1 John Cross References - MSB

¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life. ² And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write these things to you so that our joy may be complete. ⁵ And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.

²² The LORD created me as His first course, before His works of old. ²³ From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, before the earth began. ²⁴ When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth, when no springs were overflowing with water. ²⁵ Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth, ²⁶ before He made the land or fields, or any of the dust of the earth. ²⁷ I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, ²⁸ when He established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep gushed forth, ²⁹ when He set a boundary for the sea, so that the waters would not surpass His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth. ³⁰ Then I was a skilled craftsman at His side, and His delight day by day, rejoicing always in His presence. ³¹ I was rejoicing in His whole world, delighting together in the sons of men.

⁴ Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”

² But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.

² just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

³⁹ Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see—for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵ The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ⁶ There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. ⁹ The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God. ¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’” ¹⁶ From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.

²⁶ For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.

⁵⁸ “Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

³⁵ The one who saw it has testified to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

²⁷ Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.”

³ After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

²⁰ For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. ¹⁷ For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” ¹⁸ And we ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

² And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I am writing to you, children, because you know the Father. ¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.

⁷ For there are three that testify:

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.

¹¹ saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹⁷ When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, ¹⁸ the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever. Amen. And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.

⁸ To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.

¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is The Word of God.

²² The LORD created me as His first course, before His works of old. ²³ From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, before the earth began. ²⁴ When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth, when no springs were overflowing with water. ²⁵ Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth, ²⁶ before He made the land or fields, or any of the dust of the earth. ²⁷ I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, ²⁸ when He established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep gushed forth, ²⁹ when He set a boundary for the sea, so that the waters would not surpass His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth. ³⁰ Then I was a skilled craftsman at His side, and His delight day by day, rejoicing always in His presence.

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning.

⁴ In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.

¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man, who is in heaven.

²⁹ but I know Him, because I am from Him and He sent Me.”

³⁸ I speak of what I have seen in the presence of My Father, and you do what you have seen from your father.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. ²⁶ And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

²⁷ And you also must testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

²⁸ I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.”

³ Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

⁵ And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed.

¹⁴ This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.

²² beginning from John’s baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

³² God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.

¹⁵ You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.

³² We are His witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

⁴¹ not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had chosen beforehand, by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.

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 likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh,

²⁵ Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past ²⁶ but now revealed and made known through the writings of the prophets by the command of the eternal God, in order to lead all nations to the obedience that comes from faith—

⁴ But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

¹⁶ By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: God appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.

¹⁰ And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel,

² in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

¹ As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you:

¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life.

⁵ But you know that Christ appeared to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

⁸ The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

¹¹ And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

⁷ I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by the LORD: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.

²² I will proclaim Your name to my brothers; I will praise You in the assembly.

¹⁹ I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. So they will proclaim My glory among the nations.

²⁰ On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.” ²² Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, why are You going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

¹¹ I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one.

²¹ that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

²⁵ Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, I know You, and they know that You sent Me.

⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

³² And now we proclaim to you the good news: What God promised our fathers

⁴¹ ‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”

²⁷ For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God.

²⁷ They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual blessings, they are obligated to minister to them with material blessings.

⁹ God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

³⁰ It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

¹ Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, and in which you stand firm.

¹⁴ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. Amen.

⁶ This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of His promise in Christ.

⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. For in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partners in grace with me.

¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,

¹⁰ I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,

¹³ He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,

¹⁰ and to await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

² Those who have believing masters should not show disrespect because they are brothers, but should serve them all the more, since those receiving their good service are beloved believers. Teach and encourage these principles.

¹² He says: “I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing Your praises in the assembly.”

¹ Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus Christ, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.

⁵ And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

²³ Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father. ²⁴ As for you, then, let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If it does, you will also remain in the Son and in the Father.

¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son. ¹¹ And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

¹⁰ I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, ¹⁸ yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

²⁹ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

¹¹ I have told you these things so that My joy may abide in you and your joy may be complete.

²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

²⁴ Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are fellow workers with you for your joy, because it is by faith that you stand firm.

¹⁹ of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that through my coming to you again your exultation in Christ Jesus will resound on account of me.

¹ My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

¹² I have many things to write to you, but I would prefer not to do so with paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come and speak with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

¹ Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—whom shall I dread?

⁹ For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.

¹⁹ No longer will the sun be your light by day, nor the brightness of the moon shine on your night; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your splendor.

⁹ The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world.

¹² Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

³⁵ Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of light.” After Jesus had spoken these things, He went away and was hidden from them.

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread,

¹⁶ He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.

¹¹ This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

²³ And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.

⁵ There will be no more night in the city, and they will have no need for the light of a lamp or of the sun. For the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.

⁴ For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You. ⁵ The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all workers of iniquity. ⁶ You destroy those who tell lies; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

⁵ They do not know or understand; they wander in the darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

²⁰ Can a corrupt throne be Your ally—one devising mischief by decree?

¹³ from those who leave the straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness,

¹⁸ The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday. ¹⁹ But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.

²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

¹⁹ And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God.”

⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me!

¹⁰ But if anyone walks at night, he will stumble, because he has no light.”

³⁵ Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.

¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? ¹⁵ What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

² influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

¹⁶ If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith apart from your deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.

⁴ If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

⁹ If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness. ¹⁰ Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him. ¹¹ But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

²⁰ If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, how can he love God, whom he has not seen?

¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

¹³ For You have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

¹⁵ Blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence.

¹¹ Light shines on the righteous, gladness on the upright in heart.

² He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent,

⁵ Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

³ Can two walk together without agreeing where to go?

¹ “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the people of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

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!

¹² The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

¹¹ And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify your consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

¹ My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ² He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

⁹ If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness. ¹⁰ Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him.

⁶ This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ—not by water alone, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies to this, because the Spirit is the truth.

⁸ the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and these three are in agreement.

⁴ I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father has commanded us.

⁴ I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in truth. ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has washed us from our sins by His blood,

¹⁴ “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹¹ They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.

⁴⁶ When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,

³⁶ When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to a land far or near,

² “Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?

⁴ Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!

¹⁴ What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

⁴ How then can a man be just before God? How can one born of woman be pure?

² Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.

⁹ Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?

²⁰ Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

⁶ We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

⁶ Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

²² Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD. ²³ “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there,

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.

³ If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

⁵ and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such.

¹³ while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

²² Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.

²⁶ If anyone among you considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.

² We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.

¹³ They will receive the wages is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you.

⁶ If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

⁵ But you know that Christ appeared to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him.

² because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: ³ For I was overjoyed when the brothers came and testified about your devotion to the truth, in which you continue to walk.

⁴⁰ But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me— ⁴¹ and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity, ⁴² then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

⁹ Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

⁴⁷ and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’

³⁷ and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’ ³⁸ and when they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of the enemies who took them captive, and when they pray in the direction of the land that You gave to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your Name,

⁶ let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.

² Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. ³ While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God. ⁴ And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God. ⁵ Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting: Blessed be Your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. ⁶ You alone are the LORD. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all things, and the host of heaven worships You. ⁷ You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. ⁸ You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, of the Jebusites and Girgashites—to give it to his descendants. You have kept Your promise, because You are righteous. ⁹ You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt; You heard their cry at the Red Sea. ¹⁰ You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew they had acted with arrogance against our fathers. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day. ¹¹ You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters. ¹² You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel. ¹³ You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them just ordinances, true laws, and good statutes and commandments. ¹⁴ You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath and gave them commandments and statutes and laws through Your servant Moses. ¹⁵ In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land which You had sworn to give them. ¹⁶ But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments. ¹⁷ They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them. ¹⁸ Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and when they committed terrible blasphemies, ¹⁹ You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go. ²⁰ You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst. ²¹ For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. ²² You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan. ²³ You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You had told their fathers to enter and possess. ²⁴ So their descendants went in and possessed the land; You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land. You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land, to do with them as they wished. ²⁵ They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness. ²⁶ But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies. ²⁷ So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies. ²⁸ But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, who had dominion over them. When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven, and You delivered them many times in Your compassion. ²⁹ You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They stubbornly shrugged their shoulders; they stiffened their necks and would not obey. ³⁰ You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. ³¹ But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God. ³² So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. ³³ You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly. ³⁴ Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers did not obey Your law or listen to Your commandments and warnings that You gave them. ³⁵ For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve You or turn from their wicked ways. ³⁶ So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness—here we are as slaves! ³⁷ Its abundant harvest goes to the kings You have set over us because of our sins. And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please. We are in great distress.

²⁷ Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved. ²⁸ He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and I will live to see the light.’

¹² Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

² Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. ⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge. ⁵ Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

¹³ He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

²¹ Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.

⁸ And I will cleanse them from all the iniquity they have committed against Me, and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against Me.

²³ They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!

²⁵ I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.

²³ They will no longer defile themselves with their idols or detestable images, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.

⁴ And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments, ⁵ we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances. ⁶ We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, and fathers, and to all the people of the land. ⁷ To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You. ⁸ O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, even though we have rebelled against Him ¹⁰ and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us through His servants the prophets. ¹¹ All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You. ¹² You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. ¹³ Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and giving attention to Your truth. ¹⁴ Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice. ¹⁵ Now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and who made for Yourself a name renowned to this day, we have sinned; we have acted wickedly. ¹⁶ O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, I pray that Your anger and wrath may turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all around us. ¹⁷ So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸ Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion. ¹⁹ O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.” ²⁰ While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy mountain—

⁹ Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan.

⁵ People went out to him from all of Jerusalem and the countryside of Judea. Confessing their sins, they were all baptized by him in the Jordan River.

¹⁸ Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds.

²⁶ He did this to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and to justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁶ to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

¹⁵ This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.

¹⁴ He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

¹⁰ For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the labor of love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.

²³ Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.

¹¹ By faith Sarah, even though she was beyond the proper age, received power and was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised.

³ and they sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and wonderful are Your works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!

²⁵ If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”

³ If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?

¹⁶ Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to the Lord.

¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

⁴ You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son.