Friday, October 6, 2028

^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.

^6:18with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints. ¹⁹Pray for me, that utterance may be given to me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the Good News, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. ²¹But that you also may know my affairs, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make known to you all things.

²²I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know our state and that he may comfort your hearts. ²³Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. Amen.

^7:26For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; ²⁷who doesn’t need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For he did this once for all, when he offered up himself. ²⁸For the law appoints men as high priests who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son forever who has been perfected. ^8:1Now in the things which we are saying, the main point is this: we have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, ²a servant of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man.

^7:31“To what then should I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? ³²They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, saying, ‘We piped to you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned, and you didn’t weep.’ ³³For John the Baptizer came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵Wisdom is justified by all her children.”

^10:9I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture. ¹⁰The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.

¹³The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; ¹⁵even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.

^6:18with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints. ¹⁹Pray for me, that utterance may be given to me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the Good News, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. ²¹But that you also may know my affairs, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make known to you all things.

²²I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know our state and that he may comfort your hearts. ²³Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. Amen.

^4:22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman. ²³However, the son by the servant was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise. ²⁴These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar. ²⁵For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. ²⁶But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

²⁷For it is written, “Rejoice, you barren who don’t bear. Break out and shout, you who don’t travail. For the desolate women have more children than her who has a husband.” ²⁸Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise. ²⁹But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. ³⁰However, what does the Scripture say? “Throw out the servant and her son, for the son of the servant will not inherit with the son of the free woman.” ³¹So then, brothers, we are not children of a servant, but of the free woman.

^4:22All testified about him and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” ²³He said to them, “Doubtless you will tell me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your hometown.’” ²⁴He said, “Most certainly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. ²⁵But truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land.

²⁶Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, except Naaman, the Syrian.” ²⁸They were all filled with wrath in the synagogue as they heard these things. ²⁹They rose up, threw him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill that their city was built on, that they might throw him off the cliff. ³⁰But he, passing through the middle of them, went his way.

^1:5There 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.”