued to explain the kingdom of God to them, trying to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow, as it judges the thoughts and purposes of the heart.

¹³ They went back and told the others, who didn’t believe them, either.

¹⁹ Jesus Appears to the Disciples
It was the evening of the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Jesus came and stood among them. He told them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side, and when they saw the Lord, the disciples were overjoyed. ²¹ Jesus told them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain people’s sins, they are retained.”
²⁴ Jesus Appears to ThomasThomas, one of the Twelve (called the Twin), wasn’t with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples kept telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he told them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into them, and put my hand into his side, I’ll never believe!”
²⁶ A week later, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were shut, Jesus came, stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.”

¹⁴ With one mind, all of them kept devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women (including Mary the mother of Jesus) and his brothers.

⁷ But go and tell his disciples—especially Peter—that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”

⁵⁴ Peter Denies Jesus
Then they arrested him, led him away, and brought him to the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. ⁵⁵ When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had taken their seats, Peter, too, sat down among them. ⁵⁶ A servant girl saw him sitting by the fire, stared at him, and said, “This man was with him, too.”
⁵⁷ But he denied it, “I don’t know him, woman!” he responded.
⁵⁸ A little later, a man looked at him and said, “You are one of them, too.”
But Peter said, “Mister, I am not!”
⁵⁹ About an hour later, another man emphatically asserted, “This man was certainly with him, because he is a Galilean!”
⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Mister, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just then, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.
⁶¹ Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. And Peter remembered the word from the Lord, and how he had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” ⁶² So he went outside and cried bitterly.

⁵ and he was seen by Cephas, and then by the Twelve.

³⁰ While he was at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it in pieces, and gave it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened, and they knew who he was. And he vanished from them.

⁴² Life among the BelieversThe believers continued to devote themselves to what the apostles were teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to times of prayer.

¹⁸ I’ve seen his ways, yet I will heal him, and restore for him comfort to him and for those who mourn for him

¹³ If the household is receptive, let your blessing of peace come on it. But if it isn’t receptive, let your blessing of peace return to you.

⁵ “Whatever house you go into, first say, ‘May there be peace in this house.’

²⁷ I’m leaving you at peace. I’m giving you my own peace. I’m not giving it to you as the world gives. So don’t let your hearts be troubled, and don’t be afraid.

³³ I have told you this so that through me you may have peace. In the world you’ll have trouble, but be courageous—I’ve overcome the world!”

¹⁹ Jesus Appears to the Disciples
It was the evening of the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Jesus came and stood among them. He told them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side, and when they saw the Lord, the disciples were overjoyed. ²¹ Jesus told them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain people’s sins, they are retained.”

²⁶ A week later, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were shut, Jesus came, stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.”

¹⁶ Now may the Lord of peace give you his peace at all times and in every way. May the Lord be with all of you.

⁴ From John to the seven churches in Asia. May grace and peace be yours from the one who is, who was, and who is coming, from the seven spirits who are in front of his throne,

¹³ The king told her, “Don’t be afraid; but what do you see?”
The woman told Saul, “I see a divine being coming up out of the ground.”

¹⁴ A fear fell upon me, along with trembling that caused all my bones to shake in terror. ¹⁵ A spirit glided past me and made the hair on my skin to bristle. ¹⁶ It remained standing, but I couldn’t recognize its appearance. A form appeared before my eyes; At first there was silence, and then this voice:

²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out, “It’s a ghost!” And they screamed in terror.
²⁷ “Have courage!” Jesus immediately told them. “It’s me. Stop being afraid!”

⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and began to scream. ⁵⁰ All of them saw him and were terrified. Immediately he told them, “Have courage! It’s me. Stop being afraid!”

³⁰ “But the rich man replied, ‘No, father Abraham! But if someone from the dead went to them, they would repent.’

¹⁵ The other people told her, “You’re out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. Then they said, “It’s his angel.”

¹⁴ Jerusalem, wash your evil from your heart so that you may be delivered. How long will you harbor evil schemes within you?

⁵ I had a dream that made me afraid. The thoughts that went through my mind while in bed and the visions in my head terrified me.

¹⁹ Daniel’s InterpretationThen Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) was greatly troubled for a while and was terrified by his thoughts. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream or its meaning terrify you.”
Belteshazzar responded, “Your majesty, if only the dream were about your enemies and its meaning about those who oppose you!

⁸ Knowing this, Jesus asked them, “You who have little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you don’t have any bread?

¹³ No creature can hide from him, but everyone is exposed and helpless before the eyes of the one to whom we must give a word of explanation.

²² Then they fell on their faces and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, will you be angry at the entire congregation on account of one man’s sin?”

⁷ then man’s dust will go back to the earth, returning to what it was, and the spirit will return to the God who gave it.

⁴⁶ Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” After he said this, he breathed his last.

²⁰ After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side, and when they saw the Lord, the disciples were overjoyed.

²⁵ So the other disciples kept telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he told them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into them, and put my hand into his side, I’ll never believe!”

²⁷ Then he told Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Take your hand, and put it into my side. Stop doubting, but believe.”

³ After he had suffered, he had shown himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during a period of 40 days and telling them about the kingdom of God.

²³ Final GreetingMay the God of peace himself make you holy in every way. And may your whole being—spirit, soul, and body—remain blameless when our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, appears.

⁹ Furthermore, we had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them for it. We should submit even more to the Father of our spirits and live, shouldn’t we?

¹ Jesus, the Word of LifeWhat existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we observed and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life!

²⁶ where they informed their father, “Joseph is still alive! As a matter of fact, he’s ruling the entire land of Egypt.” But Jacob didn’t believe them, because he had become cynical. ²⁷ However, as soon as his sons had told him everything Joseph had said, and after he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent along to carry him, their father Jacob’s spirit was encouraged.
²⁸ “It’s enough,” Israel replied. “My son Joseph is still alive. I’m going to go see him before I die!”

¹ A Song of Ascents
The Exiles Restored When the LORD brought back Zion’s exiles, we were like dreamers. ² Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues formed joyful shouts. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

²² Now you are having pain. But I’ll see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

⁵ Jesus asked them, “Children, you don’t have any fish, do you?”
They answered him, “No.”

¹⁰ Jesus told them, “Bring me some of the fish you’ve just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish—153 of them. And although there were so many of them, the net was not torn.
¹² Then Jesus told them, “Come, have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?”, because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus took the bread, gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.

⁴¹ not to all the people, but to us who were chosen by God to be witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

¹⁸ King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine, since he was serving as the priest of God Most High.

² The LORD told Moses, “Remind your brother Aaron that at no time is he to enter the sacred place from the room that contains the curtain into the presence of the Mercy Seat on top of the ark. Otherwise, he’ll die, because I will appear in a cloud at the Mercy Seat. ³ Aaron is to enter the sacred place with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a whole burnt offering. ⁴ He is to wear a sacred linen tunic and linen undergarments that will cover his genitals. He is to clothe himself with a sash and wrap his head with a linen turban. Because they are sacred garments, he is to wash himself with water before putting them on.”
⁵ The Atonement and Scapegoat Lots“He is to take two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a whole burnt offering from the assembly of the Israelis. ⁶ Then Aaron is to bring the bull as a sin offering for himself and make atonement for himself and his household. ⁷ Then he is to take the two male goats and present them in the LORD’s presence at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁸ Aaron is to cast lots over the two male goats—one lot for the LORD and the other one for the scapegoat. ⁹ Aaron is then to bring the male goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and offer it as a sin offering. ¹⁰ The male goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat is to be brought alive into the LORD’s presence to make atonement for himself. Then he is to send it into the wilderness.”
¹¹ The Sin Offering“Aaron is then to bring the bull for a sin offering for himself, thus making atonement for himself and his household. He is to slaughter the ox for himself. ¹² Then he is to take a censer and fill it with coals from the fire on the altar in the LORD’s presence. With his hands full of spiced and refined incense, he is to bring it beyond the curtain.
¹³ “Then he is to place the incense over the fire in the LORD’s presence, ensuring that the smoke from the incense covers the Mercy Seat, according to regulation, so he won’t die. ¹⁴ He is to take blood from the ox and sprinkle it with his forefinger toward the surface of the Mercy Seat. Then he is to sprinkle the blood on the surface of the Mercy Seat with his forefinger seven times.
¹⁵ “He is to slaughter the male goat as a sin offering for the people and bring its blood beyond the curtain and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull: He is to sprinkle it on the Mercy Seat—that is, over the surface of the Mercy Seat. ¹⁶ Then he is to make atonement on the sacred place on account of the uncleanness of the Israelis, their transgressions, and all their sins. This is how he is to act in the Tent of Meeting, which will remain with them in the middle of their uncleanness.
¹⁷ “No person is to be there when he enters the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the sacred place, until he comes out and has made atonement on account of himself, his household, and the entire assembly of Israel. ¹⁸ When he goes to the altar in the LORD’s presence to make atonement for himself, he is to take some of the blood from the bull and the male goat, place it around the horns of the altar, ¹⁹ and sprinkle it with the blood on his forefinger seven times, cleansing and sanctifying it from Israel’s sins.”

⁸ Then the LORD instructed Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent out of brass and fasten it to a pole. Anyone who has been bitten and who looks at it will live.”

²⁵ The community is to release the inadvertent killer from the blood avenger and return him to the town of refuge where he had fled. He is to live there until the High Priest dies, who will have anointed him with holy oil.

¹⁵ Discerning the True Prophet“The LORD your God will raise up a prophet like me for you from among your relatives. You must listen to him, ¹⁶ because this is what you asked from the LORD your God at Horeb when you were assembled together: ‘Don’t let us hear the voice of the LORD our God again, or even see this great fire—otherwise, we will die.’
¹⁷ “Then the LORD told me: ‘What they have suggested is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up a prophet like you from among their relatives, and I will place my words in his mouth so that he may expound everything that I have commanded to them. ¹⁹ But if someone will not listen to those words that the prophet speaks in my name, I will hold him accountable.

¹ The Nations and God’s Anointed Why are the nations in an uproar, and their people involved in a vain plot? ² As the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together against the LORD and his anointed one, they say, ³ “Let us tear off their shackles from us, and cast off their chains.” ⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. ⁵ In his anger he rebukes them, and in his wrath he terrifies them: ⁶ “I have set my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
⁷ The Anointed King SpeaksLet me announce the decree of the LORD that he told me: “You are my son, today I have become your father. ⁸ Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession. ⁹ You will break them with an iron rod, you will shatter them like pottery.” ¹⁰ Therefore, kings, act wisely! Earthly rulers, be warned! ¹¹ Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. ¹² Kiss the son before he becomes angry, and you die where you stand. Indeed, his wrath can flare up quickly. How blessed are those who take refuge in him.

⁹ Therefore, my heart is glad, my whole being rejoices, and my body will dwell securely. ¹⁰ For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, you will not allow your holy one to experience corruption. ¹¹ You cause me to know the path of life; in your presence is joyful abundance, at your right hand there are pleasures forever.

⁶ You take no delight in sacrifices and offerings— you have prepared my ears to listen— you require no burnt offerings or sacrifices for sin. ⁷ Then I said, “Here I am! I have come! In the scroll of the book it is written about me. ⁸ I delight to do your will, my God. Your Law is part of my inner being.”

¹ Solomonic
A Prayer for the King God, endow the king with ability to render your justice, and the king’s son to render your right decisions. ² May he rule your people with right decisions and your oppressed ones with justice. ³ May the mountains bring prosperity to the people and the hills bring righteousness. ⁴ May he defend the afflicted of the people and deliver the children of the poor, but crush the oppressor. ⁵ May they fear you as long as the sun and moon shine— from generation to generation. ⁶ May he be like the rain that descends on mown grass, like showers sprinkling on the ground. ⁷ The righteous will flourish at the proper time and peace will prevail until the moon is no more. ⁸ May he rule from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. ⁹ May the nomads bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust. ¹⁰ May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring gifts, and may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer tribute. ¹¹ May all kings bow down to him, and all nations serve him. ¹² For he will deliver the needy when they cry out for help, and the poor when there is no deliverer. ¹³ He will have compassion on the poor and the needy, and he will save the lives of the needy. ¹⁴ He will redeem them from oppression and violence, since their lives are precious in his sight.
¹⁵ Prayer for the KingMay he live long and be given gold from Sheba, and may prayer be offered for him continuously, and may he be blessed every day. ¹⁶ May grain be abundant in the land all the way to the mountain tops; may its fruits flourish like the forests of Lebanon, and may the cities sprout like the grass of the earth.
¹⁷ Praising the God of IsraelMay his fame be eternal— as long as the sun— may his name endure, and may they be blessed through him, and may all nations call him blessed. ¹⁸ Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does awesome deeds. ¹⁹ And blessed be his glorious name forever, and may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen! ²⁰ This ends the prayers of Jesse’s son David.

¹ A song. A psalm by the descendants of Korah. According to Machalath Leannoth. An instruction by Heman the Ezrahite.
A Cry for Help LORD, God of my salvation, by day and by night I cry out before you. ² Let my prayer come before you; listen to my cry. ³ For my life is filled with troubles as I approach Sheol. ⁴ I am considered as one of those descending into the Pit, like a mighty man without strength, ⁵ released to remain with the dead, lying in a grave like a corpse, remembered no longer, and cut off from your power. ⁶ You have assigned me to the lowest part of the Pit, to the darkest depths. ⁷ Your anger lies heavily upon me; you pound me with all your waves. Interlude ⁸ You caused my acquaintances to shun me; you make me extremely abhorrent to them. Restrained, I am unable to go out. ⁹ My eyes languish on account of my affliction; all day long I call out to you, LORD, I spread out my hands to you. ¹⁰ Can you perform wonders for the dead? Can departed spirits stand up to praise you? Interlude ¹¹ Can your gracious love be declared in the grave or your faithfulness in Abaddon? ¹² Can your awesome deeds be known in darkness or your righteousness in the land of oblivion? ¹³ As for me, I cry out to you LORD, and in the morning my prayer greets you. ¹⁴ Why, LORD, have you rejected me? Why have you hidden your face from me? ¹⁵ Since my youth I have been oppressed and in danger of death. I bear your dread and am overwhelmed. ¹⁶ Your burning anger overwhelms me; your terrors destroy me. ¹⁷ Like waters, they engulf me all day long; they surround me on all sides. ¹⁸ You caused my friend and neighbor to shun me; and my acquaintances are confused.

⁴ Instead of receiving my love, they accuse me, though I continue in prayer. ⁵ They devise evil against me instead of good, and hatred in place of my love. ⁶ Appoint an evil person over him; may an accuser stand at his right side. ⁷ When he is judged, may he be found guilty; may his prayer be regarded as sin. ⁸ May his days be few; may another take over his position. ⁹ May his children become fatherless, and his wife a widow. ¹⁰ May his children roam around begging, seeking food while driven far from their ruined homes. ¹¹ May creditors seize all his possessions, and may foreigners loot the property he has acquired. ¹² May no one extend gracious love to him, or show favor to his fatherless children. ¹³ May his descendants be eliminated, and their memory be erased from the next generation. ¹⁴ May his ancestors’ guilt be remembered in the LORD’s presence, and may his mother’s guilt not be erased. ¹⁵ May what they have done be continually in the LORD’s presence; and may their memory be excised from the earth. ¹⁶ For he didn’t think to extend gracious love; he harassed to death the poor, the needy, and the broken hearted. ¹⁷ He loved to curse—may his curses return upon him! He took no delight in blessing others— so may blessings be far from him. ¹⁸ He wore curses like a garment— may they enter his inner being like water and his bones like oil. ¹⁹ May those curses wrap around him like a garment, or like a belt that one always wears. ²⁰ May this be the way the LORD repays my accuser, those who speak evil against me.

¹ A Davidic psalm
A Priestly Ruler A declaration from the LORD to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” ² When the LORD extends your mighty scepter from Zion, rule in the midst of your enemies. ³ Your soldiers are willing volunteers on your day of battle; in majestic holiness, from the womb, from the dawn, the dew of your youth belongs to you. ⁴ The LORD took an oath and will never recant: “You are a priest forever, after the manner of Melchizedek.” ⁵ The Lord is at your right hand; he will utterly destroy kings in the time of his wrath. ⁶ He will execute judgment against the nations, filling graves with corpses. He will utterly destroy leaders far and wide. ⁷ He will drink from a stream on the way, then hold his head high.

²² The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

¹ The Reign of the Davidic King “A shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch will bear fruit from his roots. ² The Spirit of the LORD will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD. ³ His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He won’t judge by what his eyes see, nor decide disputes by what his ears hear, ⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy, and decide with equity for earth’s poor. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and the wicked will be killed with the breath of his lips. ⁵ Righteousness will be the sash around his loins, and faithfulness the belt around his waist.”
⁶ A Transformed Ecology“The wolf will live with the lamb; the leopard will lie down with the young goat. The calf and the lion will graze together, and a little child will lead them. ⁷ The cow and the bear will graze, and their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The nursing child will play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on vipers’ dens. ⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy on my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”
¹⁰ Israel RegatheredAt that time, as to the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a banner for the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place is glorious.

¹⁶ therefore this is what the LORD God says: “Look! I am laying a foundation stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation: Whoever believes firmly will not act hastily.

¹ God Comforts His People “Comfort! Yes, comfort my people,” says your God. ² “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her heavy service has been completed, that her penalty has been paid, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” ³ A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; and in the desert a straight highway for our God.’ ⁴ Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be lowered; the rough ground will become level, and the mountain ridges made a plain. ⁵ Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity will see it at once; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
⁶ The Word of God Endures ForeverA voice says, “Cry out!” So I asked, “What am I to cry out?” “All humanity is grass, and all its loyalty is like the flowers of the field. ⁷ Grass withers and flowers fade away when the LORD’s breath blows on them; surely the people are like grass. ⁸ Grass withers and flowers fade away, when the LORD’s breath blows on them, but the word of our God will stand forever. “
⁹ Here is Your God“Climb up a high mountain, you messenger of good news to Zion! Lift up your voice with strength, you messenger to Jerusalem! Lift it up! Don’t be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’

¹ The Servant of the LORD “Here is my servant, whom I support, my chosen one, in whom I delight. I’ve placed my Spirit upon him; and he’ll deliver his justice throughout the world. ² He won’t shout, or raise his voice, or make it heard in the street. ³ A crushed reed he will not break, and a fading candle he won’t snuff out. He’ll bring forth justice for the truth. ⁴ And he won’t grow faint or be crushed until he establishes justice on the mainland, and the coastlands take ownership of his Law.”

¹ The Servant of the LORD “Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people from far away! The LORD called me from the womb; while I was still in my mother’s body, he pronounced my name. ² He made my mouth like a sharp sword; he hid me in the shadow of his hands. He made me like a polished arrow and hid me away in his quivers. ³ He said to me: ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will glorify myself.’ ⁴ “I said: ‘I’ve labored for nothing. I’ve exhausted my strength on futility and on emptiness.’ Yet surely my recompense is with the LORD, and my reward is with my God. ⁵ “And now, says the LORD, who formed you from the womb as his servant to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him— and I am honored in the LORD’s sight and my God has been my help— ⁶ he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring back those of Jacob I have preserved. I’ll also make you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth. ⁷ “This is what my Lord says— the LORD your Redeemer, O Israel, and his Holy One— to one despised by people, to those abhorred as a nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings see and arise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, the one who has chosen you.”
⁸ The Restoration of Israel“This what the LORD says: “I’ll answer you in a time of favor, and on a day of salvation I’ll help you. I have watched over you, and given you as a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to reassign the inheritances that have been devastated;

² Why is it that when I came, no one was there? Why was there no answer when I called? Was my arm too short to redeem you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? Look! By my mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert. Their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst. ³ I clothe the skies with darkness and make sackcloth their covering.”
⁴ The Servant’s Obedience“The Lord GOD has given me a learned tongue, so that I may know how to sustain the weary with words. And morning after morning he wakens, and he wakens my ear to listen like those who are being taught. ⁵ My Lord GOD has opened my ears, and I did not rebel; I did not shrink back. ⁶ I gave my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not turn away my face from insults and spitting.

¹³ The Suffering Servant“Look! My servant will prosper, and he will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high.

¹ Good News of Deliverance “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed and to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners; ² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; ³ to provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” “Then people will call them “Oaks of Righteousness”, “The Planting of the LORD”, in order to display his splendor.

⁵ “The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I’ll raise up a righteous branch for David. He will be a king who rules wisely, and he will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

¹⁴ The Righteous Branch and the Davidic Covenant“‘Look, the time is coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I’ll fulfill the good promise that I spoke concerning the house of Israel and Judah.

²² The Transplanted VineThis is what the Lord GOD says, “I’m also going to take a shoot from the top of a cedar and plant it. I’ll pluck off its delicate twigs and transplant it on a high and lofty mountain.

⁴⁴ “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor its sovereignty left in the hands of another people. It will shatter and crush all of these kingdoms, and it will stand forever.

²⁴ Seventy weeks have been decreed concerning your people and your holy city: to restrain transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for lawlessness, to establish everlasting righteousness, to conclude vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. ²⁵ So be informed and discern that seven weeks and 62 weeks will elapse from the issuance of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed Commander. The plaza and moat will be rebuilt, though in troubled times. ²⁶ Then after the 62 weeks, the anointed one will be cut down (but not for himself). Then the people of the Coming Commander will destroy both the city and the Sanctuary. Its ending will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war, with desolations having been decreed. ²⁷ He will make a binding covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he will suspend both the sacrifice and grain offerings. Destructive people will cause desolation on the pinnacle until it is complete and what has been decreed is poured out on the desolator.’”

⁷ But I’ll have mercy on the house of Judah, and I’ll save them by the LORD their God—I will not save them by the bow, by the sword, by battle, by horses, or by cavalry.”
⁸ After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived again and gave birth to a son, ⁹ so the LORD told Hosea, “Name him ‘Lo-ammi,’ because you are not my people, and I will not be your God. ¹⁰ Despite this, the number of the people of Israel will be like ocean sand, which can neither be measured nor counted. And the time will come when instead of it being said, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’ ¹¹ And the people of Judah and the people of Israel will be united as one. They will appoint for themselves a single leader and will take dominion over the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

⁵ Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come in awe to the LORD and to his goodness in the last days.

²⁸ The Day of the LORD“Then it will come about at a later time that I will pour out my Spirit on every person. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your elderly people will dream dreams, and your young people will see visions. ²⁹ Also at that time I will pour out my Spirit upon men and women servants. ³⁰ I will display warnings in the heavens, and on the earth blood, fire, and columns of smoke. ³¹ The sun will be given over to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and terrifying Day of the LORD. ³² And everyone who calls upon the name of the LORD will be delivered. For as the LORD has said, ‘In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, the survivors whom the LORD is calling.’”

¹¹ Israel to be Restored“At that time I will restore David’s fallen tent, restoring its torn places. I will restore its ruins, rebuilding it as it was long ago,

¹ “Now marshal yourselves as troops. He has laid siege to us. They will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek with a rod.”

⁷ I will shake all nations, and the One desired by all nations will come. Then I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
⁸ “The silver belongs to me, as does the gold,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. ⁹ “The glory of this present house will be greater than was the former,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. “And in this place I will grant peace,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.”

¹² Then tell him, ‘This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “Here is the man whose name is The Branch. He will branch out from where he is and will rebuild the Temple of the LORD.

⁸ In a single month I got rid of three shepherds because I grew tired of them, and they despised me. ⁹ So I said, “I will no longer be your shepherd. Let those who are about to die perish, and let what is about to be destroyed be destroyed. As for the survivors, let them devour each other.”
¹⁰ Then I took the staff that I had named “Pleasant” and broke it, showing I was breaking my covenant that I had made with all of the people. ¹¹ It was broken at that time so the oppressed of the flock who were observing me would know that it had been a message from the LORD.
¹² I told them, “If it’s alright with you, pay me what I’ve earned. But if it isn’t, don’t.”
So they paid out what I had earned—30 pieces of silver.
¹³ Then the LORD told me, “Throw the money into the treasury—that magnificent value they placed on me!”
So I took the 30 shekels of silver and threw them into the treasury of the Temple of the LORD.

¹⁰ I will pour out on the house of David and on the residents of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of supplications, and they will look to me—the one whom they pierced.’”
Mourning in JerusalemThen they will mourn for him, as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him, as for a firstborn son.

⁴ His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a very large valley, with half of the mountain moving toward the north and half toward the south.

² But the Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in its light for those who fear my name. You will go out and leap like calves released from their stalls ³ and trample down the wicked. Indeed, they will become ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I do this,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
⁴ The Coming of Elijah the Prophet“Remember the Law of Moses my servant that I gave him at Horeb for all Israel—both the decrees and laws.
⁵ “Pay attention! I’m sending Elijah the prophet to you before the great and dreadful Day of the LORD comes, ⁶ and he will turn the hearts of fathers to children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I’ll come, strike the land, and utterly destroy it.”

⁵⁴ How, then, would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say this must happen?”

⁵⁶ But all of this has happened so that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.”
Then all the disciples deserted Jesus and ran away.

³¹ Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man would have to suffer a great deal and be rejected by the elders, the high priests, and the scribes. Then he would be killed, but after three days he would rise again. ³² He was speaking about this matter quite openly.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

³¹ because he was teaching his disciples, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into human hands. They will kill him, but after being dead for three days he will be raised.”

³¹ Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time
Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “Pay attention! We’re going up to Jerusalem. Everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled, ³² because he’ll be handed over to the unbelievers, and will be mocked, insulted, and spit on. ³³ After they have whipped him, they’ll kill him, but on the third day he’ll rise again.” ³⁴ But they didn’t understand any of this. What he said was hidden from them, and they didn’t know what he meant.

²² because these are the days of vengeance when all that is written will be fulfilled.

³⁷ Because I tell you, what has been written about me must be fulfilled: ‘He was counted among the criminals.’ Indeed, what is written about me must be fulfilled.”

⁶ He is not here, but has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day.’”

²⁶ The Messiah had to suffer these things and then enter his glory, didn’t he?” ²⁷ Then, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them all the passages of Scripture about himself.

¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

⁴⁶ because if you believed Moses, you would believe me, since he wrote about me.

⁴ But I’ve told you this, so that when the time comes you’ll remember that I told you about them. I didn’t tell you this in the beginning, because I was still with you.”
⁵ The Work of the Spirit“But now I am going to the one who sent me. Yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’

¹⁶ In a little while you will no longer see me, then in a little while you will see me again.”
¹⁷ At this point, some of his disciples asked each other, “What does he mean by telling us, ‘In a little while you will no longer see me, then in a little while you will see me again,’ and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”

¹¹ I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your Name, the Name that you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them by the authority that you gave me. I guarded them, and not one of them became lost except the one who was destined for destruction, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
¹³ “And now I am coming to you, and I say these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.

²⁴ So they told each other, “Let’s not tear it. Instead, let’s throw dice to see who gets it.” This was to fulfill the Scripture that says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they threw dice.”
So that is what the soldiers did.
²⁵ Meanwhile, standing near Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he kept loving standing there, he told his mother, “Dear lady, here is your son.” ²⁷ Then he told the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
²⁸ Jesus Dies on the Cross
After this, when Jesus realized that everything was now completed, he said (in order to fulfill the Scripture), “I’m thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of sour wine was standing there, so they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. ³⁰ After Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.
³¹ Jesus’ Side is PiercedSince it was the Preparation Day, the Jewish leaders did not want to leave the bodies on the crosses during the Sabbath, because that was a particularly important Sabbath. So they asked Pilate to have the men’s legs broken and the bodies removed. ³² So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water immediately came out. ³⁵ The one who saw this has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows he is telling the truth so that you, too, may believe, ³⁶ because these things happened so that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “None of his bones will be broken.”
³⁷ In addition, another passage of Scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they pierced.”

¹⁸ This is how God fulfilled what he had predicted through the voice of all the prophets—that his Messiah would suffer.

²² In fact, Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to everything he tells you. ²³ Any person who will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’
²⁴ “Indeed, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who followed him, also announced these days.

²⁹ When they had finished doing everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead, ³¹ and for many days he appeared to those who had come with him to Jerusalem from Galilee. These are now his witnesses to the people.

³³ he has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.’

⁵ Moses was faithful in all God’s household as a servant who was to testify to what would be said later,

¹ The Messiah is Superior to MelchizedekNow this man Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, met Abraham and blessed him when he was returning from defeating the kings.

⁸ The Holy Spirit was indicating by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first part of the tent was still standing.

¹ The Law is a ReflectionFor the Law, being only a reflection of the blessings to come and not their substance, can never make perfect those who come near by the same sacrifices repeatedly offered year after year.

¹¹ Then God asked him, “Who gives a person a mouth? Who makes him unable to speak, or deaf, or able to see, or blind, or lame? Is it not I, the LORD?

¹⁶ That’s when he opens the ear of mankind, authenticating his messages to them,

¹⁸ Open my eyes so that I will observe amazing things from your instruction.

¹⁰ For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep— he has closed your eyes, you prophets, he has covered your heads, you seers!”
¹¹ “And this entire vision has become for you like the words of a sealed book. When people give it to someone who can read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he answers, ‘I cannot, because it is sealed.’ ¹² Or when they give the book to someone who cannot read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he answers, ‘I don’t know how to read.’”

¹⁸ On that day the deaf will hear the words of a scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. ¹⁹ The humble will again experience joy in the LORD, and the poorest people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

³² Then they asked each other, “Our hearts kept burning within us as he was talking to us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us, didn’t they?”

¹⁸ You will help them understand and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan’s control to God, so that their sins will be forgiven and they will receive a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹⁴ However, their minds were hardened, for to this day the same veil is still there when they read the old covenant. Only in union with the Messiah is that veil removed. ¹⁵ Yet even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁶ But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ As all of us reflect the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, we are becoming more like him with ever-increasing glory by the Lord’s Spirit.

⁴ In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the image of God.
⁵ For we do not preach ourselves, but rather Jesus the Messiah as Lord, and ourselves as merely your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus the Messiah.

¹⁴ for the light is making everything visible. That is why it says, “Wake up, sleeper! Arise from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you.’’

²⁰ We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true God. We are in union with the one who is true, his Son Jesus the Messiah, who is the true God and eternal life.

⁷ The Letter to the Church in Philadelphia“To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia, write: ‘The one who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens a door that no one can shut, and who shuts a door that no one can open, ‘says this:

¹² There is no salvation by anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”

²⁷ All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of the nations will bow in submission to the LORD.

² Let your ways be known by all the nations of the earth, along with your deliverance. ³ Let the people thank you, God. Let all the people thank you. ⁴ Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy, because you judge people with fairness and you govern the people of the earth. Interlude

⁷ May God truly bless us so that all the peoples of the earth will fear him.

⁹ All the nations that you have established will come and worship you, my Lord. They will honor your name.

¹ A psalm
Sing Praise to the King Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done awesome deeds! His right hand and powerful arm have brought him victory. ² The LORD has made his deliverance known; he has disclosed his justice before the nations. ³ He has remembered his gracious love; his faithfulness toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth saw our God’s deliverance.

¹ A Call to Praise the LORD Praise the LORD, all you nations! Exalt him, all you peoples! ² For great is his gracious love toward us, and the LORD’s faithfulness is eternal. Hallelujah!

¹ A Message for Judah and JerusalemThe message that Amoz’s son Isaiah received concerning Judah and Jerusalem: ² “It will come about in the last days that the mountain that is the LORD’s Temple will be established as the highest of mountains, and will be raised above the hills; all the nations will stream to it. ³ Many groups of people will come, commenting, “Come! Let’s go up to the Temple of the God of Jacob, that they may teach us his ways. Then let’s walk in his paths.”
The Rule of God from Jerusalem “Instruction will proceed from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

⁴ What more could I do in my vineyard, that I haven’t already done? When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield wild ones?

¹⁰ Israel RegatheredAt that time, as to the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a banner for the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place is glorious.

⁶ he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring back those of Jacob I have preserved. I’ll also make you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.

²² “For this what the LORD says, ‘Watch! I’ll lift up my hand to the nations and raise my banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.’

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

¹⁵ so will he startle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths at him; for what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand.

¹ The Light of God’s Deliverance “Arise, shine! For your light has come; the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. ² For look! Darkness will cover the earth and thick darkness is over the people, but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. ³ Nations will come to your light, and kings before your dawn.

¹⁸ “But as for me, I know their actions and their thoughts. Come and gather all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.
¹⁹ “I will put up signs among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations—to Tarshish, Libya, and Lydia, (who draw the bow), to Tubal and Greece, to the far off coastlands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. Then they will proclaim my glory among the nations. ²⁰ They will bring all—yes, all!— of your kindred from all the nations to my holy mountain Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD—on horses, in chariots, in wagons, and on mules—yes, even on mules!— and on camels,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelis bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the LORD’s house. ²¹ Then I will also select some of them for myself as priests and as Levites,” says the LORD.

³⁴ No longer will a person teach his neighbor or his relative: ‘Know the LORD.’ Instead, they’ll all know me, from the least to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD. “Indeed, I’ll forgive their iniquity, and I’ll remember their sin no more.”

²⁴ Seventy weeks have been decreed concerning your people and your holy city: to restrain transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for lawlessness, to establish everlasting righteousness, to conclude vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

²³ I will plant my people in the land for myself. I will show mercy on her who has received no mercy I will say to those who are not my people, ‘You are my people!’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

⁸ “How can I give up on you, Ephraim? I will deliver you, will I not, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? I can’t make you like Zeboim, can I? My heart stirs within me; my compassion also fans into flame!

² Many nations will approach and say, ‘Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the Temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways, and we will walk according to his directions.’ “Indeed, the Law will proceed from Zion, and the message of the LORD from Jerusalem.

¹¹ Even so, from where the sun rises to where it sets my name will be great among the Gentiles. Incense will be brought to me everywhere, along with pure offerings, because my name will be great among the Gentiles,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

² “Repent, because the kingdom from heaven is near!”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and told those who were following him, “I tell all of you with certainty, not even in Israel have I found this kind of faith! ¹¹ I tell all of you, many will come from east and west and will feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom from heaven.

¹³ Go and learn what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ because I did not come to call righteous people, but sinners.”

⁵ Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples
These were the Twelve whom Jesus sent out after he had given them these instructions: “Don’t turn on to the road that leads to the unbelievers, and don’t enter Samaritan towns. ⁶ Instead, go to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.

¹⁹ Therefore, as you go, disciple people in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

³⁴ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you people were unwilling!

³⁸ Peter answered them, “Every one of you must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.

¹⁹ Therefore, repent and turn to him to have your sins blotted out,

²⁵ You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he told Abraham, ‘Through your descendant all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ ²⁶ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning every one of you from your evil ways.”

³¹ God has exalted to his right hand this very man as our Leader and Savior in order to extend repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

⁴⁶ because they heard them speaking in foreign languages and praising God. Then Peter said, ⁴⁷ “No one can stop us from using water to baptize these people who have received the Holy Spirit in the same way that we did, can they?” ⁴⁸ So Peter ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah. Then they asked him to stay there for several days.

¹⁸ When they heard this, they calmed down, and praised God by saying, “So God has given repentance that leads to life even to gentiles.”

³⁸ “Therefore, brothers, you must understand that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and that everyone who believes in him is justified and freed from everything that kept you from being justified by the Law of Moses.

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas boldly declared, “We had to speak God’s word to you first, but since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are now going to turn to the gentiles.

³⁰ Though God has overlooked those times of ignorance, he now commands everyone everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world with justice through a man whom he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

⁵ But when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to the word as he emphatically assured the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. ⁶ But when they began to oppose him and insult him, he shook out his clothes in protest and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the gentiles.”

²¹ I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

²⁰ Instead, I first told the people in Damascus and Jerusalem, then all the people in Judea—and after that the gentiles—to repent, turn to God, and perform deeds that are consistent with such repentance.

²⁸ You must understand that this message about God’s salvation has been sent to the gentiles, and they will listen.”

²⁰ Now the Law crept in so that the offense would increase. But where sin increased, grace increased even more,

¹² There is no difference between Jew and Greek, because they all have the same Lord, who gives richly to all who call on him. ¹³ “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
¹⁴ How, then, can people call on someone they have not believed? And how can they believe in someone they have not heard about? And how can they hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are those who bring the good news!” ¹⁶ But not everyone has obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah asks, “Lord, who has believed our message?” ¹⁷ Consequently, faith results from listening, and listening results through the word of the Messiah.
¹⁸ But I ask, “Didn’t they hear?” Certainly they did! In fact, “Their voice has gone out into the whole world, and their words to the ends of the earth.”

²⁶ In this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. ²⁷ This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

⁸ For I tell you that the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth in order to confirm the promises given to our ancestors, ⁹ so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “That is why I will praise you among the gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.”
¹⁰ Again he says, “Rejoice, you gentiles, with his people!”
¹¹ And again, “Praise the Lord, all you gentiles! Let all the nations praise him.”
¹² And again, Isaiah says, “There will be a Root from Jesse. He will rise up to rule the gentiles, and the gentiles will hope in him.”
¹³ Now may God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace as you believe, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
¹⁴ Paul’s Desire to Take the Gospel to the Whole WorldI myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are filled with goodness and full of all the knowledge you need to be able to instruct each other. ¹⁵ However, on some points I have written to you rather boldly, both as a reminder to you and because of the grace given me by God ¹⁶ to be a minister of the Messiah Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering brought by gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

⁶ so that we would praise his glorious grace that he gave us in the Beloved One.

⁸ To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given so that I might proclaim to the gentiles the immeasurable wealth of the Messiah

²⁷ to whom God wanted to make known the glorious riches of this secret among the gentiles—which is the Messiah in you, our glorious hope.

¹² I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

²⁷ You will testify also, because you have been with me from the beginning.

⁸ But you’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

²² beginning when he was baptized by John until the day he was taken up from us. Therefore, someone like this must become a witness with us to his resurrection.”

³² “It was this very Jesus whom God raised—and we’re all witnesses of that.

¹⁵ and you killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead. We are witnesses to that.

³³ With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was on them all,

³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep on obeying him.”

³⁹ We are witnesses of everything Jesus did in the land of the Jews, including Jerusalem.
“They hung him on a tree and killed him,

³¹ and for many days he appeared to those who had come with him to Jerusalem from Galilee. These are now his witnesses to the people.

¹⁵ because you will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.

³ how will we escape if we neglect a salvation as great as this? It was first proclaimed by the Lord himself, and then it was confirmed to us by those who heard him, ⁴ while God added his testimony through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

¹ Be Shepherds of God’s FlockTherefore, as a fellow elder, a witness of the Messiah’s sufferings, and one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you:

² This life was revealed to us, and we have seen it and testify about it. We declare to you this eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us. ³ What we have seen and heard we declare to you so that you, too, can have fellowship with us. Now this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Messiah.

¹⁵ until the Spirit from on high is poured upon us, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.”

³ For I’ll pour water upon thirsty ground and streams on parched land. So will I pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing upon your descendants. ⁴ They’ll spring up as among the green grass, like willows by flowing streams.

²⁰ “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” says the LORD.
²¹ “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “And my Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, won’t depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children’s children, from now on and forever.”

¹⁶ I will ask the Father to give you another Helper, to be with you always. ¹⁷ He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor recognizes him. But you recognize him, because he lives with you and will be in you.

²⁶ “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father— the Spirit of Truth, who comes from the Father—he will testify on my behalf.

⁷ However, I’m telling you the truth. It’s for your advantage that I’m going away, because if I don’t go away, the Helper won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment— ⁹ of sin, because they don’t believe in me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I’m going to the Father and you will no longer see me; ¹¹ and of judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
¹² “I still have a lot to say to you, but you cannot bear it now. ¹³ Yet when the Spirit of Truth comes, he’ll guide you into all truth. He won’t speak on his own accord, but he’ll speak whatever he hears and will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said, ‘He will take what is mine and declare it to you.’ ¹⁶ In a little while you will no longer see me, then in a little while you will see me again.”

⁴ The Promise of the Holy SpiritWhile he was meeting with them, he ordered them, “Don’t leave Jerusalem. Instead, wait for what the Father has promised, about which you heard me speak,

¹ The Coming of the Holy SpiritWhen the day of Pentecost was being celebrated, all of them were together in one place. ² Suddenly, a sound like the roar of a mighty windstorm came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated, and one rested on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign languages as the Spirit gave them that ability.
⁵ Now devout Jews from every nation on earth were living in Jerusalem. ⁶ When that sound came, a crowd quickly gathered, startled because each one heard the disciples speaking in his own language. ⁷ Stunned and amazed, they asked, “All of these people who are speaking are Galileans, aren’t they? ⁸ So how is it that each one of us hears them speaking in his own native language: ⁹ Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the district of Libya near Cyrene, Jewish and proselyte visitors from Rome, ¹¹ Cretans, and Arabs, listening to them talk in our own languages about the great deeds of God?”
¹² All of them continued to be stunned and puzzled, and they kept asking one another, “What can this mean?”
¹³ But others kept saying in derision, “They’re drunk on sweet wine!”
¹⁴ Peter Addresses the CrowdThen Peter stood up among the eleven apostles and raised his voice to address them:
“Men of Judea and everyone living in Jerusalem! You must understand something, so pay close attention to my words. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk as you suppose, for it’s only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶ Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ¹⁷ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. ¹⁸ In those days I will even pour out my Spirit on my slaves, men and women alike, and they will prophesy. ¹⁹ I will display wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below: blood, fire, and clouds of smoke. ²⁰ The sun will become dark, and the moon turn to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord. ²¹ Then whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

¹⁸ King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine, since he was serving as the priest of God Most High. ¹⁹ Melchizedek blessed Abram and said, “Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, ²⁰ and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your control.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

⁴ Then prepare some food, just the way I like it, and bring it to me so that I can eat and bless you before I die.”

⁹ “These are my sons,” Joseph replied. “God gave them to me here in Egypt.”
“Please bring them close to me,” Jacob said, “so I can bless them.”

²⁸ Jacob Dies and is BuriedThat’s how Israel blessed these twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father told them when he pronounced his blessing for them, blessing each one with a blessing suitable for them.

²³ “Teach Aaron and his sons to bless the Israelis: ²⁴ May the LORD bless you and guard you. ²⁵ May the LORD’s face enlighten you and bestow favor on you. ²⁶ May the LORD turn to face you, lavishing peace on you!
²⁷ They are to pour out my name to the Israelis while I continue to bless them.”

¹⁷ Then he left them and went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there.

¹⁶ Then after he had hugged the children, he tenderly blessed them as he laid his hands on them.

¹ The King Enters Jerusalem
When they came near Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead

¹² A New Apostle Takes the Place of JudasThen they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

⁵ The descendants of Levi who accept the priesthood have a commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their own brothers, even though they are also descendants of Abraham. ⁶ But this man, whose descent is not traced from them, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the man who had received the promises. ⁷ It is beyond dispute that the less important person is blessed by the more important person.

¹¹ As they continued on, talking as they went, suddenly chariots blazing with fire and pulled by fiery horses appeared, separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a wind storm to heaven!

¹⁹ Jesus is Taken Up to Heaven
So the Lord Jesus, after talking with his disciples, was taken up to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

¹⁷ Jesus told her, “Don’t hold on to me, because I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I’m ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

⁹ Jesus Goes Up to HeavenAfter saying this, Jesus was taken up while those who had gathered together were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

⁸ That is why God says, “When he went up to the highest place, he led captives into captivity and gave gifts to people.”
⁹ Now what does this “he went up” mean except that he also had gone down into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ The one who went down is the same one who went up above all the heavens so that all things would be fulfilled.

³ He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact likeness of his being, and he holds everything together by his powerful word. After he had provided a cleansing from sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Highest Majesty

¹⁴ Our Compassionate High PriestTherefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us live our lives consistent with our confession of faith.

¹¹ You have turned my mourning into dancing; you took off my sackcloth and clothed me with a garment of joy,

⁹ Suddenly, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They went up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him.

¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshipped him, though some had doubts.

²⁸ You have heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, but I’m coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I’m going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.

⁷ However, I’m telling you the truth. It’s for your advantage that I’m going away, because if I don’t go away, the Helper won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,

²⁰ teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age.”

²⁰ Then his disciples went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the signs that accompanied it.

⁴⁶ United in purpose, they went to the Temple every day, ate at each other’s homes, and shared their food with glad and humble hearts. ⁴⁷ They were praising God and enjoying the good will of all the people. Every day the Lord was adding to their number those who were being saved.

⁴¹ They left the Council, rejoicing to have been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name. ⁴² Every day in the Temple and from house to house they kept teaching and proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah.

²¹ May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints.
Amen.