Tuesday, January 30, 2029

^1:8Behold, God has delivered the land before you; go in and inherit the land, which I sware to your fathers, Abraam, and Isaac, and Jacob, to give it to them and to their seed after them. ⁹And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I shall not be able by myself to bear you. ¹⁰The Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, ye are to-day as the stars of heaven for multitude. ¹¹The Lord God of your fathers add to you a thousand-fold more than you are, and bless you as he has spoken to you.

¹⁵So I took of you wise and understanding and prudent men, and I set them to rule over you as rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, and rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens, and officers to your judges. ¹⁶And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear causes between your brethren, and judge rightly between a man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. ¹⁷Thou shalt not have respect to persons in judgment, thou shalt judge small and great equally; thou shalt not shrink from before the person of a man, for the judgment is God's; and whatsoever matter shall be too hard for you, ye shall bring it to me, and I will hear it.

^10:14Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord thy God, the earth and all things that are in it. ¹⁵Only the Lord chose your fathers to love them, and he chose out their seed after them, even you, beyond all nations, as at this day. ¹⁶Therefore ye shall circumcise the hardness of your heart, and ye shall not harden your neck. ¹⁷For the Lord your God, he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great, and strong, and terrible God, who does not accept persons, nor will he by any means accept a bribe: ¹⁸executing judgment for the stranger and orphan and widow, and he loves the stranger to give him food and raiment.

¹⁹And ye shall love the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. ²⁰Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt cleave to him, and shalt swear by his name. ²¹He is thy boast, and he is thy God, who has wrought in the midst of thee these great and glorious things, which thine eyes have seen.

^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.

^2:9then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, ¹⁰but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, ¹¹whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a slanderous judgment against them before the Lord. ¹²But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed, ¹³receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;

¹⁴having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin, enticing unsettled souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children! ¹⁵Forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing; ¹⁶but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A speechless donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet. ¹⁷These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. ¹⁸For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error; ¹⁹promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.

²⁰For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²²But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”

^13:7Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ⁹Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. ¹⁰We have an altar from which those who serve the holy tabernacle have no right to eat. ¹¹For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp.

¹²Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate. ¹³Let’s therefore go out to him outside of the camp, bearing his reproach. ¹⁴For we don’t have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come. ¹⁵Through him, then, let’s offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name. ¹⁶But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

^13:14“But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, ¹⁵and let him who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out of his house. ¹⁶Let him who is in the field not return back to take his cloak. ¹⁷But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babies in those days! ¹⁸Pray that your flight won’t be in the winter.

¹⁹For in those days there will be oppression, such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be. ²⁰Unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the chosen ones, whom he picked out, he shortened the days. ²¹Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ don’t believe it. ²²For false christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones. ²³But you watch. “Behold, I have told you all things beforehand.

^5:14“You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do you light a lamp and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. ¹⁶Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. ¹⁷“Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. ¹⁸For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished.

¹⁹Therefore, whoever shall break one of these least commandments and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

^5:15But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High. ¹⁶Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm shall he protect them. ¹⁷He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armour, and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies. ¹⁸He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment instead of an helmet.

¹⁹He shall take holiness for an invincible shield. ²⁰His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise. ²¹Then shall the right aiming thunderbolts go abroad; and from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark. ²²And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast as out of a stone bow, and the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the floods shall cruelly drown them. ²³Yea, a mighty wind shall stand up against them, and like a storm shall blow them away: thus iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth, and ill dealing shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty.

^6:1Hear therefore, O ye kings, and understand; learn, ye that be judges of the ends of the earth. ²Give ear, ye that rule the people, and glory in the multitude of nations. ³For power is given you of the Lord, and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your works, and search out your counsels.

^4:7But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest. ⁸For honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years. ⁹But wisdom is the grey hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age. ¹⁰He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated. ¹¹Yea, speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul. ¹²For the bewitching of naughtiness doth obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence doth undermine the simple mind.

¹³He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time: ¹⁴for his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted he to take him away from among the wicked. ¹⁵This the people saw, and understood not, neither laid they up this in their minds, That his grace and mercy is with his saints, and that he hath respect unto his chosen.

^11:27All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him. ²⁸“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

^2:9then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, ¹⁰but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, ¹¹whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a slanderous judgment against them before the Lord. ¹²But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed, ¹³receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;

¹⁴having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin, enticing unsettled souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children! ¹⁵Forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing; ¹⁶but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A speechless donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet. ¹⁷These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. ¹⁸For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error; ¹⁹promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.

²⁰For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²²But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”

^13:17Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things. ¹⁹I strongly urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you sooner. ²⁰Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, ²¹make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

^13:14“But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, ¹⁵and let him who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out of his house. ¹⁶Let him who is in the field not return back to take his cloak. ¹⁷But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babies in those days! ¹⁸Pray that your flight won’t be in the winter.

¹⁹For in those days there will be oppression, such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be. ²⁰Unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the chosen ones, whom he picked out, he shortened the days. ²¹Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ don’t believe it. ²²For false christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones. ²³But you watch. “Behold, I have told you all things beforehand.

^6:17He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a crowd of his disciples and a great number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, ¹⁸as well as those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and they were being healed. ¹⁹All the multitude sought to touch him, for power came out of him and healed them all. ²⁰He lifted up his eyes to his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for God’s Kingdom is yours.

²¹Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ²²Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude and mock you, and throw out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. ²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did the same thing to the prophets.