Sunday, May 21, 2028

^8:22And Solomon stood up in front of the altar before all the congregation of Israel; and he spread out his hands toward heaven: ²³and he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven above and on the earth beneath, keeping covenant and mercy with thy servant who walks before thee with all his heart; ²⁷But will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? if the heaven and heaven of heavens will not suffice thee, how much less even this house which I have built to thy name?

²⁸Yet, O Lord God of Israel, thou shalt look upon my petition, to hear the prayer which thy servant prays to thee in thy presence this day, ²⁹that thine eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place of which thou saidst, My name shall be there, to hear the prayer which thy servant prays at this place day and night. ³⁰And thou shalt hearken to the prayer of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall pray toward this place; and thou shalt hear in thy dwelling-place in heaven, and thou shalt do and be gracious.

^61:10and they shall greatly rejoice in the Lord. Let my soul rejoice in the Lord; for he has clothed me with the robe of salvation, and the garment of joy: he has put a mitre on me as on a bridegroom, and adorned me with ornaments as a bride. ¹¹And as the earth putting forth her flowers, and as a garden its seed; so shall the Lord, even the Lord, cause righteousness to spring forth, and exultation before all nations. ^62:1For Sion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as light, and my salvation burn as a torch.

²And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and kings thy glory: and one shall call thee by a new name, which the Lord shall name. ³And thou shalt be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. ⁴And thou shalt no more be called Forsaken; and thy land shall no more be called Desert: for thou shalt be called My Pleasure, and thy land Inhabited: for the Lord has taken pleasure in thee, and thy land shall be inhabited.

⁵And as a young man lives with a virgin, so shall thy sons dwell in thee: and it shall come to pass that as a bridegroom will rejoice over a bride, so will the Lord rejoice over thee.

^60:1Be enlightened, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. ²Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and there shall be gross darkness on the nations: but the Lord shall appear upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. ³And kings shall walk in thy light, and nations in thy brightness. ⁴Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold thy children gathered: all thy sons have come from far, and thy daughters shall be borne on men's shoulders.

⁵Then shalt thou see, and fear, and be amazed in thine heart; for the wealth of the sea shall come round to thee, and of nations and peoples; and herds of camels shall come to thee, ⁶and the camels of Madiam and Gæpha shall cover thee: all from Saba shall come bearing gold, and shall bring frankincense, and they shall publish the salvation of the Lord. ⁷And all the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered, and the rams of Nabæoth shall come; and acceptable sacrifices shall be offered on my altar, and my house of prayer shall be glorified.

⁸Who are these that fly as clouds, and as doves with young ones to me? ⁹The isles have waited for me, and the ships of Tharsis among the first, to bring thy children from afar, and their silver and their gold with them, and that for the sake of the holy name of the Lord, and because the Holy One of Israel is glorified. ¹⁰And strangers shall build thy walls, and their kings shall wait upon thee: for by reason of my wrath I smote thee, and by reason of mercy I loved thee.

¹¹And thy gates shall be opened continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; to bring in to thee the power of the Gentiles, and their kings as captives. ¹²For the nations and the kings which will not serve thee shall perish; and those nations shall be made utterly desolate. ¹³And the glory of Libanus shall come to thee, with the cypress, and pine, and cedar together, to glorify my holy place. ¹⁴And the sons of them that afflicted thee, and of them that provoked thee, shall come to thee in fear; and thou shalt be called Sion, the city of the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵Because thou hast become desolate and hated, and there was no helper, therefore I will make thee a perpetual gladness, a joy of many generations. ¹⁶And thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt eat the wealth of kings: and shalt know that I am the Lord that saves thee and delivers thee, the Holy One of Israel.

^20:11But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, ¹²and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. ¹³They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus.

¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!” ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” ¹⁸Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.

^16:16As we were going to prayer, a certain girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune telling. ¹⁷Following Paul and us, she cried out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us a way of salvation!” ¹⁸She was doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” It came out that very hour. ¹⁹But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

²⁰When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men, being Jews, are agitating our city ²¹and advocate customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.” ²²The multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore their clothes from them, then commanded them to be beaten with rods. ²³When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. ²⁴Having received such a command, he threw them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.

²⁵But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened. ²⁷The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself, for we are all here!”

²⁹He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, ³⁰brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³²They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house. ³³He took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴He brought them up into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly with all his household, having believed in God.

^26:1Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense. ²“I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you today concerning all the things the Jews accuse me of, ³especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently. ⁴“Indeed, all the Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem; ⁵having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

¹²“Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests, ¹³at noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me. ¹⁴When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵“I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

¹⁶But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will reveal to you; ¹⁷delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, ¹⁸to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹⁹“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

^9:1As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “This man didn’t sin, nor did his parents, but that the works of God might be revealed in him. ⁴I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, ⁷and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.

⁸Therefore the neighbors and those who saw that he was blind before said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” ⁹Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” He said, “I am he.” ¹⁰They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?” ¹¹He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.” ¹²Then they asked him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.”

¹³They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.” ¹⁶Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” So there was division among them. ¹⁷Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸The Jews therefore didn’t believe concerning him, that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight, ¹⁹and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.”

²²His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. ²³Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.” ²⁴So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

²⁶They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?” ²⁸They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.” ³⁰The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.

³¹We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, he listens to him. ³²Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” Then they threw him out. ³⁵Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”

³⁶He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?” ³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.” ³⁸He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him.

^10:1“Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber. ²But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.”

⁶Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them. ⁷Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door. ⁸All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. ⁹I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture.

^3:21Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God; ²²so whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. ²³This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded. ²⁴He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us. ^4:1Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

²By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God; and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already. ⁴You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. ⁵They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them. ⁶We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

^4:11Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us. ¹³By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. ¹⁵Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. ¹⁶We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

^4:20If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? ²¹This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother. ^5:1Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. Whoever loves the Father also loves the child who is born of him. ²By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments.

³For this is loving God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous. ⁴For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith. ⁵Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

^20:11But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, ¹²and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. ¹³They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus.

¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!” ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” ¹⁸Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.

^16:16As we were going to prayer, a certain girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune telling. ¹⁷Following Paul and us, she cried out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us a way of salvation!” ¹⁸She was doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” It came out that very hour. ¹⁹But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

²⁰When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men, being Jews, are agitating our city ²¹and advocate customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.” ²²The multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore their clothes from them, then commanded them to be beaten with rods. ²³When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. ²⁴Having received such a command, he threw them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.

²⁵But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened. ²⁷The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself, for we are all here!”

²⁹He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, ³⁰brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³²They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house. ³³He took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴He brought them up into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly with all his household, having believed in God.

^1:1That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life ²(and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us); ³that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

⁴And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled. ⁵This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie and don’t tell the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.

^9:1As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “This man didn’t sin, nor did his parents, but that the works of God might be revealed in him. ⁴I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, ⁷and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.

⁸Therefore the neighbors and those who saw that he was blind before said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” ⁹Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” He said, “I am he.” ¹⁰They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?” ¹¹He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.” ¹²Then they asked him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.”

¹³They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.” ¹⁶Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” So there was division among them. ¹⁷Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸The Jews therefore didn’t believe concerning him, that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight, ¹⁹and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.”

²²His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. ²³Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.” ²⁴So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

²⁶They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?” ²⁸They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.” ³⁰The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.

³¹We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, he listens to him. ³²Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” Then they threw him out. ³⁵Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”

³⁶He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?” ³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.” ³⁸He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him.

^19:25But standing by Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶Therefore when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. ^21:24This 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.