The Season after Pentecost

The Lord told Moses ²³to speak to Aaron and to his sons and to tell them to bless the Israelites with these words:

²⁴The Lord bless you and keep you.

²⁵The Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you.

²⁶The Lord look on you with favor

and give you peace.

²⁷In this way they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²Through him we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God.

³Not only this, but we also rejoice confidently in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, ⁴and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope. ⁵And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.

“I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own, but whatever he hears he will speak. He will also declare to you what is to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I said that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.

²Stand in the gate of the House of the Lord and proclaim this message there.

Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who are coming through this gate to worship the Lord. ³This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says.

Reform your ways and your actions, and I will establish you in this place. ⁴Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”

⁵Sincerely reform your ways and your actions. Carry out justice between a man and his neighbor. ⁶Do not oppress the alien who lives in your land, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place. Do not follow after other gods to your own harm. If you avoid these things, ⁷I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your fathers forever and ever.

⁸Take warning. You are trusting in deceptive words that cannot help you.

Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, who does not change or shift like a shadow. ¹⁸Just as he planned, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creations.

¹⁹Remember this, my dear brothers: Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. ²⁰Certainly, a man’s anger does not bring about what is right before God. ²¹So after getting rid of all moral filthiness and overflowing wickedness, receive with humility the word planted in you. It is able to save your souls.

²²Be people who do what the word says, not people who only hear it. Such people are deceiving themselves. ²³In fact, if anyone hears the word and does not do what it says, he is like a man who carefully looks at his own natural face in a mirror. ²⁴Indeed, he carefully looks at himself; then, he goes away and immediately forgets what he looked like. ²⁵But the one who looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and continues to do so—since he does not hear and forget but actually does what it says—that person will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶If anyone considers himself to be religious but deceives his own heart because he does not bridle his tongue, this person’s religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled in the sight of God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

He also told them a parable: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Won’t they both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. ⁴¹Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? ⁴²Or how can you tell your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck in your eye,’ when you do not see the beam in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck in your brother’s eye.

⁴³“Certainly a good tree does not produce bad fruit, and a bad tree does not produce good fruit. ⁴⁴In fact, each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorn bushes, and they do not gather grapes from a bramble bush. ⁴⁵The good person brings what is good out of the good stored in his heart, and the evil person brings what is evil out of the evil within. To be sure, what his mouth speaks flows from the heart.

⁴⁶“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and does them—I will show you what he is like: ⁴⁸He is like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid a foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the river beat against that house but could not shake it, because it was founded on bedrock. ⁴⁹But the one who listened to my words and did not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river broke against it, it fell immediately, and that house was completely destroyed.”

Then Solomon stood in front of the altar in the presence of the whole congregation of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. ²³He said:

O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens above or on the earth below. You keep the covenant of mercy and faithfulness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart. ²⁴You have kept the word which you spoke to your servant, my father David. What you have said with your mouth you have fulfilled with your hand, as it is today.

²⁷But will God really dwell on the earth? In truth, the heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this house, which I have built! ²⁸But turn your face toward the prayer of your servant and toward his plea for mercy. O Lord my God, listen to the cry and the prayer which your servant offers before you today.

²⁹Let your eyes be open toward this house night and day, toward this place where you said, “My Name will be there,” to hear the prayer which your servant offers toward this place.

⁴¹Also for the foreigner, who is not one of your people Israel, but who comes from a distant land because of your Name ⁴²(for they will hear about your great Name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm, and they will come and pray toward this house), ⁴³for that foreigner, hear in heaven, which is your dwelling place, and do everything for which that foreigner cries out to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your Name and fear you, just as your people Israel do, and because they know that your Name is proclaimed in this house which I have built.

But before this faith came, we were held in custody under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. ²⁴So the law was our chaperone until Christ, so that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵But now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a chaperone.

²⁶In fact, you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷Indeed, as many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. ²⁸There is not Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one and the same in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants and heirs according to the promise.

After Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people who were listening, he went into Capernaum. ²A centurion’s servant, who was valuable to him, was sick and about to die. ³When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴When they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, ⁵because he loves our nation, and he built our synagogue for us.”

⁶Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell Jesus, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, because I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. ⁷That is why I did not consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁸For I am also a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another one, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

⁹When Jesus heard these things, he was amazed at him. He turned to the crowd that was following him and said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.” ¹⁰And when the men who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

After these events, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. The illness became worse until he stopped breathing.

¹⁸Then she said to Elijah, “What is the issue between us, man of God? Have you come to remind me of my sins and to kill my son?”

¹⁹He said to her, “Bring your son to me.” Then he took him and carried him to the upstairs room where he was living, and he laid him on his bed. ²⁰Then he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, have you sent tragedy on this woman with whom I am staying by killing her son?”

²¹Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times, and he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, let this boy’s soul return to his body!” ²²The Lord listened to Elijah’s voice, and the boy’s soul returned to his body, and he came to life. ²³Then Elijah took the boy and brought him down to the house from his upstairs room, and he gave him to his mother.

Elijah said, “See, your son is alive!”

²⁴The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is true.”

In every way, whether for outward appearance or for the truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and in this I rejoice.

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹because I know that this will turn out for my deliverance, through your prayer and the support of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. ²⁰This matches my earnest expectation and hope that I will in no way be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, so even now, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹Yes, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²But if I am to go on living in the flesh, that will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet which should I prefer? I do not know. ²³I am pulled in two directions, because I have the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. ²⁴But, it is more necessary for your sake that I remain in the flesh. ²⁵And since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and will continue with all of you, for your progress and joy in the faith. ²⁶And so by my coming to you again, my goal is to give you even more reason to boast in Christ Jesus.

Soon afterward Jesus went on his way to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd were traveling with him. ¹²As he was approaching the town gate, there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother. She was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not cry.” ¹⁴He went up to the open coffin, touched it, and the pallbearers stopped. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” ¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

¹⁶Fear gripped all of them, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us” and “God has visited his people!” ¹⁷This was reported about him in all of Judea and in all the surrounding countryside.

And now, Lord our God, you who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made a name for yourself to this very day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. ¹⁶Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain, although, because of our sins and the guilt of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are viewed with contempt by everyone around us.

¹⁷Now listen, our God, to the prayer of your servant and to his plea for grace, and let your face shine upon your desolate sanctuary for your sake, my Lord. ¹⁸My God, turn your ear toward us and listen. Open your eyes and see the desolation that is upon us and the city that is called by your name. No, it is not because of our righteous acts that we are casting our plea for grace before you, but because of your great acts of compassion. ¹⁹Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, pay attention! Act, and do not delay—for your sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor males who have sex with males, ¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor the verbally abusive, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And some of you were those types of people. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

¹²“All things are permitted for me”—but not all things are beneficial. “All things are permitted for me”—but I will not allow anything to control me. ¹³“Foods are for the belly, and the belly is for foods, but God will do away with both of them.” However, the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. ¹⁴God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. ¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then remove the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Certainly not! ¹⁶Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For it says, “The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

¹⁸Flee from sexual immorality! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. ¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

A certain one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him. Jesus entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷Just then a sinful woman from that town learned that he was reclining in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume, ³⁸stood behind him near his feet weeping, and began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she began to wipe them with her hair while also kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume. ³⁹When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would realize who is touching him and what kind of woman she is, because she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

He said, “Teacher, say it.”

⁴¹“A certain moneylender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴²When they could not pay, he forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?”

⁴³Simon answered, “I suppose the one who had the larger debt forgiven.”

Then he told him, “You have judged correctly.” ⁴⁴Turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, but you did not give me water for my feet. Yet she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵You did not give me a kiss, but she, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume. ⁴⁷Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that is why she loved so much. But the one who is forgiven little loves little.” ⁴⁸Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”

⁴⁹Those reclining at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Bring out the people who are blind, though they have eyes,

and the people who are deaf, though they have ears.

⁹Let all the nations be gathered together,

and let peoples be assembled.

Who among them has declared this?

Who has made known to us the former things?

Let them produce their witnesses to show that they were right,

so that people can hear and say, “This is truth.”

¹⁰You are my witnesses, declares the Lord.

You are my servant, whom I have chosen,

so that you may know me and believe in me,

so that you will understand that I am he.

Before me no god was formed,

and after me there will not be another.

¹¹I, yes I, am the Lord,

and apart from me there is no savior.

¹²I myself declared it.

I brought salvation, and I announced it.

It was not some strange god among you.

You are my witnesses, declares the Lord,

and I am God.

¹³Indeed, from the first day, I am he.

There is no one who can deliver anyone from my hand.

I act, and who can reverse it?

I thank God, whom I serve with a clean conscience as my ancestors did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. ⁴When I remember your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I remember your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced that it also lives in you.

⁶For this reason I am reminding you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷For God did not give us a timid spirit, but a spirit of power and love and sound judgment. ⁸So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Instead, join with me in suffering for the gospel while relying on the power of God. ⁹He saved us and called us with a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, ¹⁰and it has now been revealed through the appearance of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

They sailed down to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across from Galilee. ²⁷When Jesus stepped ashore, a man from the town met him. He was possessed by demons and for a long time had not worn any clothes. He did not live in a house but in the tombs. ²⁸When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!” ²⁹For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. In fact, the unclean spirit had seized him many times. He was kept under guard, and although he was bound with chains and shackles, he would break the restraints and was driven by the demon into deserted places.

³⁰Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Legion,” because many demons had gone into him. ³¹They were begging Jesus that he would not order them to go into the abyss. ³²A herd of many pigs was feeding there on the mountain. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. ³³The demons went out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

³⁴When those who were feeding the pigs saw what happened, they ran away and reported it in the town and in the countryside. ³⁵People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet. He was clothed and in his right mind, and the people were afraid. ³⁶Those who saw it told them how the demon-possessed man was saved. ³⁷The whole crowd of people from the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were gripped with great fear.

As Jesus got into the boat and started back, ³⁸the man from whom the demons had gone out begged to be with him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹“Return to your home and tell how much God has done for you.” Then he went through the whole town proclaiming what Jesus had done for him. 

So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. Elisha was doing the plowing with twelve teams of oxen in front of him, and he himself was driving the twelfth team. Elijah crossed over to him and threw his cloak over him. ²⁰Then Elisha left the oxen and ran after Elijah. He said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother good-bye! Then I will follow you.”

Then Elijah said, “Go back! For what have I done to you?”

²¹So Elisha turned back from following him. Then he took the team of oxen and slaughtered them. Using the equipment from the oxen as fuel, he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he got up, followed Elijah, and served him.

However bold anyone might be (I am speaking in a foolish way), I am going to be bold too. ²²Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s seed? So am I. ²³Are they ministers of Christ? (I am speaking in a crazy way.) I am even more. I’ve done more hard work, been in prisons more often, been whipped far more, and I’ve been close to death many times. ²⁴Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods. One time I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day on the open sea. ²⁶I have often been on journeys, in danger from rivers, in danger from robbers, in danger from my own people, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in danger on the sea, in danger among false brothers. ²⁷I have worked hard and struggled. I’ve spent many sleepless nights. I’ve been hungry and thirsty. I’ve gone without food many times. I’ve been cold and lacked clothing.

²⁸Besides those external matters, there is the daily pressure on me of my concern for all the churches. ²⁹Who is weak without my being weak? Who falls into sin without my being distressed?

³⁰If it is necessary that I boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

When the days were approaching for him to be taken up, Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem. ⁵²He sent messengers ahead of him. They went and entered a Samaritan village to make preparations for him. ⁵³But the people did not welcome him, because he was determined to go to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When his disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”

⁵⁵But he turned and rebuked them. “You don’t know what kind of spirit is influencing you. ⁵⁶For the Son of Man did not come to destroy people’s souls, but to save them.” Then they went to another village.

⁵⁷As they went on the way, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

⁵⁸Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

⁵⁹He said to another man, “Follow me!”

But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹Another man also said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say good-bye to those at my home.”

⁶²Jesus told him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out toward me, and in it there was a rolled-up scroll. ¹⁰He unrolled it in front of me, and there was writing on both sides. Written on it was: Laments, Groaning, and Woe.

^3:1Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat what you have received. Eat this scroll, and then go, speak to the house of Israel.” ²I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll.

³Then he said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I am giving you.” I ate, and in my mouth it was sweet like honey.

⁴He then said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. ⁵For you are not being sent to a people who have incomprehensible speech or a difficult language, but you are being sent to the house of Israel. ⁶Nor are you being sent to many peoples who have incomprehensible speech and difficult languages, whose words you cannot understand. Certainly, if I were to send you to such people, they would listen to you. ⁷But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, because the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. ⁸Look, I have made your face just as hard as their faces and your forehead just as hard as their foreheads. ⁹I have made your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not fear them, and do not be intimidated by their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”

¹⁰Then he said to me, “Son of man, receive into your heart all my words that I will speak to you, and hear them with your ears. ¹¹Go now to the exiles, to your own people. You shall speak to them and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ whether they listen or they do not.”

Therefore, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and as one who also shares in the glory that is about to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you: ²Shepherd God’s flock that is among you, serving as overseers, not grudgingly but willingly, as God desires, not because you are greedy for money but because you are eager to do it. ³Do not lord it over those entrusted to your care, but be examples for the flock. ⁴And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive an unfading crown of glory.

After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.

²He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field. ³Go your way. Look, I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. ⁴Do not carry a money bag or traveler’s bag or sandals. Do not greet anyone along the way. ⁵Whenever you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ ⁶And if a peaceful person is there, your peace will rest on him, but if not, it will return to you. ⁷Remain in that same house, eating and drinking what they give you, because the worker is worthy of his pay. Do not keep moving from house to house. ⁸Whenever you enter a town and they welcome you, eat what is set before you. ⁹Heal the sick who are in the town and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near you.’

¹⁰“But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹‘Even the dust from your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹²I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom on that day than for that town.

¹⁶Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

¹⁷The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!”

¹⁸He told them, “I was watching Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹Look, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing will ever harm you. ²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names have been written in heaven.”

During the days of the judges, a famine occurred in the land. So a man left Bethlehem in Judah to stay awhile in the territory of Moab—he, his wife, and his two sons. ²The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were from the clan of Ephrath from Bethlehem in Judah. They entered the territory of Moab and remained there.

³But Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, so she was left with her two sons. ⁴They then married Moabite wives. The name of the first was Orpah, and the name of the second was Ruth. They lived there for about ten years. ⁵But Naomi’s sons, Mahlon and Kilion, also died. So the woman was left without her two children and without her husband.

⁶Then Naomi set out with her daughters-in-law to return from the territory of Moab, because while she was in the territory of Moab, she had heard that the Lord had graciously visited his people by providing them with food. ⁷So she left the place where she had been, and her two daughters-in-law left with her. They set out on the road to return to the land of Judah.

⁸But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back. Both of you return to your mother’s house. May the Lord show you kindness as you have shown kindness to the dead and to me. ⁹May the Lord grant that each of you finds security in the house of a husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept loudly.

¹⁰But they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”

¹¹Then Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Am I going to give birth to any more sons who could become your husbands? ¹²Turn back, my daughters. Go! For I am too old to be married to another husband. Suppose I say, ‘I have hope, and I will be married to another husband tonight, and I will even give birth to sons.’ ¹³Would you wait for them until they grow up? On the basis of that hope would you give up the chance to marry another husband? No, my daughters. It is much more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has reached out against me.”

¹⁴They once again wept loudly. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth would not let her go.

¹⁵Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods. Go back! Follow your sister-in-law.”

¹⁶But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to abandon you or to turn back from following you. Because wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you make your home, I will make my home. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. ¹⁷Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely and double it if anything but death separates me from you.”

¹⁸When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

¹⁹Then the two of them traveled until they arrived at Bethlehem.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not allow anyone to put the yoke of slavery on you again.

¹³After all, brothers, you were called to freedom. Only do not use your freedom as a starting point for your sinful flesh. Rather, serve one another through love. ¹⁴In fact, the whole law is summed up in this one statement: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶What I am saying is this: Walk by the spirit, and you will not carry out what the sinful flesh desires. ¹⁷For the sinful flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the sinful flesh. In fact, these two continually oppose one another, so that you do not continue to do these things you want to do. ¹⁸But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the control of the law.

¹⁹Now the works of the sinful flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, complete lack of restraint, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, hatred, discord, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, heresies, ²¹envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things similar to these. I warn you, just as I also warned you before, that those who continue to do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵If we live by the spirit, let us also walk in step with it.

Just then, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶“What is written in the law?” he asked him. “What do you read there?”

²⁷He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.”

²⁸He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”

²⁹But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He fell among robbers who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹It just so happened that a priest was going down that way. But when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³²In the same way, a Levite also happened to go there, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³³A Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was. When he saw him, he felt sorry for the man. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He put him on his own animal, took him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵The next day, when he left, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. Whatever extra you spend, I will repay you when I return.’ ³⁶Which of these three do you think acted like a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?”

³⁷“The one who showed mercy to him,” he replied.

Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he was sitting by the door to his tent during the heat of the day. ²Abraham looked up, and he saw three men standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and he bowed down to the ground. ³He said, “My lord, if I have now found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. ⁴Now let me get a little water so that all of you can wash your feet and rest under the tree. ⁵Let me get some bread so that you can refresh yourselves. After that you may go your way. That is why you have come to your servant.”

They said, “Yes, do as you have said.”

⁶Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly prepare twenty quarts of fine flour, knead it, and make some loaves of bread.” ⁷Abraham ran to the herd, brought a good, tender calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to prepare it. ⁸He took cheese curds, milk, and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them. He stood beside them under the tree while they ate.

⁹They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?”

He said, “She is over there in the tent.”

¹⁰One of the men said, “I will certainly return to you when this season comes around next year. Then Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Sarah was listening to this from the tent door, which was behind him. ¹¹Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well into old age. Sarah was past the age for childbearing. ¹²Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, will I have pleasure, since my lord is also old?”

¹³The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really give birth to a child though I am old?’ ¹⁴Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the set time next year I will return to you, and Sarah will have a son.”

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

²To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

³We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints ⁵because of the hope that is stored up for you in heaven. You have already heard about this in the word of truth, the gospel ⁶that is present with you now. The gospel is bearing fruit and growing in the entire world, just as it also has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth. ⁷You learned this from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf. ⁸He is the one who told us about your love in the Spirit.

⁹For this reason, from the day we heard about your love, we also have not stopped praying for you. We keep asking that you would be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, ¹⁰so that you might live in a way that is worthy of the Lord. Our goal is that you please him by bearing fruit in every kind of good work and by growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹as you are being strengthened with all power because of his glorious might working in you. Then you will have complete endurance and patience, joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

¹³The Father rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

As they went on their way, Jesus came into a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who was sitting at the Lord’s feet and was listening to his word. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted with all her serving. She came over and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me.”

⁴¹The Lord answered and told her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but one thing is needed. In fact, Mary has chosen that better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

So the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very flagrant, ²¹I will go down now and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has come to me. If not, I will know.”

²²The two men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. ²³Abraham approached him and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous along with the wicked? ²⁴What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep them away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵You would never do such a thing, killing the righteous along with the wicked, treating the righteous the same as the wicked. You would never do such a thing. The Judge of all the earth should do right, shouldn’t he?”

²⁶The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people within the city of Sodom, then I will spare the entire place for their sake.”

²⁷Abraham answered, “See now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it on myself to speak to my Lord. ²⁸What if there are five fewer than fifty righteous? Will you destroy the entire city if the number is five short?”

He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

²⁹He spoke to him yet again and said, “What if only forty are found there?”

He said, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

³⁰He said, “Please, do not be angry, my Lord, but I will speak again. What if thirty are found there?”

He said, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.”

³¹He said, “See now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to my Lord. What if there are twenty found there?”

He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

³²He said, “Please, do not be angry, my Lord, but I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?”

He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ²for kings and all those who are in authority, in order that we might live a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and dignity. ³This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. ⁷For this testimony, I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I speak the truth; I am not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

On another occasion, Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

²He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. ³Give us each day our daily bread. ⁴Forgive us our sins, as we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’”

⁵He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶because a friend of mine who is on a journey has come to me, and I do not have anything to set before him.’ ⁷And the one inside replies, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you.’ ⁸I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his bold persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹“I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives. The one who seeks finds. And to the one who knocks, it will be opened.

¹¹“What father among you, if your son asks for bread, would give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of a fish? ¹²Or if he asks for an egg, would give him a scorpion? ¹³If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

The words of Ecclesiastes, David’s son, king in Jerusalem.

²“Nothing but vapor,” Ecclesiastes said. “Totally vapor. Everything is just vapor that vanishes.”

¹²I, Ecclesiastes, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³I applied my heart to seek out and explore with wisdom everything done under the sky. (What a burdensome task God has given the children of Adam to keep them busy!) ¹⁴I have seen all the actions done under the sun, and, look, it is all nothing but vapor. It is all chasing the wind.

^2:18I also hated all the results of my hard work, for which I worked so hard under the sun, since I must leave it all to the man who comes after me. ¹⁹And who knows—will he be wise, or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the results of my hard work, for which I worked so hard and so wisely, under the sun. This too is vapor that vanishes.

²⁰So I changed my course, and my heart began to despair over all my hard work at which I worked so hard under the sun. ²¹Sure, there may be a man who has worked hard—wisely, aptly, and skillfully. But he must hand over whatever he accumulated by all his hard work to a man who has not worked hard for it. This too is vapor. It’s so unfair! ²²For what does a man gain through all his hard work, through all the turmoil in his heart as he works so hard under the sun?

²³Bah! Pain fills his days. His occupation is frustration. Even at night his heart does not rest. This too is vapor.

²⁴There is nothing better for a man than to eat and to drink and to find joy in his work. This too, I saw, is from God’s hand. ²⁵For who can eat or enjoy himself apart from him? ²⁶Yes, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness to the man whom he considers good, but to the person who goes on sinning God gives the task of gathering and collecting, but only so that he can give it all to a person whom God considers good. This too is vapor, nothing but chasing wind.

Therefore, because you were raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵So put to death whatever is worldly in you: sexual immorality, uncleanness, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶It is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. ⁷You too once walked in these things, when you were living in them.

⁸But now, you too are to rid yourselves of all of these: wrath, anger, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. ⁹Do not lie to each other since you have put off the old self with its practices, ¹⁰and put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in knowledge, according to the image of its Creator. ¹¹Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but rather Christ is all and is in all.

Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴But Jesus said to him, “Man, who appointed me to be a judge or an arbitrator over you?”

¹⁵Then he said to them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because a man’s life is not measured by how many possessions he has.”

¹⁶He told them a parable: “The land of a certain rich man produced very well. ¹⁷He was thinking to himself, ‘What will I do, because I do not have anywhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸He 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 goods. ¹⁹And I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.”’

²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your soul will be demanded from you. Now who will get what you have prepared?’

²¹“That is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

After these events the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. He said, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

²Abram said, “Lord God what can you give me, since I remain childless, and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³Abram also said, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a servant born in my house will be my heir.”

⁴Just then, the word of the Lord came to him. God said, “This man will not be your heir, but instead one who will come out of your own body will be your heir.” ⁵The Lord then brought him outside and said, “Now look toward the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “This is what your descendants will be like.” ⁶Abram believed in the Lord, and the Lord credited it to him as righteousness.

Faith is being sure about what we hope for, being convinced about things we do not see. ²For by this faith the ancients were commended in Scripture.

³By faith we know that the universe was created by God’s word, so that what is seen did not come from visible things.

⁸By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance, and he left without knowing where he was going.

⁹By faith he lived as a stranger in the Promised Land, as if it did not belong to him, dwelling in tents along with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

¹¹By faith Abraham also received the ability to conceive children, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was past the normal age, because he considered him faithful who made the promise. ¹²And so from one man, and he as good as dead, descendants were born as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand along the seashore.

¹³One by one, all of these died in faith, without having received the things that were promised, but they saw and welcomed them from a distance. They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴Indeed, people who say things like that make it clear that they are looking for a land of their own. ¹⁵And if they were remembering the land they had come from, they would have had an opportunity to return. ¹⁶Instead, they were longing for a better land—a heavenly one. For that reason, God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he prepared a city for them.

Jesus said to his disciples, “For that reason I tell you, stop worrying about your life, about what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. ²³Certainly life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. ²⁴Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap; they have no warehouse or barn; and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds! ²⁵And who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his lifespan? ²⁶Since you are not able to do this little thing, why do you worry about the rest? ²⁷Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. But I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. ²⁸If this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith? ²⁹Do not constantly chase after what you will eat or what you will drink. Do not be worried about it. ³⁰To be sure, the nations of the world chase after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need them. ³¹Instead, continue to seek the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. ³²Do not be afraid, little flock, because your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³Sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not become old, a treasure in the heavens that will not fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Am I a God who is only nearby, declares the Lord,

and not a God far away?

²⁴Can anyone hide in secret places

so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord.

Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.

²⁵I have heard what the prophets who prophesy lies in my name have said. They say, “I have had a dream! I have had a dream!” ²⁶How long will this be in the hearts of these lying prophets? These prophets proclaim the fantasies of their own hearts. ²⁷They think they can make my people forget my name with the dreams each one tells his neighbor, the way their fathers forgot my name because of Baal. ²⁸Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream. But let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully.

What has chaff to do with grain? declares the Lord. ²⁹Is not my word like a fire? declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us get rid of every burden and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patient endurance the race that is laid out for us. ²Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal. In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God’s throne. ³Carefully consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinful people, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart.

⁴You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood in your fight against sin. ⁵Have you also forgotten the encouragement that addresses you as sons?

My son, do not regard the Lord’s discipline lightly,

and do not become weary of his correction.

⁶For the Lord disciplines the one whom he loves,

and he corrects every son he accepts.

⁷Endure suffering as discipline. God is dealing with you as sons. Is there a son whose father does not discipline him? ⁸If you are not disciplined (and all of us have received it), then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹In addition, we have earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not submit even more to the Father of the spirits and live? ¹⁰They disciplined us for a little while, according to what seemed best to them, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may have a share in his holiness. ¹¹No discipline seems pleasant when it is happening, but painful, yet later it yields a peaceful harvest of righteousness for those who have been trained by it.

¹²Therefore strengthen your weak hands and feeble knees, ¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but rather healed.

“I came to throw fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already ignited. ⁵⁰But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished! ⁵¹Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵²Yes, from now on there will be five divided in one household: three against two, and two against three. ⁵³They will be divided: father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

As for me, because of their works and their thoughts,

the time is coming for me to gather people from all nations and all languages.

They will come, and they will see my glory.

¹⁹Then I will set up a sign among them,

and I will send out survivors from among them to the nations,

to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, to those who are archers,

to Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands,

who have not heard my message and have not seen my glory.

Then they will declare my glory among the nations.

²⁰Then they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them on horses and chariots and wagons and mules and dromedaries to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, in the same way that the people of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel to the Lord’s house.²¹Even from among these people I will take priests and Levites, says the Lord.

²²For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making will remain standing before me, declares the Lord, in the same way your offspring and your name will stand. ²³As often as one new moon follows another and one Sabbath follows another, all flesh will come to worship before me, says the Lord.

²⁴They will go out, and they will see the corpses of the ones who were rebelling against me, for their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched, and all flesh will be horrified by them.

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to burning fire, to darkness, to gloom, to a raging storm, ¹⁹to the sound of a trumpet, and to a voice that spoke. Those who heard the voice asked that not one more word be added, ²⁰because they could not endure what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” ²¹The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

²²Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God; to the heavenly Jerusalem; to tens of thousands of angels in joyful assembly; ²³to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven; to God, who is the judge of all; to the spirits of righteous people, who have been made perfect; ²⁴to Jesus, the mediator of a new testament; and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better message than the blood of Abel.

He went on his way from one town and village to another, teaching, and making his way to Jerusalem. ²³Someone said to him, “Lord, are only a few going to be saved?”

He said to them, ²⁴“Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. ²⁵Once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open for us!’ He will tell you in reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ ²⁶Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷And he will say, ‘I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’ ²⁸There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside. ²⁹People will come from east and west, from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰And note this: Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Do not honor yourself in a king’s presence.

Do not stand in a place reserved for great people,

⁷because it is better to be told, “Come up here,”

than for you to be humiliated before a ruler.

My brothers, have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ without showing favoritism. ²For example, suppose a man enters your worship assembly wearing gold rings and fine clothing, and a poor man also enters wearing filthy clothing. ³If you look with favor on the man wearing fine clothing and say, “Sit here in this good place,” but you tell the poor man, “Stand over there” or “Sit down here at my feet,” ⁴have you not made a distinction among yourselves and become judges with evil opinions? ⁵Listen, my dear brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to those who love him? ⁶But you dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and don’t they drag you into court? ⁷Aren’t they the ones who blaspheme the noble name that was pronounced over you? ⁸However, if you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹But if you show favoritism, you are committing a sin, since you are convicted by this law as transgressors.

¹⁰In fact, whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point has become guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹For the one who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹²So speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law of freedom. ¹³For there will be judgment without mercy on the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

One Sabbath day, when Jesus went into the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat bread, they were watching him closely.

⁷When he noticed how they were selecting the places of honor, he told the invited guests a parable. ⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline in the place of honor, or perhaps someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him. ⁹The one who invited both of you may come and tell you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then you will begin, with shame, to take the lowest place.

¹⁰“But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a higher place.’ Then you will have honor in the presence of all who are reclining at the table with you.

¹¹“Yes, everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹²He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, do not invite your friends, or your brothers, or your relatives, or rich neighbors, so that perhaps they may also return the favor and pay you back.

¹³“But when you make a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. Certainly, you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”

See now, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and disaster. ¹⁶This is what I am commanding you today: Love the Lord your God, walk in his ways, and keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and increase in number, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are going to possess.

¹⁷But if your heart turns away, and you do not listen, and you are lured away, and you bow down to other gods and serve them, ¹⁸then I declare to you today that you will most certainly perish. You will not live a long life on the land that you are about to enter and possess by crossing over the Jordan.

¹⁹I call the heavens and the earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live ²⁰by loving the Lord your God, by listening to his voice, and by clinging to him, because that means life for you, and you will live a long life on your land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

⁷For I have received great joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.

⁸For that reason, even though I have plenty of boldness in Christ to order you to do what is proper, ⁹I am appealing to you, instead, on the basis of love, just as I, Paul, am an old man and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. ¹⁰I am appealing to you on behalf of my child Onesimus. I became his father while I was in chains. ¹¹There was a time when he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me. ¹²I have sent him (who is my very heart) back to you. Welcome him. ¹³I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might serve me in your place while I am in chains for the gospel. ¹⁴But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your kindness would not be the result of compulsion, but of willingness. ¹⁵Perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while: so that you would have him back forever, ¹⁶no longer as a slave, but as more than a slave, as a dear brother. He certainly is dear to me, but he is even more of a dear brother to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. ¹⁸And if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me. ¹⁹I, Paul, have written this with my own hand: I will repay it—not to mention that you owe me your very self. ²⁰Yes, brother, I am asking for a favor from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. ²¹Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned and said to them, ²⁶“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸For which of you, if he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, everyone who sees it will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰saying, ‘This fellow began to build, but was not able to finish.’ ³¹Or what king, as he goes out to confront another king in war, will not first sit down and consider if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³²And if he is not able, he sends out a delegation and asks for terms of peace while his opponent is still far away. ³³So then, any one of you who does not say farewell to all his own possessions cannot be my disciple. ³⁴Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how will it become salty again? ³⁵It is not fit for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Lord said to me, “Go again. Show love to a woman who is loved by another man, a woman who keeps committing adultery. Show love just as the Lord loves the people of Israel, even though they keep turning to other gods and loving the raisin cakes.”

²So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and nine bushels of barley. ³I said to her, “You will stay with me for many days. You must not be promiscuous. You must not be with any other man, and I will also be for you.”

⁴So the people of Israel will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred memorial stones, and without the special vest or family idols. ⁵Afterward the people of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.

Now if anyone has caused sorrow, he has not done it to me, but to all of you to some extent (not to overstate it). ⁶This punishment inflicted on such a person by the majority is enough, ⁷so that instead you should rather forgive and comfort him, or else such a person could be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸For that reason, I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹In fact, this was also the purpose of my writing: I wanted to know the result of your being tested, that is, if you are obedient in all things.

¹⁰If you forgive anyone anything, I do too. To be sure, if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake, ¹¹so that Satan would not take advantage of us. We are certainly not unaware of his schemes.

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to hear him. ²But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³He told them this parable: ⁴“Which one of you, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost until he finds it? ⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶and goes home. Then he calls together his friends and his neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ ⁷I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent.

⁸“Or what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, would not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the lost coin.’ ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Anyone who loves money is never satisfied with money, and anyone who loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is vanishing vapor.

¹¹When goods increase, so do those who eat them. What profit, then, does the owner get, except to see these things with his eyes?

¹²The worker’s sleep is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but a rich person’s abundant possessions allow him no sleep.

¹³I have seen a sickening evil under the sun—wealth hoarded by its owner to his own harm, ¹⁴or wealth that is lost in a bad investment. Or a man fathers a son, but he has nothing left in his hand to give him. ¹⁵As he came out from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came. From his hard work he can pick up nothing that he can carry away in his hand. ¹⁶This too is a sickening evil: Just as he came, so he will go. So what does he gain, he who works for the wind? ¹⁷Besides this, during all his days he eats in darkness, with great frustration, sickness, and anger.

¹⁸So then, here is what I have seen to be good: It is beautiful to eat, to drink, and to look for good in all a person’s hard work which he has done under the sun, during the few days of his life that God has given him, for that is his reward. ¹⁹Likewise, for everyone to whom God has given wealth and riches, if God has also given him ability to eat from it, to enjoy his reward, and to rejoice in the results of his hard work—this is a gift of God, ²⁰for the man seldom reflects on the days of his life, since God keeps him busy with the joy in his heart.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly cannot take anything out. ⁸But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be satisfied.

⁹Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin. ¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils. By striving for money, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

¹⁷Instruct those who are rich in this present age not to be arrogant or to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but rather in God, who richly supplies us with all things for our enjoyment. ¹⁸Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share. ¹⁹In this way they are storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Jesus also said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager who was accused of wasting his possessions. ²The rich man called him in and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be manager.’

³“The manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking away the management position from me? I am not strong enough to dig. I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from my position as manager, people will receive me into their houses.’

⁵“He called each one of his master’s debtors to him. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶He said, ‘Six hundred gallons of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write three hundred.’ ⁷Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘Six hundred bushels of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and write four hundred and eighty.’

⁸“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the children of the light. ⁹I tell you, make friends for yourselves with unrighteous so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings. ¹⁰The person who is faithful with very little is also faithful with much. And the person who is unrighteous with very little is also unrighteous with much. ¹¹So if you have not been faithful with unrighteous mammon who will entrust you with what is really valuable? ¹²If you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you something to be your own? ¹³No servant can serve two masters. Indeed, either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion,

you who feel secure on Mount Samaria,

you distinguished people of the leading nation,

to whom the house of Israel comes.

²Travel to Kalneh and look.

Go from there to Hamath Rabbah,

and go down to Gath of the Philistines.

Are you better than those kingdoms?

Are their territories greater than your territory?

³You who are trying to put off the evil day,

you bring near the session for violence!

⁴Those who lie on ivory beds,

sprawling upon their couches,

eating lambs from the flock

and calves straight from the stall,

⁵improvising tunes on the lyre,

composing music for themselves on musical instruments like David,

⁶drinking large bowls of wine—

they slather themselves with the most expensive perfumed oils,

but they do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

⁷That is why they will go into exile as the first of the exiles.

Those who sprawl out at their feasts for the dead will depart.

Continue to show brotherly love. ²Do not fail to show love to strangers, for by doing this some have welcomed angels without realizing it. ³Remember those in prison, as if you were fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated, as if you yourselves were also suffering bodily.

⁴Marriage is to be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed is to be kept undefiled, for God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers. ⁵Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have. For God has said:

I will never leave you,

and I will never forsake you.

⁶So then we say with confidence:

The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid.

What will man do to me?

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. ²⁰A beggar named Lazarus had been laid at his gate. Lazarus was covered with sores and ²¹longed to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Besides this, the dogs also came and licked his sores. ²²Eventually the beggar died, and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In hell, where he was in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus at his side. ²⁴He called out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in misery in this flame.’

²⁵“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are in misery. ²⁶Besides all this, a great chasm has been set in place between us and you, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

²⁷“He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s home, ²⁸because I have five brothers—to warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹“Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. Let them listen to them.’

³⁰“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹“Abraham replied to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

King David said this to the whole assembly:

My son Solomon, the one God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The work is great because this citadel is not for a man. It is for the Lord God. ²According to all my strength, I have provided these things for the house of my God: gold for the gold items, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, wood for the wooden, onyx stones and settings, antimony, stones of many different colors, every kind of precious stone, and alabaster in abundance.

¹⁰David blessed the Lord in the presence of the entire assembly. He said:

Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel, our father, from eternity to eternity. ¹¹To you, O Lord, belong greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty, because everything in the heavens and on the earth belongs to you. You, Lord, are exalted as head above everything. The kingdom belongs to you. ¹²Riches and honor come from you. You are ruling over everything. In your hand are power and strength. It is in your power to make anyone great and strong. ¹³Now, our God, we are thanking you and praising your glorious name.

¹⁴Who am I? Who are my people that we are able to offer willingly like this? For everything comes from you. What we have given to you came from your hand. ¹⁵We are aliens and temporary residents before you, as were all our fathers. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope of staying.

¹⁶Lord, our God, all this abundance, which we have provided for building a house for you, for your holy name, is from your hand. This abundance belongs to you.

¹⁷I know, my God, that you test the heart, and you take pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things. Now with joy I see your people, who are present here to bring the offering freely to you.

¹⁸Lord, the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, preserve forever this purpose and way of thinking in the heart of your people. Direct their heart to you.

Paul, Silas, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³We are always obligated to thank God for you, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love that each and every one of you has for one another is increasing. ⁴So we ourselves boast about you in God’s churches in regard to your patient endurance and faith in all your persecutions and in the trials that you are enduring. ⁵This is evidence of God’s righteous verdict that resulted in your being counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also suffer.

¹¹For this reason, we are always praying for you, that our God will make you worthy of your calling and use his power to fulfill every good desire and work of your faith, ¹²so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him, in keeping with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! ²It would be better for that person if a millstone would be hung around his neck and he would be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. ³Watch yourselves.

“If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. ⁴Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

⁶The Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you could tell this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. ⁷Which one of you who has a servant plowing or taking care of sheep will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at the table’? ⁸Won’t the master tell him instead, ‘Prepare my supper, and after you are properly dressed, serve me while I eat and drink. After that you may eat and drink’? ⁹He does not thank the servant because he did what he was commanded to do, does he? ¹⁰So also you, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants. We have only done what we were supposed to do.’”

God spoke to Noah. He said, ¹⁶“Go out of the ark—you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷Bring out with you every living thing of every sort that is with you, all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may swarm over the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

¹⁸Noah went out with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives along with him. ¹⁹Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever swarms on the earth went out of the ship, species by species.

²⁰Noah built an altar to the Lord and took from every clean animal and every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹The Lord smelled the pleasant aroma. The Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the soil anymore because of man, for the thoughts he forms in his heart are evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike every living thing, as I have done. ²²While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

And he who provides seed to the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed for sowing, and will increase the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you may be generous in every way, which produces thanksgiving to God through us.

¹²To be sure, the administration of this service is not only making up for what is lacking among the saints, but it is also overflowing in many prayers of thanksgiving to God. ¹³By proving yourselves in this service, many people are glorifying God, as they see the obedience shown in your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity shown in your sharing with them and all people. ¹⁴At the same time as they pray for you, they also express their longing for you, because of the extraordinary measure of God’s grace given to you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

On another occasion, as Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was passing along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²When he entered a certain village, ten men with leprosy met him. Standing at a distance, ¹³they called out loudly, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

¹⁴When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” As they went away they were cleansed.

¹⁵One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice. ¹⁶He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Jesus responded, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸Was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹Then he said to him, “Get up and go your way. Your faith has saved you.”

He got up that night and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. ²³He took them and sent them across the stream, and he also sent his possessions across. ²⁴Jacob was left alone, and he wrestled with a man there until daybreak. ²⁵When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he touched the socket of his thigh, and the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated as he wrestled. ²⁶The man said, “Let me go. It’s daybreak.”

Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”

²⁷Then he said to him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob.”

²⁸Then he said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men, and you have won.”

²⁹Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”

He said, “Why do you ask what my name is?” Then he blessed him there.

³⁰Jacob named the place Peniel, because he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life has been spared.”

I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

¹⁴This is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we also know that we receive the things we have asked from him.

Jesus told them a parable about the need to always pray and not lose heart: ²“There was a judge in a certain town who did not fear God and did not care about people. ³There was a widow in that town, and she kept going to him, saying, ‘Give me justice from my adversary!’ ⁴For some time he refused, but after a while he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God or care about people, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not wear me out with her endless pleading.’”

⁶The Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷Will not God give justice to his chosen ones, who are crying out to him day and night? Will he put off helping them? ⁸I tell you that he will give them justice quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

So now, Israel, what is the Lord your God asking of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes that I am commanding you today for your own good.

¹⁴Indeed, the heavens and the heaven of heavens, the earth and everything that is on it—these belong to the Lord your God. ¹⁵Still, the Lord attached himself to your fathers, loved them, and he chose their descendants after them (that’s you!) from all peoples, as it is today.

¹⁶So cut away the tough shell of your sinful nature, and do not be stubborn any longer.

¹⁷The Lord your God is God of Gods and Lord of Lords, the great God, the mighty one and the awesome one, who does not show favoritism and does not take a bribe. ¹⁸He carries out justice for the fatherless and widows. He loves the alien who dwells among you and gives him food and clothing. ¹⁹So you are to love the alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

²⁰Fear the Lord your God, serve him, cling to him, and take your oaths in his name.

²¹He is your glory. He is your God, who performed for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.

²²When your fathers went down to Egypt, they numbered seventy people, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, boasting about material possessions—is not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷The world and its desires pass away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

A certain ruler asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except one—God. ²⁰You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. Honor your father and mother.’ ”

²¹“I have kept all these since I was a child,” he said.

²²When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²³But when the ruler heard these words, he became very sad, because he was very rich.

²⁴When Jesus saw that the man became very sad, he said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶Those who heard this said, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible for God.”

²⁸And Peter said, “Look, we have left our possessions and followed you.”

²⁹He said to them, “Amen I tell you: Anyone who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God ³⁰will most certainly receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come, eternal life.”

Who is a God like you, who forgives guilt,

and who passes over the rebellion of the survivors from his inheritance?

He does not hold onto his anger forever.

He delights in showing mercy.

¹⁹He will have compassion on us again.

He will overcome our guilty deeds.

You will throw all their sins into the depths of the sea.

²⁰You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham,

as you swore to our fathers from days of old.

For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷It is rare indeed that someone will die for a righteous person. Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to die for a person who has been good to him. ⁸But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹Therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, it is even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. ¹⁰For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, it is even more certain that, since we have been reconciled, we will be saved by his life. ¹¹And not only is this so, but we also go on rejoicing confidently in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received this reconciliation.

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ²A man named Zacchaeus was there. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³He was trying to see who Jesus was, but since he was short, he could not see because of the crowd. ⁴He ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus, because he was about to pass by that way. ⁵When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” ⁶He came down quickly and welcomed Jesus joyfully. ⁷When the people saw it, they were all grumbling because he went to be a guest of a sinful man.

⁸Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I am going to give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”

⁹Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Watch this! I am about to create new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered.

They will not come to mind.

¹⁸Instead, rejoice and celebrate forever, because of what I am creating.

Watch this! I am about to create Jerusalem to be a source of gladness,

and her people will be a source of joy.

¹⁹I also will be glad because of Jerusalem,

and I will rejoice over my people.

The sound of weeping will not be heard in her again,

nor will the sound of crying.

²⁰There will never again be an infant there who lives for only a few days,

or an elderly man who does not fill out all his days,

for one who dies at a hundred will be considered a young man,

and one who fails to attain the age of one hundred will be regarded as cursed.

²¹Then they will build houses and live in them.

They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²²They will not build a house and have another person live in it.

They will not plant and have another person eat the crop,

for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree,

and my chosen ones will enjoy all the work of their hands.

²³They will not labor only to receive nothing,

and they will not give birth to children doomed to disaster,

for they will be offspring who are blessed by the Lord,

and their descendants will be with them.

²⁴Then even before they call, I will answer.

While they are still speaking, I will hear.

²⁵The wolf and the lamb will graze together,

and lions will eat straw like cattle,

but the serpent will eat dust as its food.

They will not harm or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain,

says the Lord.

The angel showed me the river of the water of life, which was as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb. ²In the middle of the city’s street and on each side of the river was a tree of life that yielded twelve kinds of fruit. The tree yields its fruit every month, and its leaves are for the healing of the nations.

³There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him. ⁴They will see his face. His name will be on their foreheads. ⁵There will no longer be any night or any need for lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.

Some of the Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to him. ²⁸They asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother should take the wife and raise up children for his brother. ²⁹So there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died childless. ³⁰The second took her as a wife, ³¹and so did the third, and in the same way the seven died and left no children. ³²Finally the woman died too. ³³So in the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.”

³⁴Jesus said to them, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵But those who are considered worthy to experience that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. ³⁶In fact, they cannot die any more, for they are like the angels. They are sons of God, because they are sons of the resurrection.

³⁷“Even Moses showed in the account about the burning bush that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord: ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ ³⁸He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.”

Look! The day is coming, burning like a blast furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble. The day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord of Armies, a day that will not leave behind a root or branch for them. ²But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, and there will be healing in its wings. You will go out and jump around like calves from the stall. ³You will trample the wicked. They will surely be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I take action, says the Lord of Armies.

⁴Remember the law of my servant Moses, which I commanded to him at Horeb to serve as statutes and judgments over all Israel.

⁵Look! I am going to send Elijah the prophet to you before the great and fearful day of the Lord comes! ⁶He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with complete destruction.

This is evidence of God’s righteous verdict that resulted in your being counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also suffer. ⁶Certainly, it is right for God to repay trouble to those who trouble you, ⁷and to give relief to you, who are troubled along with us. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his powerful angels, ⁸he will exercise vengeance in flaming fire on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹Such people will receive a just penalty: eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious strength, ¹⁰on that day when he comes to be glorified among his saints, and to be marveled at among all those who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

“I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. ¹⁶You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will put some of you to death. ¹⁷You will be hated by all people for my name’s sake. ¹⁸But not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹By patient endurance you will gain your lives.

The threatening oracle which the prophet Habakkuk saw.

²How long, Lord, must I cry for help, but you do not listen?

I call out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save!

³Why do you cause me to see injustice?

Why do you overlook misery?

Devastation and violence confront me.

There is strife, and tensions rise.

^2:1I will stand at my watch post and station myself on the city wall. I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer he will give to my complaint.

²Then the Lord answered me. He said:

Record the vision and write it plainly on tablets so that a herald may run with it.

³Indeed, the vision is waiting for the appointed time. It longs for fulfillment and will not prove false. If it seems slow in coming, wait for it, because it will certainly come and will not be delayed.

⁴Look, his soul is puffed up and is not righteous within him—but the righteous one will live by his faith.

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares the Lord.

²Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd my people.

You have scattered my flock.

You have driven them away.

You have not taken care of them,

but I will certainly take care of you,

because of the evil things you have done,

declares the Lord.

³I will gather what is left of my flock

out of all the countries where I have driven them,

and I will bring them back to their pastures.

They will be fruitful and multiply.

⁴I will raise up shepherds over them

who will shepherd them.

They will no longer be afraid or terrified,

nor will any be missing, declares the Lord.

⁵Listen, the days are coming, declares the Lord,

when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,

who will reign wisely as king

and establish justice and righteousness on earth.

⁶In his days Judah will be saved

and Israel will dwell securely.

This is his name by which he will be called:

The Lord Our Righteousness.

The angel said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

⁷“And look: I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who holds on to the words of the prophecy of this book.”

⁸I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I bowed down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. ⁹But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and also with those who hold on to the words of this book. Worship God!”

¹⁰The angel also said to me:

Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.

¹¹Let the one who is unjust continue to be unjust.

Let the one who is filthy continue to be filthy.

Let the one who is just continue to do what is just.

Let the one who is holy continue to be holy.

¹²Look, I am coming soon and my reward is with me, to repay each one according to what he has done. ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

The Father rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, ¹⁶for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and all things hold together in him.

¹⁸He is also the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he might have the highest rank. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile all things to himself (whether things on earth or in heaven) by making peace through the blood of his cross.

“Be dressed, ready for service, and keep your lamps burning. ³⁶Be like people waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. ³⁷Blessed are those servants, whom the master will find watching when he comes. Amen I tell you: He will dress himself and have them recline at the table, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸Even if he comes in the second or third watch, they will be blessed if he finds them alert. ³⁹But know this: If the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you are not expecting him.”

The people stood watching. The rulers were ridiculing him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, the Chosen One!”

³⁶The soldiers also made fun of him. Coming up to him, they offered him sour wine, ³⁷saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

³⁸There was also an inscription written above him: “This is the King of the Jews.”

³⁹One of the criminals hanging there was blaspheming him, saying, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? ⁴¹We are punished justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.”

⁴³Jesus said to him, “Amen I tell you: Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Yes, the days are coming, declares the Lord,

when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah.

³²It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers,

when I took them by the hand

and led them out of the land of Egypt.

They broke that covenant of mine,

although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord.

³³But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days,

declares the Lord.

I will put my law in their minds,

and I will write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

³⁴No longer will each one teach his neighbor,

or each one teach his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,”

because they will all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord,

for I will forgive their guilt,

and I will remember their sins no more.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not allow anyone to put the yoke of slavery on you again. ²Look, I, Paul, tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. ³I testify again to every man who allows himself to be circumcised that he is obligated to do the whole law. ⁴You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law are completely separated from Christ. You have fallen from grace.

⁵Indeed, through the Spirit, we by faith are eagerly waiting for the sure hope of righteousness. ⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. Rather, it is faith working through love that matters.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples. ³²You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered, “and we have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be set free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Everyone who keeps committing sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵But a slave does not remain in the family forever. A son does remain forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the sea no longer existed. ²And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

³And from the throne I heard a loud voice that said, “Look! God’s dwelling is with people. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. ⁴He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.”

⁵The one who was seated on the throne said to me, “Look, I am making everything new!” He also said, “Write, for these words are trustworthy and true.” ⁶And he said to me:

It is done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

To anyone who is thirsty,

I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.

And what more should I say? There would not be enough time for me to continue to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. ³³By faith they conquered kingdoms, carried out justice, obtained things that were promised, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched the power of fire, escaped the edges of the sword, were made powerful after being weak, became mighty in battle, and caused foreign armies to flee. ³⁵Women received back their dead by resurrection. And others who were tortured did not accept their release, so that they may take part in a better resurrection. ³⁶Still others experienced mocking and lashes, in addition to chains and imprisonment. ³⁷They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were tempted; they were killed with the sword; they went around in sheepskins and goatskins, needy, afflicted, and mistreated. ³⁸The world was not worthy of them as they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹All of these were commended in Scripture by faith, yet they did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰because God had planned something better for us, namely, that they would not reach the goal apart from us.

He lifted up his eyes to his disciples and said:

Blessed are you who are poor,

because yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹Blessed are you who hunger now,

because you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now,

because you will laugh.

²²Blessed are you whenever people hate you,

and whenever they exclude and insult you

and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.

²³“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy because of this: Your reward is great in heaven! The fact is, their fathers constantly did the same things to the prophets.”