Luke 12 Cross References - NHEB

¹ Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered together, so much so that they trampled on each other, he began to tell his disciples first of all, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ² But there is nothing covered up, that will not be revealed, nor hidden, that will not be known. ³ Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light. What you have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers will be proclaimed on the housetops. ⁴ "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him, who after he has killed, has power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. ⁶ "Are not five sparrows sold for two assaria coins? Not one of them is forgotten by God. ⁷ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows. ⁸ "I tell you, everyone who confesses me before people, him will the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God; ⁹ but the one who denies me in the presence of people will be denied in the presence of the angels of God. ¹⁰ Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ¹¹ When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you will answer, or what you will say; ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you must say." ¹³ And someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." ¹⁴ But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" ¹⁵ He said to them, "Beware. Keep yourselves from all covetousness, for a man's life does not consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses." ¹⁶ He spoke a parable to them, saying, "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. ¹⁷ He reasoned within himself, saying, 'What will I do, because I do not have room to store my crops?' ¹⁸ He said, 'This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ I will tell my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry."' ²⁰ "But God said to him, 'You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?' ²¹ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." ²² He said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear. ²³ Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: they do not sow, they do not reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds. ²⁵ Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height? ²⁶ If then you are not able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow. They do not toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ²⁸ But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? ²⁹ Do not seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. ³⁰ For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹ But seek his Kingdom, and these things will be added to you. ³² Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. ³³ Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. ³⁵ "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning. ³⁶ Be like people watching for their lord, when he returns from the marriage feast; that, when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him. ³⁷ Blessed are those servants, whom the lord will find watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, that he will dress himself, and make them recline, and will come and serve them. ³⁸ And if he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are they. ³⁹ But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you do not expect him." ⁴¹ And Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?" ⁴² The Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right time? ⁴³ Blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing so when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly I tell you, that he will set him over all that he has. ⁴⁵ But if that servant says in his heart, 'My lord delays his coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunk, ⁴⁶ then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he is not expecting him, and in an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷ That servant, who knew his lord's will, and did not prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes, ⁴⁸ but he who did not know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked. ⁴⁹ "I came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already kindled. ⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished. ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on, there will be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against her mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." ⁵⁴ He said to the crowds also, "When you see a cloud rising from the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming,' and so it happens. ⁵⁵ When a south wind blows, you say, 'There will be a scorching heat,' and it happens. ⁵⁶ Hypocrites. You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not know how to interpret this time? ⁵⁷ Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ For when you are going with your adversary before the magistrate, try diligently on the way to be released from him, lest perhaps he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you will by no means get out of there, until you have paid the very last penny."

¹⁷ The king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate: and the people trod on him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

⁵ that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment?

⁸ For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

¹³ "But those who are godless in heart lay up anger. They do not cry for help when he binds them.

¹⁴ The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?

⁶ Jesus said to them, "Watch out and guard yourselves against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." ⁷ They reasoned among themselves, saying, "We brought no bread." ⁸ But Jesus, becoming aware of this, said, "You of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves about having no bread? ⁹ Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? ¹⁰ Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up? ¹¹ Why is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." ¹² Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹⁵ He warned them, saying, "Watch out; guard yourselves against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod." ¹⁶ And they began discussing among themselves that they had no bread. ¹⁷ He, perceiving it, said to them, "Why do you reason that it's because you have no bread? Do you not perceive yet, neither understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes, do you not see? Having ears, do you not hear? Do you not remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They told him, "Twelve." ²⁰ "When the seven loaves fed the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said, "Seven." ²¹ He asked them, "Do you not yet understand?"

¹ Now it happened, while the crowd pressed on him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.

¹⁵ But the report concerning him spread much more, and large crowds came together to hear, and to be healed of their infirmities.

¹⁷ He came down with them, and stood on a level place, with a large crowd of his disciples, and a great number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon,

⁴⁴ Woe to you. For you are like hidden graves, and the people who walk over them do not know it."

⁵⁶ Hypocrites. You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not know how to interpret this time?

²⁰ They, when they heard it, glorified God. They said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law.

⁷ Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for us. ⁸ Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

¹⁷ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy.

¹ Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all deceit, and hypocrisy, and envy, and all slander,

¹⁴ For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

²⁶ Therefore do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed; and hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops. ²⁸ And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ "Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion coin? Not one of them falls on the ground apart from your Father's will, ³⁰ but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Therefore do not be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows. ³² Everyone therefore who confesses me before people, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. ³³ But whoever denies me before people, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.

²² For there is nothing hidden, except that it should be made known; neither was anything made secret, but that it should come to light.

¹⁷ For nothing is hidden, that will not be revealed; nor anything secret, that will not be known and come to light.

¹⁶ in the day when God will judge the secrets of people, according to my Good News, by Christ Jesus.

⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one will get his praise from God.

¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

¹¹ I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them. ¹² I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.

¹⁴ The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief. ¹⁵ The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye shall see me.' He disguises his face.

¹² The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but a fool is swallowed by his own lips. ¹³ The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.

²⁰ Do not curse the king, no, not in your thoughts; and do not curse the rich in your bedchamber: for a bird of the sky may carry your voice, and that which has wings may tell the matter.

²⁷ What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.

³⁶ But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

¹⁴ About these also Hanoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Look, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, ¹⁵ to execute judgment on all, and to convict every person of all their works of ungodliness which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

¹ I have come into 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, friends. Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved.

¹⁶ His mouth is sweetness; yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.

⁸ "But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham my friend,

⁷ "Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; do not fear the reproach of men, neither be dismayed at their insults. ⁸ For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation to all generations." ⁹ Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the LORD; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn't it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster? ¹⁰ Isn't it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? ¹¹ The ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy shall be on their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy. Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. ¹² "I, even I, am he who comforts you: who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who shall be made as grass; ¹³ and have forgotten the LORD your Maker, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fear continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he makes ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?

⁸ Do not be afraid because of them; for I am with you to deliver you," says the LORD.

¹⁷ "You therefore put your belt on your waist, arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them.

¹⁴ But as for me, look, I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your eyes. ¹⁵ Only know for certain that, if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city, and on its inhabitants; for of a truth the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears."

⁶ You, son of man, do not be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you do dwell among scorpions: do not be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, "Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.

²⁸ And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

¹⁴ You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father I have made known to you.

¹³ Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they were amazed. They recognized that they had been with Jesus.

²⁴ But I make my life an account of nothing precious to myself, so that I may finish my race, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God.

²⁸ and in nothing frightened by the adversaries, which is for them a proof of destruction, but to you of salvation, and that from God.

²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness;" and he was called the friend of God.

¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. "And do not fear what they fear, nor be troubled."

¹⁰ Do not be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

¹⁷ The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol, even all the nations that forget God.

²⁶ In the fear of the LORD is a secure fortress, and he will be a refuge for his children.

²² Do you not fear me?' says the LORD 'Won't you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can't pass it? And though its waves toss themselves, yet they can't prevail; though they roar, yet they can't pass over it.'

⁷ Who should not fear you, King of the nations? For it appertains to you; because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like you.

²² But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be liable to judgment; and whoever will say to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be in danger of the council; and whoever will say, 'You fool,' will be in danger of the fire of hell.

⁴¹ Then he will say also to those on the left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;

⁴⁶ These will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life."

²³ But you watch. "I have told you all things beforehand.

⁶ that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified.

³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to the lower parts of hell, and committed them to chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

⁷ He said with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the springs of waters."

⁴ Who would not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you only are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your righteous acts have been revealed."

¹⁴ Death and hell were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

¹⁰ For every animal of the forest is mine, and the livestock on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know all the birds of the mountains. The wild animals of the field are mine.

⁵ Who is like the LORD, our God, who has his seat on high, ⁶ Who stoops down to see in heaven and in the earth?

¹⁵ The eyes of all wait for you. You give them their food in due season. ¹⁶ You yourself open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

⁹ He provides food for the livestock, and for the young ravens when they call.

²⁹ "Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion coin? Not one of them falls on the ground apart from your Father's will,

²⁴ Consider the ravens: they do not sow, they do not reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds.

²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow. They do not toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

⁴⁵ The people said to Saul, "Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it. As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God this day." So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.

¹¹ Then she said, "Please let the king remember the LORD your God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son." He said, "As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground."

¹¹ who teaches us more than the animals of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?'

⁶ and you made him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet:

³ For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. ⁴ Since you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you; therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life.

²⁶ See the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much more value than they?

³⁰ but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Therefore do not be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.

¹² Of how much more value then is a person than a sheep. Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

¹⁸ And not a hair of your head will perish.

³⁴ Therefore I urge you to take some food, for this is for your preservation; for not a hair will perish from any of your heads."

³⁰ "Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, says, 'I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever.' But now the LORD says, 'Be it far from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

⁴⁶ I will also speak of your statutes before kings, and will not be disappointed.

³¹ "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³² Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will tell those on his right hand, 'Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

¹⁰ Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting."

⁹ that if you acknowledge with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth acknowledgment is made, resulting in salvation.

¹² If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us.

²³ Whoever denies the Son, the same does not have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.

²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy, ²⁵ to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.

¹³ "I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

⁴ Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the Book of Life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

²³ And then I will tell them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'

³³ But whoever denies me before people, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.

¹² But he answered, 'Truly I tell you, I do not know you.'

³¹ "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.

³⁸ For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

²⁶ For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels.

²⁶ Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.' ²⁷ But he will reply, 'I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.'

¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up, and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had determined to release him. ¹⁴ But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a man who was a murderer to be granted to you,

²⁸ Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

⁸ "I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut. For you have a little power, and have kept my word, and did not deny my name.

³¹ Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. ³² And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in that which is to come.

²⁸ Truly I tell you, all human sins will be forgiven, including their blasphemies with which they may blaspheme; ²⁹ but whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin"— ³⁰ because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."

³⁴ And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Dividing his garments among them, they cast lots.

¹³ although I was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

⁴ For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame. ⁷ For the land which has drunk the rain that comes often on it, and brings forth a crop suitable for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessing from God; ⁸ but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

²⁶ For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who disregards the Law of Moses dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him who said, "Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay." Again, "The Lord will judge his people." ³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not leading to death, he should ask, and he will give him life for those who sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death. I do not say that he should make a request concerning this.

¹⁷ But beware of people: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you. ¹⁸ Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations. ¹⁹ But when they deliver you over, do not be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say. ²⁰ For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

³⁴ Therefore, look, I send to you prophets, wise people, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city;

⁹ But watch yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before rulers and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them. ¹⁰ The Good News must first be preached to all the nations. ¹¹ When they lead you away and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand, or premeditate what you will say, but say whatever will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

²² He said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear.

¹² But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name's sake. ¹³ It will turn out as a testimony for you. ¹⁴ Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to answer,

⁵ It happened in the morning, that their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem. ⁶ Annas the high priest was there, with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and as many as were relatives of the high priest. ⁷ When they had stood them in the middle of them, they inquired, "By what power, or in what name, have you done this?"

²⁷ When they had brought them, they set them before the council. The high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man's blood on us." ²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than people. ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed, hanging him on a tree. ³¹ God exalted him with his right hand to be a Leader and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. ³² We are witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."

⁹ But some of those who were of the synagogue called "The Libertines," and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia arose, disputing with Stephen. ¹⁰ They weren't able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. ¹¹ Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." ¹² They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and came against him and seized him, and brought him in to the council, ¹³ and set up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the Law. ¹⁴ For we have heard him say that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us." ¹⁵ All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel.

¹¹ The LORD said to him, "Who made manʼs mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, God?

²⁰ For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

¹⁵ for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to contradict.

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

¹⁰ They weren't able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

² He said, "Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, ³ and said to him, 'Go out from your land and from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.' ⁴ Then he came out of the land of the Kasdim, and lived in Haran. From there, after his father died, he moved him into this land, where you are now living. ⁵ He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him, when he still had no child. ⁶ God spoke in this way, that his 'descendants would live as foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. ⁷ But I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,' said God, 'and after that will they come out, and serve me in this place.' ⁸ He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs. ⁹ "The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt; and God was with him, ¹⁰ and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house. ¹¹ Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers found no food. ¹² But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time. ¹³ On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent, and summoned Jacob, his father, and all his relatives, seventy-five souls. ¹⁵ Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, himself and our fathers, ¹⁶ and they were brought back to Shechem, and placed in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor in Shechem. ¹⁷ "But as the time of the promise came close which God had made to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, ¹⁸ until 'there arose a different king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.' ¹⁹ The same took advantage of our race, and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to throw out their babies, so that they would not stay alive. ²⁰ At that time Moses was born, and was exceedingly handsome. He was nourished three months in his father's house. ²¹ When he was thrown out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and reared him as her own son. ²² Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in his words and works. ²³ But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. ²⁴ Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, striking the Egyptian. ²⁵ He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they did not understand. ²⁶ "The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, 'Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?' ²⁷ But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' ²⁹ Moses fled at this saying, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. ³⁰ "When forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, a voice of the Lord came, ³² 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob.' Moses trembled, and dared not look. ³³ The Lord said to him, 'Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. ³⁴ I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you to Egypt.' ³⁵ "This Moses, whom they refused, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?'—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. ³⁷ This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.' ³⁸ This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received words of life to give to us, ³⁹ to whom our fathers would not be obedient, but rejected him, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying to Aaron, 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' ⁴¹ They made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. ⁴² But God turned, and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets, 'Did you offer to me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? ⁴³ You took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship them. Therefore I will exile you beyond Babylon.' ⁴⁴ "Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen; ⁴⁵ which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, to the days of David, ⁴⁶ who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. ⁴⁷ But Solomon built him a house. ⁴⁸ However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says, ⁴⁹ 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth a footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build me?' says the Lord; 'or what is the place of my rest? ⁵⁰ Did not my hand make all these things?' ⁵¹ "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so you do. ⁵² Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers. ⁵³ You received the Law as it was ordained by angels, and did not keep it."

⁵⁵ But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.

¹ Agrippa said to Paul, "You may speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense. ² "I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you this day concerning all the things that I am accused by the Jews, ³ especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently. ⁴ "Indeed, all Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem; ⁵ having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. ⁶ Now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, ⁷ which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, O King. ⁸ Why is it judged incredible with you, if God does raise the dead? ⁹ "In fact, I thought to myself that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus the Nazorean. ¹⁰ This I also did in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them. ¹¹ Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. ¹² "Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests, ¹³ at noon, O King, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me. ¹⁴ When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' ¹⁵ "I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' "He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen me, and of the things which I will reveal to you; ¹⁷ delivering you from the people, and from the non-Jewish people, to whom I send you, ¹⁸ to open their eyes, 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 who are sanctified by faith in me.' ¹⁹ "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the non-Jews, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. ²¹ For this reason Jews seized me when I was in the temple, and tried to kill me. ²² Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said would happen, ²³ how the Christ would suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to non-Jewish people." ²⁴ As he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are crazy. Your great learning is driving you insane." ²⁵ But he said, "I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but boldly declare words of truth and reasonableness. ²⁶ For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him, for this has not been done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe." ²⁸ Agrippa said to Paul, "With a little persuasion are you trying to make me a Christian?" ²⁹ Paul said, "I pray to God, that whether with little or with much, not only you, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these bonds." ³⁰ The king rose up with the governor, and Bernice, and those who sat with them. ³¹ When they had withdrawn, they spoke one to another, saying, "This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds." ³² Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."

¹⁴ from men with your hand, LORD, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure. They are satisfied with children, and they leave their wealth to their little ones.

³¹ They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.

⁴⁵ The good person out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil person out of the evil treasure brings out that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.

¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, "Give me also this power, that whomever I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit."

⁵ constant friction of people of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.

¹⁴ He said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" Moses was afraid, and said, "Surely this thing is known."

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

²⁰ Seeing their faith, he said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."

⁵⁸ After a little while someone else saw him, and said, "You also are one of them." But Peter answered, "Man, I am not."

¹⁵ Jesus therefore, perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

¹¹ And she said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more."

³⁵ Pilate answered, "I'm not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me. What have you done?" ³⁶ Jesus answered, "My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I would not be delivered to the Jewish leaders. But now my Kingdom is not from here."

¹ Therefore you are without excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things.

³ And do you think this, you who judge those who practice such things, and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?

²⁰ But who indeed are you, a human being, to reply against God? Will the thing formed ask him who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?"

²¹ When I saw among the spoil a beautiful garment from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them. Look, they are hidden in the ground in the middle of my tent, with the silver under it."

⁴ Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, "Skin for skin. Indeed, all that a man has he will give for his life.

²⁴ "If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, 'You are my confidence;' ²⁵ If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;

³ For the wicked boasts of his heart's cravings, and he blesses the greedy, scorning the LORD.

¹⁶ Better is a little that the righteous has, than the abundance of many wicked.

¹⁰ Do not trust in oppression. Do not become vain in robbery. If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

³⁶ Turn my heart toward your statutes, not toward selfish gain. ³⁷ Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things. Revive me in your ways.

¹⁶ Better is little, with the fear of the LORD, than great treasure with trouble.

¹⁶ How much better it is to get wisdom than gold. Yes, to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

⁴ Do not weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint. ⁵ Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.

¹⁶ A prince who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor, but one who hates ill-gotten gain will prolong his days.

⁶ Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and chasing after wind. ⁷ Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun. ⁸ There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment? This also is vanity, yes, it is a miserable business.

¹⁰ He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. ¹¹ When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes? ¹² The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep. ¹³ There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm. ¹⁴ Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand. ¹⁵ As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. ¹⁶ This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?

¹³ "For from their least even to their greatest, everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.

¹⁷ "But your eyes and your heart are not but for your covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it." ¹⁸ Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: "they shall not lament for him, saying, 'Alas my brother. or, Alas sister.' They shall not lament for him, saying, 'Alas lord.' or, 'Alas his majesty.'

² They covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

⁹ Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil.

²⁵ Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ See the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much more value than they?

²² covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.

¹⁴ That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

¹⁴ The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him.

³⁴ "So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly.

¹⁰ yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world. ¹¹ But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. Do not even eat with such a person.

¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers, will inherit the Kingdom of God.

³ But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints; ⁴ nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not appropriate; but rather giving of thanks. ⁵ Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever is worldly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, so neither can we carry anything out. ⁸ But having food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹ But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

⁵ Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."

³ In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old does not linger, and their destruction is not asleep.

¹⁴ having eyes full of adultery, and insatiable for sin, enticing unstable people, having a heart trained in greed. Children under a curse.

¹² Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. The LORD blessed him. ¹³ The man became wealthy, and prospered more and more until he became very wealthy. ¹⁴ He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him.

⁴⁷ During the seven years of abundance the land produced large harvests. ⁴⁸ And he collected all the food during the seven years when there was abundance in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He placed in every city the food from the fields surrounding it. ⁴⁹ Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, because it could not be measured.

⁶ The tents of robbers prosper. Those who provoke God are secure, who carry their god in their hands.

³ For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

¹² Look, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches.

⁸ For she did not know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.

¹⁷ Yet he did not leave himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you rains from the sky and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness."

² Give a portion to seven, yes, even to eight; for you do not know what evil will be on the earth.

⁷ Isn't it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?

⁴² Give to him who asks you, and do not turn away him who desires to borrow from you.

¹¹ He answered them, "He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise."

²⁵ And look, a certain Law scholar stood up and tested him, saying, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?"

⁴¹ But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and see, all things will be clean to you.

²⁹ Do not seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious.

³³ Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys.

¹³ But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, because they do not have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous."

³ "The manager said within himself, 'What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I do not have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg.

⁹ And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the everlasting dwellings.

²² When Jesus heard it, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have, and distribute it to the poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Come, follow me."

¹⁷ "And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant. Because you were faithful with very little, you will have authority over ten cities.'

³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?"

³⁰ and brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

¹³ contributing to the needs of the saints; given to hospitality.

⁶ Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each person should give according as he has determined in his heart; not grudgingly, or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work. ⁹ As it is written, "He has scattered, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." ¹⁰ Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness; ¹¹ you being enriched in everything to all liberality, which works through us thanksgiving to God. ¹² For this service of giving that you perform not only makes up for lack among the saints, but abounds also through many thanksgivings to God; ¹³ seeing that through the proof given by this service, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the Good News of Christ, and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all; ¹⁴ while they themselves also, with petition on your behalf, yearn for you by reason of the exceeding grace of God in you. ¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift.

¹⁷ Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be haughty, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;

¹⁶ By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

²¹ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

⁴ He would not for a while, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God, nor respect people,

⁶ The Lord said, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says.

¹⁵ This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic.

¹⁵ For you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that."

¹¹ and houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, and cisterns dug out, which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant, and you shall eat and be full; ¹² then beware lest you forget the LORD, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

¹² lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and lived in them; ¹³ and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; ¹⁴ then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;

¹ "Man, who is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble.

¹¹ They send forth their little ones like a flock. Their children dance. ¹² They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe. ¹³ They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol.

⁵ Why should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of those who deceive me surrounds me? ⁶ They trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches. ⁷ Truly these cannot redeem a person, nor give to God a ransom for him. ⁸ For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough, ⁹ that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption. ¹⁰ For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others. ¹¹ Their tombs are their homes forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves. ¹² But man, despite his riches, doesn't endure. He is like the animals that perish. ¹³ This is the destiny of those who are foolish, and of those who approve their sayings. Selah.

¹⁸ Though while he lived he blessed his soul—and men praise you when you do well for yourself—

⁵ God will likewise destroy you forever. He will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent, and root you out of the land of the living. Selah. ⁶ The righteous also will see it, and fear, and laugh at him, saying, ⁷ "Look, this is the man who did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and was confident in his desire."

¹¹ The rich man's wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.

⁵ Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.

¹ Do not boast about tomorrow; for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

⁹ Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

⁸ Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field, until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.

¹¹ Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them.

¹³ But look, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die."

⁸ Ephraim said, "Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won't find in me any iniquity that is sin."

³ Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; ⁴ Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; ⁵ who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David; ⁶ who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good.

¹⁹ "Do not store up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and decay destroy, and where thieves break through and steal; ²⁰ but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal; ²¹ for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

¹⁹ "Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.

³² If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

¹⁹ whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.

⁶ But she who gives herself to pleasure is dead while she lives.

⁴ traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God;

¹³ Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow let us go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit." ¹⁴ Whereas you do not know what tomorrow will be like. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ For you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that."

¹ Come now, you rich, weep and cry aloud for your miseries that are coming on you. ² Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you, and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days.

⁵ You have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter.

³ For enough time in the past has been spent doing the will of the unbelievers, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries.

⁷ However much she glorified herself, and grew wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, 'I sit a queen, and am no widow, and will in no way see mourning.'

⁹ Moses said to Aaron, "Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, 'Come near before God, for he has heard your murmurings.'" ¹⁰ It happened, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and look, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.

³⁶ Abigail came to Nabal; and look, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. Therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. ³⁷ It happened in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. ³⁸ It happened about ten days after, that the LORD struck Nabal, so that he died.

²⁸ And Absalom commanded his servants, saying, "Mark now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine; and when I tell you, 'Strike Amnon,' then kill him. Do not be afraid. Haven't I commanded you? Be courageous, and be valiant." ²⁹ The servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and every man got up on his mule, and fled.

⁹ His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah. ¹⁰ And Zimri went in and struck him, and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

¹¹ Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and servants of the king.

¹ On that day, King Achashyerosh gave the house of Haman, the Jews' enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her. ² The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

²⁰ "Because he knew no quietness within him, he shall not save anything of that in which he delights. ²¹ There was nothing left that he did not devour, therefore his prosperity shall not endure. ²² In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress shall overtake him. The hand of everyone who is in misery shall come on him. ²³ When he is about to fill his belly, he will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating.

¹⁶ Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay; ¹⁷ he may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

⁶ "Surely a person goes about like a shadow. Surely he heaps up vain things of wealth, and doesn't know who shall gather them.

¹⁷ For when he dies he shall carry nothing away. His glory shall not descend after him. ¹⁸ Though while he lived he blessed his soul—and men praise you when you do well for yourself— ¹⁹ he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light.

¹⁹ How they are suddenly destroyed. They are completely swept away with terrors.

³⁰ They did not turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths,

⁴ Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

⁸ He who increases his wealth by excessive interest gathers it for one who has pity on the poor.

¹⁸ I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who comes after me. ¹⁹ Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰ Therefore I began to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor in which I had labored under the sun. ²¹ For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. ²² For what has a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun?

¹¹ As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool."

¹ Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. ² Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his lords, his wives and his secondary wives, might drink from them. ³ Then they brought the gold and silver vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his secondary wives, drank from them. ⁴ They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of bronze, of iron, of wood, and of stone. ⁵ In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. ⁶ Then the king's face was turned pale, and his thoughts troubled him; and the joints of his thighs gave way, and his knees began knocking together.

²⁵ This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. ²⁶ This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God has numbered your kingdom, and brought it to an end; ²⁷ TEKEL; you are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting. ²⁸ PERES; your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." ²⁹ Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. ³⁰ In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean King was slain.

¹⁰ For entangled like thorns, and drunk as with their drink, they are consumed utterly like dry stubble.

⁴⁸ But if that evil servant should say in his heart, 'My lord is delayed,' ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with the drunkards, ⁵⁰ the lord of that servant will come in a day when he does not expect it, and in an hour when he does not know it, ⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.

⁴⁰ You foolish ones, did not he who made the outside make the inside also?

²² It happened that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. ²³ In hell, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.

³ Now when they are saying, "Peace and safety," then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.

⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, so neither can we carry anything out.

¹⁴ Whereas you do not know what tomorrow will be like. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

¹ Israel is a luxuriant vine that puts forth his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.

¹⁹ "Do not store up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and decay destroy, and where thieves break through and steal; ²⁰ but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal;

²⁴ "But woe to you who are rich. For you have received your consolation.

¹¹ If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

⁵ But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

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

¹⁸ that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate; ¹⁹ laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of that which is truly life.

⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?

⁹ "I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

²⁵ Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ See the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much more value than they? ²⁷ "And which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to his height? ²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not toil, neither do they spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won't he much more clothe you, you of little faith? ³¹ "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What will we eat?', 'What will we drink?' or, 'With what will we be clothed?' ³² For the unbelievers seek after all these things, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

³² But I desire to have you to be free from cares. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

¹⁷ It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, "Escape for your life. Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away."

¹² The LORD said to Satan, "Look, all that he has is in your power. Only do not put forth your hand on him." So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

⁶ The LORD said to Satan, "Look, he is in your power. Only preserve his life."

⁸ The ransom of a man's life is his riches, but the poor hear no threats.

¹⁸ As we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw things overboard. ¹⁹ On the third day, they threw out the ship's tackle with their own hands.

³⁸ When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.

¹ And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except by my word." ² And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ³ "Go away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, that is near the Jordan. ⁴ And it shall be that you will drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." ⁵ So he went and did according to the word of the LORD; for he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, that is near the Jordan. ⁶ And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening. And he drank from the wadi.

⁴¹ Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?

³¹ Therefore do not be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.

²⁶ And the king was exceedingly sorry, but for the sake of his oaths, and those reclining, he did not wish to refuse her.

⁷ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.

³⁰ For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹ But seek his Kingdom, and these things will be added to you. ³² Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

³⁶ Neither should you swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

²⁷ "And which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to his height?

³ He was trying to see who Jesus was, and could not because of the crowd, because he was short.

¹³ Consider the work of God, for who can make that straight, which he has made crooked?

⁷ casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.

¹ When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions. ² She came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him of all that was in her heart. ³ Solomon told her all her questions: there was not anything hidden from the king which he did not tell her. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, ⁵ and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, and his cup bearers, and his burnt offerings which he presented at the house of the LORD; it left her breathless. ⁶ She said to the king, "It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom. ⁷ However I did not believe the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it. Look, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard. ⁸ Happy are your wives, happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, who hear your wisdom. ⁹ Blessed is the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD's everlasting love for Israel, therefore he made you king, to do justice and righteousness." ¹⁰ She gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones. There came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. ¹¹ The navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees and precious stones. ¹² The king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king's house, harps also and stringed instruments for the singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen, to this day. ¹³ King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.

¹ When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels that bore spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him of all that was in her heart. ² Solomon told her all her questions; and there was not anything hidden from Solomon which he did not tell her. ³ When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, ⁴ and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, his cup bearers also, and their clothing, and his burnt offerings which he presented at the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her. ⁵ She said to the king, "It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom. ⁶ However I did not believe their words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and look, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me: you exceed the fame that I heard. ⁷ Happy are your wives, and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, and hear your wisdom. ⁸ Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on his throne, to be king for the LORD your God: because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore he made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness." ⁹ She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. ¹⁰ The servants also of Hiram, and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones. ¹¹ The king made of the algum trees steps for the house of the LORD, and for the king's house, and harps and stringed instruments for the singers: and there were none like these seen before in the land of Judah. ¹² King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which she had brought to the king. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.

²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not toil, neither do they spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won't he much more clothe you, you of little faith?

¹⁰ and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away. ¹¹ For the sun arises with the scorching wind, and withers the grass, and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So also will the rich person fade away in his pursuits.

⁶ The voice of one saying, "Cry." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.

³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won't he much more clothe you, you of little faith?

²⁶ And he said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.

³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

⁸ But Jesus, becoming aware of this, said, "You of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves about having no bread?

¹⁷ Jesus answered, "Faithless and perverse generation. How long will I be with you? How long will I bear with you? Bring him here to me."

²⁰ So he said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."

²⁵ He said to them, "Where is your faith?" But they were terrified and astonished, saying to one another, "Who is this, then, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?"

²⁴ For, "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;

³¹ "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What will we eat?', 'What will we drink?' or, 'With what will we be clothed?'

⁷ Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. ⁸ Into whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat the things that are set before you.

³⁵ He said to them, "When I sent you out without money bag, and pack, and shoes, did you lack anything?" They said, "Nothing."

⁴⁷ And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do than others? Do not even the non-Jews do the same?

¹ "Be careful that you do not do your righteousness before people, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

⁸ Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him.

³² For the unbelievers seek after all these things, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

¹⁴ Even so it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

³² Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

¹⁷ Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

¹⁷ This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the nations also walk, in the futility of their mind,

⁵ not in the passion of lust, even as the nations who do not know God;

² that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for human desires, but for the will of God. ³ For enough time in the past has been spent doing the will of the unbelievers, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries. ⁴ They think it is strange that you do not run with them into the same flood of debauchery, blaspheming:

¹¹ God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, neither have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice; ¹² look, I have done according to your word. Look, I have given you a wise and an understanding heart; so that there has been none like you before you, neither after you shall any arise like you. ¹³ I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like you, all your days.

⁹ Oh fear the LORD, you his holy ones, for there is no lack with those who fear him.

³ Trust in the LORD, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.

¹⁹ They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil. In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

²⁵ I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging for bread.

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and a shield. The LORD will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.

¹⁶ he will dwell on high. His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied. His waters will be sure.

³³ But seek first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

⁴² but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her."

²⁷ Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him."

³¹ What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

⁸ For bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value in all things, having the promise of the life which is now, and of that which is to come.

⁷ Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you graze your flock, where you rest them at noon; For why should I be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of your companions? ⁸ If you do not know, most beautiful among women, follow the tracks of the sheep. Graze your young goats beside the shepherds' tents.

¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.

¹⁴ Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you," says the LORD, "and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

¹⁹ "But I said, 'How I would put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations.' and I said, 'You shall call me "My Father," and shall not turn away from following me.'

¹⁵ "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.

²⁵ At that time, Jesus answered, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight. ²⁷ All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.

²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying "Cheer up. It is I. Do not be afraid."

¹² "What do you think? If someone has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray? ¹³ If he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. ¹⁴ Even so it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

¹⁶ So the last will be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few are chosen."

³⁴ Then the King will tell those on his right hand, 'Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

²¹ In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight."

²⁶ But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep. ²⁷ As I said to you, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give everlasting life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one."

³⁶ Jesus answered, "My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I would not be delivered to the Jewish leaders. But now my Kingdom is not from here."

¹⁵ So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." ¹⁶ He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is everlasting life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified. ³¹ What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?

⁵ having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved One, ⁷ in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him

¹³ For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.

⁵ This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.

¹¹ To this end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith, with power;

²⁸ So since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, through which we may offer service pleasing to God, with reverence and awe,

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that does not fade away, reserved in Heaven for you, ⁵ who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

¹¹ For thus you will be richly supplied with the entrance into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

⁶ and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

⁵ There will no longer be any night, and they have no need for the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.

⁶ You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you do not have enough. You drink, but you aren't filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it."

²¹ Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

⁶ Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, used to steal what was put into it.

⁴⁵ They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need.

³⁴ For neither was there among them any who lacked, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, ³⁵ and put them at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made to each, according as anyone had need.

² how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality.

¹⁷ Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be haughty, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;

²¹ for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²⁰ For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;

¹ If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

⁴⁶ The hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

¹⁷ She girds her waist with strength, and makes her arms strong.

²⁷ None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the belt of their waist be untied, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:

⁵ Righteousness will be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his waist.

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before people, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

¹ "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.

⁴ but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵ Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. ⁶ But at midnight there was a cry, 'Look. The bridegroom. Come out to meet him.' ⁷ Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you. Go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' ¹⁰ While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having the belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

¹⁵ that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,

¹³ Therefore, prepare your minds for action, be sober and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ I wait for your salvation, God.

⁵ I rose up to open for my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the lock. ⁶ I opened to my beloved; but my beloved left; and had gone away. My heart went out when he spoke. I looked for him, but I did not find him. I called him, but he did not answer.

⁴ Since ancient times no one has heard, and no ear has perceived, and no eye has seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him.

²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. ²⁶ It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

¹ Jesus answered and spoke again in parables to them, saying, ² "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, ³ and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come. ⁴ Again he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "Look, I have made ready my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast."' ⁵ But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise, ⁶ and the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. ⁸ "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren't worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.' ¹⁰ And those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was filled with those reclining. ¹¹ But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who did not have on wedding clothing, ¹² and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?' He was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.' ¹⁴ For many are called, but few chosen."

⁴² Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes. ⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

¹ "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³ For the foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵ Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. ⁶ But at midnight there was a cry, 'Look. The bridegroom. Come out to meet him.' ⁷ Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you. Go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' ¹⁰ While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. ¹¹ Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us.' ¹² But he answered, 'Truly I tell you, I do not know you.' ¹³ Watch therefore, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

³⁴ "It is like a man, traveling to another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, and to each one his work, and also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch. ³⁵ Watch therefore, for you do not know when the lord of the house is coming —at evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning; ³⁶ lest coming suddenly he might find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I tell you, I tell all: Watch."

²⁵ And look, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. ²⁷ He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the requirement of the Law, ²⁸ then he received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, ²⁹ "Now you are releasing your servant, Lord, according to your word, in peace; ³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation,

⁷ Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Look, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain. ⁸ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

¹³ I think it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you; ¹⁴ knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. ¹⁵ Yes, I will make every effort that you may always be able to remember these things even after my departure.

²⁰ But you, beloved, keep building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. ²¹ Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to everlasting life.

²⁰ Look, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me.

⁵ For just as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons shall marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you.

⁴¹ Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.'

¹⁷ The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.

⁴² Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes.

⁴⁵ "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them their food in due season? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his lord finds doing so when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you that he will set him over all that he has.

²⁰ And he who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents. See, I have gained another five talents.' ²¹ "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' ²² "And he also who had the two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents. See, I have gained another two talents.' ²³ "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'

⁴³ Blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing so when he comes.

⁸ But will he not say to him, 'Prepare my supper, clothe yourself properly, and serve me, while I eat and drink, and afterward you can eat and drink'?

³⁶ Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be able to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man."

²⁶ If anyone serves me, let him follow me; and where I am, there will my servant also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

⁴ arose from the meal, and removed his outer garments. He took a towel, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁹ But as it is written, No eye has seen, and no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things which God has prepared for those who love him.

²¹ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

²³ But I am in a dilemma between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

⁷ I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. ⁸ From now on, there is stored up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing.

¹ Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed. ² Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, as God wants; not for dishonest gain, but willingly; ³ neither as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock. ⁴ When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without blemish and blameless in his sight.

²¹ He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne.

¹⁷ for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

³ They sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the one hundred forty-four thousand, those who had been redeemed out of the earth. ⁴ These are those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among humanity, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

¹³ I heard the voice from heaven saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them."

⁶ But at midnight there was a cry, 'Look. The bridegroom. Come out to meet him.'

⁴ But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief. ⁵ You are all children of light, and children of the day. We do not belong to the night, nor to darkness,

¹⁹ "Do not store up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and decay destroy, and where thieves break through and steal;

² For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. ³ Now when they are saying, "Peace and safety," then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works on it will not be found.

³ Remember therefore how you have received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If therefore you do not wake up, I will come as a thief, and you won't know what hour I will come to you.

¹⁵ "Look, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his clothes, so that he does not walk naked, and they see his shame."

⁴⁴ Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

¹³ Watch therefore, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

³³ Watch, keep alert, and pray; for you do not know when the time is. ³⁴ "It is like a man, traveling to another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, and to each one his work, and also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch. ³⁵ Watch therefore, for you do not know when the lord of the house is coming —at evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning; ³⁶ lest coming suddenly he might find you sleeping.

³⁴ "So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly. ³⁵ For it will come like a snare on all those who dwell on the surface of all the earth. ³⁶ Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be able to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man."

¹¹ Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.

¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.

⁶ so then let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us watch and be sober.

¹² looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? ¹³ But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. ¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without blemish and blameless in his sight.

⁷ Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let us give the glory to him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready."

³⁷ What I tell you, I tell all: Watch."

³⁷ He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour?

⁷ But the end of all things is near. Therefore be serious and disciplined in your prayers.

⁸ Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

²³ Joy comes to a man with the reply of his mouth. How good is a word at the right time.

⁴ The LORD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary: he wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.

⁴ I will set up shepherds over them, who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking," says the LORD.

³ You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep.

⁵² And he said to them, "Therefore, every scribe who has been made a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things."

⁸ When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.'

⁴⁵ "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them their food in due season? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his lord finds doing so when he comes.

¹³ When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her, "Do not cry."

¹ He also said to his disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions. ² He called him, and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' ³ "The manager said within himself, 'What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I do not have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.' ⁵ Calling each one of his lord's debtors to him, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe to my lord?' ⁶ He said, 'A hundred batos of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' ⁷ Then he said to another, 'How much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred cors of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' ⁸ "His lord commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness, for the people of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the people of light. ⁹ And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the everlasting dwellings. ¹⁰ He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. ¹¹ If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? ¹² If you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? ¹³ No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You are not able to serve God and wealth." ¹⁴ The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him. ¹⁵ He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of people, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among people is an abomination in the sight of God. ¹⁶ The Law and the Prophets were until John. From that time the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. ¹⁷ But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tiny stroke of a pen in the Law to become void. ¹⁸ Everyone who divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery. ¹⁹ "Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. ²⁰ A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was placed at his gate, full of sores, ²¹ and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² It happened that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. ²³ In hell, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. ²⁴ He called out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue. For I am in anguish in this flame.' ²⁵ "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in like manner, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish. ²⁶ Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that none may cross over from there to us.' ²⁷ "He said, 'I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house; ²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won't also come into this place of torment.' ²⁹ "But Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the Prophets. Let them listen to them.' ³⁰ "He said, 'No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' ³¹ "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.'"

¹⁵ "It happened when he had come back again, having received the kingdom, that he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by conducting business. ¹⁶ The first came before him, saying, 'Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.' ¹⁷ "And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant. Because you were faithful with very little, you will have authority over ten cities.' ¹⁸ "The second came, saying, 'Your mina, Lord, has made five minas.' ¹⁹ "So he said to him, 'And you are to be over five cities.'

²⁸ Watch out for yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood.

¹ So a person should consider us as Christ's servants, and stewards of God's mysteries. ² Here, moreover, it is required of stewards, that they be found faithful.

¹⁵ but if I wait long, that you may know how people ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

¹⁷ Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching.

² proclaim the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all patience and teaching.

⁷ For the overseer must be blameless, as God's steward; not self-pleasing, not easily angered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain;

⁵ Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken,

⁷ Remember your leaders, who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith.

¹⁷ Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.

¹⁰ As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms.

² Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. ³ And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.

⁴⁷ Truly I tell you that he will set him over all that he has.

²⁹ I confer on you a kingdom, even as my Father conferred on me, ³⁰ that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to put on your eyes, that you may see.

¹⁰ His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they can't bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. ¹¹ Yes, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds who can't understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter. ¹² "Come," say they, "I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, great beyond measure."

⁶ "Look, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yes, I will recompense into their bosom,

² Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of the LORD.

²² "Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, 'The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?'

²⁷ "Son of man, look, they of the house of Israel say, 'The vision that he sees is for many day to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off.' ²⁸ Therefore tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: None of my words shall be deferred any more, but the word which I shall speak shall be performed, says the Lord GOD.'"

³ You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. ⁴ You haven't strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor you have ruled over them.

⁸ 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn't feed my sheep';

⁶ and the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them.

⁴⁸ But if that evil servant should say in his heart, 'My lord is delayed,' ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with the drunkards, ⁵⁰ the lord of that servant will come in a day when he does not expect it, and in an hour when he does not know it,

¹⁸ For those who are such do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.

²⁰ For you put up with it if someone makes slaves of you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone exalts himself, if someone strikes you on the face.

¹⁸ For many, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you with tears, live as enemies of the cross of Christ, ¹⁹ whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.

⁷ For those who sleep, sleep in the night, and those who are drunk are drunk in the night.

³ In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old does not linger, and their destruction is not asleep. ⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to the lower parts of hell, and committed them to chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

¹³ suffering the penalty as the wages of evil; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and blemishes, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;

¹⁹ promising them liberty, while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for a person is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.

⁹ I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. ¹⁰ Therefore, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words. Not content with this, neither does he himself receive the brothers, and those who would, he forbids and throws out of the church.

¹² These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn leaves without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.

⁷ It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him. ⁸ All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been killed. ⁹ If anyone has an ear, let him hear. ¹⁰ If anyone is to go into captivity, he will go into captivity. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, he must be killed with the sword. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.

¹⁵ It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast could both speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶ He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead; ¹⁷ and that no one could be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name.

⁶ For they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this."

⁵ And on her forehead a name was written, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." ⁶ I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement.

⁷ However much she glorified herself, and grew wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, 'I sit a queen, and am no widow, and will in no way see mourning.' ⁸ Therefore in one day her plagues will come: death, mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire; for the Lord God who has judged her is strong.

²⁴ In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth."

²⁹ This is the portion of a wicked man from God, the heritage appointed to him by God."

⁵ The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence his soul hates.

⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.

¹⁴ For the LORD won't reject his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

²² Many will tell me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, did not we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?' ²³ And then I will tell them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'

⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, ⁴² and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the grinding of teeth.

⁴⁹ So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will come forth, and separate the wicked from among the righteous, ⁵⁰ and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the grinding of teeth."

⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.

¹⁹ I will tell my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry."' ²⁰ "But God said to him, 'You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?'

⁴⁰ Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you do not expect him."

³⁰ "'But the person who acts defiantly, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, the same blasphemes God, and that person is to be cut off from among his people. ³¹ Because he has despised the word of the LORD, and has broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.'"

² and it shall be if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge shall make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes, according to his guilt. ³ He may give him forty stripes and no more. Otherwise, if he should go on and beat him with more stripes than these, your brother will be humiliated in your eyes.

²² But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. ²³ And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, you will be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in you, it would have remained until this day. ²⁴ But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, on the day of judgment, than for you."

¹² I tell you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. ¹³ "Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to hell.

⁴¹ Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.

⁴⁸ He who rejects me, and does not accept my words, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke will judge him on the last day.

²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have had sin. But now have they seen and also hated both me and my Father.

¹¹ Jesus answered, "You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin."

³⁰ The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,

¹⁵ For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God, in those who are saved, and in those who perish; ¹⁶ to the one a stench from death to death; to the other a sweet aroma from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

¹⁷ To him therefore who knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it is sin.

⁸ But he refused, and said to his masterʼs wife, "Look, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he has into my care. ⁹ There is no one greater in this household than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, since you are his wife. How then can I do such a great evil, and sin against God?" ¹⁰ And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to sleep with her or to be with her. ¹¹ Now it happened about this time that he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside. ¹² She grabbed him by his garment, saying, "Sleep with me." And he left his garment in her hand and ran outside. ¹³ When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had run outside, ¹⁴ she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, “Look, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us. He came in to me to sleep with me, and I cried with a loud voice. ¹⁵ It happened, when he heard that I raised my voice and cried out, that he left his garment by me and ran outside." ¹⁶ She left his garment by her, until his master came home. ¹⁷ And she told him the same story, saying, "The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me, and said to me, x91Let me sleep with you.ʼ ¹⁸ But when I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and ran outside." ¹⁹ And it happened when his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, "This is what your servant did to me," that he became furious. ²⁰ Then Josephʼs master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the kingʼs prisoners were bound, and he was there in prison. ²¹ But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him kindness and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² The keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison; he was made responsible for everything that was done there. ²³ The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was under his supervision, because God was with him, and made everything he did successful.

¹⁷ "If anyone sins, and does any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done; though he did not know it, yet he is guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.

²⁹ You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them. ³⁰ "'But the person who acts defiantly, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, the same blasphemes God, and that person is to be cut off from among his people.

¹² For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever does not have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.

¹⁴ "For it is like a man, going on a journey, who called his own servants, and entrusted his goods to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ Immediately the one who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷ In like manner he who got the two gained another two. ¹⁸ But he who received the one went away and dug in the earth, and hid his lord's money. ¹⁹ "Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and reconciled accounts with them. ²⁰ And he who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents. See, I have gained another five talents.' ²¹ "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' ²² "And he also who had the two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents. See, I have gained another two talents.' ²³ "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' ²⁴ "He also who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter. ²⁵ I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. See, you have what is yours.' ²⁶ "But his lord answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter. ²⁷ You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest. ²⁸ Take away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. ²⁹ For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who does not have, even that which he has will be taken away.

² He called him, and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.'

¹⁰ He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. ¹¹ If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? ¹² If you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?

²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

¹² For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. ¹³ For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified. ¹⁴ For when the non-Jews who do not have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, ¹⁵ since they show the work of the law written on their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them, ¹⁶ in the day when God will judge the secrets of people, according to my Good News, by Christ Jesus.

¹⁷ For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? That, when I proclaim the Good News, I may present the Good News without charge, so as not to abuse my authority in the Good News.

¹¹ according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

²⁰ Timothy, guard that which is committed to you, turning away from the empty chatter and oppositions of the knowledge which is falsely so called;

³ but in his own time revealed his word in the message with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior;

¹ Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.

⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.

³⁰ And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke. ³¹ The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

² But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is coming like a refiner's fire, and like launderer's soap. ³ And he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to the LORD offerings in righteousness.

¹ "For, look, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up," says the LORD of hosts, "that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

¹⁰ "Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire. ¹¹ I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire."

⁵³ And when he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him bitterly, and to provoke him to speak about many things; ⁵⁴ lying in wait for him, seeking to catch him in something he might say, that they might accuse him.

⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on, there will be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.

³¹ In that same hour some Pharisees came, saying to him, "Get out of here, and go away, for Herod wants to kill you." ³² And he said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Look, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission. ³³ Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it cannot be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem.'

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." ⁴⁰ He answered them, "I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out."

⁴ We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.

⁸ The disciples told him, "Rabbi, the Jewish leaders were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again?" ⁹ Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."

¹⁷ The crowd therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him from the dead, was testifying about it. ¹⁸ For this cause also the crowd went and met him, because they heard that he had done this sign. ¹⁹ The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "See how you accomplish nothing. Look, the whole world has gone after him."

⁸ to do your will, O God, I desired. And your Law is within my heart."

¹⁷ As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve aside, and on the way he said to them, ¹⁸ "Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, ¹⁹ and will hand him over to the non-Jews to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up." ²⁰ Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him. ²¹ He said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom." ²² But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They said to him, "We are able."

³² They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid. He again took the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him. ³³ "Look, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to foreigners. ³⁴ They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. After three days he will rise again." ³⁵ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came near to him, and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask." ³⁶ He said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" ³⁷ They said to him, "Grant to us that we may sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left hand, in your glory." ³⁸ But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"

³⁴ Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.

⁶ Jesus therefore said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil. ⁸ You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, because my time is not yet fulfilled."

¹⁰ But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but as it were in secret.

³⁹ Now they sought again to seize him, and he went out of their hand. ⁴⁰ He went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and there he stayed. ⁴¹ Many came to him. They said, "John indeed did no sign, but everything that John said about this man is true."

²⁷ "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour?' But for this cause I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name." Then there came a voice out of the sky, saying, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."

¹¹ Jesus therefore said to Peter, "Put the sword into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup which the Father has given me?"

³⁰ When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished." He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.

²² And now, look, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there;

⁷ So I fed the flock of slaughter, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called "Favor," and the other I called "Union," and I fed the flock. ⁸ I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.

¹⁰ I took my staff Favor, and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples. ¹¹ It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was the word of the LORD.

¹⁴ Then I cut apart my other staff, even Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

³⁴ "Do not think that I came to send peace on the earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I came to set a man at odds against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ³⁶ And a person's foes will be those of his own household.

⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines and plagues and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ But all these things are the beginning of birth pains. ⁹ Then they will deliver you up to oppression, and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name's sake. ¹⁰ Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another.

⁴⁹ "I came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already kindled.

⁹ Even my own close friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

⁵ Do not trust in a neighbor. Do not put confidence in a friend. With the woman lying in your embrace, be careful of the words of your mouth. ⁶ For the son dishonors the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.

⁴¹ Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "What, does the Christ come out of Galilee? ⁴² Hasn't the Scripture said that the Christ comes of the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" ⁴³ So there arose a division in the crowd because of him.

¹⁶ Some therefore of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" There was division among them.

¹⁹ A division arose again among the Jewish people because of these words. ²⁰ Many of them said, "He has a demon, and is insane. Why do you listen to him?" ²¹ Others said, "These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It is not possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?"

¹⁸ If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things will they do to you because of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

² They will put you out of the synagogues, but an hour is coming when whoever kills you will think that he is offering a service to God.

⁴³ Now when the synagogue broke up, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; who, speaking to them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. ⁴⁴ The next Sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and reviled him. ⁴⁶ Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, "It was necessary that God's word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, look, we turn to the non-Jewish people.

¹ It happened in Iconium that they entered together into the Jewish synagogue, and so spoke that a great number of both of Jews and of Greeks believed. ² But the disbelieving Jews stirred up and embittered the souls of the non-Jewish people against the brothers. ³ Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. ⁴ But the population of the city was divided. Some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles.

²⁴ Some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

⁶ For the son dishonors the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.

² It will come to pass in that day, says the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land. ³ It will happen that, when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, 'You must die, because you speak lies in the name of the LORD;' and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies. ⁴ It will happen in that day, that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision, when he prophesies; neither will they wear a hairy mantle to deceive: ⁵ but he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.' ⁶ One will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your hands?' Then he will answer, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'

²¹ "And brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. ²² And you will be hated by all for my name's sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.

¹⁰ Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another.

⁴⁴ It happened at the seventh time, that he said, "Look, a small cloud, like a man's hand, is rising out of the sea." He said, "Go up, tell Ahab, 'Get ready and go down, so that the rain doesn't stop you.'" ⁴⁵ It happened in a little while, that the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

² But he answered and said to them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' ³ In the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. ⁴ An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of Jonah." He left them, and departed.

¹⁷ You whose clothing is warm, when the earth is still by reason of the south wind?

¹² saying, 'These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.'

³² Of the people of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their heads were two hundred; and all their brothers were at their commandment.

²⁴ Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to put an end to the transgression, and to make an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. ²⁵ Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem until the time of the Messiah, the Prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. It shall be built again, with open spaces and a moat, but in times of distress. ²⁶ After the sixty-two weeks the Messiah shall be cut off, and shall have nothing. And the people of a ruler who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and his end shall come with a flood, and until the end there shall be war; desolations are decreed.

⁷ and I will shake all nations, and they will come with the treasures of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.

¹ "Look, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, look, he comes." says the LORD of hosts.

² But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out, and leap like calves of the stall.

²⁵ At that time, Jesus answered, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.

³ In the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.

³² "Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch has now become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is near. ³³ Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

⁴² saying, "If you, even you, had known today the things that make for peace. But now, they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come on you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side, ⁴⁴ and will dash you and your children within you to the ground. They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."

²⁴ Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days. ²⁵ You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.' ²⁶ God, having raised up his Servant, sent him to you first, to bless you, in turning away everyone of you from your wickedness."

⁴ But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,

²⁹ Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end.

¹⁰ He summoned the crowd, and said to them, "Hear, and understand. ¹¹ That which enters into the mouth does not defile the person; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the person." ¹² Then the disciples came, and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?" ¹³ But he answered, "Every plant which my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit."

²¹ Jesus answered them, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it would be done.

³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you did not even repent afterward, that you might believe him.

³⁰ When they are already budding, you see it and know by your own selves that the summer is already near.

²⁴ Do not judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

⁴⁰ With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation."

²⁶ Brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, the word of this salvation is sent out to us. ²⁷ For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. ²⁸ Though they found no cause for death, they still asked Pilate to have him killed. ²⁹ When they had fulfilled all things that were written about him, they took him down from the tree, and placed him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead, ³¹ and he was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people. ³² We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers, ³³ that God has fulfilled for us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second psalm, 'You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.' ³⁴ "Concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: 'I will give to you the faithful sacred things of David.' ³⁵ Therefore he says also in another psalm, 'You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.' ³⁶ For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, and was placed with his fathers, and saw decay. ³⁷ But he whom God raised up saw no decay. ³⁸ Be it known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man is proclaimed to you forgiveness of sins,

¹⁴ Doesn't even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?

³ Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the region of Edom. ⁴ He commanded them, saying, "This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: 'This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now. ⁵ I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.'" ⁶ The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau. Not only that, but he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him." ⁷ Then Jacob was very afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two camps; ⁸ and he said, "If Esau comes to the one camp, and strikes it, then the other camp will escape." ⁹ Jacob said, "God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, who said to me, 'Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,' ¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses and of all the faithfulness which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. ¹¹ Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. ¹² You said, 'I will surely do you good and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which canʼt be counted because there are so many.'" ¹³ So he spent the night there and selected from what he had aquired a present for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milk camels with their young, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ He entrusted them into the hands of his servants as separate herds, and said to his servants, "Pass over before me, and keep some distance between the herds." ¹⁷ He instructed the first, saying, "When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, x91Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these ahead of you?' ¹⁸ Then you shall say, 'They are your servant, Jacobʼs. It is a present sent to my lord Esau. And look, he also is behind us.'" ¹⁹ He instructed also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, "This is how you are to speak to Esau, when you find him. ²⁰ You shall say, 'Not only that, but look, your servant Jacob is behind us.'" For, he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will meet him. Perhaps he will accept me." ²¹ So the gift passed over before him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp. ²² He got up that night and took his two wives, and his two female servants, and his eleven sons and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream, and sent over all his possessions. ²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the rising of the dawn. ²⁵ When he saw that he did not defeat him, he struck the socket of his hip, and Jacobʼs hip was dislocated as he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But Jacob said, "I wonʼt let you go unless you bless me." ²⁷ And he said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob." ²⁸ Then he said, "Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed."

¹⁸ Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two bottles of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. ¹⁹ She said to her young men, "Go on before me. Look, I come after you." But she did not tell her husband, Nabal. ²⁰ It was so, as she rode on her donkey, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that look, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them. ²¹ Now David had said, "Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. He has returned me evil for good. ²² God do so to David, and more also, if I leave of all that belongs to him by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall." ²³ When Abigail saw David, she hurried, and got off from her donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground. ²⁴ She fell at his feet, and said, "On me, my lord, on me be the iniquity; and please let your handmaid speak in your ears. Hear the words of your handmaid. ²⁵ Please do not let my lord regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. ²⁶ Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, since the LORD has withheld you from blood guiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. ²⁷ Now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. ²⁸ Please forgive the trespass of your handmaid. For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD; and evil shall not be found in you all your days. ²⁹ Though men may rise up to pursue you, and to seek your soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD your God. He will sling out the souls of your enemies, as from the hollow of a sling. ³⁰ It shall come to pass, when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you prince over Israel, ³¹ that this shall be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. When the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid." ³² David said to Abigail, "Blessed is the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. ³³ Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, that have kept me this day from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand. ³⁴ For indeed, as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn't have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall." ³⁵ So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said to her, "Go up in peace to your house. Look, I have listened to your voice, and have granted your request."

²¹ "Acquaint yourself with him, now, and be at peace. Thereby good shall come to you.

⁷ There the upright might reason with him, so I should be delivered forever from my judge.

¹⁷ "But you are full of the judgment of the wicked. Judgment and justice take hold of you. ¹⁸ Do not let riches entice you to wrath, neither let the great size of a bribe turn you aside.

⁶ For this, let everyone who is faithful pray to you in a time when you may be found. Surely when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach to him.

²² "Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you into pieces, and there be none to deliver.

¹ My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor, if you have struck your hand in pledge for a stranger; ² You are trapped by the words of your mouth. You are ensnared with the words of your mouth. ³ Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, seeing you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, humble yourself. Press your plea with your neighbor. ⁴ Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids. ⁵ Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

⁸ Do not be hasty in bringing charges to court. What will you do in the end when your neighbor shames you? ⁹ Debate your case with your neighbor, and do not betray the confidence of another;

⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found; call you on him while he is near:

²³ "If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are with him in the way; lest perhaps the prosecutor deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be cast into prison. ²⁶ Truly I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny.

³⁰ He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due.

²⁴ "Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able. ²⁵ When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, open to us.' then he will answer and tell you, 'I do not know you or where you come from.' ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.' ²⁷ But he will reply, 'I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.' ²⁸ There will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets, in the Kingdom of God, and yourselves being thrown outside.

³¹ Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.

² for he says, "At an acceptable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I helped you." Look, now is the "acceptable time." Look, now is the "day of salvation."

⁷ Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, "Today if you will hear his voice, ⁸ do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness, ⁹ where your fathers tested me and challenged me, and saw my works for forty years. ¹⁰ Therefore I was displeased with this generation, and said, 'They always err in their heart, but they did not know my ways;' ¹¹ as I swore in my wrath, 'They will not enter into my rest.'" ¹² Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God; ¹³ but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called "today;" lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

¹⁹ in which he also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison,

⁷ And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison,

³⁴ His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due.

⁴² A poor widow came, and she cast in two lepta, which equal a kodrantes.

²⁶ Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that none may cross over from there to us.'

³ We are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers, even as it is appropriate, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each and every one of you towards one another abounds;