Psalm 91:4 With his feathers he will cover you,
For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize this one, and the voices of the prophets that are read on every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
With his feathers he will cover you,
and under his wings you can take refuge.
His faithfulness will be a shield and a buckler.
And the cherubim will be with outspread wings above, covering with their wings over the atonement cover and facing each other; the faces of the cherubim will be toward the atonement cover.
May Yahweh reward your work and may a full reward be given to you from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you came to take refuge.”
How precious is your loyal love, O God,
and the children of humankind
take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They are refreshed with the fullness of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
Let me reside in your tent forever.
Let me take refuge under the covering of your wings. Selah
Behold, your house has been left to you! And I tell you, you will never see me until the time will come when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh.
We bless you from the house of Yahweh.
saying,
“Blessed is the king,
the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest!”
“ ‘I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look to me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn over him, as one wails over an only child, and they will grieve bitterly over him as one grieves bitterly over a firstborn.
On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in half, from east to west, by a very great valley; and half of the mountain will withdraw toward the north, and the other half toward the south. 5 And you will flee by the valley of my mountains, because the valley of the mountains will reach to Azal, and you will flee like you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. And Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
6 And then on that day there will not be light, the precious things will congeal. 7 There shall be continuous day—it is known to Yahweh—not day and not night; and at evening time there will be light.
8 And then on that day, living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea, and the other half to the western sea; it will happen both in the summer and in the winter. 9 And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; on that day Yahweh will be one and his name one. 10 All the land will be transformed into a desert plateau from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But it will rise up high and it will stay in its place from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, up to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 And they will dwell in it, and there will be no more ban imposed, and Jerusalem will dwell in security.
12 And this will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the peoples that fight against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are standing on their feet; their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13 And then on that day a great panic from Yahweh will fall on them, and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of another. 14 And Judah also will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—gold and silver, and garments in great abundance. 15 Like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, and the donkey, and every kind of animal in those camps.
16 And then every survivor from all those nations coming against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, and celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And then whoever of the clans of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, it will not rain on them. 18 And if the clan of Egypt will not go up and come in, on them will be that plague Yahweh inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
20 On that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to Yahweh.” And the cooking pots in the house of Yahweh will be holy like the sacrificial basins before the altar. 21 And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of hosts, and all those who sacrifice will come and will take from them, and will cook in them, and there will be no longer a trader in the house of Yahweh of hosts on that day.
And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other end of it.
The children of Israel will remain for many days
without a king and prince,
without sacrifice and stone pillar, ephod and teraphim.
5 Afterward the children of Israel will return
and seek Yahweh their God and David their king.
They will come in fear to Yahweh
and to his goodness at the end of days.
Therefore I say, God has not rejected his people, has he? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, from the descendants of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people, whom he foreknew! Or do you not know, in the passage about Elijah, what the scripture says—how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life!” 4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have left for myself seven thousand people who have not bent the knee to Baal.” 5 So in this way also at the present time, there is a remnant selected by grace. 6 But if by grace, it is no longer by works, for otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? What Israel was searching for, this it did not obtain. But the elect obtained it, and the rest were hardened, 8 just as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear,
until this very day.”
9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
and a cause for stumbling and a retribution to them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they do not see,
and cause their backs to bend continually.”
11 I say then, they did not stumble so that they fell, did they? May it never be! But by their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy. 12 And if their trespass means riches for the world and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean?
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Therefore, inasmuch as I am apostle to the Gentiles, I promote my ministry, 14 if somehow I may provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean except life from the dead? 16 Now if the first fruits are holy, so also is the whole batch of dough, and if the root is holy, so also are the branches.
17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although you were a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a sharer of the root of the olive tree’s richness, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you boast against them, you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off in order that I could be grafted in.” 20 Well said! They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand firm because of faith. Do not think arrogant thoughts, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity upon those who have fallen, but upon you the kindness of God—if you continue in his kindness, for otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And those also, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you will not be wise in your own sight, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and so all Israel will be saved, just as it is written,
“The deliverer will come out of Zion;
he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
27 And this is the covenant from me with them
when I take away their sins.”
28 With respect to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but with respect to election, they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you formerly were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of the disobedience of these, 31 so also these have now been disobedient for your mercy, in order that they also may now be shown mercy. 32 For God confined them all in disobedience, in order that he could have mercy on them all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches
and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments
and how incomprehensible are his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?
35 Or who has given in advance to him,
and it will be paid back to him?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory for eternity! Amen.
For a child has been born for us;
a son has been given to us.
And the dominion will be on his shoulder,
and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
And a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from its roots will bear fruit.
2 And the spirit of Yahweh shall rest on him—
a spirit of wisdom and understanding,
a spirit of counsel and might,
a spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh.
3 And his breath is in the fear of Yahweh.
And he shall judge not by his eyesight,
and he shall rebuke not by what he hears with his ears.
4 But he shall judge the poor with righteousness,
and he shall decide for the needy of the earth with rectitude.
And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and he shall kill the wicked person with the breath of his lips.
5 And righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
6 And a wolf shall stay with a lamb,
and a leopard shall lie down with a kid,
and a calf and a lion and a fathng together
as a small boy leads them.
7 And a cow and a bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together.
And a lion shall eat straw like the cattle.
8 And an infant shall play over a serpent’s hole,
and a toddler shall put his hand on a viper’s hole.
9 They will not injure and they will not destroy on all of my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh,
as the waters cover the sea.
10 And this shall happen on that day:
the nations shall inquire of the root of Jesse,
which shall be standing as a signal to the peoples,
and his resting place shall be glorious.
11 And this shall happen on that day:
The Lord will again extend his hand a second time
to acquire the remnant of his people that is left,
from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coastlands of the sea,
12 and he will raise a signal for the nations.
And he will gather the outcasts of Israel,
and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four corners of the earth.
13 And the jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off.
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
and Judah shall not be an enemy of Ephraim.
14 But they shall swoop upon the Philistine shoulder, westward.
Together they shall plunder the sons of the east.
Edom and Moab will be under their command,
and the sons of Ammon will be their subjugated people.
15 And Yahweh will divide the tongue of the sea of Egypt,
and he will wave his hand over the river with his scorching wind;
and he will strike it into seven streams,
and he will make it passable by foot.
16 So there shall be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of his people that remains,
as there was for Israel when it went up from the land of Egypt.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be at ease.
But Jesus himself did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people, 25 and because he did not need anyone to testify about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
And it happened that when he came to the house of a certain one of the leaders of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat a meal, they were watching him closely. 2 And behold, a certain man was in front of him, suffering from edema. 3 And Jesus answered and said to the legal experts and Pharisees, saying, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. And he took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away. 5 And he said to them, “Who among you, if your son or your ox falls into a well on the day of the Sabbath, will not immediately pull him out?” 6 And they were not able to make a reply to these things.
But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inside is full of greediness and wickedness. 40 Fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give as charitable giving the things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
42 “But woe to you, Pharisees, because you pay a tenth of mint and rue and every garden herb, and neglect justice and love for God! But it was necessary to do these things without neglecting those things also. 43 Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the best seat in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces! 44 Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, and the people who walk over them do not know it!
45 And one of the legal experts answered and said to him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also!” 46 So he said, “Woe to you also, legal experts, because you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers! 47 Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them! 48 As a result you are witnesses, and you approve of the deeds of your fathers, because they killed them and you build their tombs! 49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation! 52 Woe to you, legal experts, because you have taken away the key to knowledge! You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering!”
And he came down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. 32 And they were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority.
33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha! Leave us alone, Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And after throwing him down in their midst, the demon came out of him without hurting him at all. 36 And amazement came upon them all, and they began to talk with one another, saying, “What word is this? For he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!” 37 And news about him went out into every place of the surrounding region.
And after he set out from the synagogue, he went into Simon’s house. And Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a high fever, and they asked him on behalf of her. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she got up and began to serve them.
Now it happened that on a Sabbath he went through the grain fields, and his disciples were picking and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath? 3 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you not read this, what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry—4 how he entered into the house of God and took the bread of the presentation, which it is not permitted to eat (except the priests alone), and ate it and gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
After these things 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 called in Aramaic Bethzatha, which has five porticoes. 3 In these were lying a large number of those who were sick, blind, lame, paralyzed. 5 And a certain man was there who had been thirty-eight years in his sickness. 6 Jesus, when he saw this one lying there and knew that he had been sick a long time already, said to him, “Do you want to become well?” 7 The one who was sick answered him, “Sir, I do not have anyone that, whenever the water is stirred up, could put me into the pool. But while I am coming, another goes down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk!” 9 And immediately the man became well and picked up his mat and began to walk. (Now it was the Sabbath on that day.)
Now it happened that on another Sabbath he entered into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there, and his right hand was withered. 7 So the scribes and the Pharisees were watching closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, in order that they could find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Get up and stand in the middle,” and he got up and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you whether it is permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand,” and he did, and his hand was restored.
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, a woman was there who had a spirit that had disabled her for eighteen years, and she was bent over and not able to straighten herself up completely. 12 And when he saw her, Jesus summoned her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability!” 13 And he placed his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, answered and said to the crowd, “There are six days on which it is necessary to work. Therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the day of the Sabbath!” 15 But the Lord answered and said to him, “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you untie his ox or his donkey from the feeding trough on the Sabbath and lead it away to water it? 16 And this woman, who is a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound eighteen long years—is it not necessary that she be released from this bond on the day of the Sabbath?” 17 And when he said these things, all those who opposed him were humiliated, and the whole crowd was rejoicing at all the splendid things that were being done by him.
Now he told a parable to those who had been invited when he noticed how they were choosing for themselves the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not recline at the table in the place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you has been invited by him, 9 and the one who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give the place to this person,’ and then with shame you will begin to take the last place. 10 But when you are invited, go and recline at the table in the last place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then it will be an honor to you in the presence of all those who are reclining at the table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Do not promote yourself before the king,
and in the place of the great ones do not stand.
7 For it is better that he say to you, “Ascend here,”
than he humble you before a noble.
What your eyes have seen,
But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For God does not see what man sees, for a man looks on the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks on the heart.”
But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says,
“God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.”
Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 complete my joy, so that you are in agreement, having the same love, united in spirit, having one purpose. 3 Do nothing according to selfish ambition or according to empty conceit, but in humility considering one another better than yourselves, 4 each of you not looking out for your own interests, but also each of you for the interests of others.
5 Think this in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider being equal with God something to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself
by taking the form of a slave,
by becoming in the likeness of people.
And being found in appearance like a man,
8 he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death,
that is, death on a cross.
9 Therefore also God exalted him
and graciously granted him the name above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,
of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
12 Therefore my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For the one at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure, is God. 14 Do all things without grumbling and disputing, 15 in order that you may become blameless and innocent, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as stars in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, for a source of pride to me in the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
And he also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or wealthy neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. 13 But whenever you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they are not able to repay you. For it will be paid back to you at the resurrection of the righteous.”
“And take care not to practice your righteousness before people to be seen by them; otherwise you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 Therefore whenever you practice charitable giving, do not sound a trumpet in front of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, in order that they may be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! 3 But you, when you practice charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 in order that your charitable giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5 And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, in order that they may be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! 6 But whenever you pray, enter into your inner room and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 “But when you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the pagans, for they think that because of their many words they will be heard. 8 Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Therefore you pray in this way:
“Our Father who is in heaven,
may your name be treated as holy.
10 May your kingdom come,
may your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
14 For if you forgive people their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your sins.
16 “Whenever you fast, do not be sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unrecognizable in order that they may be seen fasting by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! 17 But when you are fasting, put olive oil on your head and wash your face 18 so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor consuming insect destroy and where thieves do not break in or steal.
So is the one who stores up treasure for himself, and who is not rich toward God!”
Then Peter answered and said to him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed you. What then will there be for us?” 28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that in the renewal of the world, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me—you also will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields on account of my name will receive a hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Now when one of those reclining at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A certain man was giving a large banquet and invited many. 17 And he sent his slave at the hour of the banquet to say to those who have been invited, ‘Come, because now it is ready!’ 18 And they all alike began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field, and I must go out to look at it. I ask you, consider me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them. I ask you, consider me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and for this reason I am not able to come.’ 21 And the slave came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame!’ 22 And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23 And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and press them to come in, so that my house will be filled! 24 For I say to you that none of those persons who were invited will taste my banquet!’ ”
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside!
And on this mountain Yahweh of hosts will make for all peoples a rich feast,
a feast of aged wines, fat filled with marrow, filtered aged wine.
If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it is good to the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them tomorrow, and I will do according to the word of the king.
As they were still speaking with him the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
“When a man takes a new wife he shall not go out with the army, and he shall not be obligated with anything; he shall be free from obligation, to stay at home for one year, and he shall bring joy to his wife that he took.
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were drawing near to hear him. 2 And both the Pharisees and the scribes were complaining, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!”
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.”
Therefore we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as if God were imploring you through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
And he was going throughout towns and villages, teaching and making his journey toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, are there only a few who are saved?” And he said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able to, 25 when once the master of the house has gotten up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ And he will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from!’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets!’ 27 And he will reply, saying to you, ‘I do not know where you are from! Go away from me, all you evildoers!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside! 29 And they will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Seek Yahweh while he lets himself be found;
call him while he is near.
Because I called out and you refused me,
I stretched out my hand, yet there is none who heeds.
25 You have ignored all my counsel,
and my reproof you are not willing to accept.
26 I will also laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when panic comes upon you.
27 When your panic comes like a storm,
and your calamity arrives like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you,
28 then they will call me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but not find me.
29 Since they hated knowledge,
and did not choose the fear of Yahweh,
30 they were not willing to accept my counsel,
they despised all my reproof.
31 They shall eat from the fruit of their way,
and they shall be sated from their own schemes,
32 for the waywardness of the simple ones will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
33 Whoever listens to me will dwell in security
and rest securely from dread and disaster.”
And he did not permit him, but said to him, “Go to your home to your people and tell them all that the Lord has done for you, and that he has had mercy on you.”
And the slave came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame!’
And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and press them to come in, so that my house will be filled!
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Now large crowds were going along with him, and he turned around and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and furthermore, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’ 31 Or what king, going out to engage another king in battle, does not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand. 32 But if not, while the other is still far away, he sends an ambassador and asks for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot be my disciple.
34 “Now salt is good, but if salt becomes tasteless, with what will it be made salty? 35 It is usable neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it out. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and press them to come in, so that my house will be filled!
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and furthermore, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Then he also went in to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with him yet another seven years.
31 When Yahweh saw that Leah was unloved he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
“I have loved you,” says Yahweh, but you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is Esau not Jacob’s brother?” declares Yahweh. “I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated. I have made his mountain ranges a desolation, and given his inheritance to the jackals of the desert.”
The one who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and the one who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man will be glorified. 24 Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world preserves it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, deliver me from this hour’? But for this reason I have come to this hour! 28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, by what will it be made salty? It is good for nothing any longer except to be thrown outside and trampled under foot by people.
And he also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and looked down on everyone else: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed these things with reference to himself: ‘God, I give thanks to you that I am not like other people—swindlers, unrighteous people, adulterers, or even like this tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far away, did not want even to raise his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than that one! For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.”
Everyone whom the Father gives to me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never throw out,
But we ought to give thanks to God always concerning you, brothers dearly loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you as first fruits for salvation by the sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth, 14 for which purpose he called you through our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were drawing near to hear him. 2 And both the Pharisees and the scribes were complaining, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!”
3 So he told them this parable, saying, 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the grassland and go after the one that was lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he returns to his home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that 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 people who have no need of repentance.
8 Or what woman who has ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the drachma that 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.”
So he told them this parable, saying, 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the grassland and go after the one that was lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he returns to his home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that 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 people who have no need of repentance.
All of us have wandered about like sheep;
we each have turned to his own way;
and Yahweh let fall on him
the iniquity of us all.
For you were going astray like sheep, but you have turned back now to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
These twenty years I was with you; your ewes and your female goats did not miscarry, and the rams of your flocks I did not eat. 39 I brought no mangled carcass to you—I bore its loss. From my hand you sought it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
“ ‘If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or small livestock or any beast to watch over and it dies or is injured or is captured when there is no one who sees, 11 the oath of Yahweh will be between the two of them concerning whether or not he has reached out his hand to his neighbor’s possession, and its owner will accept this, and he will not make restitution. 12 But if indeed it was stolen from him, he will make restitution to its owner. 13 If indeed it was torn to pieces, he will bring it as evidence—the mangled carcass; he will not make restitution.
Thus says Yahweh, “Just as the shepherd rescues two legs or a piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria, with the corner of a couch and the damask of a bed.”
And leaping up, he stood and began walking around and entered into the temple courts with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer, for he went on his way rejoicing.
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 people who have no need of repentance.
In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Or what woman who has ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the drachma that 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.”
And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay their hands on him at that same hour, and they were afraid of the people, for they knew that he had told this parable with reference to them.
20 And they watched him closely and sent spies who pretended they were upright, in order that they could catch him in a statement, so that they could hand him over to the authority and the jurisdiction of the governor. 21 And they asked him, saying, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and do not show partiality, but teach the way of God in truth. 22 Is it permitted for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” 23 But seeing through their craftiness, he said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius! Whose image and inscription does it have?” And they answered and said, “Caesar’s.” 25 So he said to them, “Well then, give to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God the things of God!”
because those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brothers.
And we all, with unveiled face, reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory into glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
and have put on the new man that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created him,
See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called children of God, and we are! Because of this the world does not know us: because it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever he is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.
Then they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden at the windy time of day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. 9 And Yahweh God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
Yahweh is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger and abundant in loyal love.
9 He does not dispute continually,
nor keep his anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor repaid us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so his loyal love prevails over those who fear him.
12 As far as east is from west,
so he has removed far from us the guilt of our transgressions.
13 As a father pities his children,
so Yahweh pities those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame.
He remembers that we are dust.
And he said, “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that is coming to me.’ So he divided his assets between them. 13 And after not many days, the younger son gathered everything and went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth by living wastefully. 14 And after he had spent everything, there was a severe famine throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 And he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to tend pigs. 16 And he was longing to fill his stomach with the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have an abundance of food, and I am dying here from hunger! 18 I will set out and go to my father and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight! 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son! Make me like one of your hired workers.’ 20 And he set out and came to his own father. But while he was still a long way away, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And his 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 his father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! 23 And bring the fattened calf—kill it and let us eat and celebrate, 24 because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.
Or do you despise the wealth of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
And he said, “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that is coming to me.’ So he divided his assets between them. 13 And after not many days, the younger son gathered everything and went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth by living wastefully. 14 And after he had spent everything, there was a severe famine throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 And he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to tend pigs. 16 And he was longing to fill his stomach with the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.
But he shall acknowledge the firstborn son of the disliked wife by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruit of his vigor; to him is the legal claim of the birthright.
And he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourselves from all greediness, because not even when someone has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”
Jesus replied to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
For the compensation due sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have an abundance of food, and I am dying here from hunger! 18 I will set out and go to my father and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight! 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son! Make me like one of your hired workers.’
Or do you despise the wealth of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
For grief according to the will of God brings about a repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but worldly grief brings about death.