Staff & Leadership

⁷“Although our iniquities testify against us,

O LORD, act for Your name’s sake!

Truly our apostasies have been many,

We have sinned against You.

⁸“O Hope of Israel,

Its Savior in time of distress,

Why are You like a stranger in the land

Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?

⁹“Why are You like a man dismayed,

Like a mighty man who cannot save?

Yet You are in our midst, O LORD,

And we are called by Your name;

Do not forsake us!”

¹⁰Thus says the LORD to this people, “Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account.”¹¹So the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the welfare of this people.¹²“When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence.”

False Prophets

¹³But, “Ah, Lord GOD!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”¹⁴Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.¹⁵“Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end!¹⁶“The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters—for I will pour out their own wickedness on them.

¹⁷“You will say this word to them,

‘Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day,

And let them not cease;

For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow,

With a sorely infected wound.

¹⁸‘If I go out to the country,

Behold, those slain with the sword!

Or if I enter the city,

Behold, diseases of famine!

For both prophet and priest

Have gone roving about in the land that they do not know.’”

¹⁹Have You completely rejected Judah?

Or have You loathed Zion?

Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing?

We waited for peace, but nothing good came;

And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

²⁰We know our wickedness, O LORD,

The iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.

²¹Do not despise us, for Your own name’s sake;

Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory;

Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.

²²Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain?

Or can the heavens grant showers?

Is it not You, O LORD our God?

Therefore we hope in You,

For You are the one who has done all these things.

¹God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change

And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;

³Though its waters roar and foam,

Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.

Selah.

⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

The holy dwelling places of the Most High.

⁵God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

⁶The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;

He raised His voice, the earth melted.

⁷The LORD of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Selah.

⁸Come, behold the works of the LORD,

Who has wrought desolations in the earth.

⁹He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;

He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;

He burns the chariots with fire.

¹⁰“Cease striving and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹The LORD of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Selah.

⁶For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;⁸in the future 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 also to all who have loved His appearing.

Personal Concerns

⁹Make every effort to come to me soon;¹⁰for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.¹¹Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.¹²But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.¹³When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments.¹⁴Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.¹⁵Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching.

¹⁶At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them.¹⁷But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth.¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

⁹And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:¹⁰“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.¹¹“The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.¹²‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’¹³“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’¹⁴“I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Vision of the Four Beasts

¹In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and related the following summary of it.²Daniel said, “I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.³“And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another.⁴“The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it.⁵“And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, ‘Arise, devour much meat!’⁶“After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.⁷“After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.⁸“While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.

The Ancient of Days Reigns

⁹“I kept looking

Until thrones were set up,

And the Ancient of Days took His seat;

His vesture was like white snow

And the hair of His head like pure wool.

His throne was ablaze with flames,

Its wheels were a burning fire.

¹⁰“A river of fire was flowing

And coming out from before Him;

Thousands upon thousands were attending Him,

And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;

The court sat,

And the books were opened.

¹¹“Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire.¹²“As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time.

The Son of Man Presented

¹³“I kept looking in the night visions,

And behold, with the clouds of heaven

One like a Son of Man was coming,

And He came up to the Ancient of Days

And was presented before Him.

¹⁴“And to Him was given dominion,

Glory and a kingdom,

That all the peoples, nations and men of every language

Might serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

Which will not pass away;

And His kingdom is one

Which will not be destroyed.

The Vision Interpreted

¹⁵“As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.¹⁶“I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things:¹⁷‘These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth.¹⁸‘But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.’

¹Praise the LORD!

Sing to the LORD a new song,

And His praise in the congregation of the godly ones.

²Let Israel be glad in his Maker;

Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King.

³Let them praise His name with dancing;

Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre.

⁴For the LORD takes pleasure in His people;

He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.

⁵Let the godly ones exult in glory;

Let them sing for joy on their beds.

⁶Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,

And a two-edged sword in their hand,

⁷To execute vengeance on the nations

And punishment on the peoples,

⁸To bind their kings with chains

And their nobles with fetters of iron,

⁹To execute on them the judgment written;

This is an honor for all His godly ones.

Praise the LORD!

¹¹also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,¹²to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.¹³In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,¹⁴who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

¹⁵For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,¹⁶do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;¹⁷that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.¹⁸I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,¹⁹and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might²⁰which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,²¹far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.²²And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,²³which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

²⁰And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.²¹“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.²²“Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.²³“Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.²⁴“But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.²⁵“Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.²⁶“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.

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.

Final Admonition

¹“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”²“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.

¹O sing to the LORD a new song,

For He has done wonderful things,

His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.

²The LORD has made known His salvation;

He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.

³He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;

Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.

⁵Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,

With the lyre and the sound of melody.

⁶With trumpets and the sound of the horn

Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD.

⁷Let the sea roar and all it contains,

The world and those who dwell in it.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands,

Let the mountains sing together for joy

⁹Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth;

He will judge the world with righteousness

And the peoples with equity.

⁶Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you,⁸nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you;⁹not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example.¹⁰For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.¹¹For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.¹²Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.¹³But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.

⁵And while some were talking about the temple, that it was adorned with beautiful stones and votive gifts, He said,⁶“As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down.”

⁷They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?”⁸And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them.⁹“When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.”

Things to Come

¹⁰Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom,¹¹and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

¹²“But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake.¹³“It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.¹⁴“So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves;¹⁵for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.¹⁶“But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death,¹⁷and you will be hated by all because of My name.¹⁸“Yet not a hair of your head will perish.¹⁹“By your endurance you will gain your lives.

The Coming Messiah: the Righteous Branch

¹“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.²Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the LORD.³“Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply.⁴“I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD.

⁵“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD,

“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;

And He will reign as king and act wisely

And do justice and righteousness in the land.

⁶“In His days Judah will be saved,

And Israel will dwell securely;

And this is His name by which He will be called,

‘The LORD our righteousness.’

¹God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change

And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;

³Though its waters roar and foam,

Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.

Selah.

⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

The holy dwelling places of the Most High.

⁵God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

⁶The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;

He raised His voice, the earth melted.

⁷The LORD of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Selah.

⁸Come, behold the works of the LORD,

Who has wrought desolations in the earth.

⁹He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;

He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;

He burns the chariots with fire.

¹⁰“Cease striving and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹The LORD of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Selah.

¹¹strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

The Incomparable Christ

¹³For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.¹⁶For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.¹⁷He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.¹⁸He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.¹⁹For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,²⁰and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

³³When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.³⁴But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.³⁵And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.”³⁶The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine,³⁷and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!”³⁸Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁹One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”⁴⁰But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?⁴¹“And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”⁴²And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”⁴³And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

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.

¹Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.

²Serve the LORD with gladness;

Come before Him with joyful singing.

³Know that the LORD Himself is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

⁴Enter His gates with thanksgiving

And His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

⁵For the LORD is good;

His lovingkindness is everlasting

And His faithfulness to all generations.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!⁵Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.⁹The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

God’s Provisions

²⁵When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”

Words to the People

²⁶Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.²⁷“Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”²⁸Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?”²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”³⁰So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?³¹“Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TOEAT.’”³²Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.³³“For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”³⁴Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”

³⁵Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.