Saturday, April 25, 2026

^1:1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings. ²Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, ³knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ⁵But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. ⁷For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord. ⁸He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. ⁹Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position; ¹⁰and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away. ¹¹For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass; and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits. ¹²Blessed is a person who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love him.

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^1:13Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. ¹⁵Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death. ¹⁶Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow. ¹⁸Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. ¹⁹So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; ²⁰for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. ²¹Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. ²²But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. ²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. ²⁵But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. ²⁶If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless. ²⁷Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

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^2:1My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality. ²For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in, ³and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool” ⁴haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him? ⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you and personally drag you before the courts? ⁷Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called? ⁸However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. ⁹But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. ¹¹For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹²So speak and so do as men who are to be judged by the law of freedom. ¹³For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

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^10:1Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place where he was about to come. ²Then he said to them, “The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers into his harvest. ³Go your ways. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. ⁴Carry no purse, nor wallet, nor sandals. Greet no one on the way. ⁵Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ ⁶If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. ⁷Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don’t go from house to house. ⁸Into whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat the things that are set before you. ⁹Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’ ¹⁰But into whatever city you enter and they don’t receive you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹‘Even the dust from your city that clings to us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’ ¹²I tell you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. ¹³“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. ¹⁵You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.

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^5:21When they heard this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and taught. But the high priest and those who were with him came and called the council together, with all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ²²But the officers who came didn’t find them in the prison. They returned and reported, ²³“We found the prison shut and locked, and the guards standing before the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside!” ²⁴Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these words, they were very perplexed about them and what might become of this. ²⁵One came and told them, “Behold, the men whom you put in prison are in the temple, standing and teaching the people.” ²⁶Then the captain went with the officers, and brought them without violence, for they were afraid that the people might stone them. ²⁷When they had brought them, they set them before the council. The high priest questioned them, ²⁸saying, “Didn’t we strictly command you not to teach in this name? Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man’s blood on us.” ²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. ³⁰The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed, hanging him on a tree. ³¹God exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins. ³²We are his witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” ³³But they, when they heard this, were cut to the heart, and were determined to kill them.

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^5:6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, ⁷casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you. ⁸Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings. ¹⁰But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. ¹¹To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. ¹²Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. ¹³She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you. So does Mark, my son. ¹⁴Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to all of you who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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^6:14When therefore the people saw the sign which Jesus did, they said, “This is truly the prophet who comes into the world.” ¹⁵Jesus therefore, perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself. ¹⁶When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea. ¹⁷They entered into the boat, and were going over the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them. ¹⁸The sea was tossed by a great wind blowing. ¹⁹When therefore they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were afraid. ²⁰But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ²¹They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. Immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. ²²On the next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one in which his disciples had embarked, and that Jesus hadn’t entered with his disciples into the boat, but his disciples had gone away alone. ²³However, boats from Tiberias came near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴When the multitude therefore saw that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. ²⁵When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” ²⁶Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”

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^6:7He called to himself the twelve, and began to send them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸He commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a staff only: no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse, ⁹but to wear sandals, and not put on two tunics. ¹⁰He said to them, “Wherever you enter into a house, stay there until you depart from there. ¹¹Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, as you depart from there, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony against them. Assuredly, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” ¹²They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³They cast out many demons, and anointed many with oil who were sick and healed them.

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^5:21When they heard this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and taught. But the high priest and those who were with him came and called the council together, with all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ²²But the officers who came didn’t find them in the prison. They returned and reported, ²³“We found the prison shut and locked, and the guards standing before the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside!” ²⁴Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these words, they were very perplexed about them and what might become of this. ²⁵One came and told them, “Behold, the men whom you put in prison are in the temple, standing and teaching the people.” ²⁶Then the captain went with the officers, and brought them without violence, for they were afraid that the people might stone them. ²⁷When they had brought them, they set them before the council. The high priest questioned them, ²⁸saying, “Didn’t we strictly command you not to teach in this name? Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man’s blood on us.” ²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. ³⁰The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed, hanging him on a tree. ³¹God exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins. ³²We are his witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” ³³But they, when they heard this, were cut to the heart, and were determined to kill them.

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^6:14When therefore the people saw the sign which Jesus did, they said, “This is truly the prophet who comes into the world.” ¹⁵Jesus therefore, perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself. ¹⁶When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea. ¹⁷They entered into the boat, and were going over the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them. ¹⁸The sea was tossed by a great wind blowing. ¹⁹When therefore they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were afraid. ²⁰But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ²¹They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. Immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. ²²On the next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one in which his disciples had embarked, and that Jesus hadn’t entered with his disciples into the boat, but his disciples had gone away alone. ²³However, boats from Tiberias came near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴When the multitude therefore saw that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. ²⁵When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” ²⁶Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”

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