Luke 14 Cross References - MSB

¹ One Sabbath, Jesus went to eat in the home of a leading Pharisee, and those in attendance were watching Him closely. ² Right there before Him was a man with dropsy. ³ So Jesus asked the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ⁴ But they remained silent. Then Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. ⁵ And He asked them, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?” ⁶ And they were unable to answer these questions. ⁷ When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, He told them a parable: ⁸ “When you are invited to a wedding banquet, do not sit in the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited. ⁹ Then the host who invited both of you will come and tell you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ And in humiliation, you will have to take the last place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit in the last place, so that your host will come and tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in front of those at the table with you. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” ¹² Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” ¹⁵ When one of those reclining with Him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is he who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁶ But Jesus replied, “A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷ When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ ¹⁸ But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go and see it. Please excuse me.’ ¹⁹ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’ ²⁰ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, so I cannot come.’ ²¹ That servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.’ ²² ‘Sir,’ the servant replied, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ ²³ So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴ For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet. For many are called, but few are chosen’” ²⁵ Large crowds were now traveling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’ ³¹ Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² And if he is unable, he will send a delegation while the other king is still far off, to ask for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple. ³⁴ Salt is good, but if the salt loses its savor, with what will it be seasoned? ³⁵ It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile, and it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

³² Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,

⁶ My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad.

⁴ They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. Selah

⁵ They hold fast to their evil purpose; they speak of hiding their snares. “Who will see them?” they say. ⁶ They devise injustice and say, “We have perfected a secret plan.” For the inner man and the heart are mysterious.

⁷ for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

²⁰ For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down— ²¹ those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.

¹⁰ For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.” ¹¹ But the LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly put to shame, with an everlasting disgrace that will never be forgotten.

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

⁷ Looking for an accusation against Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.

³⁴ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵ But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” ³⁶ Then one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.

³⁷ As Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to dine with him; so He went in and reclined at the table.

⁵³ As Jesus said these things to them, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things, ⁵⁴ lying in wait for Him and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, so that they might accuse Him.

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

¹ Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.

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

¹⁹ Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law, to win those under the law. ²¹ To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law. ²² To the weak I became like one who is weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.

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

¹⁰ and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

³⁵ One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question:

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

⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

⁴⁴ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without even noticing.” ⁴⁵ One of the experts in the law told Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us as well.”

¹⁴ But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on the Sabbath.” ¹⁵ “You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water? ¹⁶ Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?”

²³ If a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, why are you angry with Me for making the whole man well on the Sabbath?

²⁵ What was the source of John’s baptism? Was it from heaven or from men?” They deliberated among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard John as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

⁴⁶ No one was able to answer a word, and from that day on no one dared to question Him any further.

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

²⁴ This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree that the Most High has issued against my lord the king:

¹¹ He replied, “If one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

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

¹⁷ When Jesus said this, all His adversaries were humiliated. And the whole crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things He was doing.

²⁶ And they were unable to trap Him in His words before the people; and amazed at His answer, they fell silent.

⁴⁰ And they did not dare to question Him any further.

¹⁵ For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to contradict or resist.

¹⁰ but they could not stand up to his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.

¹² “Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.

¹ Does not wisdom call out, and understanding raise her voice?

² “Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house of Israel

³⁴ Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.

⁶ They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues,

³⁸ In His teaching Jesus also said to them, “Watch out for the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, to receive greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ and to have the chief seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.

⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! You love the chief seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces.

⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, and they love the greetings in the marketplaces, the chief seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets.

¹⁸ When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money. ¹⁹ “Give me this power as well,” he said, “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

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

⁹ I have written to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not accept our instruction.

⁶ Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, and do not stand in the place of great men; ⁷ for it is better that he says to you, “Come up here!” than that you should be demoted in the presence of the prince. Even what you have seen with your own eyes,

⁶ Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king be delighted to honor more than me?” ⁷ And Haman told the king, “For the man whom the king is delighted to honor, ⁸ have them bring a royal robe that the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden—one with a royal crest placed on its head. ⁹ Let the robe and the horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them array the man the king wants to honor and parade him on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!’” ¹⁰ “Hurry,” said the king to Haman, “and do just as you proposed. Take the robe and the horse to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything that you have suggested.” ¹¹ So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!” ¹² Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.

³⁵ The wise will inherit honor, but fools are held up to shame.

² When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

² “Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god. ³ Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you! ⁴ By your wisdom and understanding you have gained your wealth and amassed gold and silver for your treasuries. ⁵ By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, but your heart has grown proud because of it. ⁶ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you regard your heart as the heart of a god, ⁷ behold, I will bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations. They will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and will defile your splendor. ⁸ They will bring you down to the Pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas. ⁹ Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who slay you? You will be only a man, not a god, in the hands of those who wound you. ¹⁰ You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners. For I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.”

³⁰ the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” ³¹ While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you. ³² You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.” ³³ At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. ³⁴ But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

¹⁷ And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel

³³ The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

¹⁴ The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

⁹ Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.

²⁹ When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly.

¹⁰ Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and clothe yourself with honor and glory. ¹¹ Unleash the fury of your wrath; look on every proud man and bring him low. ¹² Look on every proud man and humble him; trample the wicked where they stand.

²⁷ For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.

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

¹² Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

²³ A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.

¹¹ The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

¹⁷ So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

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

¹² For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

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

⁶ But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

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

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

²⁰ The poor man is hated even by his neighbor, but many are those who love the rich.

¹⁶ Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty.

⁵ “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted? ⁶ And when you were eating and drinking, were you not doing so simply for yourselves? ⁷ Are these not the words that the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were populous and prosperous, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?’”

⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same?

¹ “Be careful not to perform your acts of charity before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will Himself reward you openly.

¹⁶ When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting will not be obvious to men, but only to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

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

³² If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Therefore be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

¹ My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism. ² Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. ³ If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit here under footstool,” ⁴ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?

²⁹ Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.

¹¹ and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

¹⁴ And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

¹² When you have finished laying aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat and be filled within your gates. ¹³ Then you shall declare in the presence of the LORD your God, “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all the commandments You have given me. I have not transgressed or forgotten Your commandments.

¹⁹ Then he distributed to every man and woman among the multitude of Israel a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. And all the people departed, each for his own home.

²⁴ For Hezekiah king of Judah contributed a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the officials contributed a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the assembly, and a great number of priests consecrated themselves.

¹⁰ Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

¹² Then all the people began to eat and drink, to send out portions, and to rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that had been made known to them.

¹³ The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

¹⁵ I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame. ¹⁶ I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

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

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

³¹ Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.

⁶ Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to the bitter in soul. ⁷ Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

⁷ Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

¹⁰ and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.

¹⁴ When Jesus stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ When evening came, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is already late. Dismiss the crowds so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” ¹⁶ “They do not need to go away,” Jesus replied. “You give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. ¹⁸ “Bring them here to Me,” Jesus said. ¹⁹ And He directed the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He spoke a blessing. Then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ About five thousand men were fed, in addition to women and children.

³² Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.” ³³ His disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?” ³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” ³⁵ And He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to His disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ³⁸ A total of four thousand men were fed, in addition to women and children. ³⁹ After Jesus had dismissed the crowds, He got into the boat and went to the region of Magdala.

¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

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

²¹ That servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.’

⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need.

³⁴ There were no needy ones among them, because those who owned lands or houses would sell their property, bring the proceeds from the sales, ³⁵ and lay them at the apostles’ feet for distribution to anyone as he had need.

³⁹ So Peter got up and went with them. On his arrival, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood around him, weeping and showing him the tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

¹³ Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited.

² An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

¹⁰ and well known for good deeds such as bringing up children, entertaining strangers, washing the feet of the saints, imparting relief to the afflicted, and devoting herself to every good work.

⁸ Instead, he must be hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

⁷ We take great joy and encouragement in your love, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

² Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

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

² And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt. ³ Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will Himself reward you openly.

⁴¹ Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴² And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

³⁵ But those who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. ³⁶ In fact, they can no longer die, because they are like the angels. And since they are sons of the resurrection, they are sons of God.

²⁹ and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

¹⁵ and I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of the dead—of both the righteous and the wicked.

¹⁸ I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

⁴ Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵ The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete. This is the first resurrection.

¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

¹⁰ But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.

³⁷ Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.

²⁹ People will come from east and west and north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.

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

²⁷ Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.” ²⁸ Then they inquired, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” ³⁰ So they asked Him, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³² Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “give us this bread at all times.” ³⁵ Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst. ³⁶ But as I stated, you have seen Me and still you do not believe. ³⁷ Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ And this is the will of the Father who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ And it is the will of Him who sent Me that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” ⁴¹ At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’” ⁴³ “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus therefore replied. ⁴⁴ “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me— ⁴⁶ not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes in Me has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.” ⁵² At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” ⁵³ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ Jesus said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

⁹ Then the angel told me to write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

¹ Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars. ² She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.

¹ I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink; drink freely, O beloved.

⁶ On this mountain the LORD of Hosts will prepare a banquet for all the peoples, a feast of aged wine, of choice meat, of finely aged wine. ⁷ On this mountain He will swallow up the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;

¹ “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! ² Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods. ³ Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, so that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant—My loving devotion promised to David. ⁴ Behold, I have made him a witness to the nations, a leader and commander of the peoples. ⁵ Surely you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, has bestowed glory on you.” ⁶ Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. ⁷ Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

¹² They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish. ¹³ Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow. ¹⁴ I will fill the souls of the priests abundantly, and will fill My people with My goodness,” declares the LORD.

⁷ Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the LORD.

² “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³ He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come. ⁴ Again, he sent other servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ ⁵ But they paid no attention and went away, one to his field, another to his business. ⁶ The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. ⁷ When he heard this, the king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited were not worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. ¹¹ But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. ¹² ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless. ¹³ Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

¹⁶ But Jesus replied, “A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷ When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ ¹⁸ But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go and see it. Please excuse me.’ ¹⁹ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’ ²⁰ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, so I cannot come.’ ²¹ That servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.’ ²² ‘Sir,’ the servant replied, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ ²³ So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴ For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet. For many are called, but few are chosen’”

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.

¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.

¹ Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars. ² She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. ³ She has sent out her maidservants; she calls out from the heights of the city. ⁴ “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment. ⁵ “Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed.

¹ In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” ³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’” ⁴ John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan. ⁷ But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹ I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. ¹² His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹ And calling His twelve disciples to Him, Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could drive them out and heal every disease and sickness. ² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus called Thaddaeus. ⁴ Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

²⁷ All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. ²⁸ Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

³ He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come. ⁴ Again, he sent other servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

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

¹ Then Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and power to cure diseases. ² And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. ³ “Take nothing for the journey,” He told them, “no staffs, no bag, no bread, no money, no second tunic. ⁴ Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that area. ⁵ If anyone does not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that town, as a testimony against them.”

¹ After this, the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place He was about to visit. ² Therefore He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest. ³ Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. ⁴ Carry no purse or bag or sandals. Do not greet anyone along the road. ⁵ Whatever house you enter, begin by saying, ‘Peace to this house.’ ⁶ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. ⁷ Stay at the same house, eating and drinking whatever you are offered. For the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house. ⁸ If you enter a town and they welcome you, eat whatever is set before you. ⁹ Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ ¹⁰ But if you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into the streets and declare, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to us, we wipe off as a testimony against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near to you.’ ¹² I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

²⁴ Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have proclaimed these days. ²⁵ And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with our fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ ²⁶ When God raised up His Servant Jesus, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

²⁶ Brothers, children of Abraham, and you Gentiles who fear God, it is to you that this message of salvation has been sent.

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

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

¹² to whom He has said: “This is the place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.” But they would not listen. ¹³ Then the word of the LORD to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and will be injured, ensnared, and captured.

¹¹ And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” ¹² Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.”

⁴ Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God. ⁵ I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.

¹⁰ To whom can I give this warning? Who will listen to me? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. See, the word of the LORD has become offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.

¹⁶ This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’ ¹⁷ I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.’ But they answered, ‘We will not listen!’

⁵ But they paid no attention and went away, one to his field, another to his business. ⁶ The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.

³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. ³⁹ And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

¹⁴ The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.

²⁶ Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. ²⁹ But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind.

²⁴ Seeing the man’s sadness, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!

⁴ John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or from men?” ⁵ They deliberated among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why did you not believe him?’

¹¹ He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

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

⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying. ⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

⁵ And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. ⁶ But when they opposed and insulted him, he shook out his garments and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

²⁵ They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit was right when He spoke to our fathers through Isaiah the prophet: ²⁶ ‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” ²⁷ For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’

⁹ Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

⁴ So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

¹⁰ because Demas, in his love of this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

¹⁶ See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright.

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.

⁵ If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.

²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?

²⁹ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God ³⁰ will fail to receive many times more in this age—and in the age to come, eternal life.”

²⁹ What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; ³⁰ those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing; ³¹ and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

³³ But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife.

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

¹² So David’s men turned around and went back, and they relayed to him all these words.

¹² Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

⁷ For my loins are full of burning pain, and no soundness remains in my body.

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

²⁰ Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square; ²¹ in the main concourse she cries aloud, at the city gates she makes her speech: ²² “How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge? ²³ If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you. ²⁴ Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand, ²⁵ because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction,

² On the heights overlooking the road, at the crossroads she takes her stand. ³ Beside the gates to the city, at the entrances she cries out: ⁴ “To you, O men, I call out, and my cry is to the sons of men.

³ She has sent out her maidservants; she calls out from the heights of the city. ⁴ “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment.

²³ Your ropes are slack; they cannot secure the mast or spread the sail. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided, and even the lame will carry off plunder.

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

¹ “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.

⁷ So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took for myself two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock.

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

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

²⁸ Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

¹² Then His disciples came to Him and said, “Are You aware that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all of this to their master.

²⁸ But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ ²⁹ ‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.

⁷ When he heard this, the king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited were not worthy.

²² So Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. ²³ Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”

¹⁰ Then the apostles returned and reported to Jesus all that they had done. Taking them away privately, He withdrew to a deserted place of the city called Bethsaida.

¹³ But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind,

²⁴ For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet. For many are called, but few are chosen’”

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

³⁹ Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of His message. ⁴² They said to the woman, “We now believe not only because of your words; we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man truly is the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

⁴⁷ “Have you also been deceived?” replied the Pharisees. ⁴⁸ “Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the law, they are under a curse.”

³⁹ Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”

⁴ Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. ⁵ Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them. ⁶ The crowds gave their undivided attention to Philip’s message and to the signs they saw him perform. ⁷ With loud shrieks, unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, and many of the paralyzed and lame were healed.

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

²⁵ See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven? ²⁶ At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.”

¹⁷ Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account. To this end, allow them to lead with joy and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you.

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

¹ Then I saw another great and marvelous sign in heaven: seven angels with the seven final plagues, with which the wrath of God is completed. ² And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, beside which stood those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name. They were holding harps from God, ³ and they sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and wonderful are Your works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations! ⁴ Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.” ⁵ After this I looked, and the temple—the tabernacle of the Testimony—was opened in heaven. ⁶ And out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean and bright linen and girded with golden sashes around their chests. ⁷ Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. ⁸ And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

¹⁵ And from His mouth proceeds a sharp double-edged sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

⁶ The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is loving devotion, and with Him is redemption in abundance.

² In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

¹ In my first book, O Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach, ² until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. ³ After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. ⁴ And while they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss. ⁵ For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” ⁶ So when they came together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” ⁹ After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.

⁸ Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.

⁵ For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave Himself as a ransom for all—the testimony that was given at just the right time.

² He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

⁴ And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel: ⁵ From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, ⁶ from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, ⁷ from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, ⁸ from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000. ⁹ After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

² and said, “My lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant; wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can rise early and go on your way.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.” ³ But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

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

³ Your people shall be willing on Your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, to You belongs the dew of Your youth.

¹⁰ On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His place of rest will be glorious.

²⁴ In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing upon the earth. ²⁵ The LORD of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”

¹³ And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

⁵ And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him—for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength— ⁶ He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

¹⁹ I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. So they will proclaim My glory among the nations. ²⁰ And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.”

⁸ And on that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the Eastern Sea and the other half toward the Western Sea, in summer and winter alike. ⁹ On that day the LORD will become King over all the earth—the LORD alone, and His name alone.

¹¹ For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of Hosts.

⁴³ Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

⁹ Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”

²⁹ But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.

¹⁵ “Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel.

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard his message. ⁴⁵ All the circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they heard them speaking in tongues and exalting God. Then Peter said, ⁴⁷ “Can anyone withhold the water to baptize these people? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have!” ⁴⁸ So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.

¹⁸ When they heard this, their objections were put to rest, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.” ¹⁹ Meanwhile those scattered by the persecution that began with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message only to Jews. ²⁰ But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus. ²¹ The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

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

¹⁵ And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

⁶ But when they opposed and insulted him, he shook out his garments and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

²¹ Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” ²² The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”

¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’ ¹⁹ So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. ²⁰ First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone throughout the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.

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

¹⁸ But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

¹³ I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴ in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them.

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

¹⁹ Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law, to win those under the law. ²¹ To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law. ²² To the weak I became like one who is weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³ I do this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

¹¹ Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.

²⁰ Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.

¹ As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

¹¹ Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)— ¹² remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace ¹⁶ and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He extinguished their hostility. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. ¹⁹ Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ Himself as the cornerstone. ²¹ In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² And in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God in His Spirit.

²³ if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

²⁸ We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ Jesus.

² Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.

²⁴ Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand, ²⁵ because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction, ²⁶ in turn I will mock your calamity; I will sneer when terror strikes you, ²⁷ when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you. ²⁸ Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me. ²⁹ For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD. ³⁰ They accepted none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof. ³¹ So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. ³² For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited were not worthy.

³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

¹⁹ And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.

³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”

²¹ Again Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”

²⁴ That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

¹ In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

²⁴ So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Him. ²⁵ When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?” ²⁶ Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷ Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

³⁰ Jacob slept with Rachel as well, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years. ³¹ When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

⁶ If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known, ⁷ the gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other), ⁸ you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.

¹⁵ If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son,

⁹ He said of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them.’ He disregarded his brothers and did not know his own sons, for he kept Your word and maintained Your covenant.

¹⁵ so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body. ¹⁶ I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. ²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

¹⁷ So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. ¹⁸ I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

² “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you ask, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved, ³ but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

³⁷ Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;

²⁵ Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

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

¹³ So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

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

¹¹ They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.

³⁸ and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.

²¹ But since he has no root, he remains for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

²⁴ Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

³⁴ Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶ What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet forfeits his soul? ³⁷ Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

²¹ Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”

²¹ Now Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and the soldiers forced him to carry the cross of Jesus.

²³ Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ²⁵ What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self?

¹⁷ Carrying His own cross, He went out to The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.

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

¹² For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.

¹² Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

⁴ “Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.” ⁵ Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building. ⁶ And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them. ⁷ Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it is called Babel, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth.

¹⁹ But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your rebellion or your sins. ²⁰ If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you and consume you, even after He has been good to you.” ²¹ “No!” replied the people. “We will serve the LORD!” ²² Then Joshua told them, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD.” “We are witnesses!” they said. ²³ “Now, therefore,” he said, “get rid of the foreign gods among you and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.” ²⁴ So the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey His voice.”

²⁷ Complete your outdoor work and prepare your field; after that, you may build your house.

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

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

²² “You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” “We can,” the brothers answered. ²³ “You will indeed drink My cup and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized,” Jesus said. “But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom My Father has prepared them.”

³³ In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.

¹³ Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

⁴ Indeed, when we were with you, we kept warning you that we would suffer persecution; and as you know, it has come to pass. ⁵ For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter had somehow tempted you and caused our labor to be in vain.

¹³ I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body, ¹⁴ because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

²⁷ The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”

³ When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. ⁴ “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.” ⁵ So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. ⁶ The chief priests picked up the pieces of silver and said, “It is unlawful to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷ After conferring together, they used the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. ⁸ That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

¹⁸ (Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong and burst open in the middle, and all his intestines spilled out. ¹⁹ This became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so they called that field in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

¹¹ For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, ¹³ his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴ If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.

⁴ It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age— ⁶ and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame. ⁷ For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God. ⁸ But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.

¹¹ We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.

³⁸ But the righteous will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”

¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. ²⁰ If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first. ²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them. ²² Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

⁸ Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded.

¹¹ And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off.’”

²⁰ You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me? ²¹ Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ²² But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?

¹⁸ Set plans by consultation, and wage war under sound guidance.

⁸ do not bring hastily to court. Otherwise, what will you do in the end when your neighbor puts you to shame?

³¹ Then the servants of Ben-hadad said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go out to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.” ³² So with sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please spare my life.’” And the king answered, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” ³³ Now the men were looking for a sign of hope, and they quickly grasped at this word and replied, “Yes, your brother Ben-hadad.” “Go and get him!” said the king. Then Ben-hadad came out, and Ahab had him come up into his chariot. ³⁴ Ben-hadad said to him, “I will restore the cities my father took from your father; you may set up your own marketplaces in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” “By this treaty I release you,” Ahab replied. So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.

⁴ But they were terrified and reasoned, “If two kings could not stand against him, how can we?” ⁵ So the palace administrator, the overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu: “We are your servants, and we will do whatever you say. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your sight.”

⁹ Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His?

²⁵ Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.

⁵⁸ Make every effort to reconcile with your adversary while you are on your way to the magistrate. Otherwise, he may drag you off to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and the officer may throw you into prison.

²⁰ Now Herod was in a furious dispute with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they convened before him. Having secured the support of Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their region depended on the king’s country for food.

⁶ But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

¹¹ And when they had brought their boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him.

²⁸ and Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him.

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

²² On hearing this, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” ²³ But when the ruler heard this, he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy.

²⁸ “Look,” said Peter, “we have left all we had to follow You.”

¹ Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. ² With his wife’s full knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds for himself, but brought a portion and laid it at the apostles’ feet. ³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land? ⁴ Did it not belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How could you conceive such a deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God!” ⁵ On hearing these words, Ananias fell down and died. And great fear came over all who heard what had happened.

¹⁹ “Give me this power as well,” he said, “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent, therefore, of your wickedness, and pray to God. Perhaps He will forgive you for the intent of your heart.

⁷ But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

¹³ You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt. ⁵⁰ Salt is good, but if the salt loses its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

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

⁴ and was affirmed by God through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. ⁵ For it is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. ⁶ But somewhere it is testified in these words: “What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him? ⁷ You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor, ⁸ and placed everything under his feet.” When God subjected all things to him, He left nothing outside of his control. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.

¹⁵ He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

⁹ He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

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

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

⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

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

¹¹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.

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

²⁹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.