Luke 19 Cross References - MSB

¹ Then Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ² And there was a man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, who was very wealthy. ³ He was trying to see who Jesus was, but could not see over the crowd because he was small in stature. ⁴ So he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him, since Jesus was about to pass that way. ⁵ When Jesus came to that place, He looked up and saw him and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down, for I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ So Zacchaeus hurried down and welcomed Him joyfully. ⁷ And all who saw this began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinful man!” ⁸ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” ¹¹ While the people were listening to this, Jesus proceeded to tell them a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they thought the kingdom of God would appear imminently. ¹² So He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to lay claim to his kingship and then return. ¹³ Beforehand, he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Conduct business with this until I return,’ he said. ¹⁴ But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’ ¹⁵ When he returned from procuring his kingship, he summoned the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what each one had earned. ¹⁶ The first servant came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has produced ten more minas.’ ¹⁷ His master replied, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ ¹⁸ The second servant came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’ ¹⁹ And to this one he said, ‘You shall have authority over five cities.’ ²⁰ Then another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have laid away in a piece of cloth. ²¹ For I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’ ²² His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? ²³ Why then did you not deposit my money in the bank, and upon my return I could have collected it with interest?’ ²⁴ Then he told those standing by, ‘Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ ²⁵ ‘Master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’ ²⁶ He replied, ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more; but the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ²⁷ And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’” ²⁸ After Jesus had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. ²⁹ As He approached Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, He sent out two of His disciples, ³⁰ saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’” ³² So those who were sent went out and found it just as Jesus had told them. ³³ As they were untying the colt, its owners asked, “Why are you untying the colt?” ³⁴ “The Lord needs it,” they answered. ³⁵ Then they led the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks over it, and put Jesus on it. ³⁶ As He rode along, the people spread their cloaks on the road. ³⁷ And as He approached the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began to praise God joyfully in a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen: ³⁸ “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” ³⁹ But some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!” ⁴⁰ “I tell you,” He answered, “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.” ⁴¹ As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it ⁴² and said, “If only you had known, even you, at least on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴ They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” ⁴⁵ Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling and buying there. ⁴⁶ He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house is a house of prayer.’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” ⁴⁷ Jesus was teaching at the temple every day, but the chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people were intent on killing Him. ⁴⁸ Yet they could not find a way to do so, because all the people hung on His words.

¹ Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

¹ Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. ² And the LORD said to Joshua, “Behold, I have delivered Jericho into your hand, along with its king and its mighty men of valor. ³ March around the city with all the men of war, circling the city one time. Do this for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark. Then on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the horns. ⁵ And when there is a long blast of the ram’s horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and all your people will charge straight into the city.” ⁶ So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said, “Take up the ark of the covenant and have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark of the LORD.” ⁷ And he told the people, “Advance and march around the city, with the armed troops going ahead of the ark of the LORD.” ⁸ After Joshua had spoken to the people, seven priests carrying seven rams’ horns before the LORD advanced and blew the horns, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them. ⁹ While the horns continued to sound, the armed troops marched ahead of the priests who blew the horns, and the rear guard followed the ark. ¹⁰ But Joshua had commanded the people: “Do not give a battle cry or let your voice be heard; do not let one word come out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you are to shout!” ¹¹ So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. And the people returned to the camp and spent the night there. ¹² Joshua got up early the next morning, and the priests took the ark of the LORD. ¹³ And the seven priests carrying seven rams’ horns kept marching ahead of the ark of the LORD and blowing the horns. The armed troops went in front of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the horns kept sounding. ¹⁴ So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days. ¹⁵ Then on the seventh day, they got up at dawn and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. That was the only day they circled the city seven times. ¹⁶ After the seventh time around, the priests blew the horns, and Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! ¹⁷ Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent. ¹⁸ But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster upon it. ¹⁹ For all the silver and gold and all the articles of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD; they must go into His treasury.” ²⁰ So when the rams’ horns sounded, the people shouted. When they heard the blast of the horn, the people gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. Then all the people charged straight into the city and captured it. ²¹ At the edge of the sword they devoted to destruction everything in the city—man and woman, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys. ²² Meanwhile, Joshua told the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the house of the prostitute and bring out the woman and all who are with her, just as you promised her.” ²³ So the young spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and settled them outside the camp of Israel. ²⁴ Then the Israelites burned up the city and everything in it. However, they put the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD’s house. ²⁵ And Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho. So she has lived among the Israelites to this day. ²⁶ At that time Joshua invoked this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; at the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.” ²⁷ So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

³⁴ In Ahab’s days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.

¹⁸ When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?” ¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please note, our lord, that the city’s location is good, as you can see. But the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.” ²⁰ “Bring me a new bowl,” he replied, “and put some salt in it.” So they brought it to him, ²¹ and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’” ²² And the waters there have been healthy to this day, according to the word spoken by Elisha.

³⁵ As Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting beside the road, begging.

⁵ So the LORD established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought him tribute, so that he had an abundance of riches and honor. ⁶ And his heart took delight in the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and Asherah poles from Judah.

²⁴ Seeing the man’s sadness, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” ²⁷ But Jesus said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

⁷ When Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was being done by Him, he was perplexed. For some were saying that John had risen from the dead, ⁸ others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that a prophet of old had arisen. ⁹ “I beheaded John,” Herod said, “but who is this man I hear such things about?” And he kept trying to see Jesus.

²⁵ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased. He had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had heard many things about Him and was hoping to see Him perform a miracle.

²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”

²⁷ The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as abundant as sycamore in the foothills.

²⁸ Baal-hanan the Gederite was in charge of the olive and sycamore trees in the foothills. Joash was in charge of the stores of olive oil.

⁴⁷ He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet.

¹⁰ “The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with finished stone; the sycamores have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.”

¹⁴ “I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees.

¹⁹ but they could not find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

³ “My lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. ⁴ Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵ And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.” “Yes,” they replied, “you may do as you have said.”

¹ Now the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, bowed facedown, ² and said, “My lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant; wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can rise early and go on your way.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.” ³ But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

² I will ponder the way that is blameless—when will You come to me? I will walk in my house with integrity of heart. ³ I will set no worthless thing before my eyes. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar. ³ You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.

¹⁰ Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

⁶ Then I passed by and saw you wallowing in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’ There I said to you, ‘Live!’

¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

⁴⁸ “How do You know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) ⁹ “You are a Jew,” said the woman. “How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

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.

¹ As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,

² Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.

⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.” ⁷ Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd, selected a tender and choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.

⁵⁹ I considered my ways and turned my steps to Your testimonies. ⁶⁰ I hurried without hesitating to keep Your commandments.

⁵ You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger.

²⁹ Then Levi hosted a great banquet for Jesus at his house. A large crowd of tax collectors was there, along with others who were eating with them.

⁴¹ Those who gladly embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day.

¹⁵ And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

³⁴ Then he brought them into his home and set a meal before them. So he and all his household rejoiced that they had come to believe in God.

¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood,

¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

²⁸ But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ ²⁹ ‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.

³⁰ But their scribes and the Pharisees complained to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

³⁴ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know who this is and what kind of woman is touching Him—for she is a sinner!”

² So the Pharisees and scribes began to grumble: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

⁹ To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’ ¹³ But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁶ You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

¹ “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. ² If a thief is caught breaking in and is beaten to death, no one shall be guilty of bloodshed. ³ But if it happens after sunrise, there is guilt for his bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution; if he has nothing, he himself shall be sold for his theft. ⁴ If what was stolen is actually found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double.

¹ And the LORD said to Moses, ² “If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor ³ or finds lost property and lies about it and swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that a man might commit— ⁴ once he has sinned and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, ⁵ or anything else about which he has sworn falsely. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value, and pay it to the owner on the day he acknowledges his guilt. ⁶ Then he must bring to the priest his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock.

⁷ and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution, add a fifth to its value, and give all this to the one he has wronged.

³ Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”

⁶ Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.”

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.

³¹ Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house.

⁸ Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” ¹⁰ The crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” ¹¹ John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.” ¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” ¹³ “Collect no more than you are authorized,” he answered. ¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” “Do not take money by force or false accusation,” he said. “Be content with your wages.”

¹³ When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Do not weep.”

⁴¹ But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you.

³³ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

⁹ I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when you fail, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.

²² On hearing this, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” ²³ But when the ruler heard this, he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy.

⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need. ⁴⁶ With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart,

³⁴ There were no needy ones among them, because those who owned lands or houses would sell their property, bring the proceeds from the sales, ³⁵ and lay them at the apostles’ feet for distribution to anyone as he had need.

⁷ But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. ⁸ I am not making a demand, but I am testing the sincerity of your love in comparison to the earnestness of others.

¹⁷ Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in the living God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy. ¹⁸ Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share,

¹⁰ But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field. ¹¹ For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

³⁰ For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

⁸ Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

¹⁶ Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?”

³⁰ And indeed, some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.”

³⁸ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the hard work, and now you have taken up their labor.” ³⁹ Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of His message. ⁴² They said to the woman, “We now believe not only because of your words; we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man truly is the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

³⁰ Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³² Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.

¹¹ And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. ¹² And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

¹⁶ Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

⁹ Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, ¹⁰ nor the covetous, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 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 Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham.

¹⁴ He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.

¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹⁶ I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’

²¹ She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

¹² On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

⁶ Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.

²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

¹⁰ See that you do not look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven.

³¹ Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

⁴ “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, ⁶ comes home, and calls together his friends and neighbors to tell them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ ⁷ In the same way, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent.

³² But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

⁶ For at the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

¹³ I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy. ¹⁴ And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 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. ¹⁶ But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Jesus Christ might display all His patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

²⁵ Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.

⁹ This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. ¹³ By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.

²⁰ When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs.

⁶ So when they came together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

¹ Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers, ² not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging that the Day of Christ has already come. ³ Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of sin—the son of destruction—is revealed.

³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’

¹⁴ For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent—each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work and made five more talents. ¹⁷ Likewise, the one with the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸ But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹ After a long time the master of those servants returned to settle accounts with them. ²⁰ The servant who had received the five talents came and presented five more. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more besides them.’ ²¹ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’ ²² The servant who had received the two talents also came and said, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents. See, I have gained two more besides them.’ ²³ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’ ²⁴ Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what belongs to you.’ ²⁶ ‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ replied his master. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. ²⁷ Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received it back with interest. ²⁸ Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. ²⁹ For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

¹ Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.

³⁴ It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch. ³⁵ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the master of the house will return—whether in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or in the morning. ³⁶ Otherwise, he may arrive without notice and find you sleeping. ³⁷ And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep watch!”

¹⁹ After the Lord had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

¹² So He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to lay claim to his kingship and then return. ¹³ Beforehand, he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Conduct business with this until I return,’ he said. ¹⁴ But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’ ¹⁵ When he returned from procuring his kingship, he summoned the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what each one had earned. ¹⁶ The first servant came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has produced ten more minas.’ ¹⁷ His master replied, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ ¹⁸ The second servant came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’ ¹⁹ And to this one he said, ‘You shall have authority over five cities.’ ²⁰ Then another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have laid away in a piece of cloth. ²¹ For I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’ ²² His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? ²³ Why then did you not deposit my money in the bank, and upon my return I could have collected it with interest?’ ²⁴ Then he told those standing by, ‘Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ ²⁵ ‘Master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’ ²⁶ He replied, ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more; but the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ²⁷ And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’”

⁹ Then He proceeded to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time.

⁵¹ While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven.

³⁷ “Then You are a king!” Pilate said. “You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”

⁹ After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. ¹⁰ They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

³¹ For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

²⁵ For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

²⁰ which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

⁹ Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

²⁸ so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.

²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.

⁷ Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.

¹⁴ For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent—each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey.

²⁶ If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

⁶ We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; ⁷ if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; ⁸ if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that same Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines.

²⁸ And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?

¹⁰ Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

¹ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.

⁹ Show hospitality to one another without complaining. ¹⁰ As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

¹ Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

⁷ And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.

¹ Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? ² The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One: ³ “Let us break Their chains and cast away Their cords.”

⁷ Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see You and rise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.”

⁸ And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me.

²⁷ And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’”

¹¹ He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

¹⁸ If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.

²³ Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.

¹⁴ You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. ¹⁵ You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.

²⁷ In fact, Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed. ²⁸ They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen.

⁵¹ You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did. ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—

⁴ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them. ⁵ Then He rebukes them in His anger, and terrifies them in His fury: ⁶ “I have installed My King on Zion, upon My holy mountain.”

²³ Because of this, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlements, a debtor was brought to him owing ten thousand talents. ²⁵ Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned. ²⁶ Then the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Master, have patience with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt, and released him. ²⁸ But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’ ³⁰ But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt. ³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all of this to their master. ³² Then the master summoned him and declared, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed. ³⁵ That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother his trespasses from your heart.”

¹⁹ After a long time the master of those servants returned to settle accounts with them.

⁴⁸ But the one who unknowingly does things worthy of punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded.

² So he called him in to ask, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in an account of your management, for you cannot be manager any longer.’ ³ The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking away my position? I am too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg. ⁴ I know what I will do, so that after my removal from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’ ⁵ And he called in each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked the first. ⁶ ‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he answered. ‘Take your bill,’ said the manager. ‘Sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ ⁷ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ ‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he replied. ‘Take your bill and write eighty,’ he told him. ⁸ The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light. ⁹ I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when you fail, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings. ¹⁰ Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹ So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches? ¹² And if you have not been faithful with the belongings of another, who will give you belongings of your own? ¹³ No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

¹⁰ Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ¹¹ It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.” ¹² So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

¹ So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. ² Now it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. ³ I care very little, however, if I am judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

¹⁴ But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You. ¹⁵ For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. ¹⁶ O LORD our God, from Your hand comes all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy Name, and all of it belongs to You.

¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

²⁸ We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

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. ¹⁹ You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. ²⁰ O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is dead? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did. ²³ And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. ²⁴ As you can see, then, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone. ²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route? ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

⁴ Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household and entrusted him with everything he owned.

³⁰ Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.

²¹ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

¹⁰ Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

³⁰ so that you may eat and drink at My table and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

²⁹ No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.

⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

¹⁰ For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

⁷ so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, honor, and glory, at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁴ And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

²⁶ And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations. ²⁷ He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery—just as I have received authority from My Father. ²⁸ And I will give him the morning star. ²⁹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

²³ But the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and produces a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.”

²⁰ Still others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.”

¹² For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

¹⁰ Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.

⁸ He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.

⁴¹ The sun has one degree of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. ⁴² So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

⁶ Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

⁸ Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded.

¹³ The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!” ¹⁴ As a door turns on its hinges, so the slacker turns on his bed. ¹⁵ The slacker buries his hand in the dish; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. ¹⁶ The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.

²⁴ Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

⁹ The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

⁴⁶ Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say?

¹³ Beforehand, he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Conduct business with this until I return,’ he said.

¹⁷ Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

¹⁹ “Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” ²⁰ “Do not be afraid,” Moses replied. “For God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning.”

¹⁹ But God struck down some of the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck them with a great slaughter. ²⁰ The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom should the ark go up from here?” ²¹ So they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up with you.”

²⁰ “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “Even though you have committed all this evil, do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.

⁹ That day David feared the LORD and asked, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?” ¹⁰ So he was unwilling to move the ark of the LORD to the City of David; instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹¹ Thus the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and all his household.

¹⁴ Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways. ¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

²⁵ Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? ²⁶ If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, he will die for this. He will die because of the iniquity he has committed. ²⁷ But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. ²⁸ Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die. ²⁹ Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are My ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

¹⁴ You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts? ¹⁵ So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”

²⁴ Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what belongs to you.’

⁷ because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

¹⁰ Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.

¹⁵ to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly among them of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.” ¹⁶ For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”

⁵ For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty. ⁶ Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.

³⁷ For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

¹² ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless.

²⁶ ‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ replied his master. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. ²⁷ Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received it back with interest.

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

²⁵ If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest. ²⁶ If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset, ²⁷ because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

¹⁹ Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan. ²⁰ You may charge a foreigner interest, but not your brother, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything to which you put your hand in the land that you are entering to possess.

⁴ Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? ⁵ But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

² So he called him in to ask, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in an account of your management, for you cannot be manager any longer.’

¹⁹ And as if this was a small thing in Your eyes, O Lord GOD, You have also spoken about the future of the house of Your servant. Is this Your custom with man, O Lord GOD?

⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. ⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

²⁸ So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.

¹⁵ But My loving devotion will never be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I moved out of your way.

⁸ May his days be few; may another take his position.

¹² Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD. ¹³ They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed. ¹⁴ Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of all the work for the temple and everything to be done in it. ¹⁵ But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD. ¹⁶ They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.

¹² Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

⁴³ Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

²⁸ Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. ²⁹ For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

²⁵ For whoever has will be given more. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

¹⁸ Pay attention, therefore, to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”

³ The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking away my position? I am too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg.

¹ Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda. ³ On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed, awaiting the moving of the water.

²⁰ “For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘May another take his position.’

³ Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

³⁶ So the men Moses had sent to spy out the land, who had returned and made the whole congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report about the land— ³⁷ those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.

³⁰ But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.” ³¹ As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open, ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions. ³³ They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly. ³⁴ At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!” ³⁵ And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

³ “Let us break Their chains and cast away Their cords.” ⁴ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them. ⁵ Then He rebukes them in His anger, and terrifies them in His fury:

⁹ You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.”

⁸ Your hand will apprehend all Your enemies; Your right hand will seize those who hate You. ⁹ You will place them in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, and the fire will consume them.

²² May their table become a snare; may it be a retribution and a trap. ²³ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever. ²⁴ Pour out Your wrath upon them, and let Your burning anger overtake them. ²⁵ May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents. ²⁶ For they persecute the one You struck and recount the pain of those You wounded. ²⁷ Add iniquity to their iniquity; let them not share in Your righteousness. ²⁸ May they be blotted out of the Book of Life and not listed with the righteous.

⁶ Hear the uproar from the city; listen to the voice from the temple! It is the voice of the LORD, repaying His enemies what they deserve!

¹⁴ When you see, you will rejoice, and you will flourish like grass; then the hand of the LORD will be revealed to His servants, but His wrath will be shown to His enemies.

² The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and full of wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on His foes and reserves wrath for His enemies.

⁸ But with an overwhelming flood He will make an end of Nineveh and pursue His enemies into darkness.

³⁷ Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”

⁷ When he heard this, the king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.

³⁴ Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town. ³⁵ And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

¹⁴ But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’

⁴² and said, “If only you had known, even you, at least on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴ They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

¹⁶ He will come and kill those tenants, and will give the vineyard to others.” And when the people heard this, they said, “May such a thing never happen!”

²² For these are the days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.

²⁴ They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

¹⁵ who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men, ¹⁶ hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.

¹³ Since that time, He waits for His enemies to be made a footstool for His feet,

⁶ Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require. ⁷ Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll: ⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”

³² As they were going up the road to Jerusalem, Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were amazed, but as they followed, they were afraid. Again Jesus took the Twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him: ³³ “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles, ³⁴ who will mock Him and flog Him and spit on Him and kill Him. And on the third day He will rise again.”

⁵¹ As the day of His ascension approached, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!

³¹ Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.

¹¹ “Put your sword back in its sheath!” Jesus said to Peter. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?”

² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

¹ Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin.

⁴ On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half the mountain moving to the north and half to the south.

¹ As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to Me. ³ If anyone questions you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” ⁴ All this took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: ⁵ “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” ⁶ So the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. ⁸ A massive crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!” ¹⁰ When Jesus had entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” ¹¹ The crowds replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

¹⁷ Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where He spent the night.

¹ As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two of His disciples ² and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has sat. Untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone asks, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it shortly.’” ⁴ So they went and found the colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. They untied it, ⁵ and some who were standing there asked, “Why are you untying the colt?” ⁶ The disciples answered as Jesus had commanded them, and the people gave them permission. ⁷ Then they led the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, and He sat on it. ⁸ Many in the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The ones who went ahead and those who followed were shouting: “Hosanna!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” ¹⁰ “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!” ¹¹ Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

³⁷ And as He approached the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began to praise God joyfully in a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

³⁷ Every day Jesus taught at the temple, but every evening He went out to spend the night on the Mount of Olives.

³⁹ Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and His disciples followed Him.

⁵⁰ When Jesus had led them out as far as Bethany, He lifted up His hands and blessed them.

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, crying out: “Hosanna!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!” ¹⁴ Finding a young donkey, Jesus sat on it, as it is written: ¹⁵ “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion. See, your King is coming, seated on the colt of a donkey.” ¹⁶ At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about Him.

¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near the city, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

² When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’ ³ Then you will go on from there until you come to the Oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. ⁴ They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands. ⁵ After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying. ⁶ Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person. ⁷ When these signs have come, do as the occasion demands, for God is with you. ⁸ And you shall go before me to Gilgal, and surely I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you are to do.” ⁹ As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all the signs came to pass that day.

³² So those who were sent went out and found it just as Jesus had told them.

⁸ Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare for us to eat the Passover.” ⁹ “Where do You want us to prepare it?” they asked. ¹⁰ He answered, “When you enter the city, a man carrying a jug of water will meet you. Follow him to the house he enters, ¹¹ and say to the owner of that house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’ ¹² And he will show you a large upper room, already furnished. Make preparations there.” ¹³ So they went and found it just as Jesus had told them. And they prepared the Passover.

²⁹ And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.

¹ A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.

¹⁰ for every beast of the forest is Mine—the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are Mine. ¹² If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.

² saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to Me. ³ If anyone questions you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

³ If anyone asks, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it shortly.’” ⁴ So they went and found the colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. They untied it, ⁵ and some who were standing there asked, “Why are you untying the colt?” ⁶ The disciples answered as Jesus had commanded them, and the people gave them permission.

³⁶ He has sent this message to the people of Israel, proclaiming the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

¹³ So they went and found it just as Jesus had told them. And they prepared the Passover.

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.

³⁵ If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—

¹⁶ At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about Him.

⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

¹³ Quickly, each man took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps. Then they blew the ram’s horn and proclaimed, “Jehu is king!”

⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.

⁷ Then they led the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, and He sat on it. ⁸ Many in the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

¹⁴ Finding a young donkey, Jesus sat on it, as it is written:

¹⁵ What then has become of your blessing? For I can testify that, if it were possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

⁸ A massive crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

¹ Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea. ² The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. ³ The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name. ⁴ Pharaoh’s chariots and army He has cast into the sea; the finest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. ⁵ The depths have covered them; they sank there like a stone. ⁶ Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy. ⁷ You overthrew Your adversaries by Your great majesty. You unleashed Your burning wrath; it consumed them like stubble. ⁸ At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea. ⁹ The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’ ¹⁰ But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. ¹¹ Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders? ¹² You stretched out Your right hand, and the earth swallowed them up. ¹³ With loving devotion You will lead the people You have redeemed; with Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling. ¹⁴ The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia. ¹⁵ Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away, ¹⁶ and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have bought pass by. ¹⁷ You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance—the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established. ¹⁸ The LORD will reign forever and ever!”

¹ On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: ² “When the princes take the lead in Israel, when the people volunteer, bless the LORD. ³ Listen, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I will sing to the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel. ⁴ O LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, and the clouds poured down water. ⁵ The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel. ⁶ In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted and the travelers took the byways. ⁷ Life in the villages ceased; it ended in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel. ⁸ When they chose new gods, then war came to their gates. Not a shield or spear was found among forty thousand in Israel. ⁹ My heart is with the princes of Israel, with the volunteers among the people. Bless the LORD! ¹⁰ You who ride white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and you who travel the road, ponder ¹¹ the voices of the singers at the watering places. There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of His villagers in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates: ¹² ‘Awake, awake, O Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, O Barak, and take hold of your captives, O son of Abinoam!’ ¹³ Then the survivors came down to the nobles; the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty. ¹⁴ Some came from Ephraim, with their roots in Amalek; Benjamin came with your people after you. The commanders came down from Machir, the bearers of the marshal’s staff from Zebulun. ¹⁵ The princes of Issachar were with Deborah, and Issachar was with Barak, rushing into the valley at his heels. In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision. ¹⁶ Why did you sit among the sheepfolds to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision. ¹⁷ Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. Dan, why did you linger by the ships? Asher stayed at the coast and remained in his harbors. ¹⁸ Zebulun was a people who risked their lives; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the battlefield. ¹⁹ Kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver. ²⁰ From the heavens the stars fought; from their courses they fought against Sisera. ²¹ The River Kishon swept them away, the ancient river, the River Kishon. March on, O my soul, in strength! ²² Then the hooves of horses thundered—the mad galloping of his stallions. ²³ ‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’ ²⁴ Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. ²⁵ He asked for water, and she gave him milk. In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds. ²⁶ She reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera and crushed his skull; she shattered and pierced his temple. ²⁷ At her feet he collapsed, he fell, there he lay still; at her feet he collapsed, he fell; where he collapsed, there he fell dead. ²⁸ Sisera’s mother looked through the window; she peered through the lattice and lamented: ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? What has delayed the clatter of his chariots?’ ²⁹ Her wisest ladies answer; indeed she keeps telling herself, ³⁰ ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior, a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, the spoil of embroidered garments for the neck of the looter?’ ³¹ So may all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.

² And he and all his troops set out for Baale of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name—the name of the LORD of Hosts, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on it. ³ They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart, ⁴ bringing with it the ark of God. And Ahio was walking in front of the ark. ⁵ David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of wood instruments, harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals. ⁶ When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled.

⁵⁵ And he stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying: ⁵⁶ “Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He made through His servant Moses.

²⁸ So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and with cymbals and the music of harps and lyres.

⁴ David appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to celebrate, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel. ⁵ Asaph was the chief, Zechariah was second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel. They were to play the harps and lyres, while Asaph sounded the cymbals ⁶ and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel blew the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God. ⁷ On that day David first committed to Asaph and his brothers this song of thanksgiving to the LORD:

²⁸ The whole assembly was worshiping, the singers were singing, and the trumpeters were playing. All this continued until the burnt offering was completed. ²⁹ When the offerings were completed, the king and all those present with him bowed down and worshiped. ³⁰ Then King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the LORD in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped.

³⁶ Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had prepared for the people, because everything had been accomplished so quickly.

¹⁰ When the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their positions to praise the LORD, as David king of Israel had prescribed. ¹¹ And they sang responsively with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD: “For He is good; for His loving devotion to Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD had been laid. ¹² But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple. Still, many others shouted joyfully. ¹³ The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people were making so much noise. And the sound was heard from afar.

¹² Then they believed His promises and sang His praise. ¹³ Yet they soon forgot His works and failed to wait for His counsel.

¹ As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two disciples,

³ While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately,

²⁶ And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

¹⁶ A sense of awe swept over all of them, and they glorified God. “A great prophet has appeared among us!” they said. “God has visited His people!”

⁴³ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, glorifying God. And all the people who saw this gave praise to God.

²⁰ Then another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have laid away in a piece of cloth.

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, crying out: “Hosanna!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!”

¹⁷ May his name endure forever; may his name continue as long as the sun shines. In him may all nations be blessed; may they call him blessed. ¹⁸ Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. ¹⁹ And blessed be His glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen.

²² The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ²³ This is from the LORD, and it is marvelous in our eyes. ²⁴ This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. ²⁵ O LORD, save us, we pray. We beseech You, O LORD, cause us to prosper! ²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.

⁹ The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”

³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

⁹ The ones who went ahead and those who followed were shouting: “Hosanna!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” ¹⁰ “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”

¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: ¹¹ Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! ¹² And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men!”

³⁵ Look, your house is left to you desolate. And I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁶ to the praise of His glorious grace, by which he has bestowed favor upon us in the Beloved One.

¹² in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory.

¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace ¹⁶ and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He extinguished their hostility. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁰ His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,

²¹ to Him be the glory in the church in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

²⁰ and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.

¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

⁹ And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased us for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. ¹⁰ You have made them to be kings and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.” ¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” ¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever. Amen!” ¹⁴ And the four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

¹ After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God! ² For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand.” ³ And a second time they called out: “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises forever and ever.” ⁴ And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying: “Amen, Hallelujah!” ⁵ Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you who serve Him, and those who fear Him, small and great alike!” ⁶ And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.

¹¹ O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!

¹⁵ But the chief priests and scribes were indignant when they saw the wonders He performed and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” ¹⁶ “Do You hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”

¹³ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

⁴⁷ Then the chief priests and Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well,

¹⁹ Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You can see that this is doing you no good. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!”

¹ While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, ² greatly disturbed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

¹⁶ “What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷ But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must strictly warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.” ¹⁸ Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

⁵ Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit who dwells in us yearns with envy?

¹¹ Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea resound, and all that fills it.

⁷ Let the sea resound, and all that fills it, the world, and all who dwell in it. ⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy ⁹ before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.

¹ When Israel departed from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue, ² Judah became God’s sanctuary, and Israel His dominion. ³ The sea observed and fled; the Jordan turned back; ⁴ the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. ⁵ Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back, ⁶ O mountains, that you skipped like rams, O hills, like lambs? ⁷ Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, ⁸ who turned the rock into a pool, the flint into a fountain of water!

¹² You will indeed go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

¹¹ For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters will echo it from the woodwork.

⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

⁴⁵ From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.

⁵¹ At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. ⁵² The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. ⁵³ After Jesus’ resurrection, when they had come out of the tombs, they entered the holy city and appeared to many people. ⁵⁴ When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”

⁶ if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;

⁵³ Rage has taken hold of me because of the wicked who reject Your law.

¹³⁶ My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.

¹⁵⁸ I look on the faithless with loathing because they do not keep Your word.

¹ Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.

¹⁷ But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

¹⁶ But I have not run away from being Your shepherd; I have not desired the day of despair. You know that the utterance of my lips was spoken in Your presence.

⁸ How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I surrender you, O Israel? How could I make you like Admah? How could I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within Me; My compassion is stirred!

³⁴ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! ³⁵ Look, your house is left to you desolate. And I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

³⁵ Jesus wept.

² I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,

²⁹ If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.

²⁹ If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.

⁶ Therefore let all the godly pray to You while You may be found. Surely when great waters rise, they will not come near.

¹³ If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,

⁷ For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care. Today, if you hear His voice, ⁸ do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, in the day at Massah in the wilderness,

⁹ And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ ¹⁰ Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

¹⁰ For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers. ¹¹ And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” ¹² Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.” ¹³ Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men. ¹⁴ Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”

¹⁸ They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.

¹⁸ If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.

⁶ Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.

³¹ Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel? ³² For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death, declares the Lord GOD. So repent and live!

¹¹ Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

¹⁴ In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. ¹⁵ For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’

⁷⁷ to give to His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, ⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Dawn has visited us from on high, ⁷⁹ to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

⁵ Whatever house you enter, begin by saying, ‘Peace to this house.’ ⁶ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.

⁴⁴ They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

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.

³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” ³⁹ For this reason they were unable to believe. For again, Isaiah says: ⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.” ⁴¹ Isaiah said these things when he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him.

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

²⁵ They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit was right when He spoke to our fathers through Isaiah the prophet: ²⁶ ‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” ²⁷ For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’

⁷ What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, ⁸ as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.” ⁹ And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution to them. ¹⁰ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”

¹⁴ But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed. ¹⁵ And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

¹ As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. ² For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!

⁹ The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder, ¹⁰ and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. ¹¹ For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, ¹² in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,

¹³ But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

¹⁵ As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”

²⁶ If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, ²⁷ but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. ²⁵ See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven? ²⁶ At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.”

⁴⁹ The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand, ⁵⁰ a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young. ⁵¹ They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have caused you to perish. ⁵² They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you. ⁵³ Then you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you. ⁵⁴ The most gentle and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children who have survived, ⁵⁵ refusing to share with any of them the flesh of his children he will eat because he has nothing left in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within all your gates. ⁵⁶ The most gentle and refined woman among you, so gentle and refined she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge the husband she embraces and her son and daughter ⁵⁷ the afterbirth that comes from between her legs and the children she bears, because she will secretly eat them for lack of anything else in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within your gates. ⁵⁸ If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God—

¹² The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them, ¹³ but the Lord laughs, seeing that their day is coming.

¹ Woe to you, O Ariel, the city of Ariel where David camped! Year upon year let your festivals recur. ² And I will constrain Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation; she will be like an altar hearth before Me. ³ I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with towers and set up siege works against you. ⁴ You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust.

³³ So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it.

³ Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents all around her, each tending his own portion: ⁴ ‘Prepare for battle against her; rise up, let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the daylight is fading; the evening shadows grow long. ⁵ Rise up, let us attack by night and destroy her fortresses!’” ⁶ For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Cut down the trees and raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished; there is nothing but oppression in her midst.

² Then lay siege against it: Construct a siege wall, build a ramp to it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it on all sides.

⁸ He will slaughter the villages of your mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp to your walls, and raise his shields against you.

²⁶ Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed. ²⁷ And he will confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of the temple will come the abomination that causes desolation, until the decreed destruction is poured out upon him.”

³⁷ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

¹⁴ So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵ Let no one on the housetop go back inside the house to retrieve anything from his house. ¹⁶ And let no one in the field return for his cloak. ¹⁷ How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! ¹⁸ Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter. ¹⁹ For those will be days of tribulation unmatched from the beginning of God’s creation until now, and never to be seen again. ²⁰ If the Lord had not cut short those days, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has cut them short.

²⁰ But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near. ²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country stay out of the city. ²² For these are the days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. ²³ How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people. ²⁴ They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

⁷ then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples. ⁸ And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’

⁹ Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

⁸ Jerusalem has sinned greatly; therefore she has become an object of scorn. All who honored her now despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns away.

²⁴ Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

¹² Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.

³⁷ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate.

² “Do you see all these things?” Jesus replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

² “Do you see all these great buildings?” Jesus replied. “Not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.

⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Dawn has visited us from on high,

⁴² and said, “If only you had known, even you, at least on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.

⁶ “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

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 one and only Son. 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.”

¹² Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

²⁵ then exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. ²⁶ Then you may spend the money on anything you desire: cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or anything you wish. You are to feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with your household.

¹² Then Jesus entered the temple of God and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. ¹³ And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

¹⁵ When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. ¹⁶ And He would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. ¹⁷ Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

¹³ When the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵ So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.”

⁵ Your testimonies are fully confirmed; holiness adorns Your house, O LORD, for all the days to come.

⁷ I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”

¹¹ Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD.

¹² This is the law of the temple: All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain will be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple.

⁷ A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.

²³ When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You this authority?”

³ At that time the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, ⁴ and they conspired to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him.

⁵⁵ At that time Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would an outlaw? Every day I sat with you teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest Me.

¹⁸ When the chief priests and scribes heard this, they looked for a way to kill Him. For they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.

²⁷ After their return to Jerusalem, Jesus was walking in the temple courts, and the chief priests, scribes, and elders came up to Him. ²⁸ “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You the authority to do them?” ²⁹ “I will also ask you one question,” Jesus replied, “and if you answer Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰ John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me!” ³¹ They deliberated among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘From men’...” they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John truly was a prophet. ³³ So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

¹² At this, the leaders sought to arrest Jesus, for they knew that He had spoken this parable against them. But fearing the crowd, they left Him and went away.

¹ Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away, and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a covert way to arrest Jesus and kill Him.

³⁷ Every day Jesus taught at the temple, but every evening He went out to spend the night on the Mount of Olives. ³⁸ And early in the morning all the people would come to hear Him at the temple.

¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps it. Why are you trying to kill Me?”

⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him.

³⁷ I know you are Abraham’s descendants, but you are trying to kill Me because My word has no place within you. ³⁸ I speak of what I have seen in the presence of My Father, and you do what you have seen from your father.” ³⁹ “Abraham is our father,” they replied. “If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham. ⁴⁰ But now you are trying to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing.

³⁹ At this, they tried again to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp.

⁵³ So from that day on they plotted to kill Him. ⁵⁴ As a result, Jesus no longer went about publicly among the Jews, but He withdrew to a town called Ephraim in an area near the wilderness. And He stayed there with the disciples. ⁵⁵ Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover. ⁵⁶ They kept looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple courts, “What do you think? Will He come to the feast at all?” ⁵⁷ But the chief priests and Pharisees had given an order that anyone who knew where He was must report it, so that they could arrest Him.

²⁰ “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus answered. “I always taught in the synagogues and at the temple, where the Jews always come together. I said nothing in secret.

³ So Ezra read it aloud from daybreak until noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate, in front of the men and women and those who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words. ¹⁶ They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You seek favor from no one, because You pay no attention to external appearance.

¹⁹ When the chief priests and scribes realized that Jesus had spoken this parable against them, they sought to arrest Him that very hour. But they were afraid. ²⁰ So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor.

² and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death; for they feared the people. ³ Then Satan entered Judas Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve. ⁴ And Judas went to discuss with the chief priests and temple officers how he might betray Jesus to them.

⁴⁶ “Never has anyone spoken like this man!” the officers answered. ⁴⁷ “Have you also been deceived?” replied the Pharisees. ⁴⁸ “Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the law, they are under a curse.”

¹⁴ Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.