¹Blow a trumpet in Zion,

And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

For the day of the LORD is coming;

Surely it is near,

²A day of darkness and gloom,

A day of clouds and thick darkness.

As the dawn is spread over the mountains,

So there is a great and mighty people;

There has never been anything like it,

Nor will there be again after it

To the years of many generations.

³A fire consumes before them

And behind them a flame burns.

The land is like the garden of Eden before them

But a desolate wilderness behind them,

And nothing at all escapes them.

⁴Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;

And like war horses, so they run.

⁵With a noise as of chariots

They leap on the tops of the mountains,

Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,

Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

⁶Before them the people are in anguish;

All faces turn pale.

⁷They run like mighty men,

They climb the wall like soldiers;

And they each march in line,

Nor do they deviate from their paths.

⁸They do not crowd each other,

They march everyone in his path;

When they burst through the defenses,

They do not break ranks.

⁹They rush on the city,

They run on the wall;

They climb into the houses,

They enter through the windows like a thief.

¹⁰Before them the earth quakes,

The heavens tremble,

The sun and the moon grow dark

And the stars lose their brightness.

¹¹The LORD utters His voice before His army;

Surely His camp is very great,

For strong is he who carries out His word.

The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome,

And who can endure it?

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,

“Return to Me with all your heart,

And with fasting, weeping and mourning;

¹³And rend your heart and not your garments.”

Now return to the LORD your God,

For He is gracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness

And relenting of evil.

¹⁴Who knows whether He will not turn and relent

And leave a blessing behind Him,

Even a grain offering and a drink offering

For the LORD your God?

¹⁵Blow a trumpet in Zion,

Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,

¹⁶Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,

Assemble the elders,

Gather the children and the nursing infants.

Let the bridegroom come out of his room

And the bride out of her bridal chamber.

¹⁷Let the priests, the LORD’S ministers,

Weep between the porch and the altar,

And let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD,

And do not make Your inheritance a reproach,

A byword among the nations.

Why should they among the peoples say,

‘Where is their God?’”

Deliverance Promised

¹Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;

According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity

And cleanse me from my sin.

³For I know my transgressions,

And my sin is ever before me.

⁴Against You, You only, I have sinned

And done what is evil in Your sight,

So that You are justified when You speak

And blameless when You judge.

⁵Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

And in sin my mother conceived me.

⁶Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,

And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.

⁷Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸Make me to hear joy and gladness,

Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

⁹Hide Your face from my sins

And blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

¹¹Do not cast me away from Your presence

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of Your salvation

And sustain me with a willing spirit.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners will be converted to You.

¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;

Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open my lips,

That my mouth may declare Your praise.

¹⁶For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;

You are not pleased with burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.²¹He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Their Ministry Commended

¹And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—²for He says,

“AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,

AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.”

Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”—

³giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited,⁴but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,⁵in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger,⁶in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,⁷in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,⁸by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true;⁹as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death,¹⁰as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.

Giving to the Poor and Prayer

¹“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

²“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.³“But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,⁴so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁵“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.⁶“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁷“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.⁸“So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹“Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

¹⁰‘Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹‘Give us this day our daily bread.

¹²‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

¹³‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]

¹⁴“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.¹⁵“But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Fasting; The True Treasure; Wealth (Mammon)

¹⁶“Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.¹⁷“But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face¹⁸so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

¹⁹“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.²⁰“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;²¹for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

³Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

⁴Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they came closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.⁵“Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.⁶“For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.⁷“God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.⁸“Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.⁹“Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.¹⁰“You shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have.¹¹“There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished.”’¹²“Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you.¹³“Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and bring my father down here.”¹⁴Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.¹⁵He kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.

¹Do not fret because of evildoers,

Be not envious toward wrongdoers.

²For they will wither quickly like the grass

And fade like the green herb.

³Trust in the LORD and do good;

Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

⁴Delight yourself in the LORD;

And He will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵Commit your way to the LORD,

Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

⁶He will bring forth your righteousness as the light

And your judgment as the noonday.

⁷Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;

Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

⁸Cease from anger and forsake wrath;

Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.

⁹For evildoers will be cut off,

But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.

¹⁰Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more;

And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.

¹¹But the humble will inherit the land

And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

¹²The wicked plots against the righteous

And gnashes at him with his teeth.

¹³The Lord laughs at him,

For He sees his day is coming.

¹⁴The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow

To cast down the afflicted and the needy,

To slay those who are upright in conduct.

¹⁵Their sword will enter their own heart,

And their bows will be broken.

¹⁶Better is the little of the righteous

Than the abundance of many wicked.

¹⁷For the arms of the wicked will be broken,

But the LORD sustains the righteous.

¹⁸The LORD knows the days of the blameless,

And their inheritance will be forever.

¹⁹They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,

And in the days of famine they will have abundance.

²⁰But the wicked will perish;

And the enemies of the LORD will be like the glory of the pastures,

They vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

²¹The wicked borrows and does not pay back,

But the righteous is gracious and gives.

²²For those blessed by Him will inherit the land,

But those cursed by Him will be cut off.

²³The steps of a man are established by the LORD,

And He delights in his way.

²⁴When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,

Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.

²⁵I have been young and now I am old,

Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

Or his descendants begging bread.

²⁶All day long he is gracious and lends,

And his descendants are a blessing.

²⁷Depart from evil and do good,

So you will abide forever.

²⁸For the LORD loves justice

And does not forsake His godly ones;

They are preserved forever,

But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.

²⁹The righteous will inherit the land

And dwell in it forever.

³⁰The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

And his tongue speaks justice.

³¹The law of his God is in his heart;

His steps do not slip.

³²The wicked spies upon the righteous

And seeks to kill him.

³³The LORD will not leave him in his hand

Or let him be condemned when he is judged.

³⁴Wait for the LORD and keep His way,

And He will exalt you to inherit the land;

When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

³⁵I have seen a wicked, violent man

Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.

³⁶Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more;

I sought for him, but he could not be found.

³⁷Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright;

For the man of peace will have a posterity.

³⁸But transgressors will be altogether destroyed;

The posterity of the wicked will be cut off.

³⁹But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;

He is their strength in time of trouble.

⁴⁰The LORD helps them and delivers them;

He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

Because they take refuge in Him.

³⁵But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”³⁶You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;³⁷and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.³⁸But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.³⁹All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.⁴⁰There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.⁴¹There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

⁴²So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;⁴³it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;⁴⁴it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.⁴⁵So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.⁴⁶However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.⁴⁷The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.⁴⁸As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.⁴⁹Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

The Mystery of Resurrection

⁵⁰Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

²⁷“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.²⁹“Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.³⁰“Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.³¹“Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.³²“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.³³“If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.³⁴“If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.³⁵“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.³⁶“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.³⁸“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

²⁹It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him.³⁰So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.³¹Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them.³²Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the LORD had spoken to him on Mount Sinai.³³When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.³⁴But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded,³⁵the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.

¹The LORD reigns, let the peoples tremble;

He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!

²The LORD is great in Zion,

And He is exalted above all the peoples.

³Let them praise Your great and awesome name;

Holy is He.

⁴The strength of the King loves justice;

You have established equity;

You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

⁵Exalt the LORD our God

And worship at His footstool;

Holy is He.

⁶Moses and Aaron were among His priests,

And Samuel was among those who called on His name;

They called upon the LORD and He answered them.

⁷He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;

They kept His testimonies

And the statute that He gave them.

⁸O LORD our God, You answered them;

You were a forgiving God to them,

And yet an avenger of their evil deeds.

⁹Exalt the LORD our God

And worship at His holy hill,

For holy is the LORD our God.

²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.²¹He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Their Ministry Commended

¹And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—²for He says,

“AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,

AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.”

Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”—

³giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited,⁴but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,⁵in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger,⁶in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,⁷in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,⁸by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true;⁹as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death,¹⁰as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.

²⁸Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.²⁹And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.³⁰And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah,³¹who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.³²Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.³³And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying.³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.³⁵Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”³⁶And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

Offering First Fruits

¹“Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it,²that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name.³“You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare this day to the LORD my God that I have entered the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’⁴“Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.⁵“You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation.⁶‘And the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us.⁷‘Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression;⁸and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders;⁹and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.¹⁰‘Now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O LORD have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God;¹¹and you and the Levite and the alien who is among you shall rejoice in all the good which the LORD your God has given you and your household.

¹I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart;

I will tell of all Your wonders.

²I will be glad and exult in You;

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

³When my enemies turn back,

They stumble and perish before You.

⁴For You have maintained my just cause;

You have sat on the throne judging righteously.

⁵You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked;

You have blotted out their name forever and ever.

⁶The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins,

And You have uprooted the cities;

The very memory of them has perished.

⁷But the LORD abides forever;

He has established His throne for judgment,

⁸And He will judge the world in righteousness;

He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.

⁹The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed,

A stronghold in times of trouble;

¹⁰And those who know Your name will put their trust in You,

For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

¹¹Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion;

Declare among the peoples His deeds.

¹²For He who requires blood remembers them;

He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

¹³Be gracious to me, O LORD;

See my affliction from those who hate me,

You who lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴That I may tell of all Your praises,

That in the gates of the daughter of Zion

I may rejoice in Your salvation.

¹⁵The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made;

In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.

¹⁶The LORD has made Himself known;

He has executed judgment.

In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared.

Higgaion Selah.

⁸But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,⁹that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;¹⁰for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.¹¹For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;¹³for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

The Temptation of Jesus

¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness²for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry.³And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”⁴And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.’”

⁵And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.⁶And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.⁷“Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”⁸Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’”

⁹And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here;¹⁰for it is written,

‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,’

¹¹and,

‘ONtheirHANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP,

SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”

¹²And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘YOU SHALL NOTPUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”

¹³When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

Jesus’ Public Ministry

Abram Promised a Son

¹After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying,

“Do not fear, Abram,

I am a shield to you;

Your reward shall be very great.”

²Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”³And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.”⁴Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”⁵And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”⁶Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.⁷And He said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”⁸He said, “O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?”⁹So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”¹⁰Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.¹¹The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹²Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.¹³God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.¹⁴“But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.¹⁵“As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.¹⁶“Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

¹⁷It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.¹⁸On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,

“To your descendants I have given this land,

From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:

¹The LORD is my light and my salvation;

Whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the defense of my life;

Whom shall I dread?

²When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,

My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.

³Though a host encamp against me,

My heart will not fear;

Though war arise against me,

In spite of this I shall be confident.

⁴One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the LORD

And to meditate in His temple.

⁵For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;

In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;

He will lift me up on a rock.

⁶And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,

And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

⁷Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice,

And be gracious to me and answer me.

⁸When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,

“Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.”

⁹Do not hide Your face from me,

Do not turn Your servant away in anger;

You have been my help;

Do not abandon me nor forsake me,

O God of my salvation!

¹⁰For my father and my mother have forsaken me,

But the LORD will take me up.

¹¹Teach me Your way, O LORD,

And lead me in a level path

Because of my foes.

¹²Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries,

For false witnesses have risen against me,

And such as breathe out violence.

¹³I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD

In the land of the living.

¹⁴Wait for the LORD;

Be strong and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the LORD.

¹⁷Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.¹⁸For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,¹⁹whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.²⁰For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;²¹who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

Think of Excellence

¹Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.

³¹Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away, leave here, for Herod wants to kill You.”³²And He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal.’³³“Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.³⁴“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!³⁵“Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’”

¹“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;

And you who have no money come, buy and eat.

Come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without cost.

²“Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And delight yourself in abundance.

³“Incline your ear and come to Me.

Listen, that you may live;

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

According to the faithful mercies shown to David.

⁴“Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

A leader and commander for the peoples.

⁵“Behold, you will call a nation you do not know,

And a nation which knows you not will run to you,

Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel;

For He has glorified you.”

⁶Seek the LORD while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

⁷Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the LORD,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

⁸“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.

⁹“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;

My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,

In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

²Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory.

³Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips will praise You.

⁴So I will bless You as long as I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.

⁵My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,

And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

⁶When I remember You on my bed,

I meditate on You in the night watches,

⁷For You have been my help,

And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.

⁸My soul clings to You;

Your right hand upholds me.

Avoid Israel’s Mistakes

¹For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea;²and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;³and all ate the same spiritual food;⁴and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.⁵Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.

⁶Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.⁷Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TOPLAY.”⁸Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.⁹Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.¹⁰Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.¹¹Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.¹²Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.¹³No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

Call to Repent

¹Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.²And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?³“I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.⁴“Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?⁵“I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

⁶And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.⁷“And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’⁸“And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;⁹and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

Healing on the Sabbath

⁹Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.

¹⁰While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho.¹¹On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.¹²The manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.

¹How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

Whose sin is covered!

²How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,

And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

³When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away

Through my groaning all day long.

⁴For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;

My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.

Selah.

⁵I acknowledged my sin to You,

And my iniquity I did not hide;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;

And You forgave the guilt of my sin.

Selah.

⁶Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;

Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.

⁷You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;

You surround me with songs of deliverance.

Selah.

⁸I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;

I will counsel you with My eye upon you.

⁹Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,

Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,

Otherwise they will not come near to you.

¹⁰Many are the sorrows of the wicked,

But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.

¹¹Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones;

And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

¹⁶Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Himin this way no longer.¹⁷Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.¹⁸Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,¹⁹namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.²¹He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The Lost Sheep

¹Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.²Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

³So He told them this parable, saying,⁴“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?⁵“When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.⁶“And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’⁷“I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Lost Coin

⁸“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?⁹“When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’¹⁰“In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Prodigal Son

¹¹And He said, “A man had two sons.¹²“The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them.¹³“And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.¹⁴“Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.¹⁵“So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.¹⁶“And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.¹⁷“But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!¹⁸‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’²⁰“So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.²¹“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’²²“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;²³and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;²⁴for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.²⁶“And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be.²⁷“And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’²⁸“But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.²⁹“But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;³⁰but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’³¹“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.³²‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

¹⁶Thus says the LORD,

Who makes a way through the sea

And a path through the mighty waters,

¹⁷Who brings forth the chariot and the horse,

The army and the mighty man

(They will lie down together and not rise again;

They have been quenched and extinguished like a wick):

¹⁸“Do not call to mind the former things,

Or ponder things of the past.

¹⁹“Behold, I will do something new,

Now it will spring forth;

Will you not be aware of it?

I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,

Rivers in the desert.

²⁰“The beasts of the field will glorify Me,

The jackals and the ostriches,

Because I have given waters in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert,

To give drink to My chosen people.

²¹“The people whom I formed for Myself

Will declare My praise.

The Shortcomings of Israel

¹When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion,

We were like those who dream.

²Then our mouth was filled with laughter

And our tongue with joyful shouting;

Then they said among the nations,

“The LORD has done great things for them.”

³The LORD has done great things for us;

We are glad.

⁴Restore our captivity, O LORD,

As the streams in the South.

⁵Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.

⁶He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,

Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

⁴although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:⁵circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;⁶as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

⁷But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.⁸More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,⁹and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,¹⁰that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;¹¹in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

¹²Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.¹³Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Mary Anoints Jesus

¹Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.²So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at thetable with Him.³Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, *said,⁵“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?”⁶Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.⁷Therefore Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.⁸“For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”