Acts 3 Cross References - ISV

¹ A Crippled Man is HealedOne afternoon, Peter and John were on their way to the Temple for the three o’clock prayer time. ² Now a man who had been crippled from birth was being carried in. Every day people would lay him at what was called the Beautiful Gate so that he could beg from those who were going into the Temple. ³ When he saw that Peter and John were about to go into the Temple, he asked them to give him something.
⁴ Peter, along with John, looked him straight in the eye and said, “Look at us!” ⁵ So the man watched them closely, expecting to get something from them. ⁶ However, Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold, but I’ll give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus the Messiah from Nazareth, walk!” ⁷ Then Peter took hold of his right hand and began to help him up. Immediately his feet and ankles became strong, ⁸ and he sprang to his feet, stood up, and began to walk. Then he went with them into the Temple, walking, jumping, and praising God.
⁹ When all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰ they knew that he was the man who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
¹¹ Peter Speaks to the OnlookersWhile he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people came running to them in what was called “Solomon’s Colonnade”. They were dumbfounded. ¹² When Peter saw this, he told the people: “Fellow Israelis, why are you wondering about this, and why are you staring at us as if by our own power or godliness we made him walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of our ancestors—has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and rejected in the presence of Pilate, even though he had decided to let him go. ¹⁴ You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you, ¹⁵ and you killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead. We are witnesses to that. ¹⁶ It is his name—that is, by faith in his name—that has healed this man whom you see and know. Yes, the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.
¹⁷ “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance like your leaders. ¹⁸ This is how God fulfilled what he had predicted through the voice of all the prophets—that his Messiah would suffer. ¹⁹ Therefore, repent and turn to him to have your sins blotted out, ²⁰ so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and so that he may send you Jesus, whom he appointed long ago to be the Messiah. ²¹ He must remain in heaven until the time of universal restitution, which God announced long ago through the voice of his holy prophets. ²² In fact, Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to everything he tells you. ²³ Any person who will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’
²⁴ “Indeed, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who followed him, also announced these days. ²⁵ You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he told Abraham, ‘Through your descendant all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ ²⁶ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning every one of you from your evil ways.”

³⁹ “You are to offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight,

⁴ Offer the first lamb in the morning and the second toward the evening,

³⁶ Elijah’s Prayer and God’s Answer by FireAs the time for the evening offering arrived, Elijah the prophet approached and said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I, your servant, have done all of this in obedience to your word.

¹⁷ Morning, noon, and night, I mulled over these things and cried out in my distress, and he heard my voice.

¹⁰ Daniel is AccusedWhen Daniel learned that the written document had been signed, he went to an upstairs room in his house that had windows opened facing Jerusalem. Three times a day he would kneel down, pray, and give thanks to his God, just as he had previously done.

²¹ while I was still speaking, Gabriel the man of God whom I had seen in the previous vision, appeared to me about the time of the evening offering.

¹ Jesus’ Appearance is Changed
Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

³⁷ Taking Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him, he began to be grieved and troubled.

¹⁰ And the entire congregation of people was praying outside at the time when the incense was burned.

⁸ So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover meal.”

⁴⁴ Jesus Dies on the Cross
It was already about noon, and the whole land became dark until three in the afternoon ⁴⁵ because the sun had stopped shining, and the curtain in the sanctuary was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” After he said this, he breathed his last.

⁵³ They were continually in the Temple, blessing God.

²³ One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus kept loving, had been sitting very close to him.
²⁴ So Simon Peter motioned to this man to ask Jesus about whom he was speaking. ²⁵ Leaning forward on Jesus’ chest, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

² So she ran off and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus kept loving. She told them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” ³ So Peter and the other disciple took off for the tomb. ⁴ The two of them were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. ⁵ Bending over to look inside, he noticed the linen cloths lying there, but didn’t go in. ⁶ At this point Simon Peter arrived, following him, and went straight into the tomb. He observed that the linen cloths were lying there, ⁷ and that the handkerchief that had been on Jesus’ head was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up in a separate place. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who arrived at the tomb first, went inside, looked, and believed. ⁹ For they did not yet understand the Scripture that said that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

⁷ That disciple whom Jesus kept loving told Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his clothes back on, because he was practically naked, and jumped into the sea.

¹⁸ “Truly, I tell you emphatically, when you were young, you would fasten your belt and go wherever you liked. But when you get old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten your belt and take you where you don’t want to go.” ¹⁹ Now he said this to show by what kind of death he would glorify God.
After saying this, Jesus told him, “Keep following me.”
²⁰ Jesus and the Beloved DisciplePeter turned around and noticed the disciple whom Jesus kept loving following them. He was the one who had put his head on Jesus’ chest at the supper and had asked, “Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?”
²¹ When Peter saw him, he said, “Lord, what about him?”
²² Jesus told him, “If it’s my will for him to remain until I come back, how does that concern you? You must keep following me!”

⁴⁶ United in purpose, they went to the Temple every day, ate at each other’s homes, and shared their food with glad and humble hearts.

¹³ Now when the Jewish leaders saw the boldness of Peter and John and found out that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and realized that they had been with Jesus.

²⁵ Then someone came and told them, “Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the Temple and teaching the people!”

¹⁴ Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

³ One day, about three in the afternoon, he had a vision and clearly saw an angel of God coming to him and saying to him, “Cornelius!”

³⁰ Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this very hour, three o’clock in the afternoon, I was praying in my home. All at once a man in radiant clothes stood in front of me

⁹ So when James, Cephas, and John (who were reputed to be leaders) recognized the grace that had been given me, they gave Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised.

²⁰ A beggar named Lazarus, who was covered with sores, was brought to his gate.

³⁵ Jesus Heals a Blind Man
As Jesus was approaching Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the road begging.

⁹ This was the true light that enlightens every person by his coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not recognize him.
¹¹ Responses to the WordHe came to his own creation, yet his own people did not receive him. ¹² However, to all who received him, those believing in his name, he gave authority to become God’s children, ¹³ who were born, not merely in a genetic sense, nor from lust, nor from man’s desire, but from the will of God.
¹⁴ The Word Becomes HumanThe Word became flesh and lived among us. We gazed on his glory, the kind of glory that belongs to the Father’s unique Son, who is full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ John told the truth about him when he cried out, “This is the person about whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me ranks higher than me, because he existed before me.’” ¹⁶ We have all received one gracious gift after another from his abundance, ¹⁷ because while the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus the Messiah. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. The unique God, who is close to the Father’s side, has revealed him.
¹⁹ The Testimony of John the Baptist
This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and descendants of Levi to him from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
²⁰ He spoke openly and, remaining true to himself, admitted, “I am not the Messiah.”
²¹ So they asked him, “Well then, are you Elijah?”
John said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
²² “Who are you?” they asked him. “We must give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
²³ He replied, “I am ‘…a voice crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the Lord’s highway,”’as the prophet Isaiah said.”
²⁴ Now those men had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, “Why, then, are you baptizing if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”
²⁶ John answered them, “I am baptizing with water, but among you stands a man whom you do not know, ²⁷ the one who is coming after me, whose sandal straps I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ This happened in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
²⁹ The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks above me, because he existed before me.’

⁸ Then the neighbors and those who had previously seen him as a beggar said, “This is the man who used to sit and beg, isn’t it?”

²² since the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than 40 years old.

⁴ He stared at the angel in terror and asked, “What is it, Lord?”
The angel answered him, “Your prayers and your gifts to the poor have arisen as a reminder to God.

³¹ and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard. God has remembered your gifts to the poor,

⁸ Paul and Barnabas in LystraNow in Lystra there was a man sitting down who couldn’t use his feet. He had been crippled from birth and had never walked.

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. While the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him,

⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁴⁰ Jesus told her, “I told you that if you believed you would see God’s glory, didn’t I?”

¹² When Peter saw this, he told the people: “Fellow Israelis, why are you wondering about this, and why are you staring at us as if by our own power or godliness we made him walk?

⁶ When I examined it closely, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the air.

⁹ He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed, ¹⁰ he said in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” Then the man jumped up and began to walk.

²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, drove out demons in your name, and performed many miracles in your name, didn’t we?’

⁹ Don’t take any gold, silver, or copper in your moneybags,

⁸ She has done what she could. She poured perfume on my body in preparation for my burial.

¹⁷ These are the signs that will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons. they will speak in new languages.

¹⁹ Pilate wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus from Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

²² “Fellow Israelis, listen to these words: Jesus from Nazareth was a man authenticated to you by God through miracles, wonders, and signs that God performed through him among you, as you yourselves know.

³⁶ “Therefore, let all the people of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!”

¹⁶ It is his name—that is, by faith in his name—that has healed this man whom you see and know. Yes, the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

⁷ They made Peter and John stand in front of them and began asking, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

¹⁰ you and all the people of Israel must understand that this man stands healthy before you because of the name of Jesus from Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead.

³⁴ Peter told him, “Aeneas, Jesus the Messiah is healing you. Get up and put away your mat!” At once he got up,

³⁸ God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, he went around doing good and healing everyone who was oppressed by the devil.

¹⁸ She kept doing this for many days until Paul became annoyed, turned to her and told the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus the Messiah to come out of her!” And it came out that very moment.

¹³ Then some Jews who went around trying to drive out demons attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches!” ¹⁴ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
¹⁵ But the evil spirit told them, “Jesus I know, and I am getting acquainted with Paul, but who are you?”
¹⁶ Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them, got the better of them, and so violently overpowered all of them that they fled out of the house naked and bruised.

¹¹ We are hungry, thirsty, dressed in rags, brutally treated, and homeless, right up to the present.

¹⁰ as sorrowful and yet always rejoicing, as poor and yet enriching many, as having nothing and yet possessing everything.

⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. Although he was rich, for your sakes he became poor, so that you, through his poverty, might become rich.

¹² For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you do not have.

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers! God has chosen the poor in the world to become rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who keep on loving him, has he not?

¹⁰ As good servant managers of God’s grace in its various forms, serve one another with the gift each of you has received.

³¹ He went up to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up. The fever left her, and she began serving them.

⁴¹ He took her by the hand and told her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Young lady, I tell you, get up!”

²⁷ But Jesus took his hand and helped him up, and he stood up.

¹³ Then he placed his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.

⁴¹ He extended his hand and helped her get up. Then he called the saints, including the widows, and gave her back to them alive.

¹ Davidic
Praise God, who Forgives Bless the LORD, my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. ² Bless the LORD, my soul, and never forget any of his benefits:

²⁰ He issued his command and healed them; he delivered them from their destruction. ²¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his gracious love, and for his awesome deeds for mankind. ²² Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and talk about his works with shouts of joy.

⁶ then the lame will leap like deer, and the tongues of speechless people will sing for joy. Yes, waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will run through the desert;

²³ Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because your reward in heaven is great! That’s the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.

¹⁵ But one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, came back and praised God with a loud voice. ¹⁶ He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Now that man was a Samaritan.
¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Ten men were made clean, weren’t they? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Except for this foreigner, were any of them found to return and give praise to God?”

⁴³ Immediately the man could see again and began to follow Jesus, glorifying God. All the people saw this and gave praise to God.

⁸ Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” ⁹ The man immediately became well, and he picked up his mat and started walking. Now that day was a Sabbath.

¹⁴ Later on, Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Look! You have become well. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

¹⁰ he said in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” Then the man jumped up and began to walk.

¹¹ “I say to you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home!” ¹² So the man got up, immediately picked up his mat, and went out in front of all of them.
As a result, all of the people were amazed and began to glorify God as they kept on saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

¹⁷ Even as he was saying this, all of his opponents were blushing with shame. But the rest of the crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.

¹⁶ They said, “What should we do with these men? For it’s obvious to everybody living in Jerusalem that an unmistakable sign has been done by them, and we cannot deny it.

²¹ So they threatened Peter and John even more and then let them go. They couldn’t find any way to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened,

¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us!”

³⁶ Overwhelmed with amazement, they all kept saying to one another, “What kind of statement is this?—because with authority and power he gives orders to unclean spirits, and they come out!”

⁴³ Jesus Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection
All the people continued to be amazed at the greatness of God. Indeed, everyone was astonished at all the things Jesus was doing. So he told his disciples,

²⁰ The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him even greater actions than these, so that you may be amazed.

³ Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. This happened so that God’s work might be revealed in him.

¹⁸ The Jewish leaders did not believe that the man had been blind and had gained sight until they summoned his parents ¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How does he now see?”
²⁰ His parents replied, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. ²¹ But we don’t know how it is that he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is of age and can speak for himself.”

⁷ Stunned and amazed, they asked, “All of these people who are speaking are Galileans, aren’t they?

¹² All of them continued to be stunned and puzzled, and they kept asking one another, “What can this mean?”

² Now a man who had been crippled from birth was being carried in. Every day people would lay him at what was called the Beautiful Gate so that he could beg from those who were going into the Temple.

¹⁴ And seeing the man who was healed standing with them, they could not say anything against them. ¹⁵ So they ordered them to leave the Council and began to discuss the matter among themselves. ¹⁶ They said, “What should we do with these men? For it’s obvious to everybody living in Jerusalem that an unmistakable sign has been done by them, and we cannot deny it.

²¹ So they threatened Peter and John even more and then let them go. They couldn’t find any way to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened, ²² since the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than 40 years old.

³⁸ Now the man from whom the demons had gone out kept begging Jesus to let him go with him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,

²³ and Jesus was walking around in the Temple inside the open porch of Solomon.

⁶ When that sound came, a crowd quickly gathered, startled because each one heard the disciples speaking in his own language.

¹² The Apostles Perform Many MiraclesNow many signs and wonders were being performed by the apostles among the people, who were gathered together in Solomon’s Colonnade.

⁸ “We had a dream,” they replied, “but there’s no one to interpret it.”
“Interpretations belong to God,” Joseph told them, “so please tell me your stories.”

¹⁶ “I can’t do that,” Joseph replied, “but God is concerned about Pharaoh’s well-being.”

²⁸ But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he is making known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days.“While you were in bed, the dream and the visions that came to your head were as follows: ²⁹ Your majesty, when you were in bed, thoughts came to your mind about what would happen in the future, and the Revealer of Secrets has made known to you what will take place. ³⁰ As for me, this secret was made known to me, not because my own wisdom is greater than anyone else alive, but in order that the meaning may be made known to the king, and that you might understand the thoughts of your heart.

²⁷ John replied, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to them from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.’

¹⁸ The one who speaks on his own seeks his own praise. But the one who seeks the praise of him who sent him is genuine, and there’s nothing false in him.

²⁵ When Peter was about to enter, Cornelius met him, bowed down at his feet, and began to worship him. ²⁶ But Peter made him get up, saying, “Stand up! I, too, am only a man.”

²⁶ “My brothers, descendants of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, it is to us that the message of this salvation has been sent.

¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us!” ¹² They began to call Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the main speaker. ¹³ The priest of the temple of Zeus, which was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates. He and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices.
¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, ¹⁵ “Men, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings with natures like yours. We are telling you the good news so you’ll turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.

⁴ who are Israelis. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises.

¹ God’s Love for His PeopleSo I ask, “God has not rejected his people, has he?” Of course not! I am an Israeli myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.

⁵ By ourselves we are not qualified to claim that anything comes from us. Rather, our credentials come from God, ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁶ “I have set my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
⁷ The Anointed King SpeaksLet me announce the decree of the LORD that he told me: “You are my son, today I have become your father. ⁸ Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession. ⁹ You will break them with an iron rod, you will shatter them like pottery.” ¹⁰ Therefore, kings, act wisely! Earthly rulers, be warned! ¹¹ Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. ¹² Kiss the son before he becomes angry, and you die where you stand. Indeed, his wrath can flare up quickly. How blessed are those who take refuge in him.

⁶ You descendants of Abraham, his servant, You children of Jacob, his chosen ones. ⁷ He is the LORD our God; his judgments extend to the entire earth. ⁸ He remembers his eternal covenant— every promise he made for a thousand generations, ⁹ like the covenant he made with Abraham, and his promise to Isaac. ¹⁰ He presented it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant.

¹ A Davidic psalm
A Priestly Ruler A declaration from the LORD to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” ² When the LORD extends your mighty scepter from Zion, rule in the midst of your enemies.

²⁷ All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and the person to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

¹⁹ Then they will hand him over to unbelievers to be mocked, whipped, and crucified, but on the third day he will be raised.”

³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

² They bound him with chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pontius Pilate, the governor.

¹⁷ So when the people had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which man do you want me to release for you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called ‘the Messiah’?” ¹⁸ He did this because he knew that they had handed him over out of jealousy.
¹⁹ While he was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him a message that said, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, because today I have suffered terribly due to a dream I had about him.”
²⁰ But the high priests and elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to demand that Jesus be put to death. ²¹ So the governor asked them, “Which of the two men do you want me to release for you?”
“Barabbas!” they replied.
²² Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with Jesus, who is called the Messiah?”
They all said, “Let him be crucified!”
²³ He asked, “What has he done wrong?”
But they kept shouting louder and louder, “Let him be crucified!”
²⁴ Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that a riot was about to break out instead. So he took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Attend to that yourselves.”
²⁵ All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and our children!”

¹⁸ Then Jesus approached them and told them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

¹¹ But the high priests stirred up the crowd to get him to release Barabbas for them instead.

⁴ Then Pilate told the high priests and crowds, “I do not find anything chargeable in this man.”

¹⁶ So I will punish him and let him go.”
¹⁷ Now he was obligated to release someone for them at the festival. ¹⁸ But they all shouted out together, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas for us!” ¹⁹ (This man had been put in prison for murder and for a revolt that had taken place in the city.) ²⁰ But Pilate wanted to let Jesus go, so he appealed to them again, ²¹ but they continued to shout, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
²² Then he spoke to them a third time: “What has he done wrong? I have found nothing in him worthy of death. So I will punish him and let him go.” ²³ But they kept pressing him with loud shouts, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their shouts began to prevail.

³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands. ³⁶ The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

²² The Father judges no one, but has given all authority to judge to the Son, ²³ so that everyone may honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

³⁹ Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who were believing in him were to receive, because the Spirit was not yet present and Jesus had not yet been glorified.

¹⁶ At first, his disciples didn’t understand these things. However, when Jesus had been glorified, they remembered that these things had been written about him and that people had done these things to him.

³¹ The New CommandmentAfter Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “The Son of Man is now glorified, and God has been glorified by him. ³² If God has been glorified by him, God himself also will glorify the Son of Man, and he will do so quickly.

¹⁴ He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said, ‘He will take what is mine and declare it to you.’

¹ Jesus Prays for Himself, His Disciples, and His Future FollowersAfter Jesus had said this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you. ² For you have given him authority over all humanity so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him. ³ And this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent—Jesus the Messiah. ⁴ I glorified you on earth by completing the task you gave me to do.
⁵ “So now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed.

⁴⁰ At this, they shouted out again, “Not this fellow, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

¹² From then on, Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you release this fellow, you’re not a friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king is defying Caesar!”

¹⁵ Then they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
Pilate asked them, “Should I crucify your king?”
The high priests responded, “We have no king but Caesar!”

²³ After he was arrested according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified this very man and killed him using the hands of lawless men. ²⁴ But God raised him up and put an end to suffering of death, since it was impossible for him to be held by it,

³³ He has been exalted to the right hand of God, has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, and has caused you to experience what you are seeing and hearing. ³⁴ After all, David did not go up to heaven, but he said, ‘The Lord told my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, ³⁵ until I make your enemies your footstool.”’
³⁶ “Therefore, let all the people of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!”

³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus to life after you killed him by hanging him on a tree. ³¹ God has exalted to his right hand this very man as our Leader and Savior in order to extend repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

³² ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses became terrified and didn’t dare to look.

²⁷ For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders, not knowing who Jesus was, condemned him and so fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. ²⁸ Although they found no reason to sentence him to death, they asked Pilate to have him executed.

¹⁴ “Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear his own voice,

²⁰ which he brought about in the Messiah when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm. ²¹ He is far above every ruler, authority, power, dominion, and every name that can be named, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. ²² God has put everything under the Messiah’s feet and has made him the head of everything for the good of the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills everything in every way.

⁹ Now lifted up by God to heaven, a name above all others given, this matchless name possessing. ¹⁰ And so, when Jesus’ name is called, the knees of everyone should fall, wherever they’re residing. ¹¹ Then every tongue in one accord, will say that Jesus the Messiah is Lord, while God the Father praising.

⁹ But we do see someone who was made a little lower than the angels. He is Jesus, who is crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might experience death for everyone.

⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who also inherited the same promise, ¹⁰ because he was waiting for the city with permanent foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
¹¹ By faith Sarah, even though she was old and barren, received the strength to conceive, because she was convinced that the one who had made the promise was faithful. ¹² Abraham was as good as dead, yet from this one man came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
¹³ All these people died having faith. They did not receive the things that were promised, yet they saw them in the distant future and welcomed them, acknowledging that they were strangers and foreigners on earth. ¹⁴ For people who say such things make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking about what they had left behind, they would have had an opportunity to go back. ¹⁶ Instead, they were longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for them.

⁵ and from Jesus the Messiah, the witness, the faithful one, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

¹⁸ the living one. I was dead—but look!—I am alive forever and ever! I have the keys of Death and Hades.

¹⁰ For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, you will not allow your holy one to experience corruption.

⁹ The Coming of Zion’s King“Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; cry out, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is able to save. He is humble, and is riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

²⁴ “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

⁷ Now there was a man in prison named Barabbas. He had been with the insurgents who had committed murder during the rebellion.

³⁵ The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come over you, and the power of the Most High will surround you. Therefore, the child will be holy and will be called the Son of God.

¹⁸ But they all shouted out together, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas for us!” ¹⁹ (This man had been put in prison for murder and for a revolt that had taken place in the city.)

²⁵ So he released the man who had been put in prison for revolt and murder—the man whose release they continued to demand—but he let them have their way with Jesus.

²⁷ For you will not abandon my soul to Hades or allow your Holy One to experience decay.

²⁷ For in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate actually met together with unbelievers and the people of Israel to oppose your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,

⁵² Which of the prophets did your ancestors fail to persecute? They killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers.

²¹ God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that God’s righteousness would be produced in us.

⁶ You have condemned and murdered the one who is righteous, even though he did not rebel against you.

¹⁸ For the Messiah also suffered for sins once for all, an innocent person for the guilty, so that he could bring you to God. He was put to death in a mortal body but was brought to life by the Spirit,

¹ The Messiah is Our AdvocateMy little children, I’m writing these things to you so that you might not sin. Yet if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus, the Messiah, one who is righteous.

⁷ The Letter to the Church in Philadelphia“To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia, write: ‘The one who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens a door that no one can shut, and who shuts a door that no one can open, ‘says this:

² Suddenly, there was a powerful earthquake, because an angel of the Lord had come down from heaven, approached the stone, rolled it away, and was sitting on top of it. ³ His appearance was bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ Trembling from fear, even the guards themselves became catatonic.
⁵ Responding to the women, the angel said, “Stop being frightened! I know you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

⁴ In him was life, and that life brought light to humanity.

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Please give me a drink,’ you would have been the one to ask him, and he would have given you living water.”

¹⁴ But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never become thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become a well of water for him, springing up to eternal life.”

²⁶ Just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted the Son to have life in himself,

²⁸ I give them eternal life, they’ll never be lost, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

²⁵ Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live. ²⁶ Indeed, everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?”

⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

² For you have given him authority over all humanity so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him.

²² beginning when he was baptized by John until the day he was taken up from us. Therefore, someone like this must become a witness with us to his resurrection.”

²⁴ But God raised him up and put an end to suffering of death, since it was impossible for him to be held by it,

³² “It was this very Jesus whom God raised—and we’re all witnesses of that.

³¹ God has exalted to his right hand this very man as our Leader and Savior in order to extend repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

⁴⁰ but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear— ⁴¹ not to all the people, but to us who were chosen by God to be witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

³⁰ But God raised him from the dead, ³¹ and for many days he appeared to those who had come with him to Jerusalem from Galilee. These are now his witnesses to the people. ³² We’re telling you the good news: What God promised our ancestors

¹ The Spirit Gives LifeTherefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with the Messiah Jesus. ² For the Spirit’s law of life in the Messiah Jesus has set me free from the Law of sin and death.

⁴⁵ This, indeed, is what is written: “The first man, Adam, became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

²⁰ which he brought about in the Messiah when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm.

³ For you have died, and your life has been safely guarded by the Messiah in God. ⁴ When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you, too, will be revealed with him in glory.

¹⁰ It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering as part of his plan to glorify many children,

⁹ and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

¹¹ This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is found in his Son. ¹² The person who has the Son has this life. The person who does not have the Son of God does not have this life.

²⁰ We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true God. We are in union with the one who is true, his Son Jesus the Messiah, who is the true God and eternal life.

⁶ Then he told me, “It has happened! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give a drink from the spring of the water of life to the one who is thirsty.

¹ The Vision of the River of the Water of LifeThen the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal. It was flowing from the throne of God and the lamb.

¹⁷ Concluding InvitationThe Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”
Let everyone who hears this say, “Come!”
Let everyone who is thirsty come!
Let anyone who wants the water of life take it as a gift!

⁴ Flawless is the work of the Rock, because all his ways are just. A faithful God—never unjust— righteous and upright is he.

²² When Jesus turned and saw her, he said, “Be courageous, daughter! Your faith has made you well.” And from that very hour the woman was well.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
²⁰ He told them, “Because of your lack of faith. I tell all of you with certainty, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.

²¹ Jesus answered them, “I tell all of you with certainty, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you be able to do what has been done to the fig tree, but you will also say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. ²² You will receive whatever you ask for in prayer, if you believe.”

²² Jesus told his disciples, “Have faith in God! ²³ I tell all of you with certainty, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ if he doesn’t doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

¹⁷ These are the signs that will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons. they will speak in new languages. ¹⁸ and they will pick up snakes with their hands.Even if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them; and they’ll place their hands on the sick, and they’ll recover.”

⁵ Faith and ObedienceThen the apostles told the Lord, “Give us more faith!”
⁶ The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!

²³ If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man perfectly well on the Sabbath?

¹² Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, the one who believes in me will also do what I’m doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I’m going to the Father.

⁶ However, Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold, but I’ll give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus the Messiah from Nazareth, walk!”

⁸ and he sprang to his feet, stood up, and began to walk. Then he went with them into the Temple, walking, jumping, and praising God.

³⁰ as you stretch out your hand to heal and to perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

¹⁴ Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. ¹⁵ They went down and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ Before this, he had not come on any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁹ He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed,

¹³ Then some Jews who went around trying to drive out demons attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches!” ¹⁴ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
¹⁵ But the evil spirit told them, “Jesus I know, and I am getting acquainted with Paul, but who are you?”
¹⁶ Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them, got the better of them, and so violently overpowered all of them that they fled out of the house naked and bruised. ¹⁷ When this became known to everyone living in Ephesus, Jews and Greeks alike, they all became terrified, and the name of the Lord Jesus began to be held in high honor.

² If I have the gift of prophecy and can understand all secrets and every form of knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains but have no love, I am nothing.

²⁶ “I don’t know who did this thing,” Abimelech replied. “You didn’t report this to me, and I didn’t hear about it until today.”

⁸ But he refused, telling his master’s wife, “Look! My master doesn’t have to worry about anything in the house with me in charge, and he has entrusted everything into my care.

¹⁵ and Joseph asked them, “Why did you do this? Don’t you know that I’m an expert at divination?”

¹ Aaron Makes the Golden CalfWhen the people saw that Moses took a long time to come down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and told him, “Come here and make us a god who will go before us, because, as for this fellow Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.”

²⁴ When anything is done without the knowledge of the congregation, the entire community is to offer one young bull for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD, along with its meal and drink offerings offered according to procedure, and one male goat for a sin offering. ²⁵ Then the priest is to make atonement for the entire community of the Israelis, and they will be forgiven for inadvertent sins. They are to bring their offering, an offering made by fire to the LORD, as well as their sin offering, into the LORD’s presence on account of their error. ²⁶ Then the entire community of Israel will be forgiven, along with the resident alien who lives among them, since all the people will have sinned inadvertently.”
²⁷ Offerings for Inadvertent Personal Sin“Now when one person sins inadvertently, then he is to bring a one year old female goat for a sin offering. ²⁸ Then, in the LORD’s presence, the priest is to make atonement for the person who sinned inadvertently, that is, to make atonement on his behalf so he may be forgiven. ²⁹ You are to have a single law for the one who does things inadvertently, whether for the native-born Israeli or for the resident alien who lives among you.”
³⁰ On Willful Sin“But if some person acts with a high hand, whether a native-born or a resident alien, he blasphemes God, and that person is to be eliminated from among his people. ³¹ Because he has despised the law of the LORD and has broken his commands, that person is certainly to be eliminated. His iniquity will remain on him.”

⁶ So come right now and curse this people for me, because there are too many of them for me to handle. Perhaps I’ll be able to strike them down and drive them out of the land, since I know that whomever you bless is blessed and whomever you curse is cursed.”

³⁴ Jesus kept saying, “Father, forgive them, because they don’t know what they’re doing.” Then they divided his clothes among them by throwing dice.

²⁶ And look, he is speaking in public, and they are not saying anything to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? ²⁷ We know where this man comes from. But when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from.”

⁵² They answered him, “You aren’t from Galilee, too, are you? Search and see that no prophet comes from Galilee.”

³ They’ll do this because they haven’t known the Father or me.

⁴⁰ They told Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will lead us. This Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we don’t know what happened to him!’

²⁷ For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders, not knowing who Jesus was, condemned him and so fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.

⁹ Indeed, I myself thought it my duty to take extreme measures against the name of Jesus from Nazareth.

² God has not rejected his people whom he chose long ago. Do you not know what the Scripture says in the story about Elijah, when he pleads with God against Israel?

⁸ None of the rulers of this world understood it, because if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

¹⁴ However, their minds were hardened, for to this day the same veil is still there when they read the old covenant. Only in union with the Messiah is that veil removed.

²² Now if I continue living, fruitful labor is the result, so I do not know which I would prefer.

¹³ In the past I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man. But I received mercy because I acted ignorantly in my unbelief,

¹⁵ “I’ll place hostility between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. He’ll strike you on the head, and you’ll strike him on the heel.”

¹ To the Director: To the tune of “Doe of the Dawn”.
A Davidic Psalm.
God Delivers His Suffering Servant My God! My God! Why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from delivering me— from my groaning words? ² My God, I cry out to you throughout the day, but you do not answer; and throughout the night, but I have no rest. ³ You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. ⁴ Our ancestors trusted in you; they trusted and you delivered them. ⁵ They cried out to you and escaped; they trusted in you and were not put to shame. ⁶ But as for me, I am only a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by people. ⁷ Everyone who sees me mocks me; they gape at me with open mouths and shake their heads at me. ⁸ They say, “Commit yourself to the LORD; perhaps the LORD will deliver him, perhaps he will cause him to escape, since he delights in him.” ⁹ Yet, you are the one who took me from the womb, and kept me safe on my mother’s breasts. ¹⁰ I was dependent on you from birth; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. ¹¹ Do not be so distant from me, for trouble is at hand; indeed, there is no deliverer. ¹² Many bulls have surrounded me; the vicious bulls of Bashan have encircled me. ¹³ Their mouths are opened wide toward me, like roaring and attacking lions. ¹⁴ I am poured out like water; all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me. ¹⁵ My strength is dried up like broken pottery; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, and you have brought me down to the dust of death. ¹⁶ For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of those who practice of evil has encircled me. They gouged my hands and my feet. ¹⁷ I can count all my bones. They look at me; they stare at me. ¹⁸ They divide my clothing among themselves; they cast lots for my clothing! ¹⁹ But as for you, LORD, do not be far away from me; My Strength, come quickly to help me. ²⁰ Deliver me from the sword; my precious life from the power of the dog. ²¹ Deliver me from the mouth of the lion, from the horns of the wild oxen. You have answered me. ²² I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you, saying, ²³ “All who fear the LORD, praise him! All the seed of Jacob, glorify him! All the seed of Israel, fear him! ²⁴ For he does not despise nor detest the afflicted person; he does not hide his face from him, but he hears him when he cries out to him.” ²⁵ My praise in the great congregation is because of you; I will pay my vows before those who fear you. ²⁶ The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him, “May you live forever!” ²⁷ All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of the nations will bow in submission to the LORD. ²⁸ Indeed, the kingdom belongs to the LORD; he rules over the nations. ²⁹ All the prosperous people will eat and bow down in submission. All those who are about to go down to the grave will bow down in submission, along with the one who can no longer keep himself alive. ³⁰ Our descendants will serve him, and that generation will be told about the Lord.

¹ To the Director: To the tune of “The Lilies”. Davidic.
When God Seems Distant Deliver me, God, because the waters are up to my neck. ² I am sinking in deep mire, and there is no solid ground. I have come into deep water, and the flood overwhelms me. ³ I am exhausted from calling for help. My throat is parched. My eyes are strained from looking for God. ⁴ Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head. My persecutors are mighty, and they want to destroy me. Must I be forced to return what I did not steal? ⁵ God, you know my sins, and my guilt is not hidden from you. ⁶ Do not let those who look up to you be ashamed because of me, Lord God of the Heavenly Armies. Let not those who seek you be humiliated because of me, God of Israel. ⁷ I am being mocked because of you. Dishonor overwhelms me. ⁸ I am a stranger to my brothers, a foreigner to my mother’s sons. ⁹ Zeal for your house consumes me, and the mockeries of those who insult you fall on me. ¹⁰ I weep and fast, and I am mocked for it. ¹¹ When I dressed in sackcloth, I became an object of gossip among them. ¹² The prominent people mock me, composing drinking songs.
¹³ Seeking God for DeliveranceAs for me, LORD, may my prayer to you come at a favorable time. God, in the abundance of your gracious love, answer me with your sure deliverance. ¹⁴ Rescue me from the mud and do not let me sink. Rescue me from those who hate me, and from the deep waters. ¹⁵ Let neither the floodwaters overwhelm me nor let the deep swallow me up, nor the mouth of the well close over me. ¹⁶ Answer me, LORD, for your gracious love is good; Turn to me in keeping with your great compassion, ¹⁷ and do not ignore your servant, because I am in distress. Hurry to answer me! ¹⁸ Draw near and redeem me; ransom me because of my enemies. ¹⁹ Truly you know my reproach, shame, and disgrace. All my enemies are known to you. ²⁰ Insults broke my heart. I despaired and looked for sympathy; but there was none, for comforters, but I found none. ²¹ They put poison in my food, in my thirst they forced me to drink vinegar. ²² May their dining tables entrap them, and become a snare for their allies. ²³ May their eyes be blinded and may their bodies tremble continuously. ²⁴ May you pour out your fury on them. May your burning anger overtake them. ²⁵ May their camp become desolate and their tents remain unoccupied. ²⁶ For they persecute those whom you have struck, and they brag about the pain of those you have wounded. ²⁷ May you punish them for their crimes; may they receive no verdict of innocence from you. ²⁸ May they be erased from the Book of Life, and their names not be written with the righteous. ²⁹ As for me, I am afflicted and hurting; may your deliverance, God, establish me on high. ³⁰ Let me praise the name of God with a song that I may magnify him with thanksgiving. ³¹ That will please the LORD more than oxen and bulls with horns and hooves. ³² The afflicted will watch and rejoice. May you who seek God take courage. ³³ For the LORD listens to the needy and doesn’t despise those in bondage. ³⁴ Let the heavens and earth praise him, along with the sea and its swarming creatures. ³⁵ For God will deliver Zion and will rebuild the cities of Judah so they may live there and possess them. ³⁶ The descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who cherish his name will live there.

⁶ I gave my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not turn away my face from insults and spitting.

¹ “Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? ² For he grew up before him like a tender plant, and like a root out of a dry ground; he had no form and he had no majesty that we should look at him, and there is no attractiveness that we should desire him. ³ “He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, intimately familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces; and we despised him and did not value him. ⁴ “Surely he has borne our sufferings and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him stricken, and struck down by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that made us whole was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, each of us, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷ He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he didn’t open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ⁸ “From detention and judgment he was taken away— and who can even think about his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living, he was stricken for the transgression of my people. ⁹ Then they made his grave with the wicked, and with rich people in his death, although he had committed no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth.”
¹⁰ The Exaltation of the Servant“Yet the LORD was willing to crush him, and he made him suffer. Although you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring, and he will prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will triumph in his hand. ¹¹ Out of the suffering of his soul he will see light and find satisfaction. And through his knowledge his servant, the righteous one, will make many righteous, and he will bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong; because he poured out his life to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he carried the sins of many, and made intercession for their transgressions.”

²⁶ Then after the 62 weeks, the anointed one will be cut down (but not for himself). Then the people of the Coming Commander will destroy both the city and the Sanctuary. Its ending will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war, with desolations having been decreed.

¹⁰ I will pour out on the house of David and on the residents of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of supplications, and they will look to me—the one whom they pierced.’”
Mourning in JerusalemThen they will mourn for him, as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him, as for a firstborn son.

⁷ “Arise, sword, against my shepherd, against the mighty one who is related to me,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. “Strike the shepherd, the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn against the insignificant ones.

²⁶ The Messiah had to suffer these things and then enter his glory, didn’t he?” ²⁷ Then, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them all the passages of Scripture about himself.

⁴⁴ Then he told them, “These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled.”

²³ After he was arrested according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified this very man and killed him using the hands of lawless men.

² As usual, Paul entered there and on three Sabbaths discussed the Scriptures with them. ³ He explained and showed them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: “This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Messiah.”

²² I’ve had help from God to this day, and so I stand here to testify to both the powerful and the lowly alike, stating only what the prophets and Moses said would happen— ²³ that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead and would bring light both to our people and to the gentiles.”

²³ So they set a day to meet with Paul and came out in large numbers to see him where he was staying.
From morning until evening, he continued to explain the kingdom of God to them, trying to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

³ For I passed on to you the most important points that I received: The Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ he was buried, he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures—and is still alive!—

¹⁰ Even the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, carefully researched and investigated this salvation. ¹¹ They tried to find out what era or specific time the Spirit of the Messiah in them kept referring to when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.

¹⁰ I bowed down at his feet to worship him, but he told me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who rely on what Jesus is saying. Worship God, because what Jesus is saying is the spirit of prophecy!”

²⁹ If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul. ³⁰ In your distress, when all these things happen to you in days to come and you return to the LORD your God, then you will hear his voice. ³¹ For God is compassionate. The LORD your God won’t fail you. He won’t destroy you or forget the covenant that he confirmed with your ancestors.”

⁴⁸ if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, ⁴⁹ then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, ⁵⁰ forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you.“Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them,

¹ A Davidic instruction.
The Blessings of Forgiveness How blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. ² How blessed is the person against whom the LORD does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. ³ When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away by my groaning all day long. ⁴ For your hand was heavy upon me day and night; my strength was exhausted as in a summer drought. Interlude ⁵ My sin I acknowledged to you; my iniquity I did not hide. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin! Interlude

¹ To the Director: A Davidic Psalm. When the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
A Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon Have mercy, God, according to your gracious love, according to your unlimited compassion, erase my transgressions. ² Wash me from my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I acknowledge my transgression; my sin remains continuously before me.

⁹ Hide your countenance from my sins and erase the record of my iniquities.

¹³ Then I will teach transgressors about your ways, and sinners will turn to you.

⁶ May he be like the rain that descends on mown grass, like showers sprinkling on the ground. ⁷ The righteous will flourish at the proper time and peace will prevail until the moon is no more. ⁸ May he rule from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. ⁹ May the nomads bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust. ¹⁰ May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring gifts, and may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer tribute. ¹¹ May all kings bow down to him, and all nations serve him. ¹² For he will deliver the needy when they cry out for help, and the poor when there is no deliverer. ¹³ He will have compassion on the poor and the needy, and he will save the lives of the needy. ¹⁴ He will redeem them from oppression and violence, since their lives are precious in his sight.
¹⁵ Prayer for the KingMay he live long and be given gold from Sheba, and may prayer be offered for him continuously, and may he be blessed every day. ¹⁶ May grain be abundant in the land all the way to the mountain tops; may its fruits flourish like the forests of Lebanon, and may the cities sprout like the grass of the earth.
¹⁷ Praising the God of IsraelMay his fame be eternal— as long as the sun— may his name endure, and may they be blessed through him, and may all nations call him blessed. ¹⁸ Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does awesome deeds. ¹⁹ And blessed be his glorious name forever, and may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen!

¹ A psalm
Sing Praise to the King Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done awesome deeds! His right hand and powerful arm have brought him victory. ² The LORD has made his deliverance known; he has disclosed his justice before the nations. ³ He has remembered his gracious love; his faithfulness toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth saw our God’s deliverance. ⁴ Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Break forth into joyful songs of praise! ⁵ Sing praises to the LORD with a lyre— with a lyre and a melodious song! ⁶ With trumpets and the sound of a ram’s horn shout in the presence of the LORD, the king! ⁷ Let the sea and everything in it shout, along with the world and its inhabitants; ⁸ let the rivers clap their hands in unison; and let the mountains sing for joy ⁹ in the LORD’s presence, who comes to judge the earth; He’ll judge the world righteously; and its people fairly.

¹² As distant as the east is from the west, that is how far he has removed our sins from us.

¹⁶ An Invitation to Reconciliation“Wash yourselves, and make yourselves clean; remove your evil behavior from my presence; stop practicing what is evil. ¹⁷ Learn to practice what is good; seek justice, alleviate oppression, defend orphans in court, and plead the widow’s case. ¹⁸ “Please come, and let’s reason together,” implores the LORD. “Even though your sins are like scarlet, they’ll be white like snow. Though they’re like crimson, they’ll become like wool. ¹⁹ If you’re willing and obedient, you’ll eat the best that the land produces; ²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel, you’ll be devoured by the sword, because the LORD has spoken.”

¹ A Message for Judah and JerusalemThe message that Amoz’s son Isaiah received concerning Judah and Jerusalem: ² “It will come about in the last days that the mountain that is the LORD’s Temple will be established as the highest of mountains, and will be raised above the hills; all the nations will stream to it. ³ Many groups of people will come, commenting, “Come! Let’s go up to the Temple of the God of Jacob, that they may teach us his ways. Then let’s walk in his paths.”
The Rule of God from Jerusalem “Instruction will proceed from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

¹⁰ Dull the mind of this people, deafen their ears, and blind their eyes. By doing so, they won’t see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed.”

²⁵ “I, I am the one who blots out your transgression for my own sake, and I’ll remember your sins no more.

²² I’ve wiped away your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist. Return to me; because I’ve redeemed you.

¹⁰ They won’t hunger or thirst, nor will the desert heat or sun beat upon them; for the one who has compassion on them will drive them and guide them alongside springs of water. ¹¹ I’ll turn all my mountains into a road, and my highways will be raised up. ¹² “Watch! They’ll come from far away— some from the north and from the west, and others from the Aswan region.” ¹³ Shout with joy, you heavens, and rock with glee, you earth! Break out in song, you mountains! The LORD is comforting his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
¹⁴ Zion Not Forgotten“But Zion said, ‘The LORD has abandoned me, and my God has forgotten me.’ ¹⁵ “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or have no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these mothers may forget; But as for me, I’ll never forget you! ¹⁶ Look! I’ve inscribed you on the palms of my hands, and your walls are forever before me. ¹⁷ Your builders are working faster than your destroyers, and those who devastated you go away from you. ¹⁸ Lift up your eyes and look around— they have all gathered together and are coming to you. “As surely as I live,” says the LORD, “you will clothe yourself with all of them like ornaments, and tie them on like a bride. ¹⁹ Indeed, your ruins, your desolate places, and your devastated land will now be too crowded for your inhabitants, while those who swallowed you up will be far away. ²⁰ “The children who are grieving at present will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too crowded for me; make room for me, so I may have a place to live.’ ²¹ Then you’ll ask in your heart, ‘Who bore these children for me, although I was childless and barren, and an exile and cast aside? Who brought these up? Look! For my part I was left all alone; but as for these, where have they come from?’ ²² “For this what the LORD says, ‘Watch! I’ll lift up my hand to the nations and raise my banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.’

¹¹ A Promise of Return to the Land“The scattered ones of the LORD will return, and they will enter Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will be upon their heads; they will attain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

¹ The Redemption of Zion Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for the uncircumcised and the unclean won’t enter you. ² Shake yourself from the dust and arise, and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem! Loosen the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
³ For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and you’ll be redeemed without money.”
⁴ For this is what the LORD says: “My people went down long ago into Egypt to live there; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause.
⁵ “Now therefore, what am I doing here,” asks the LORD, “seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Those who rule over them are deluded,” says the LORD, “and continuously, all the day long, my name is blasphemed. ⁶ Therefore my people will know my name; in that day they’ll know that it is I who speaks, ‘Here I am!’ ⁷ “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the one who brings news of peace, who announces good things, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’ ⁸ Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for they will see in plain sight the return of the LORD to Zion with compassion. ⁹ “Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted his people, and he has redeemed Jerusalem. ¹⁰ The LORD has bared his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

¹ The Coming Glory of Israel “Sing, you barren woman, even the one who never bore a child! Burst into song and shout for joy, even you who were never in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married,” says the LORD. ² “Enlarge the location of your tent, let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched wide, and don’t hold back. Lengthen your cords; strengthen your stakes. ³ For you will spread out to the right hand and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will populate the deserted towns. ⁴ “Don’t be afraid, because you won’t be ashamed; don’t fear shame, for you won’t be humiliated— because you will forget the disgrace of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. ⁵ For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name, and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of the whole earth. ⁶ For the LORD has called you back like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,” says the LORD your God. ⁷ “For a brief moment I abandoned you; but I’ll gather you with great compassion. ⁸ I hid my face from you for a moment in a surge of anger, but I will have compassion on you with my everlasting gracious love,” says the LORD your Redeemer.
⁹ God’s Reconciliation with Israel“For this is like the waters of Noah to me, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again spread over the earth; so have I sworn that I won’t be angry with you again and that I won’t rebuke you. ¹⁰ For the mountains may collapse and the hills may reel, but my gracious love will not depart from you, neither will my covenant of peace totter,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. ¹¹ “O afflicted one, passed back and forth, and not comforted, Look! I am about to set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. ¹² And I’ll make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. ¹³ Then all your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children’s prosperity. ¹⁴ “In righteousness you’ll be established; you will be far from tyranny, for you won’t be afraid, and from terror, for it won’t come near you.

⁶ Steps to Reconciliation“Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous person his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, So he’ll have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he’ll pardon abundantly.

¹ The Light of God’s Deliverance “Arise, shine! For your light has come; the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. ² For look! Darkness will cover the earth and thick darkness is over the people, but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. ³ Nations will come to your light, and kings before your dawn. ⁴ “Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather together, they come to you; your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried on the hip.” ⁵ Then you will look and be radiant; your heart will swell with joy, because the abundance of the seas will be diverted to you, and the riches of the nations will come to you. ⁶ Throngs of camels will blanket you: the young camels of Midian and Ephu; all those from Shebu will come. They’ll carry gold and frankincense, and proclaim the praise of the LORD. ⁷ All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you. and they’ll come up with acceptance upon my altar, and I’ll glorify my glorious house.”
⁸ The Future Restoration of Zion“Who are these that fly like clouds, and like doves to their windows? ⁹ For the coastlands will look to me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring my children from far away, their silver and gold with them, to the name of the LORD your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. ¹⁰ “Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in my anger I struck you down, in my favor I have shown you mercy. ¹¹ Your gates will always stand open by day or night, and they will not be shut, so that nations will bring you their wealth, with their kings led in procession. ¹² For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; those nations will be utterly ruined. ¹³ “He has given you the glory of Lebanon, and it will come to you, the cypress, and the plane tree, and the pine, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. ¹⁴ “All the descendants of those who oppressed you will come bending low before you, and all those who despised you will bow down at your feet. They’ll call you ‘The City of the LORD,’ ‘Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’”
¹⁵ Israel: the Joy of Generations“Although you have been forsaken and despised, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride, the joy of all generations. ¹⁶ You’ll suck the milk of nations, You’ll suck the breasts of kings. Then you will realize that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. ¹⁷ “Instead of bronze, I’ll bring gold, and instead of iron, I’ll bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. I’ll appoint peace as your supervisor and righteousness as your taskmaster. ¹⁸ Then violence will no longer be heard in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders; but you’ll call your walls ‘Salvation’, and your gates ‘Praise’. ¹⁹ “The sun will no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness will the moon shine on you by night— for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. ²⁰ Your sun won’t set, nor will your moon withdraw itself— for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning will end. ²¹ Then your people will all be righteous; They’ll possess the land forever. They are the shoot that the LORD planted, the works of his hands, so that I might be glorified. ²² The least of them will become a thousand, and the smallest one a mighty nation. “I am the LORD; When the time is right, I will do this swiftly.”

³ to provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” “Then people will call them “Oaks of Righteousness”, “The Planting of the LORD”, in order to display his splendor.

⁹ Your offspring will be known among the nations, and your descendants among the people. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed.”

¹⁷ A New UniverseTake notice! I’m about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things won’t be remembered, nor will they come to mind. ¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating, for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. ¹⁹ I’ll rejoice over Jerusalem, and take delight in my people; no longer will the sound of weeping be heard in it, nor the cry of distress. ²⁰ “And there will no longer be in it a young boy who lives only a few days, or an old person who does not live out his days; for one who dies at a hundred years will be thought a mere youth, and one who falls short of a hundred years will be considered accursed. ²¹ People will build houses and live in them; They’ll plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ²² They won’t build for others to inhabit; they won’t plant for others to eat— for like the lifetime of a tree, so will the lifetime of my people be, and my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. ²³ They won’t toil in vain nor bear children doomed to misfortune, for they will be offspring blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. ²⁴ Before they call, I will answer, while they are still speaking, I’ll hear. ²⁵ “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; but as for the serpent— its food will be dust! They won’t harm or destroy on my entire holy mountain,”
says the LORD.

¹⁰ “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be happy for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in gladness, all you who mourn over her, ¹¹ so that you may nurse and be satisfied at her consoling breasts, and so that you may drink deeply and take delight from her glorious bosom.”
¹² The Rule of GodThis is what the LORD says: “See, I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; and you will nurse, and you will be carried on her hip, and bounced upon her knees. ¹³ Like a child whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And when you look, your hearts will rejoice and your bodies will flourish like grass; and it will be made known that the LORD’s hand is with his servants, but his fury is with his enemies.

¹⁸ “But as for me, I know their actions and their thoughts. Come and gather all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.
¹⁹ “I will put up signs among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations—to Tarshish, Libya, and Lydia, (who draw the bow), to Tubal and Greece, to the far off coastlands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. Then they will proclaim my glory among the nations. ²⁰ They will bring all—yes, all!— of your kindred from all the nations to my holy mountain Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD—on horses, in chariots, in wagons, and on mules—yes, even on mules!— and on camels,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelis bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the LORD’s house. ²¹ Then I will also select some of them for myself as priests and as Levites,” says the LORD. ²² “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I am about to make will endure before me,” says the LORD, “so will your descendants and your name endure.

¹⁸ Ephraim’s Prayer and Confession“I’ve certainly heard Ephraim shuddering with grief as they said, ‘You have disciplined me, and I’m disciplined like an untrained calf. Restore me, and let me return, for you are the LORD my God. ¹⁹ Indeed, after I turned away, then I repented. And after I came to understand, I slapped my forehead. I was both ashamed and humiliated because I bear the disgrace of my youth.’”
²⁰ God’s Gracious Response“Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? Indeed, as often as I’ve spoken about him, I surely still remember him. Therefore I deeply yearn for him. I’ll surely have great compassion on him,” declares the LORD.

²² How long will you go this way and that, rebellious daughter? Indeed, the LORD will create a new thing on the earth; a woman will protect a man.
²³ This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “They’ll again speak this message in the land of Judah and its towns when I restore their fortunes: ‘The LORD bless you, righteous dwelling, holy mountain.’ ²⁴ Judah and all its towns will live together in the land, along with farmers and those who follow the flock. ²⁵ I’ll provide abundance for those who are weary, and fill all who are faint.” ²⁶ Then I awoke and looked around, and I had had a pleasant sleep.

³³ “Rather, this is the covenant that I’ll make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD. “I’ll put my Law within them and will write it on their hearts. I’ll be their God and they will be my people. ³⁴ No longer will a person teach his neighbor or his relative: ‘Know the LORD.’ Instead, they’ll all know me, from the least to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD. “Indeed, I’ll forgive their iniquity, and I’ll remember their sin no more.”

³⁷ I’m about to gather my people from all the lands where I’ve driven them in my anger, wrath, and great indignation. I’ll bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. ³⁸ They’ll be my people, and I’ll be their God. ³⁹ I’ll give them one heart and one lifestyle so they’ll fear me always for their own good and for the good of their descendants after them. ⁴⁰ I’ll make an everlasting covenant with them that I won’t turn away from doing good for them. I’ll put the fear of me in their hearts so they won’t turn away from me. ⁴¹ I’ll rejoice over them to do good for them, and I’ll faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.’

¹⁵ In those days and at that time I’ll cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he will uphold justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ At that time Judah will be delivered and Jerusalem will dwell in safety. And this is the name people will call it, “The LORD is Our Righteousness.”’ ¹⁷ For this is what the LORD says: ‘David will never be without a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel, ¹⁸ nor will the Levitical priests be without a man offering up burnt offerings, bringing in grain offerings, and offering sacrifices continuously before me.’”
¹⁹ This message from the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁰ “This is what the LORD says: ‘If you could break my covenant with the day and night so that day and night wouldn’t occur at the proper time, ²¹ then my covenant with my servant David might also be broken so that he wouldn’t have a son sitting on his throne, and so also with my servants the Levitical priests. ²² As the heavenly bodies cannot be counted, and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I’ll multiply the descendants of my servant David and the descendants of Levi who serve me.’”
²³ This message from the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁴ “Haven’t you noticed what these people have been saying?—‘The LORD rejected the two families that he had chosen!’ They have contempt for my people and no longer consider them a nation. ²⁵ This is what the LORD says: ‘If I had not established my covenant for day and night and the laws that govern the heavens and earth, ²⁶ then I might reject the descendants of Jacob and my servant David by not taking some of his descendants as rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Indeed, I’ll restore their fortunes, and I’ll have compassion on them.’”

²⁰ In those days and at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘the iniquity of Israel will be searched for, but there will be none; and the sin of Judah, but none will be found, because I’ll pardon those I leave as a remnant.’”

⁴⁰ Let us examine our lifestyles, putting them to the test, and turn back to the LORD.

²¹ Restore us to yourself, LORD, so that we may return. Renew our days as before,

³⁰ A Command to Repent“Therefore, Israel, I’m going to judge you according to the behavior of each and every one of you,” declares the Lord GOD. “So repent and turn from all your sins so that sin won’t keep on being a stumbling block for you. ³¹ Stop your transgressing—the deeds by which you’ve rebelled—and then make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, you house of Israel? ³² I don’t take pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the LORD. “So repent, so you may live!”

²³ God’s Shepherd: His Servant David“‘Then I’ll install one shepherd for them—my servant David—and he will feed them, will be there for them, and will serve as their shepherd. ²⁴ I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will rule among them as Prince.’ I, the LORD, have spoken this.
²⁵ “I’m going to enter into a covenant with them, one of peace, and I’ll eliminate wild beasts from the land so they can live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests. ²⁶ I’m going to make them and everything that surrounds my hill a blessing. I’ll send down the rain! At the appropriate time there will be a rainstorm of blessing! ²⁷ I’ll bring fruit to the trees in the orchards, the land will yield its produce, they will live securely on their land, and they will learn that I am the LORD, when I break the bar that has been their yoke and deliver them from the control of those who have enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer be plundered by the nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will settle down confidently, with nothing to frighten them. ²⁹ I’m going to prepare for them the best of gardening spots. They will no longer live as victims in a land of starvation, nor will they have to bear the insults of the international community. ³⁰ That’s when they’ll learn that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people,’ declares the Lord GOD. ³¹ ‘And as for you, my sheep, the flock that I’m pasturing, you are mankind, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

²¹ Then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Watch me take the Israelis out of the nations where they’ve gone and return them from every direction. I’m going to bring them back into their own land. ²² I’m going to make them a united people in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and I’ll set a single king to rule over them. They’ll never again be two separate people. They’ll never again be divided into two kingdoms. ²³ They will never again defile themselves with their idols, with other loathsome things, or with any of their sins. Instead, I will deliver them from all of the places where they have sinned, and then I’ll cleanse them. They will be my people and I will be their God.”’”
²⁴ David’s Rule as King“‘“My servant King David will be there for them, and one shepherd will be appointed for them. They will live according to my decrees, keep my regulations, and practice them. ²⁵ They will live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob and on which your ancestors lived. They will live in that land, along with their children and grandchildren, forever. David my servant will be their everlasting leader. ²⁶ I’ll make a secure covenant with them, one that will last forever. I will establish them, make them increase in population, and will place my sanctuary in their midst forever. ²⁷ I will pitch my tent among them and will be their God. They will be my people, ²⁸ and the nations will learn that I, the LORD, am the sanctifier of Israel when I place my sanctuary in their midst forever.”’”

²⁵ The Final Restoration of Israel“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD has to say: ‘I’m going to restore the resources of Jacob and show mercy to the entire house of Israel. I’ll be zealous for my own reputation and for my holiness. ²⁶ They’ll forget their shame and all of their unfaithfulness by which they behaved so unfaithfully toward me. They will live on their land in confidence, not in fear. ²⁷ When I bring them back from the nations and gather them together from the lands that belong to their enemies, I will demonstrate my holiness through them right in front of the eyes of the world, ²⁸ and they will learn that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into exile and who gathered them back to their land. I will not leave any of them remaining in exile. ²⁹ I’ll no longer hide my presence from them again when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

¹³ As it’s written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has befallen us, but we still haven’t sought the LORD our God by turning from our lawlessness to pay attention to your truth.

¹⁹ I will make you my wife forever— I will make you my wife in a way that is righteous, in a manner that is just, by a love that is gracious, and by a motive that is mercy. ²⁰ I will make you my wife because of my faithfulness, and you will know the LORD. ²¹ “It will come about at that time that I will respond,” declares the LORD, “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth. ²² The earth will respond with grain, new wine, and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. ²³ I will plant my people in the land for myself. I will show mercy on her who has received no mercy I will say to those who are not my people, ‘You are my people!’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

² Bring a prepared speech with you as you return to the LORD. Say to him: ‘Take away all our iniquity, and accept what is good. Then we will present the fruit of our lips.

¹³ Tear your hearts, not your garments; and turn back to the LORD your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to become angry, overflowing in gracious love, and grieves about this evil.

¹⁶ “The LORD will roar from Zion, and shout from Jerusalem. The heavens and the earth will shake, but the LORD will be the refuge of his people, and the strength of the people of Israel.”
¹⁷ God’s Blessings on His People“And truly you will know that I am the LORD your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no foreigners will invade her again. ¹⁸ It will come about at that time that the mountains will drip with newly pressed wine, the hills will flow with milk, and the streams of Judah will flow abundantly. A fountain will spring from the Temple of the LORD, to water the Valley of the Acacias. ¹⁹ Egypt will be desolate, and Edom will be a desert, because of violence against the people of Judah since they shed innocent blood in their land. ²⁰ But Judah will live forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. ²¹ I will acquit their bloodguilt that has not yet been acquitted. For the LORD lives in Zion!”

¹³ “Look! The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the one who sows will overtake the harvester and the treader of grapes will overtake the planter. Fresh wine will drip down from the mountains, cascading down from the hills. ¹⁴ I will surely restore my people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and drink the wine from them. They will plant gardens and eat the fruit from them. ¹⁵ I will plant the people of Israel in their own land, never again to be torn out of their land that I gave them,” says the LORD your God.

¹⁴ Use your rod to shepherd your people, the flock that belongs to you, that lives alone in the forest of Carmel. Let them find pasture in Bashan and Gilead, as they did long ago. ¹⁵ As I did when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show you awesome things.

¹⁸ Who is like God?Is there any God like you, forgiving iniquity, passing over transgressions by the survivors who are your heritage? He is not angry forever, because he delights in gracious love. ¹⁹ He will again show us compassion; he will subdue our iniquities. You will hurl all their sins into the deepest sea.

¹⁴ “Sing aloud, daughter of Zion! Shout out, Israel! Rejoice with all of your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! ¹⁵ The LORD has acquitted you; turning back your adversaries. Israel’s king, the LORD, is among you; you will not fear disaster anymore. ¹⁶ “When all of this happens, it will be told Jerusalem, ‘Don’t be afraid!” and to Zion, ‘Don’t lose courage!” ¹⁷ The LORD your God among you is powerful— he will save and he will take joyful delight in you. In his love he will renew you with his love; he will celebrate with singing because of you. ¹⁸ I will gather the afflicted from the solemn assembly; those who were with you, who were bearing a burden of disgrace. ¹⁹ “Watch how I deal with everyone who oppresses you! At that time I will rescue the one who is lame, and I will draw to me the one who has been driven away. I will honor them with praise and with a good reputation in every land where they have been put to shame. ²⁰ At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. Indeed, I will give you a good reputation, making you praiseworthy among all of the people of the world, when I restore your prosperity before your eyes,” says the LORD.

²⁰ Future Visits by Nations to Jerusalem“This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘In the future, people will come, including residents of many cities, ²¹ and they will travel from one place to another place and say, “Let’s go quickly to pray in the presence of the LORD and to inquire of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.’ And I will go, too. ²² Many people and powerful nations will come to inquire of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies in Jerusalem, and to pray in the presence of the LORD.”’”
²³ “This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘In the future, ten men speaking all the languages of the nations will grab hold of one Jewish person by the hem of his garment and say, “Let us go up to Jerusalem with you, because we heard that God is with you.”’”

¹⁵ for this people’s heart has become dull, and their ears are hard of hearing. They have shut their eyes so that they might not see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

³ Then he said, “I tell all of you with certainty, unless you change and become like little children, you will never get into the kingdom from heaven.

¹⁶ He will bring many of Israel’s descendants back to the Lord their God.

⁶ Now those who had gathered together began to ask Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”

³⁸ Peter answered them, “Every one of you must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.

²¹ He must remain in heaven until the time of universal restitution, which God announced long ago through the voice of his holy prophets.

¹⁸ When they heard this, they calmed down, and praised God by saying, “So God has given repentance that leads to life even to gentiles.”

²¹ The hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

³ They were sent on their way by the church, and as they were going through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers.

²⁶ From one man he made every nation of humanity to live all over the earth, fixing the seasons of the year and the national boundaries within which they live,

¹⁸ You will help them understand and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan’s control to God, so that their sins will be forgiven and they will receive a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
¹⁹ “And so, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. ²⁰ Instead, I first told the people in Damascus and Jerusalem, then all the people in Judea—and after that the gentiles—to repent, turn to God, and perform deeds that are consistent with such repentance.

²⁷ For this people’s minds have become stupid, and their ears can barely hear, and they have shut their eyes so that they may never see with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn and let me heal them.”’

²⁵ The Restoration of IsraelFor I want to let you know about this secret, brothers, so that you will not claim to be wiser than you are: Stubbornness has come to part of Israel until the full number of the gentiles comes to faith.

⁷ and to give us who are afflicted relief when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels

¹⁰ when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be regarded with wonder on that day by all who have believed—including you, because you believed our testimony.

²⁵ and gentle when refuting opponents. After all, maybe God will allow them to repent and to come to a full knowledge of the truth,

⁷ Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. ⁸ Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence, and he will exalt you.

¹⁹ My brothers, if one of you wanders away from the truth and somebody brings him back, ²⁰ you may be sure that whoever brings a sinner back from his wrong path will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

²⁵ You were “like sheep that kept going astray,” but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

⁸ Don’t forget this fact, dear friends: With the Lord a single day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a single day.

⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won’t be death anymore. There won’t be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared.”

²⁷ The Son of Man is going to come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to what he has done.

³ Cults, Revolutions, Famines, and Earthquakes
While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things take place, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all ‘the tribes of the land will mourn’ when they see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. ³¹ He’ll send out his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they’ll gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another.”
³² The Lesson from the Fig Tree
“Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches become tender and it produces leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ In the same way, when you see all these things, you’ll know that the Son of Man is near, right at the door. ³⁴ I tell all of you with certainty, this generation won’t disappear until these things happen. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”
³⁶ The Unknown Day and Hour of Messiah’s Return
“No one knows when that day or hour will come—not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father,

²⁶ Then people will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.

³⁰ I tell all of you with certainty, this generation will not disappear until all these things take place. ³¹ Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”
³² The Unknown Day and Hour of the Messiah’s Return
“No one knows when that day or hour will come—not the angels in heaven, not the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Be careful! Watch out! Because you don’t know when the time will come. ³⁴ It’s like a man who went on a trip. As he left home, he put his servants in charge, each with his own work, and he ordered the doorkeeper to be alert. ³⁵ So keep on watching, because you don’t know when the master of the house is coming—whether in the evening, at three o’clock in the morning, or at dawn. ³⁶ Otherwise, he may come suddenly and find you asleep. ³⁷ I’m telling you what I’m telling everyone: Be alert!”

¹¹ The Parable about the CoinsAs they were listening to this, Jesus went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and because the people thought that the kingdom of God would appear immediately.

²⁷ Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.

³¹ because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world with justice through a man whom he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

² not to be so quickly upset or alarmed when someone claims that we said, either by some spirit, conversation, or letter that the Day of the Lord has already come.

⁸ Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy with the breath of his mouth, rendering him powerless by the manifestation of his coming.

²⁸ so the Messiah was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people. And he will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly wait for him.

⁷ Look! He is coming in the clouds. Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him.So be it! Amen.

¹¹ The Vision of the Coming of the MessiahThen I saw heaven standing open, and there was a white horse! Its rider is named Faithful and True. He administers justice and wages war righteously. ¹² His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many royal crowns. He has a name written on him that nobody knows except himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, follow him on white horses. ¹⁵ A sharp sword comes out of his mouth to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod and tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe that covers his thigh he has a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

²⁶ Let me restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you’ll be called ‘The Righteous City’ and ‘The Faithful City of Zion’.

³ he will sit refining and purifying silver, purifying the descendants of Levi, refining them like gold and silver. Then they’ll bring a righteous offering to the LORD. ⁴ Then the offering to the LORD by Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable as it was in the past, even as in former years.

⁵ “Pay attention! I’m sending Elijah the prophet to you before the great and dreadful Day of the LORD comes, ⁶ and he will turn the hearts of fathers to children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I’ll come, strike the land, and utterly destroy it.”

¹¹ He answered them, “Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things. ¹² But I tell you that Elijah has already come, yet people did not recognize him and treated him just as they pleased. In the same way, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

¹¹ So they asked him, “Don’t the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
¹² He told them, “Elijah is indeed coming first and will restore all things. Why, then, is it written that the Son of Man must suffer a great deal and be treated shamefully? ¹³ But I tell you that Elijah has come, yet people treated him just as they pleased, as it is written about him.”

⁷⁰ just as he promised long ago through the mouth of his holy prophets

¹¹ They asked, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go up into heaven.”

¹⁹ Therefore, repent and turn to him to have your sins blotted out,

⁴³ All the prophets testify to this: everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

²¹ that the creation itself would also be set free from corrupting bondage in order to share the glorious freedom of God’s children.

²¹ because no prophecy ever originated through a human decision. Instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

² to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the commandment of our Lord and Savior spoken through your apostles.

²⁰ Be happy about her, heaven, saints, apostles, and prophets, for God has condemned her for you!”

⁶ He is Coming SoonHe told me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord God of the spirits and of the prophets has sent his messenger to show his servants the things that must happen soon.”

¹⁵ Discerning the True Prophet“The LORD your God will raise up a prophet like me for you from among your relatives. You must listen to him, ¹⁶ because this is what you asked from the LORD your God at Horeb when you were assembled together: ‘Don’t let us hear the voice of the LORD our God again, or even see this great fire—otherwise, we will die.’
¹⁷ “Then the LORD told me: ‘What they have suggested is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up a prophet like you from among their relatives, and I will place my words in his mouth so that he may expound everything that I have commanded to them. ¹⁹ But if someone will not listen to those words that the prophet speaks in my name, I will hold him accountable.

³ Pay attention to me, come to me; and listen, so that you may live; then I’ll make an everlasting covenant with you, as promised by my faithful, sure love for David. ⁴ “Look! I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples.

⁴ Then Peter told Jesus, “Lord, it’s good that we’re here! If you want, I’ll set up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁵ He was still speaking when a bright cloud suddenly overshadowed them.
A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him. Keep on listening to him!”

⁴ Then Elijah appeared to them, accompanied by Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
⁵ Then Peter told Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good that we’re here! Let’s set up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ (Peter didn’t know how to respond, because they were terrified.)
⁷ Then a cloud appeared and overshadowed them. A voice came out of the cloud and said, “This is my Son, whom I love. Keep on listening to him!”

³⁰ Suddenly, two men were talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah. ³¹ They had a glorified appearance, and were discussing Jesus’ departure that he would shortly bring about in Jerusalem.
³² Now Peter and the men with him had been overcome by sleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him. ³³ Just as Moses and Elijah were leaving, Peter told Jesus, “Master, it’s good that we’re here! Let’s set up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Peter didn’t know what he was saying.) ³⁴ But while he was saying this, a cloud appeared and surrounded them, and they became terrified as they were being overshadowed by the cloud.
³⁵ Then a voice came out of the cloud and said, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen. Keep listening to him!”

³³ But I must be on my way today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it’s not possible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’

¹⁹ He asked them, “What things?”
They answered him, “The events involving Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in what he said and did before God and all the people,

¹⁷ because while the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus the Messiah.

²⁴ “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, whoever hears what I say and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has passed from death to life.

³⁹ You examine the Scriptures carefully because you suppose that in them you have eternal life. Yet they testify about me. ⁴⁰ But you are not willing to come to me to have life.
⁴¹ “I do not accept human praise. ⁴² I know that you do not have the love of God in you. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me. Yet if another man comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe when you accept each other’s praise and do not look for the praise that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵ Do not suppose that I will be the one to accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope, ⁴⁶ because if you believed Moses, you would believe me, since he wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe my words?”

¹² Jesus the Light of the WorldLater on, Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

⁴⁶ I’ve come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me won’t remain in the darkness.

³⁷ It was this Moses who told the Israelis, ‘God will raise up a prophet for you from among your own brothers, just as he did me.’

³ For what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did. By sending his own Son in the form of humanity, he condemned sin by being incarnate,

⁵ To the Israelis belong the patriarchs, and from them, the Messiah descended, who is God over all, the one who is forever blessed. Amen.

⁴ But when the appropriate time had come, God sent his Son, born by a woman, born under the Law,

¹ God Has Spoken to UsGod, having spoken in former times in fragmentary and varied fashion to our forefathers by the prophets, ² has in these last days spoken to us by a Son whom he appointed to be the heir of everything and through whom he also made the universe.

¹ We Must Not Neglect Our SalvationFor this reason we must pay closer attention to the things we have heard, or we may drift away,

⁹ But we do see someone who was made a little lower than the angels. He is Jesus, who is crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might experience death for everyone.
¹⁰ It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering as part of his plan to glorify many children, ¹¹ because both the one who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified all have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers ¹² when he says, “I will announce your name to my brothers. I will praise you within the congregation.” ¹³ And again, “I will trust him.” And again, “I am here with the children God has given me.”
¹⁴ Therefore, since the children have flesh and blood, he himself also shared the same things, so that by his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death (that is, the devil) ¹⁵ and might free those who were slaves all their lives because they were terrified by death. ¹⁶ For it is clear that he did not come to help angels. No, he came to help Abraham’s descendants, ¹⁷ thereby becoming like his brothers in every way, so that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and could atone for the people’s sins.

¹ The Revelation of Jesus the Messiah to the Seven ChurchesThis is the revelation of Jesus the Messiah, which God gave him to show his servants the things that must happen soon. He made it known by sending his messenger to his servant John,

²⁹ Anyone who doesn’t humble himself that same day is to be eliminated from contact with his people.

¹⁹ But if someone will not listen to those words that the prophet speaks in my name, I will hold him accountable.

¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever doesn’t believe will be condemned.

¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s unique Son. ¹⁹ And this is the basis for judgment: The light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light because their actions were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who practices wickedness hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his actions may not be exposed.

²⁴ That is why I told you that you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I AM, you’ll die in your sins.”

⁴⁸ The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my words has something to judge him: The word that I’ve spoken will judge him on the last day,

³⁸ “Therefore, brothers, you must understand that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and that everyone who believes in him is justified and freed from everything that kept you from being justified by the Law of Moses. ⁴⁰ So be careful that what the prophets said doesn’t happen to you: ⁴¹ ‘Look, you mockers! Be amazed and die! Since I am performing an action in your days, one that you would not believe even if someone told you!’”

⁷ and to give us who are afflicted relief when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels ⁸ in blazing fire. He will take revenge on those who do not know God and on those who refuse to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ Such people will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction by being separated from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious power

³ how will we escape if we neglect a salvation as great as this? It was first proclaimed by the Lord himself, and then it was confirmed to us by those who heard him,

²⁸ Anyone who violates the Law of Moses dies without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.” ²⁹ How much more severe a punishment do you think that person deserves who tramples on God’s Son, treats as common the blood of the covenant by which it was sanctified, and insults the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know the one who said, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will pay them back,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

³⁹ Now, we do not belong to those who turn back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

²⁵ See to it that you do not ignore the one who is speaking. For if the hearers did not escape when they ignored the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we turn away from the one who is from heaven!

⁸ All those who had become settled down and at home, living on the earth, will worship it, everyone whose name had not been written in the Book of Life belonging to the lamb that had been slaughtered since the foundation of the world.

¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

¹⁸ Samuel at ShilohNow Samuel was ministering in the LORD’s presence, as a boy wearing a linen ephod.

¹ The LORD Calls SamuelMeanwhile the boy Samuel was serving the LORD before Eli. A word from the LORD was rare in those days, and visions were infrequent.

²⁰ All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as the LORD’s prophet.

⁶ Moses and Aaron were among his priests; Samuel also was among those who invoked his name. When they called on the LORD, he answered them.

¹ The Destiny of the JudgedThen the LORD told me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were standing before me, I wouldn’t be favorably disposed toward this people. Send them out of my presence! Let them go!

²⁷ Then, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them all the passages of Scripture about himself.

²⁰ for about 450 years.
“After that, he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel.

²¹ God Gives Us Righteousness through FaithBut now, apart from the Law, God’s righteousness is revealed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets—

³ I’ll bless those who bless you, but I’ll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed.”

⁹ The Sign of the CovenantGod continued to speak to Abraham, “You and your descendants who are born in the future are to keep my covenant—that is, you and your descendants, generation after generation. ¹⁰ Here is my covenant that you are to observe, between me and you and your descendants: Every male among you is to be circumcised.

¹⁹ But God replied, “No, but your wife Sarah will give birth to your son, and you are to name him Isaac. I’ll confirm my covenant with him as an eternal covenant for his descendants.

¹⁸ “since Abraham’s descendants will become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him?

⁷ Now then, return the man’s wife. As a matter of fact, he’s a prophet and can intercede for you so you’ll live. But if you don’t return her, be aware that you and all who are yours will certainly die.”

¹⁸ Furthermore, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my command.”

⁴ I’ll cause you to have as many descendants as the stars of the heavens, and I’ll certainly give all these lands to your descendants. Later on, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless one another.

³⁶ Then he said, “Isn’t his name rightly called Jacob?” Esau asked. “He has circumvented me this second time. First, he took away my birthright, and now, look how he also stole my blessing.” Then he added, “Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?”
³⁷ In response, Isaac told Esau, “Look! I’ve predicted that he’s going to become your master, and I’ve assigned all his brothers to be his servants. What then can I do for you, my son?”
³⁸ Then Esau implored his father, “Don’t you have even one blessing for me, my father? Bless me, even me too, my father!” Then Esau lifted his voice and wept bitterly.
³⁹ At this, his father Isaac replied to him, “Look! Away from the fertile land will be your dwellings; away from the dew of the skies above. ⁴⁰ By your sword you’ll live; but you’ll serve your brother. But when you’ve become restless, you’ll break off his yoke from your neck.”

¹⁴ Your descendants are going to become like the dust of the earth and spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.

¹⁴ But Israel stretched out his right hand, laying it on Ephraim’s head (he was the younger son) and laying his left hand on Manasseh’s head (even though Manasseh was the firstborn).
¹⁵ Israel Blesses Joseph’s SonsThen Israel blessed Joseph by saying: “May the God in whose presence my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has continued shepherding me my whole life even until today, ¹⁶ the angel who has been rescuing me from all sorts of evil, bless these young men. May my name continue to live on within them, including the names of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a vast multitude throughout the earth.”
¹⁷ But Joseph observed that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head. That displeased him, so he grabbed his father’s hand and started to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ “No, father, this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.”
¹⁹ But his father refused. “I know,” he said. “I know. He’s going to produce a large nation, and he’s going to be very great. However, his younger brother will become even greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”
²⁰ That very day, Jacob blessed them with this blessing: “By you Israel will extend this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’”
By doing this, he placed Ephraim before Manasseh.

¹ Jacob’s Final BlessingsAfter this, Jacob called his sons together and told them, “Assemble yourselves around me so I can tell you all what is going to happen to you in the last days. ² “Gather together and listen, you children of Jacob. Listen to your father Israel.”
³ On the Future of Reuben“Reuben, you’re my firstborn, my strength, and the first fruit of my vitality. You excel in rank and excel in power. ⁴ But you’re as undisciplined as a roaring river, so eventually you won’t succeed, because you got in your father’s bed, defiled it, and then approached my couch.”
⁵ On the Future of Simeon and Levi“Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are violent weapons. ⁶ I’ll never join their council; I’ll never enter their assembly. In their anger they committed murder and lamed cattle just for fun. ⁷ Their anger is cursed, because it is so fierce, as is their vehemence, because it is so cruel. I will separate them throughout Jacob’s territory and disperse them throughout Israel.”
⁸ On the Future of Judah“Your brothers will praise you, Judah. Your hand will be at the throat of your enemies, and your father’s children will bow down to you. ⁹ Judah is a lion cub. My son, you have gone up from the prey. Crouching like a lion, he lies down, Like a lioness, who would dare rouse him? ¹⁰ The scepter will never depart from Judah, nor a ruler’s staff from between his feet, until the One comes, who owns them both, and to him will belong the allegiance of nations. ¹¹ Binding his donkey to the vine and his mare’s foal to its thick tendrils, he will wash his garments in wine and his robe in the juice of grapes. ¹² His eyes are darker than wine and his teeth whiter than milk.”
¹³ On the Future of Zebulun“Zebulun will settle down near the sea shore and become a safe haven for shipping, bordering Sidon.”
¹⁴ On the Future of Issachar“Issachar is a strong donkey, resting between sheepfolds. ¹⁵ He observed that his resting place was excellent, and that the land was pleasant; he bent down, picked up his burdens, and became a slave at forced labor.”
¹⁶ On the Future of Dan“Dan will judge his people as one of Israel’s tribes. ¹⁷ Dan will be a snake on the path, a viper on the road that snaps at the heels of horses, causing their riders to fall off. ¹⁸ “LORD, I’m waiting for your salvation.”
¹⁹ On the Future of Gad“Bandits will raid Gad, but Gad will raid them back.”
²⁰ On the Future of Asher“Asher’s food will be delicious; he will be a provider of delicacies fit for royalty.”
²¹ On the Future of Naphtali“Naphtali is a free running deer who produces eloquent literature.”
²² On the Future of Joseph“Joseph is descended from a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine planted near springs of water. His branches climb over walls. ²³ Even though enemies attacked him, shooting at him and pursuing him viciously, ²⁴ nevertheless his bow remained steady and his arms kept in shape by the strength of Jacob’s Mighty One, in the name of the Shepherd, Israel’s Rock, ²⁵ by your father’s God who helps you, by the Almighty who will keep on blessing you with blessings from heaven above, with blessings from the deepest ocean, with blessing from the breasts and the womb. ²⁶ Your father’s blessings will prove to be stronger than blessings from the eternal mountains or bounties from the everlasting hills. May they come to rest on Joseph’s head, May they be set upon the brow of the one who was separated from his own brothers.”
²⁷ On the Future of Benjamin“Benjamin is vicious like a wolf; what he kills in the morning he devours in the evening.”
²⁸ Jacob Dies and is BuriedThat’s how Israel blessed these twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father told them when he pronounced his blessing for them, blessing each one with a blessing suitable for them. ²⁹ In his last words, Jacob issued this set of instructions to them all: “I’m about to join our ancestors. Bury me alongside my ancestors in the cave in the field that used to belong to Ephron the Hittite. ³⁰ It’s the cave in the field near Mamre at Machpelah in the land of Canaan that Abraham bought to serve as a cemetery. ³¹ It’s where Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, where Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and where I buried Leah. ³² Both the field and the cave that’s in it were purchased from the Hittites.”
³³ After concluding this set of instructions to his sons, Jacob tucked his feet up into bed, quit breathing, and was gathered to his ancestors.

¹⁷ He confirmed it to Jacob in the form of an ordinance, an eternal covenant to Israel,

⁸ You found him faithful in your sight; you made a covenant with him and you gave the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites to his descendants. And you have kept your word, because you are righteous.

²⁷ All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of the nations will bow in submission to the LORD.

⁷ Ascribe to the LORD, you families of peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!

⁸ He remembers his eternal covenant— every promise he made for a thousand generations, ⁹ like the covenant he made with Abraham, and his promise to Isaac. ¹⁰ He presented it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant. ¹¹ He said: “I will give Canaan to you as the allotted portion that is your inheritance.” ¹² When the Hebrews were few in number—so very few— and were sojourners in it, ¹³ they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. ¹⁴ He did not allow anyone to oppress them, or any kings to reprove them. ¹⁵ “Don’t touch my anointed or hurt my prophets!”

⁹ Don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have father Abraham!’ because I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones! ¹⁰ The ax already lies against the roots of the trees. So every tree that isn’t producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

⁷² He has shown mercy to our ancestors and remembered his holy covenant,

³⁹ For this promise belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those who are distant, whom the Lord our God may call to himself.”

¹³ The Promise Comes through FaithFor the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the Law, but through the righteousness produced by faith.

⁴ who are Israelis. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises. ⁵ To the Israelis belong the patriarchs, and from them, the Messiah descended, who is God over all, the one who is forever blessed. Amen.

⁸ For I tell you that the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth in order to confirm the promises given to our ancestors,

⁸ Because the Scripture saw ahead of time that God would justify the gentiles by faith, it announced the gospel to Abraham beforehand when it said, “Through you all nations will be blessed.”

¹⁶ Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. It doesn’t say “descendants,” referring to many, but “your descendant,” referring to one person, who is the Messiah.

²⁹ And if you belong to the Messiah, then you are Abraham’s descendants indeed, and heirs according to the promise.

⁹ They sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slaughtered. With your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation.

⁹ The Vision of Tribulation SaintsAfter these things, I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands.

⁶ The Vision of Angels Sounding a WarningThen I saw another angel flying overhead with the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.

⁶ May the earth yield its produce. May God, our God, bless us. ⁷ May God truly bless us so that all the peoples of the earth will fear him.

¹⁷ Praising the God of IsraelMay his fame be eternal— as long as the sun— may his name endure, and may they be blessed through him, and may all nations call him blessed.

²⁰ “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” says the LORD.
²¹ “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “And my Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, won’t depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children’s children, from now on and forever.”

⁸ I’ll cleanse them from all their sin that they have committed against me, and I’ll forgive all their sins that they committed against me and by which they rebelled against me. ⁹ Jerusalem will be for me a name of joy, praise, and glory to all the nations of the earth that hear about all the good that I’m doing for them. They’ll fear and tremble because of all the good and because of all the peace that I’m bringing to Jerusalem.’

¹⁹ then I’ll give them a united heart, placing a new spirit within them. I’ll remove their stubborn heart and give them a heart that’s sensitive to me. ²⁰ When they live by my statutes and keep my ordinances by observing them, then they’ll be my people and I will be their God.

²⁵ I’ll sprinkle pure water on you all, and you’ll be cleansed from your impurity and from all of your idols.”
²⁶ “‘“I’m going to give you a new heart, and I’m going to give you a new spirit within all of your deepest parts. I’ll remove that rock-hard heart of yours and replace it with one that’s sensitive to me. ²⁷ I’ll place my spirit within you, empowering you to live according to my regulations and to keep my just decrees. ²⁸ You’ll live in the land that I gave to your ancestors, you’ll be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ In addition, I’ll deliver you from everything that makes you unclean. I’ll call out to the grain you plant, ordering it to produce abundant yields, and I will never bring famine in your direction.

²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he is the one who will save his people from their sins.”

⁵ Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples
These were the Twelve whom Jesus sent out after he had given them these instructions: “Don’t turn on to the road that leads to the unbelievers, and don’t enter Samaritan towns. ⁶ Instead, go to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.

¹⁰ Then the angel told them, “Stop being afraid! Listen! I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today your Savior, the Lord Messiah, was born in the City of David.

⁴⁷ and then repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

⁸ But you’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

¹⁵ and you killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead. We are witnesses to that.

²⁰ so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and so that he may send you Jesus, whom he appointed long ago to be the Messiah.

²² In fact, Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to everything he tells you.

²⁵ You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he told Abraham, ‘Through your descendant all the families of the earth will be blessed.’

³² We’re telling you the good news: What God promised our ancestors ³³ he has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.’

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas boldly declared, “We had to speak God’s word to you first, but since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are now going to turn to the gentiles. ⁴⁷ For that is what the Lord ordered us to do: ‘I have made you a light to the gentiles to be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth.’”

⁴ Every Sabbath, he would speak in the synagogue, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks. ⁵ But when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to the word as he emphatically assured the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. ⁶ But when they began to oppose him and insult him, he shook out his clothes in protest and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the gentiles.”

²⁰ Instead, I first told the people in Damascus and Jerusalem, then all the people in Judea—and after that the gentiles—to repent, turn to God, and perform deeds that are consistent with such repentance.

²³ So they set a day to meet with Paul and came out in large numbers to see him where he was staying.
From morning until evening, he continued to explain the kingdom of God to them, trying to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets. ²⁴ Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others wouldn’t believe. ²⁵ They disagreed with one another as they were leaving, so Paul added this statement: “The Holy Spirit was so right when he spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah! ²⁶ He said, ‘Go to this people and say, “You will listen and listen but never understand, and you will look and look but never see! ²⁷ For this people’s minds have become stupid, and their ears can barely hear, and they have shut their eyes so that they may never see with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn and let me heal them.”’
²⁸ You must understand that this message about God’s salvation has been sent to the gentiles, and they will listen.”

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for the salvation of everyone who believes, of the Jew first and of the Greek as well.

⁹ There will be suffering and anguish for every human being who practices doing evil, for Jews first and for Greeks as well. ¹⁰ But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who practices doing good, initially for Jews but also for Greeks as well,

²⁹ And I know that when I come to you I will come with the full blessing of the Messiah.

⁹ Therefore, those who believe are blessed together with Abraham, the one who believed.
¹⁰ No One is Justified by the LawCertainly all who depend on the actions of the Law are under a curse. For it is written, “A curse on everyone who does not obey everything that is written in the Book of the Law!” ¹¹ Now it is obvious that no one is justified in the sight of God by the Law, because “The righteous will live by faith.” ¹² But the Law has nothing to do with faith. Instead, “The person who keeps the commandments will have life in them.” ¹³ The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, “A curse on everyone who is hung on a tree!” ¹⁴ This happened in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the gentiles through the Messiah Jesus, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

³ The Many Blessings of SalvationBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! He has blessed us in the Messiah with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm,

²⁶ so that he might make it holy by cleansing it, washing it with water and the word, ²⁷ and might present the church to himself in all its glory, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, but holy and without fault.

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. ¹² It trains us to renounce ungodly living and worldly passions so that we might live sensible, honest, and godly lives in the present age ¹³ as we wait for the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior, Jesus the Messiah. ¹⁴ He gave himself for us to set us free from every wrong and to cleanse us so that we could be his special people who are enthusiastic about doing good deeds.

³ Our Hope and Joy are in the MessiahBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead

⁹ Do not pay others back evil for evil or insult for insult. Instead, keep blessing them, because you were called to inherit a blessing.

⁵ You know that the Messiah was revealed to take away sins, and there is not any sin in him. ⁶ No one who remains in union with him keeps on sinning. The one who keeps on sinning hasn’t seen him or known him.
⁷ Little children, don’t let anyone deceive you. The person who practices righteousness is righteous, just as the Messiah is righteous. ⁸ The person who practices sin belongs to the evil one, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason that the Son of God was revealed was to destroy what the devil has been doing.

²⁴ Final PrayerNow to the one who is able to keep you from falling and to make you stand joyful and faultless in his glorious presence,

⁴ I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000. Those who were sealed were from every tribe of Israel: ⁵ 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, ⁶ 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, ⁷ 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, ⁸ 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, and 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
⁹ The Vision of Tribulation SaintsAfter these things, I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands.