The Season of Epiphany

Balaam took up his oracle and said:

The declaration of Balaam son of Beor,

the declaration of the man whose eye is open,

¹⁶the declaration of the one who hears the words of God,

who receives knowledge from the Most High,

who sees the vision of the Almighty,

who is falling down, but his eyes are wide open:

¹⁷I see him, but not now.

I behold him, but not near.

A star will come out of Jacob.

A scepter will rise up out of Israel.

I am speaking to you Gentiles. For as long as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I am going to speak highly of my ministry. ¹⁴Perhaps I may make my own people jealous, and so save some of them. ¹⁵For if their rejection meant the reconciliation of the world, what does their acceptance mean other than the dead coming to life?

²⁸In regard to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But, in regard to election, they are especially dear for the sake of the patriarchs, ²⁹because God’s gracious gifts and call are not regretted. ³⁰For just as you were once disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy due to their disobedience, ³¹so also now they have become disobedient, so that by the mercy shown to you they may be shown mercy too. ³²For God imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may show mercy to all.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, when Herod was king, Wise Men from the east came to Jerusalem. They asked, ²“Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴He gathered together all the people’s chief priests and experts in the law. He asked them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, because this was written through the prophet:

⁶You, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are certainly not least among the rulers of Judah: because out of you will come a ruler, who will shepherd my people, Israel.”

⁷Then Herod secretly summoned the Wise Men and found out from them exactly when the star had appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report to me, so that I may also go and worship him.”

⁹After listening to the king, they went on their way. Then the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them, until it stood still over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced with overwhelming joy. ¹¹After they went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²Since they had been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.

Listen to me, you coastlands.

Pay attention, you faraway peoples!

The Lord called me from the womb.

When I was inside my mother, he mentioned my name.

²He made my mouth like a sharpened sword.

He hid me in the shadow of his hand.

He made me a polished arrow.

He concealed me in his quiver.

³He said to me, “You are my servant Israel,

in whom I will display my glory.”

⁴But I said to myself, “I have labored in vain.

I spent my strength and came up empty, with nothing.

Yet a just verdict for me rests with the Lord,

and my reward is with my God.”

⁵But now the Lord,

who formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to turn Jacob back to him,

so that Israel might be gathered to him,

so that I will be honored in the eyes of the Lord,

because my God has been my strength—

⁶the Lord said:

It is too small a thing that you should just be my servant

to raise up only the tribes of Jacob

and to restore the ones I have preserved in Israel,

so I will appoint you to be a light for the nations,

so that my salvation will be known to the end of the earth.

What shall we say then? Shall we keep on sinning so that grace may increase? ²Absolutely not! We died to sin. How can we go on living in it any longer? ³Or do you not 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.

John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

⁵The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him. They were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. ⁶John was clothed in camel’s hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷He preached, “One more powerful than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals! ⁸I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰Just as Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you.”

The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days. Prophetic vision was not common.

²Now it happened that Eli’s eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see. Once when Eli was lying down in his place ³and God’s lamp had not yet gone out, Samuel was lying down in the Lord’s temple, where God’s ark was. ⁴The Lord called Samuel, and Samuel said, “I am here.” ⁵He ran to Eli, and said, “I am here, since you called me.”

Eli said, “I did not call. Lie down again.” So he went and lay down.

⁶Then the Lord called once more, “Samuel!”

So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “I am here, since you called me.”

He answered, “I did not call, my son. Lie down again.”

⁷Now Samuel had not yet experienced the Lord’s presence, that is, the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

⁸The Lord called Samuel for the third time. So he got up and went to Eli and said, “I am here, since you called me.”

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the young man. ⁹So Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”

So Samuel went and once again lay down in his place. ¹⁰The Lord came and stood there and called as he had the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

But we are always obligated to thank God for you, brothers, loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation by the sanctifying work of the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴For this reason he also called you through our gospel so that you would obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵So then, brothers, stand firm and hold on to the teachings that were passed along to you, either by word of mouth or by a letter from us. ¹⁶May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷encourage your hearts and establish you in every good work and word.

The next day, Jesus wanted to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.

⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

“Come and see!” Philip told him.

⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Truly, here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”

Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

⁴⁹Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

⁵⁰Jesus replied, “You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that!” ⁵¹Then he added, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: ²“Get up, go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.”

³So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh just as the word of the Lord had commanded. Now Nineveh was a great city to God. It required a three-day walk. ⁴Jonah walked through the city for a day, and he called out, “Forty more days and Nineveh is going to be overthrown!”

⁵The men of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.

¹⁰When God saw their actions, that they had turned from their evil way, God relented from the disaster which he said he would bring on them, and he did not carry it out.

For the love of Christ compels us, because we came to this conclusion: One died for all; therefore, all died. ¹⁵And he died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves but for him, who died in their place and was raised again.

¹⁶As a result, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we knew Christ according to the flesh, we no longer know him that way. ¹⁷So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. The new has come! ¹⁸And all these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. ¹⁹That is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. And he has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, inasmuch as God is making an appeal through us. We urge you, on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

After John was put in prison, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. ¹⁵“The time is fulfilled,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near! Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

¹⁶As Jesus was going along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. ¹⁷Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ¹⁸Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹Going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat mending the nets. ²⁰Immediately Jesus called them. They left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brother Israelites. Listen to him.

¹⁶That is exactly what you asked from the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly. You said, “Do not let me hear the voice of the Lord my God anymore, and do not let me see this great fire again, or I will die.”

¹⁷Then the Lord said to me, “They have done well by saying what they said. ¹⁸I will raise up a prophet for them from among their brothers, like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he will speak to them everything that I command him. ¹⁹Anyone who will not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. ²⁰Any prophet who presumes to speak something in my name that I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks something in the name of other gods—that prophet shall die.”

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, focus your attention on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. ²He was faithful to the one who appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in God’s whole house. ³In fact, Jesus is worthy of greater glory than Moses, in the same way that the builder of a house has more honor than the house. ⁴For every house is built by someone, and God is the one who built everything.

⁵Moses was faithful as a servant within God’s whole house by testifying to the things that would be spoken. ⁶But Christ is faithful as a Son over God’s house. We are his house, if we hold on firmly to our confidence and the hope about which we boast until the end.

Then they went into Capernaum.

On the next Sabbath day, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. ²²They were amazed at his teaching, because he was teaching them as one who has authority and not as the experts in the law. ²³Just then there was a man with an unclean spirit in their synagogue. It cried out, ²⁴“What do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

²⁵Jesus rebuked the spirit, saying, “Be quiet! Come out of him!”

²⁶The unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions, and after crying out with a loud voice, it came out of him. ²⁷Everyone was so amazed that they began to discuss this with each other. They said, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” ²⁸News about him spread quickly through all the region of Galilee.

Why do you speak, O Jacob?

O Israel, why do you say,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

and justice for me is ignored by my God”?

²⁸Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the eternal God.

He is the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired, and he will not become weary.

No one can find a limit to his understanding.

²⁹He is the one who gives strength to the weak,

and he increases the strength of those who lack power.

³⁰Young men grow tired and become weary.

Even strong men stumble and fall.

³¹But those who wait for the Lord will receive new strength.

They will lift up their wings and soar like eagles.

They will run and not become weary.

They will walk and not become tired.

Therefore 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.

They left the synagogue and went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. ³⁰Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed, sick with a fever. Without delay they told Jesus about her. ³¹He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them. ³²That evening, when the sun had set, the people kept bringing to him all who were sick and demon-possessed. ³³The whole town gathered at the door. ³⁴He healed many people who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. But he did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.

³⁵Jesus got up early in the morning, while it was still dark, and went out. He withdrew to a solitary place and was praying there. ³⁶Simon and his companions searched for him, ³⁷and, when they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is looking for you!”

³⁸He told them, “Let’s go somewhere else, to the neighboring villages, so that I can preach there too. In fact, that is why I have come.” ³⁹Then he went throughout the whole region of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Na'aman, the commander of the king of Aram’s army, was a great man in the opinion of his master. He was highly honored because the Lord had provided victory for Aram through him. Although he was a powerful warrior, he had leprosy.

²Raiding parties had once gone out from Aram and brought back a young girl. She served Na'aman’s wife. ³She said to her mistress, “I wish my master stood before the prophet who is in Samaria, because he would cure him of his leprosy.”

⁴So Na'aman went and told his master what the servant girl from the land of Israel had said.

⁵Then the king of Aram said, “Go there. I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Na'aman went, and he took ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. ⁶Then he took the letter to the king of Israel. The letter said, “Now, when you receive this letter, you will know that I am sending my officer Na'aman to you so that you can cure him of his leprosy.”

⁷When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothing and said, “Am I God that I can kill and make alive? Why is he sending a man to me for me to heal him from his leprosy? See how he is looking for a pretext to fight against me.”

⁸But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

⁹So Na'aman went with his horses and chariots and stopped in front of the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰But Elisha sent a messenger out to him to say, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan. Then your flesh will be restored and you will be clean.”

¹¹But Na'aman was angry and he left, saying, “Look, I said to myself, ‘He will certainly come out and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the place, and I will be cured of the leprosy!’ ¹²Aren’t the Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went away in a burning rage.

¹³But his servants approached and spoke to him. They said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not do it? How much more when he says to you, ‘Wash and be clean’?”

¹⁴So he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said. Then his flesh was restored like the flesh of a small child, and he was clean.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴who comforts us in all our trouble, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the same comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows. ⁶If we are troubled, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the ability to endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. ⁷Our hope for you is sure, since we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so you also share in our comfort.

A leper came to Jesus. He knelt down and begged him, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

⁴¹Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. “I am willing,” he told him. “Be clean.” ⁴²Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was healed. ⁴³Then Jesus gave him a stern warning and immediately sent him away. ⁴⁴He told him, “See that you do not say anything to anyone. Instead go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the sacrifices for your cleansing that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

⁴⁵But after the man left, he began to proclaim it widely. He spread the word so much that Jesus was no longer able to enter a town openly but stayed outside in deserted places. Yet people kept coming to him from all directions.

Do not remember the former things.

Do not keep thinking about ancient things.

¹⁹Watch, I am about to do a new thing.

Now it will spring up. Don’t you know about it?

Indeed I will make a road in the wilderness.

In the wasteland I will make rivers.

²⁰The wild animals, the jackals and ostriches, will honor me,

because I am providing water in the wilderness,

rivers in a parched wasteland,

to provide water for my chosen people to drink.

²¹This people that I formed for myself will declare my praise.

²²But you have not called on me, O Jacob.

Instead, you have become weary of me, O Israel.

²³You have not brought me sheep as your whole burnt offerings.

You did not glorify me with your sacrifices.

I did not make you serve me with a grain offering.

I did not make you weary with demands for incense.

²⁴You did not purchase fragrant cane for me with silver

or satisfy me with the fat from your sacrifices.

Instead you have made me serve because of your sins.

You have made me weary because of your guilt.

²⁵I, yes I, am he.

I blot out your rebellious deeds for my own sake,

and I will not remember your sins.

As surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us (by me, Silas, and Timothy), was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him the “Yes” stands firm. ²⁰In fact, as many promises as God has made, they have always been “Yes” in him. For that reason we also say “Amen” through him to the glory of God.

²¹God is the one who makes both us and you to be strong in Christ. He anointed us. ²²He sealed us as his own and gave us the Spirit as the down payment in our hearts.

When Jesus again entered Capernaum some days later, people heard that he was home. ²So many people were gathered together that there was no more room, not even by the door, and he was speaking the word to them. ³Some people came to him bringing a paralyzed man, carried by four men. ⁴Since they could not bring the man to Jesus because of the crowd, they dug through the roof above where he was. When they had made an opening, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralyzed man was lying. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶But there were some experts in the law sitting there and thinking in their hearts, ⁷“Why does this fellow speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins except God alone?”

⁸Jesus immediately knew in his spirit that they were thinking this way within themselves. He asked them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ⁹Which is easier: to tell the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and walk’? ¹⁰But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralyzed man, ¹¹“I tell you, get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

¹²At once the man got up, picked up the stretcher, and went out in front of everyone. So they were all amazed and glorified God. They said, “We have never seen anything like this!”

But watch! I am going to court her.

I will bring her into the wilderness.

I will speak tenderly to her.

¹⁵There I will give her vineyards back to her.

The Valley of Achor will be a door of hope.

She will respond there as in the days of her youth,

as in the day she came up from the land of Egypt.

¹⁶In that day, declares the Lord, this is what will take place:

You will call me “my husband.”

You will no longer call me “my master.”

¹⁹I will pledge you to myself in marriage forever.

I will pledge you to myself in marriage—

with righteousness, justice, mercy, and compassion.

²⁰In faithfulness I will pledge you to myself in marriage,

and you will know the Lord.

And I heard what seemed to be the roar of a large crowd or the roar of many waters or the sound of loud rumblings of thunder, saying:

Alleluia!

For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

⁷Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory,

because the wedding of the Lamb has come.

His bride has made herself ready,

⁸and she was given bright, clean, fine linen to wear.

(In fact, the fine linen is the “not guilty” verdicts pronounced on the saints.)

⁹The angel said to me, “Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.” He also said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. They came and asked Jesus, “Why is it that John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁹Jesus said to them, “The friends of the bridegroom cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then on that day they will fast. ²¹No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the patch shrinks, the new tears away from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²²No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will pour out, and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.”

When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah was traveling with Elisha from Gilgal. ²Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”

But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

³The sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord is taking your master away from you?”

Then he said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

⁴Then Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here because the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”

But he said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

⁵Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord is taking your master away from you?”

He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

⁶Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here because the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.”

But he said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷Then fifty men from the sons of the prophets came and stood and watched them from a distance, while the two of them were standing at the Jordan. ⁸Elijah took his cloak, folded it together, and struck the water. The water divided to the right and to the left. Then the two of them crossed on dry land.

⁹When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask me for whatever I can do for you before I am taken from you.”

Then Elisha said, “Let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.”

¹⁰He said, “You have asked for a difficult thing. If you see me being taken from you, it will surely be yours. But if not, then it will not.”

¹¹While they were walking and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire, and horses of fire came and separated them. So Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. ¹²Elisha was watching and crying out, “My father! My father! Israel’s chariot and its charioteers!” Then he did not see him anymore.

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing. ⁴In the case of those people, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from clearly seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is God’s image.

⁵Indeed, we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For the God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” is the same one who made light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain where they were alone by themselves. There he was transfigured in front of them. ³His clothes became radiant, dazzling white, whiter than anyone on earth could bleach them. ⁴And Elijah appeared to them together with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

⁵Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶He did not know what to say because they were terrified.

⁷A cloud appeared and overshadowed them, and a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him.”

⁸Suddenly when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus alone.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.