Wednesday, June 24, 2026

^1:24After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying, ²⁵“Thus has the Lord done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.” ⁵⁷Now the time that Elizabeth should give birth was fulfilled, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. ⁶⁰His mother answered, “Not so; but he will be called John.” ⁶¹They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶²They made signs to his father, what he would have him called. ⁶³He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” They all marveled. ⁶⁴His mouth was opened immediately and his tongue freed, and he spoke, blessing God. ⁶⁵Fear came on all who lived around them, and all these sayings were talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” The hand of the Lord was with him. ⁶⁷His father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, ⁶⁸“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people; ⁷⁶And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, ⁸⁰The child was growing and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the desert until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

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^11:2God didn’t reject his people, whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel: ³“Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have broken down your altars. I am left alone, and they seek my life.” ⁴But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” ⁵Even so too at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. ⁶And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. ⁷What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened. ⁸According as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.” ⁹David says, “Let their table be made a snare, a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them. ¹⁰Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Always keep their backs bent.” ¹¹I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. ¹²Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

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^13:11Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. ¹²The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light. ¹³Let’s walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts. ^14:1Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions. ²One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. ³Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him. ⁴Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.

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^11:20Then he began to denounce the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they didn’t repent. ²¹“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 in sackcloth and ashes. ²²But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. ²³You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, you will go down to Hades. For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in you, it would have remained until today. ²⁴But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment, than for you.” ²⁵At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants. ²⁶Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.

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^1:1Since many have undertaken to set in order a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, ²even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us, ³it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus; ⁴that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed. ⁵There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. ⁷But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years. ⁸Now while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his division ⁹according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰The whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹²Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.” ¹⁸Zacharias said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” ¹⁹The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰Behold, you will be silent and not able to speak until the day that these things will happen, because you didn’t believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” ²¹The people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marveled that he delayed in the temple. ²²When he came out, he could not speak to them. They perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple. He continued making signs to them, and remained mute. ²³When the days of his service were fulfilled, he departed to his house. ²⁴After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying, ²⁵“Thus has the Lord done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.” ⁵⁷Now the time that Elizabeth should give birth was fulfilled, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. ⁶⁰His mother answered, “Not so; but he will be called John.” ⁶¹They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶²They made signs to his father, what he would have him called. ⁶³He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” They all marveled. ⁶⁴His mouth was opened immediately and his tongue freed, and he spoke, blessing God. ⁶⁵Fear came on all who lived around them, and all these sayings were talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” The hand of the Lord was with him. ⁶⁷His father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, ⁶⁸“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people; ⁷⁶And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, ⁸⁰The child was growing and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the desert until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

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^1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you, ⁵who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved in various trials, ⁷that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes, even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ— ⁸whom, not having known, you love. In him, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, ⁹receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

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^1:13Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ— ¹⁴as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, ¹⁵but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior, ¹⁶because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” ¹⁷If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear, ¹⁸knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things like silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, ¹⁹but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ,

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^2:11Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, ¹²having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good works and glorify God in the day of visitation. ¹³Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme, ¹⁴or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do well. ¹⁵For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. ¹⁶Live as free people, yet not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. ¹⁷Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. ¹⁸Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the wicked. ¹⁹For it is commendable if someone endures pain, suffering unjustly, because of conscience toward God. ²⁰For what glory is it if, when you sin, you patiently endure beating? But if when you do well, you patiently endure suffering, this is commendable with God. ²¹For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps, ²²who didn’t sin, “neither was deceit found in his mouth.” ²³When he was cursed, he didn’t curse back. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. ²⁴He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.

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^21:15So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you have affection for me?” Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time, “Do you have affection for me?” He said to him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I have affection for you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Most certainly I tell you, when you were young, you dressed yourself and walked where you wanted to. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” ¹⁹Now he said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. When he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁰Then Peter, turning around, saw a disciple following. This was the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who had also leaned on Jesus’ chest at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?” ²¹Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” ²²Jesus said to him, “If I desire that he stay until I come, what is that to you? You follow me.” ²³This saying therefore went out among the brothers that this disciple wouldn’t die. Yet Jesus didn’t say to him that he wouldn’t die, but, “If I desire that he stay until I come, what is that to you?” ²⁴This is the disciple who testifies about these things, and wrote these things. We know that his witness is true. ²⁵There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they would all be written, I suppose that even the world itself wouldn’t have room for the books that would be written.

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^11:2God didn’t reject his people, whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel: ³“Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have broken down your altars. I am left alone, and they seek my life.” ⁴But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” ⁵Even so too at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. ⁶And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. ⁷What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened. ⁸According as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.” ⁹David says, “Let their table be made a snare, a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them. ¹⁰Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Always keep their backs bent.” ¹¹I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. ¹²Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

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^11:19They therefore who were scattered abroad by the oppression that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews only. ²⁰But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. ²²The report concerning them came to the ears of the assembly which was in Jerusalem. They sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch, ²³who, when he had come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad. He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should remain near to the Lord. ²⁴For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and many people were added to the Lord. ²⁵Barnabas went out to Tarsus to look for Saul. ²⁶When he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they were gathered together with the assembly, and taught many people. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. ²⁹As any of the disciples had plenty, each determined to send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea; ³⁰which they also did, sending it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

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^11:20Then he began to denounce the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they didn’t repent. ²¹“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 in sackcloth and ashes. ²²But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. ²³You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, you will go down to Hades. For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in you, it would have remained until today. ²⁴But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment, than for you.” ²⁵At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants. ²⁶Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.

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^10:16Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.” ¹⁷The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” ¹⁸He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you. ²⁰Nevertheless, don’t rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” ²¹In that same hour, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.”

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