The Season of Trinity

¹¹For this is what the Lord God says. Here I am. I myself will seek the welfare of my flock and carefully search for them. ¹²As a shepherd searches for his flock when his sheep that were with him have been scattered, so I will search for my flock and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. ¹³I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own soil. I will shepherd them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and in all the settlements of the land. ¹⁴I will lead them into good pasture, and their grazing land will be on the high mountains of Israel. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and they will pasture on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵I myself will shepherd my flock. I myself will let them lie down, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶I will seek the lost. I will bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured. I will strengthen the weak. I will destroy the fat and the strong, and I will shepherd them with justice.

³³Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable are his judgments

and how untraceable his ways!

³⁴“For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his adviser?”

³⁵“Or who has first given to God

that he will be repaid?”

³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. ²He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these miraculous signs you are doing unless God is with him.”

³Jesus replied, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

⁴Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”

⁵Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God! ⁶Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh. Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born from above. ⁸The wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹“How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

¹⁰“You are the teacher of Israel,” Jesus answered, “and you do not know these things? ¹¹Amen, Amen, I tell you: We speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen. But you people do not accept our testimony. ¹²If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.

¹⁴“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

²³This is what the Lord says.

The wise man should not boast in his wisdom.

The strong man should not boast in his strength,

nor the rich man in his riches.

²⁴Instead, let those who boast boast about this:

that they have understanding, and that they know me.

They know that I am the Lord,

who shows mercy, justice, and righteousness on earth,

for I delight in these things, declares the Lord.

¹⁶We also have come to know and trust the love that God has for us.

God is love. Whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. ¹⁷In this way his love has been brought to its goal among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are just like Jesus. ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but complete love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who continues to be afraid has not been brought to the goal in love.

¹⁹We love because he first loved us. ²⁰If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For how can anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, love God, whom he has not seen? ²¹This then is the command we have from him: The one who loves God should also love his brother.

¹⁹“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.’”

⁶On this mountain

the Lord of Armies will prepare for all peoples

a banquet of rich food,

a banquet of aged wines,

with the best cuts of meat,

and the finest wines.

⁷On this mountain

he will destroy the shroud that covers all peoples,

the burial cloth stretched over all nations.

⁸He has swallowed up death forever!

The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face.

He will take away the shame of his people throughout the earth.

For the Lord has spoken.

⁹On that day it will be said,

“Look, here is our God!

We waited for him, and he saved us!

This is the Lord!

We waited for him.

Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation!”

¹³Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. ¹⁴We know that we have crossed over from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. ¹⁶This is how we have come to know love: Jesus laid down his life for us. And we also should lay down our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷Whoever has worldly wealth and sees his brother in need but closes his heart against him—how can God’s love remain in him? ¹⁸Dear children, let us love not only with word or with our tongue, but also in action and truth.

¹⁶Jesus said to him, “A certain man made a great banquet and invited many people. ¹⁷When it was time for the banquet, he sent out his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ ¹⁸But they all alike began to make excuses.

“The first one told him, ‘I bought a field, and I need to go and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’

¹⁹“Another one said, ‘I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’

²⁰“Still another said, ‘I just got married, and so I am unable to attend.’

²¹“The servant arrived and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house was angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in here the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

²²“The servant said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and there is still room.’

²³“Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and urge them to come in, so that my house may be filled. ²⁴Yes, I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’”

¹⁸Who 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.

⁶Therefore humble yourselves under God’s powerful hand so that he may lift you up at the appointed time. ⁷Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. ⁸Have sound judgment. Be alert. Your adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. ⁹Resist him by being firm in the faith. You know that the same kinds of sufferings are being laid on your brotherhood all over the world.

¹⁰After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you. ¹¹To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

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.”

⁶On the contrary, isn’t this the kind of fast that I would choose:

to loosen the chains of wickedness,

to tear apart the ropes of a yoke,

to release the oppressed so they go free,

and to tear every yoke to pieces?

⁷Isn’t a true fast that you share your bread with the hungry

and bring the homeless and afflicted into a house?

Yes, when you see a naked person, you are to cover him,

and do not hide yourself from your own flesh and blood.

⁸Then your light will break forth like dawn,

and your healing will spring up quickly.

Your righteousness will go out ahead of you,

and the Glory of the Lord will follow you.

⁹Then you will call, and the Lord will answer.

You will cry out, and he will say, “Here I am!”

If you remove the bar of the yoke from among you,

and if you stop finger-pointing and speaking wickedly,

¹⁰if you offer your life for the hungry,

and if you satisfy the desires of the afflicted,

then your light will shine in the darkness,

and your darkest gloom will shine like the noonday sun.

¹¹Then the Lord will lead you continually.

He will satisfy your desire in arid places,

and he will strengthen your bones.

Then you will be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water, whose waters will not fail.

¹²Then your ancient ruins will be rebuilt,

and you will restore the foundations from past generations.

Then you will be called the repairer of broken walls,

the restorer of streets to live on.

¹⁸For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. ¹⁹In fact, creation is waiting with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed. ²⁰For creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in the hope ²¹that even creation itself will be set free from slavery to corruption, in order to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.

²²For we know that all of creation is groaning with birth pains right up to the present time. ²³And not only creation, but also we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we eagerly await our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

³⁶“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. In fact, the measure with which you measure will be measured back to you.” 

³⁹He 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.”

¹⁴Nevertheless, listen to this. The days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer say, “As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the children of Israel out from the land of Egypt.” ¹⁵But they will say, “As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the children of Israel out from the land in the north and from all the lands to which he exiled them.” For I will restore them to the homeland I gave to their fathers.

¹⁶Look, I am sending for many fishermen, declares the Lord, and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt for them on every mountain, on every high hill, and in the crevices of the rocks. ¹⁷My eyes are watching everything they do. It is not hidden from me, nor is their guilt hidden from my eyes. ¹⁸But first I will pay them double for their guilt and their sin, because they defiled my land with the carcasses of their disgusting idols, and they have filled my inheritance with their abominations.

¹⁹The Lord is my strength and my fortress,

my refuge in times of trouble.

Nations will come to you from the ends of the earth and say,

“Our forefathers possessed only false gods,

worthless idols, and there was nothing good in them.

²⁰Can a man make gods for himself?

Yes, but they are not gods!”

²¹Therefore I will certainly teach them.

This time I will teach them my power and my strength,

and then they will know that my name is the Lord.

⁸Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another. Show sympathy, brotherly love, compassion, and humility. ⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. Instead, speak a blessing, because you were called for the purpose of inheriting a blessing. ¹⁰Indeed:

Let the one who wants to love life

and to see good days

keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from saying anything deceitful.

¹¹Let him turn from evil and do what is good.

Let him seek peace and pursue it.

¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are open to their requests.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

¹³Who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? ¹⁴But even if you should happen to suffer because of righteousness, you are blessed. Do not be afraid of what they fear, and do not be troubled. ¹⁵But regard the Lord, the Christ, as holy in your hearts. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that is in you.

One time, while the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. ²He saw two boats there along the lakeshore. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. ³Jesus got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the shore. He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. ⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.”

⁵Simon answered him, “Master, we worked hard all through the night and caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were about to tear apart. ⁷They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, because I am a sinful man, Lord.” ⁹For Peter and all those with him were amazed at the number of fish they had caught, ¹⁰and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.

Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear. From now on you will be catching people.”

¹¹After they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

Then God spoke all these words:

²I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, where you were slaves.

³You shall have no other gods beside me. ⁴You shall not make any carved image for yourself or a likeness of anything in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. ⁵Do not bow down to them or be subservient to them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God. I follow up on the guilt of the fathers with their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren, if they also hate me. ⁶But I show mercy to thousands who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not permit anyone who misuses his name to escape unpunished.

⁸Remember the Sabbath day by setting it apart as holy. ⁹Six days you are to serve and do all your regular work, ¹⁰but the seventh day shall be a sabbath rest to the Lord your God. Do not do any regular work, neither you, nor your sons or daughters, nor your male or female servants, nor your cattle, nor the alien who is residing inside your gates, ¹¹for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. In this way the Lord blessed the seventh day and made it holy.

¹²Honor your father and your mother so that you may spend many days on the land that the Lord your God is giving to you.

¹³You shall not commit murder.

¹⁴You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵You shall not steal.

¹⁶You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

³Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.

⁵For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.

⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him, to make our sinful body powerless, so that we would not continue to serve sin. ⁷For the person who has died has been declared free from sin. ⁸And since we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he will never die again. Death no longer has control over him. ¹⁰For the death he died, he died to sin once and for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹In the same way also consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

²⁰“Indeed I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and experts in the law, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

²¹“You have heard that it was said to people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²²But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be subject to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will have to answer to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of hell fire.

²³“So if you are about to offer your gift at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there in front of the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother. Then come and offer your gift.

²⁵“If someone accuses you, reach an agreement with him quickly, while you are with him on the way. Otherwise your accuser may bring you to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶Amen I tell you: You will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”

²³This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says.

When I bring them back from captivity,

they will once again say in the land of Judah and in its cities:

“The Lord bless you, you righteous dwelling place, you holy mountain.”

²⁴Judah and all its cities will live there together,

the farmers and those who follow their flocks.

²⁵I will satisfy the thirsty,

and I will give rest to everyone who is weary.

¹⁹(I am speaking in a human way because of the weakness of your flesh.) Indeed, just as you offered your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, resulting in more lawlessness, so now offer your members in the same way as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

²⁰For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. ²¹So what kind of fruit did you have then? They were things of which you are now ashamed. Yes, the final result of those things is death. ²²But now, since you were set free from sin and have become slaves to God, you have your fruit resulting in sanctification—and the final result is eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the undeserved gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples and said to them, ²“I feel compassion for the crowd because they have already stayed with me three days and do not have anything to eat. ³If I send them home hungry, they will faint on the way. Some of them have come from a long distance.”

⁴His disciples replied, “Where can anyone get enough bread to feed these people here in this deserted place?”

⁵He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”

“Seven,” they said.

⁶He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks, and broke them. He gave the pieces to his disciples to distribute to the crowd, and they did so. ⁷They also had a few small fish. He blessed them and said that these should be distributed as well. ⁸The people ate and were satisfied. They picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ⁹About four thousand men were there. Then he sent them away.

¹⁹Therefore this is what the Lord says.

If you repent, I will take you back,

so that you may stand before me.

If what you say is worthwhile and not worthless,

you will be my spokesman.

They must turn to you,

but you must not turn to them.

²⁰I will make you like a bronze wall to this people.

They will fight against you,

but they will not overcome you,

because I am with you to save you

and to rescue you, declares the Lord.

²¹I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked,

and I will deliver you from the grasp of the ruthless.

¹²So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it. ¹³For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live.

¹⁴Indeed, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out, “Abba, Father!” ¹⁶The Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children.

¹⁷Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him.

¹⁵“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them. You do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do you? ¹⁷So then, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰So then, by their fruit you will recognize them. ²¹Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and drive out demons in your name and perform many miracles in your name?’ ²³Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’”

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.

⁶Now these things took place as examples to warn us not to desire evil things the way they did. ⁷Do not become idolaters like some of them—as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to celebrate wildly.” ⁸And let us not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. ⁹Let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and so were being destroyed by the serpents. ¹⁰And do not grumble, as some of them grumbled, and were destroyed by the destroyer. ¹¹All these things that were happening to them had meaning as examples, and they were written down to warn us, to whom the end of the ages has come.

¹²So let him who thinks he stands be careful that he does not fall. ¹³No testing has overtaken you except ordinary testing. But God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability, but when he tests you, he will also bring about the outcome that you are able to bear it.

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 are. ⁹I tell you, make friends for yourselves with unrighteous mammon, so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.”

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.

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. ²You know that when you were pagans, you were deceived and somehow led away to mute idols. ³Therefore I am informing you that no one speaking by God’s Spirit says, “A curse be upon Jesus,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴There are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵There are various kinds of service, and yet the same Lord. ⁶There are various kinds of activity, but the same God, who produces all of them in everyone.

⁷Each person is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸To one person a message of wisdom is given by the Spirit; to another, a message of knowledge, as the same Spirit provides it; ⁹by the same Spirit, faith is given to someone else; and to another, the same Spirit gives healing gifts. ¹⁰Another is given powers to do miracles; another, the gift of prophecy; another, the evaluating of spirits; someone else, different kinds of tongues; and another, the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹One and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them to each one individually as he desires.

⁴¹As he came near, he saw the city and wept over it. ⁴²He said, “If you, yes you, had only known on this day the things that would bring peace to you. But now, it is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³In fact, the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴Within your walls, they will dash you and your children to the ground. And within your walls, they will not leave one stone on top of another, because you did not recognize the time when God came to help you.”

⁴⁵Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling things there. ⁴⁶He told them, “It is written, ‘My house will be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of robbers’!”

⁴⁷Every day he was teaching in the temple courts, but the chief priests, the experts in the law, and the leaders of the people continued to look for a way to put him to death. ⁴⁸They could not find any way to do it, because all the people were clinging to him and listening.

²¹The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness.

According to the cleanness of my hands, he has repaid me,

²²because I have kept the ways of the Lord.

I have not done evil and departed from my God.

²³So all his just decrees remain before me,

and I have not turned away from his statutes.

²⁴I have been blameless with him.

I have kept myself from guilt.

²⁵The Lord has repaid me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁶To the merciful you reveal yourself as merciful.

To the blameless person you reveal yourself as blameless.

²⁷To the pure you reveal yourself as pure,

but to the crooked you reveal yourself as crafty.

²⁸Yes, you save humble people,

but your eyes are on the proud, and you bring them down.

²⁹Yes, you are my lamp, O Lord.

The Lord turns my darkness to light.

Brothers, I am going to call your attention to the gospel that I preached to you. You received it, and you took your stand on it. ²You are also being saved by that gospel that was expressed in the words I preached to you, if you keep your hold on it—unless you believed in vain. ³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:

that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

⁴that he was buried,

that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

⁶After that he appeared to over five hundred brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles. ⁸Last of all, he appeared also to me, the stillborn child, so to speak. ⁹For I am the least of the apostles, and I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted God’s church. ¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not ineffective. On the contrary, I worked more than all of them (and yet it wasn’t my doing, but it was the grace of God, which was with me, that did it).

⁹Jesus told this parable to certain people who trusted in themselves (that they were righteous) and looked down on others: ¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple courts to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all my income.’

¹³“However the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes up to heaven, but was beating his chest and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

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

¹⁸On that day, the deaf will hear the words from a book,

and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

¹⁹The humble will rejoice in the Lord once again,

and the poor will delight in the Holy One of Israel.

⁴Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. ⁵Not that we are competent by ourselves to claim that anything comes from us; rather, our competence is from God. ⁶He also made us competent as ministers of a new testament (not of letter, but of spirit). For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.

⁷If the ministry that brought death (which was engraved in letters on stone) came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look directly at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (though it was fading), ⁸how will the ministry of the spirit not be much more glorious? ⁹For if the ministry that brought condemnation has glory, the ministry that brought righteousness has even more glory. ¹⁰In fact, in this case, what was glorious is no longer very glorious, because of the greater glory of that which surpasses it. ¹¹Indeed, if what is fading away was glorious, how much more glorious is that which is permanent!

³¹Jesus left the region of Tyre again and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis.

³²They brought a man to him who was deaf and had a speech impediment. They pleaded with Jesus to place his hand on him. ³³Jesus took him aside in private, away from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴After he looked up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”) ³⁵Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was set free, and he began to speak plainly. ³⁶Jesus gave the people strict orders to tell no one, but the more he did so, the more they kept proclaiming it. ³⁷They were amazed beyond measure and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

The Lord spoke to Moses: ²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them this.”

I am the Lord your God.

³You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived. You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. Do not walk in their religious practices. ⁴Follow my ordinances and keep my regulations by walking in them. I am the Lord your God. ⁵Keep my regulations and my ordinances. Anyone who does them will have life through them. I am the Lord.

¹⁵Brothers, I am speaking in human terms. When someone has established a last will and testament, no one nullifies it or adds to it. ¹⁶The promises God spoke referred to Abraham and to his seed. It doesn’t say, “And to seeds,” as if it were referring to many, but, as referring to one, “And to your seed,” who is Christ. ¹⁷What I am saying is this: The law, which came into being 430 years after the covenant established earlier by God in Christ, does not annul that covenant, with the result that it invalidates the promise. ¹⁸In fact, if the inheritance is by the law, it is no longer by the promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham by a promise.

¹⁹Then what about the law? It was added for the purpose of revealing transgressions, until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. It was transmitted through angels by the hand of a mediator. ²⁰Now a mediator is not needed for one party, but God is one.

²¹Then is the law against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given that could give life, certainly righteousness would have been derived from the law. ²²But Scripture imprisoned all things under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ would be given to those who believe.

²³Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! ²⁴Indeed, I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that you are seeing, yet did not see them, and to hear the things that you are hearing, yet did not hear them.”

²⁵Just 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.”

¹³You are the hope of Israel, Lord.

All who forsake you will be put to shame.

Those who turn away from you will be written in the earth,

because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.

¹⁴Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed.

Save me, and I will be saved,

for you are the one I praise.

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.

¹¹On 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.”

⁴Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God. The Lord is one! ⁵Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶These words that I am commanding you today are to be on your heart. ⁷Teach them diligently to your children, and speak about them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

²⁵If we live by the spirit, let us also walk in step with it. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another.

^6:1Brothers, if a person is caught in some trespass, you who are spiritual should restore such a person in a spirit of humility, carefully watching yourself so that you are not also tempted. ²Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ. ³For if someone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴Let each person test his own work, and then he will take pride in regard to himself and not his neighbor. ⁵For each man will bear his own burden.

⁶Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with his teacher.

⁷Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. To be sure, whatever a man sows, he will also reap. ⁸Indeed, the one who sows for his own sinful flesh will reap destruction from the sinful flesh. But the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit. ⁹Let us not become weary of doing good, because at the appointed time we will reap, if we do not give up. ¹⁰So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith.

²⁴“No one can serve two masters. 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.

²⁵“For this reason I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

²⁷“Which of you can add a single moment to his lifespan by worrying? ²⁸Why do you worry about clothing? Consider how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin, ²⁹but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not clothe you even more, you of little faith?

³¹“So do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³²For the unbelievers chase after all these things. Certainly your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

³⁹Now see that I, only I, am he,

and there is not a god comparable to me.

I put to death and I make alive.

I wound and I heal.

There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.

⁴⁰For I lift up my hand to heaven,

and I swear: “As I live forever…”

¹³So I ask you not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, because it is your glory.

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵from whom the entire family in heaven and on earth receives its name. ¹⁶I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he would strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner self, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸I pray that you would be able to comprehend, along with all the saints, how wide and long and high and deep his love is, ¹⁹and that you would be able to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him, who is able, according to the power that is at work within us, to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine, ²¹to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

¹¹Soon 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.

Hannah prayed and said:

My heart rejoices in the Lord!

In the Lord, my horn is raised high.

My mouth is opened wide against my enemies,

because I find joy in your salvation.

²There is no one holy like the Lord.

Yes, there is no one but you,

and there is no rock like our God.

³Do not talk so high and mighty.

Do not let proud words come out of your mouth,

because the Lord is a God who knows.

By him actions are weighed.

⁴The bows of powerful warriors are broken.

Those who were staggering are now armed with strength.

⁵Those who once were full now hire themselves out for bread,

but those who were hungry are satisfied.

Yes, the childless woman has given birth to seven children,

but she who had many children is weak with sorrow.

⁶The Lord puts to death, and he makes alive.

He brings down to the grave, and he raises up.

⁷The Lord makes some people poor, and he makes others wealthy.

He brings some low. He raises others up.

⁸He raises the poor out of the dust.

He lifts up the needy from the garbage pile.

He makes them sit with nobles.

He gives them a glorious throne as a possession.

The pillars of the earth belong to the Lord.

He has set the world upon them.

⁹He will guard the feet of his favored ones,

but the wicked will be put to silence in darkness,

because a person does not prevail by his own strength.

¹⁰Those who oppose the Lord will be broken to pieces.

He will thunder against them in the heavens.

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.

He will give strength to his king.

He will raise up the horn of his anointed one.

As a prisoner in the Lord, therefore, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. ²Live with all humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in love.

³Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in the one hope of your calling. ⁵There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.

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

²Right in front of him was a man who was suffering from swelling of his body. ³Jesus addressed the legal experts and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”

⁴But they were silent. So he took hold of the man, healed him, and let him go. ⁵He said to them, “Which of you, if your son or an ox would fall into a well on a Sabbath day, would not immediately pull him out?”

⁶And they could not reply to these things.

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.”

¹²So 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.

⁴I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus. ⁵You were enriched in him in every way, in all your speaking and all your knowledge, ⁶because the testimony about Christ was established in you. ⁷As a result you do not lack any gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸He will also keep you strong until the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God is faithful, who called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

³⁴When they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees met together. ³⁵One of them who was an expert in the law asked him a question, trying to trap him. ³⁶“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?”

³⁷Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

⁴¹While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: ⁴²“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

They said to him, “The Son of David.”

⁴³He said to them, “Then how can David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,

⁴⁴The Lord said to my Lord,

‘Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies

under your feet’?

⁴⁵“So if David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

⁴⁶No one was able to answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

²¹Remember these things, O Jacob, because you are my servant, Israel. I am forming you to be my servant. You, Israel, you will never be forgotten by me. ²²I am blowing away your rebellious deeds like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, because I am redeeming you.

²³Shout for joy, you heavens, because of what the Lord is doing.

Make a joyful shout, you depths of the earth.

Burst forth with shouts of joy, you mountains,

you forest and every tree in it,

because the Lord has redeemed Jacob,

and in Israel he will display his beauty.

²²As far as your former way of life is concerned, you were taught to take off the old self, which is corrupted by its deceitful desires, ²³and to be renewed continually in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴and to put on the new self, which has been created to be like God in righteousness and true holiness.

²⁵Therefore, after you put away lying, let each of you speak truthfully with your neighbor, because we are all members of one body. ²⁶“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. ²⁷Do not give the Devil an opportunity. ²⁸Let the one who has been stealing steal no longer. Instead, let him work hard doing what is good with his own hands, so that he has something to share with a person who is in need.

Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town. ²There people brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Take heart, son! Your sins are forgiven.”

³Then some of the experts in the law said among themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

⁴Since Jesus knew their thoughts, he said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? ⁵Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” he then said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

⁷The man got up and went home. ⁸When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

I was available to those who did not ask.

I let myself be found by those who did not seek me.

I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that did not call on my name.

²I reached out my hands all day to a stubborn people,

who are walking in a way that is not good,

who follow their own ideas.

¹⁵Consider carefully, then, how you walk, not as unwise people, but as wise people. ¹⁶Make the most of your time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷For this reason, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And do not get drunk on wine, which causes you to lose control. Instead, be filled with the Spirit ¹⁹by speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (singing and making music with your hearts to the Lord), ²⁰by always giving thanks for everything to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹and by submitting to one another in reverence for Christ.

Jesus spoke to them again in parables. He said, ²“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³He sent out his servants to summon those who were invited to the wedding banquet, but they did not want to come.

⁴“Then he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet!’

⁵“But those who were invited paid no attention and went off, one to his own farm, another to his business. ⁶The rest seized the king’s servants, mistreated them, and killed them. ⁷As a result, the king was very angry. He sent his army and killed those murderers and burned their town.

⁸“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹So go to the main crossroads and invite as many as you find to the wedding banquet.’ ¹⁰Those servants went out to the roads and gathered together everyone they found, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. ¹¹But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹²He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wearing wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. ¹³Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴For many are called, but few are chosen.”

¹⁴I will ransom them from the power of the grave!

I will redeem them from death!

Death, where are your plagues?

Grave, where is your destruction?

Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the schemes of the Devil. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³For this reason, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to take a stand on the evil day and, after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness fastened in place, ¹⁵and with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace tied to your feet like sandals. ¹⁶At all times hold up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. ¹⁷Also take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

⁴⁶Jesus came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.

In Capernaum, there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. ⁴⁷When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and begged him to come down and heal his son, because his son was about to die.

⁴⁸Jesus told him, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you certainly will not believe.”

⁴⁹The royal official said to him, “Lord, come down before my little boy dies.”

⁵⁰“Go,” Jesus told him, “your son is going to live.”

The man believed this word that Jesus spoke to him and left.

⁵¹Already as he was going down, his servants met him with the news that his boy was going to live. ⁵²So he asked them what time his son got better. They told him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” ⁵³Then the father realized that was the exact time when Jesus had told him, “Your son is going to live.” And he himself and his whole household believed.

⁵⁴This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did after he came from Judea into Galilee.

⁹He did this so that you would know that the Lord your God, yes, he is God, the faithful God who maintains both his covenant and his mercy for those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. ¹⁰But he also repays the ones who hate him to their face by destroying them. He will not delay repaying anyone who hates him. To his face he will fully repay him. ¹¹So you are to be careful to keep the set of commandments and the statutes and the ordinances that I am commanding you today.

³I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴Every time I pray for all of you, I always pray with joy, ⁵because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶I am convinced of this very thing: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ⁷I am equally convinced that it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, for both in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all share in this grace with me. ⁸Yes, God is my witness of how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

⁹And I pray that your love may still increase more and more in knowledge and every insight. ¹⁰This will result in your approval of the things that really matter, so that you will be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

²³“For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴When he began to settle them, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. ²⁵Because the man was not able to pay the debt, his master ordered that he be sold, along with his wife, children, and all that he owned to repay the debt.

²⁶“Then the servant fell down on his knees in front of him, saying, ‘Master, be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ ²⁷The master of that servant had pity on him, released him, and forgave him the debt.

²⁸“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began choking him, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’

²⁹“So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ ³⁰But he refused. Instead he went off and threw the man into prison until he could pay back what he owed.

³¹“When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were very distressed. They went and reported to their master everything that had taken place.

³²“Then his master called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt when you begged me to. ³³Should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴His master was angry and handed him over to the jailers until he could pay back everything he owed.

³⁵“This is what my heavenly Father will also do to you unless each one of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

¹²These are the Levites who responded:

from the descendants of the Kohathites: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah,

from the descendants of Merari: Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jahallelel,

from the Gershonites: Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah,

¹³from the descendants of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel,

from the descendants of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah,

¹⁴from the descendants of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei,

and from the descendants of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵They gathered their brother Levites, consecrated themselves, and went to cleanse the House of the Lord, as the king commanded by the words of the Lord.

¹⁶The priests entered the inner part of the Lord’s house to cleanse it. They brought every unclean thing that they found in the Lord’s temple out into the courtyard of the House of the Lord. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley.

¹⁷On the first day of the first month, they began to consecrate the temple. By the eighth day of the month they had gotten as far as the porch of the Lord. They continued to purify the House of the Lord for eight more days. On the sixteenth day of the first month, they completed the work.

¹⁸They went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the entire House of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the presentation of bread and all its utensils. ¹⁹We have prepared and consecrated all the utensils which King Ahaz discarded during his reign, when he was unfaithful. Look! They are right there in front of the altar of the Lord.”

⁶Then I saw another angel flying in the middle of the sky. He had the everlasting gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth, to every nation, tribe, language, and people. ⁷He said with a loud voice:

Fear God and give him glory,

because the hour of his judgment has come.

Worship him who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water.

¹²From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been advancing forcefully and forceful people are seizing it. ¹³In fact, all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴If you are willing to receive it, he is the Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.

See, a king will reign in righteousness,

and officials will govern with justice.

²Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind

and a refuge from the storm,

like streams of water for a dry place,

like the shade of a massive cliff in a parched land.

³The eyes of those who see will not be closed,

and the ears of those who hear will listen.

⁴Hasty hearts will gain understanding,

and stammering tongues will speak clearly.

⁵The fool will no longer be called noble,

nor will rogues be treated like respectable people.

⁶The fool speaks folly,

and his heart plots evil:

to do what is ungodly,

to tell lies about the Lord,

to deny food to the hungry,

and to refuse even one drink for the thirsty.

⁷The rogue’s ways are evil.

He plots evil to ruin the humble with lies,

even when the poor speak with justice.

⁸But the noble man plans noble deeds,

and by noble deeds he stands.

¹⁷Brothers, join together in imitating me and in paying attention to those who are walking according to the pattern we gave you. ¹⁸To be sure, many walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. I told you about them often, and now I am saying it while weeping. ¹⁹Their end is destruction, their god is their appetite, and their glory is in their shame. They are thinking only about earthly things. ²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven. We are eagerly waiting for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹By the power that enables him to subject all things to himself, he will transform our humble bodies to be like his glorious body.

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went out and plotted together how to trap him in his words. ¹⁶They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in accord with the truth. You are not concerned about gaining anyone’s approval because you are not swayed by appearances. ¹⁷So tell us, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus knew their evil purpose and said, “Why are you testing me, hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the coin used for the tax.”

They brought him a denarius.

²⁰He asked them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

²¹“Caesar’s,” they replied to him.

Then he said to them, “Therefore give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

²²When they heard this, they were amazed. Then they left him and went away.

⁶On this mountain

the Lord of Armies will prepare for all peoples

a banquet of rich food,

a banquet of aged wines,

with the best cuts of meat,

and the finest wines.

⁷On this mountain

he will destroy the shroud that covers all peoples,

the burial cloth stretched over all nations.

⁸He has swallowed up death forever!

The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face.

He will take away the shame of his people throughout the earth.

For the Lord has spoken.

⁹On that day it will be said,

“Look, here is our God!

We waited for him, and he saved us!

This is the Lord!

We waited for him.

Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation!”

²And I saw another angel coming up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He called out with a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to harm the earth and the sea. He said, ³“Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have placed a seal on the foreheads of God’s servants.”

⁴And I heard the number of those sealed:

144,000 sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel:

⁵from the tribe of Judah,12,000, who were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben,12,000,

from the tribe of Gad,12,000,

⁶from the tribe of Asher,12,000,

from the tribe of Naphtali,12,000,

from the tribe of Manasseh,12,000,

⁷from the tribe of Simeon,12,000,

from the tribe of Levi,12,000,

from the tribe of Issachar,12,000,

⁸from the tribe of Zebulun,12,000,

from the tribe of Joseph,12,000,

from the tribe of Benjamin,12,000, who were sealed.

⁹After these things I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing in front of the throne and of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰They called out with a loud voice and said:

Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb.

¹¹All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, ¹²saying:

Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up onto a mountain. When he sat down, his disciples came to him. ²He opened his mouth and began to teach them. He said these things:

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴Blessed are those who mourn,

because they will be comforted.

⁵Blessed are the gentle,

because they will inherit the earth.

⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

because they will be filled.

⁷Blessed are the merciful,

because they will receive mercy.

⁸Blessed are the pure in heart,

because they will see God.

⁹Blessed are the peacemakers,

because they will be called sons of God.

¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. In fact, that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

⁹Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord!

Awake as in days of old,

in generations of long ago.

Was it not you who cut Rahab into pieces,

and who pierced the sea monster?

¹⁰Was it not you who dried up the sea,

the waters of the great deep,

who made a road through the depths of the sea

for the redeemed to cross over?

¹¹Then those ransomed by the Lord will return.

They will enter Zion with a shout of joy,

and everlasting joy will be upon their heads.

They will obtain happiness and joy,

and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

¹²I, even I, am the one who comforts you.

Who are you, Zion, that you fear mortal humans, who die,

or a child of Adam who is like grass?

¹³You have forgotten the Lord, your Creator,

who stretches out the heavens,

who establishes the earth.

You tremble continuously all day,

because of the rage of the oppressor,

who is preparing to destroy.

But where is the rage of the oppressor now?

¹⁴The bound prisoner will soon be released.

He will not die and go to the pit,

and he will not lack bread.

¹⁵It is true that I am the Lord your God,

who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

the Lord of Armies is his name.

¹⁶For I placed my words in your mouth,

and with the shadow of my hand I covered you,

I, who planted the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth,

I, who say to Zion, “You are my people.”

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.

¹⁸As he was saying these things to them, there was a ruler who came, bowed down to him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, place your hand on her, and she will live.”

¹⁹Jesus got up and followed him, as did his disciples. ²⁰Just then, a woman who had been suffering from chronic bleeding for twelve years came up from behind and touched the fringe of his garment. ²¹For she had been saying to herself, “If I just touch his garment, I will be healed.”

²²When Jesus turned around and saw her, he said, “Take heart, daughter! Your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.

²³When Jesus came into the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, ²⁴he said to them, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but is sleeping.”

But they laughed at him.

²⁵When the crowd was sent out of the house, Jesus went in, took the girl by the hand, and she was raised. ²⁶News of this went out through the entire region.

¹²Look, people will come from far away.

Look, some will come from the north and the west,

and some from the land of Sinim.

¹³Shout for joy, O heavens,

and rejoice, O earth.

Let mountains burst forth with shouts of joy,

because the Lord is comforting his people,

and he is showing mercy to his afflicted ones.

¹⁴But Zion said, “The Lord has abandoned me.

The Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵Can a woman forget her nursing child

and not show mercy to the son from her womb?

Even if these women could forget,

I will never forget you.

¹⁶Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.

Your walls are never out of my sight.

¹⁷Your children are hurrying back.

Those who destroyed and devastated you will depart from you.

¹³We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you do not grieve in the same way as the others, who have no hope. ¹⁴Indeed, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then in the same way we also believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.

¹⁵In fact, we tell you this by the word of the Lord: We who are alive and left until the coming of the Lord will certainly not go on ahead of those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸Therefore, encourage one another with these words.

¹⁵“Therefore when you see the abomination that causes desolation, that was spoken of through the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place—let the reader understand— ¹⁶then those who are in Judea should flee to the mountains. ¹⁷The one on the housetop should not go down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸The one who is in the field should not return to get his clothes. ¹⁹How terrible it will be for those who are pregnant or are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰Pray that your flight will not take place in the winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹For at that time there will be great distress, unlike any that has happened since the beginning of the world until now, and unlike any that will happen again. ²²If those days were not shortened, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.

²³“At that time if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There he is,’ do not believe it. ²⁴For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive even the elect, if it were possible.

²⁵“See, I have told you in advance. ²⁶So if they tell you, ‘Look! There he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out there, or ‘Look! Here he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷Just as the lightning flashes from the east and shines as far as the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. ²⁸Wherever the carcass may be, there the vultures will gather.”

⁹Get up on a high mountain,

O Zion, you herald of good news.

Lift up your voice with strength,

O Jerusalem, you herald of good news.

Lift it up! Do not be afraid!

Say to the cities of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

¹⁰Look, God the Lord will come with strength,

and his arm is ruling for him.

Look, his reward is with him.

The result of his work is in front of him.

¹¹Like a shepherd he will care for his flock.

With his arm he will gather the lambs.

He will lift them up on his lap.

He will gently lead the nursing mothers.

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. 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.

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³²All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. ³⁶I was lacking clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or lacking clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

⁴⁰“The King will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’

⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you did not give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink. ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, lacking clothes and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not take care of me.’

⁴⁴“Then they will also answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or lacking clothes or sick or in prison and did not serve you?’

⁴⁵“At that time he will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’ ⁴⁶And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

¹⁷Watch 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.

Concerning the times and dates, brothers, there is no need to write to you, ²for you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³When people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will suddenly come on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will certainly not escape. ⁴But you, brothers, are not in the dark so that this day takes you by surprise like a thief, ⁵for you are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness. ⁶So then let us not sleep like everyone else, but rather let us remain alert and sober.

⁷To be sure, those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. ⁹You see, God did not appoint us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁰He died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. ¹¹Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are also doing.

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³When the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take any oil with them; ⁴but the wise took oil in their containers with their lamps. ⁵While the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. ⁶But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ ⁷Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ ⁹But the wise answered, ‘No, there may not be enough for us and for you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ ¹⁰But while they were away buying oil, the bridegroom came. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. ¹¹Later, the other virgins also came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, let us in.’ ¹²But he answered, ‘Amen I tell you: I do not know you.’ ¹³Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”