Thursday, November 8, 2029

^5:13And it came to pass when Joshua was in Jericho, that he looked up with his eyes and saw a man standing before him, and there was a drawn sword in his hand; and Joshua drew near and said to him, Art thou for us or on the side of our enemies? ¹⁴And he said to him, I am now come, the chief captain of the host of the Lord. And Joshua fell on his face upon the earth, and said to him, Lord, what commandest thou thy servant? ¹⁵And the captain of the Lord's host said to Joshua, Loose thy shoe off thy feet, for the place whereon thou now standest is holy.

^6:2And the hand of Madiam prevailed against Israel: and the children of Israel made for themselves because of Madiam the caves in the mountains, and the dens, and the holes in the rocks. ⁷And the children of Israel cried to the Lord because of Madiam. ¹¹And an angel of the Lord came, and sat down under the fir tree, which was in Ephratha in the land of Joas father of Esdri; and Gedeon his son was threshing wheat in a wine-press in order to escape from the face of Madiam.

¹²And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty in strength. ¹³And Gedeon said to him, Be gracious with me, my Lord: but if the Lord is with us, why have these evils found us? and where are all his miracles, which our fathers have related to us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? and now he has cast us out, and given us into the hand of Madiam. ¹⁴And the angel of the Lord turned to him, and said, Go in this thy strength, and thou shalt save Israel out of the hand of Madiam: behold, I have sent thee.

¹⁵And Gedeon said to him, Be gracious with me, my Lord: whereby shall I save Israel? behold, my thousand is weakened in Manasse, and I am the least in my father's house. ¹⁶And the angel of the Lord said to him, The Lord shall be with thee, and thou shalt smite Madiam as one man. ¹⁷And Gedeon said to him, If now I have found mercy in thine eyes, and thou wilt do this day for me all that thou hast spoken of with me, ¹⁸depart not hence until I come to thee, and I will bring forth an offering and offer it before thee: and he said, I will remain until thou return.

¹⁹And Gedeon went in, and prepared a kid of the goats, and an ephah of fine flour unleavened; and he put the flesh in the basket, and poured the broth into the pot, and brought them forth to him under the turpentine tree, and drew nigh. ²⁰And the angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and put them on that rock, and pour out the broth close by: and he did so. ²¹And the angel of the Lord stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread; and fire came up out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread, and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

²²And Gedeon saw that he was an angel of the Lord; and Gedeon said, Ah, ah, Lord my God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. ²³And the Lord said to him, Peace be to thee, fear not, thou shalt not die. ²⁴And Gedeon built there an altar to the Lord, and called it The peace of the Lord, until this day, as it is still in Ephratha of the father of Esdri.

^14:7All the earth cries aloud with joy: ⁸the trees also of Libanus rejoice against thee, and the cedar of Libanus, saying, From the time that thou hast been laid low, no one has come up to cut us down. ⁹Hell from beneath is provoked to meet thee: all the great ones that have ruled over the earth have risen up together against thee, they that have raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. ¹⁰All shall answer and say to thee, Thou also hast been taken, even as we; and thou art numbered amongst us.

¹¹Thy glory has come down to Hades, and thy great mirth: under thee they shall spread corruption, and the worm shall be thy covering. ¹²How has Lucifer, that rose in the morning, fallen from heaven! He that sent orders to all the nations is crushed to the earth. ¹³But thou saidst in thine heart, I will go up to heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven: I will sit on a lofty mount, on the lofty mountains toward the north: ¹⁴I will go up above the clouds; I will be like the Most High.

¹⁵But now thou shalt go down to hell, even to the foundations of the earth. ¹⁶They that see thee shall wonder at thee, and say, This is the man that troubled the earth, that made kings to shake; ¹⁷that made the whole world desolate, and destroyed its cities; he loosed not those who were in captivity. ¹⁸All the kings of the nations lie in honour, every man in his house. ¹⁹But thou shalt be cast forth on the mountains, as a loathed carcase, with many dead who have been pierced with swords, going down to the grave.

²⁰As a garment defiled with blood shall not be pure, so neither shalt thou be pure; because thou hast destroyed my land, and hast slain my people: thou shalt not endure for ever,—thou an evil seed.

^13:24He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds also among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶But when the blade sprang up and produced grain, then the darnel weeds appeared also. ²⁷The servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did these darnel weeds come from?’ ²⁸“He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’

²⁹“But he said, ‘No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” ³⁶Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field.” ³⁷He answered them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, ³⁸the field is the world, the good seeds are the children of the Kingdom, and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one.

³⁹The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling and those who do iniquity, ⁴²and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

^5:1But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you. ²For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. ³For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape. ⁴But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief. ⁵You are all children of light and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness, ⁶so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober.

⁷For those who sleep, sleep in the night; and those who are drunk are drunk in the night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let’s be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.

^2:2For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, ³how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation—which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard, ⁴God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will? ⁵For he didn’t subject the world to come, of which we speak, to angels. ⁶But one has somewhere testified, saying, “What is man, that you think of him? Or the son of man, that you care for him?

⁷You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor. ⁸You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that he subjected all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we don’t yet see all things subjected to him. ⁹But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone. ¹⁰For it became him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

^13:1Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ²Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things? ³I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way. ⁴Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”

⁶He spoke this parable. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. ⁷He said to the vine dresser, ‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down! Why does it waste the soil?’ ⁸He answered, ‘Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’”

^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.”

^2:2And he said, Thus saith the Lord, I remember the kindness of thy youth, and the love of thine espousals, in following the Holy One of Israel, saith the Lord. ³Israel was the holy people to the Lord, and the first-fruits of his increase: all that devoured him shall offend; evils shall come upon them, saith the Lord. ⁴Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and every family of the house of Israel. ⁵Thus saith the Lord, What trespass have your fathers found in me, that they have revolted far from me, and gone after vanities, and become vain?

⁶And they said not, Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who guided us in the wilderness, in an untried and trackless land, in a land which no man at all went through, and no man dwelt there? ⁷And I brought you to Carmel, that ye should eat the fruits thereof, and the good thereof; and ye went in, and defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. ⁸The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that held by the law knew me not: the shepherds also sinned against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after that which profited not.

⁹Therefore I will yet plead with you, and will plead with your children's children. ¹⁰For go to the isles of the Chettians, and see; and send to Kedar, and observe accurately, and see if such things have been done; ¹¹if the nations will change their gods, though they are not gods: but my people have changed their glory, for that from which they shall not be profited. ¹²The heaven is amazed at this, and is very exceedingly horror-struck, saith the Lord.

^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.

^10:16“Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. ¹⁷But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you. ¹⁸Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations. ¹⁹But when they deliver you up, don’t be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say. ²⁰For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

²¹“Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. ²²You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.

^5:1But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you. ²For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. ³For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape. ⁴But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief. ⁵You are all children of light and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness, ⁶so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober.

⁷For those who sleep, sleep in the night; and those who are drunk are drunk in the night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let’s be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.

^12:6for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives.” ⁷It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline? ⁸But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children. ⁹Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰For they indeed for a few days disciplined us as seemed good to them, but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.

¹¹All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ¹²Therefore lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees, ¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. ²⁵See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we not escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven, ²⁶whose voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.”

²⁷This phrase, “Yet once more” signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.

^2:1You therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ²The things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit the same things to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. ³You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴No soldier on duty entangles himself in the affairs of life, that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier. ⁵Also, if anyone competes in athletics, he isn’t crowned unless he has competed by the rules.

⁶The farmer who labors must be the first to get a share of the crops. ⁷Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. ⁸Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the offspring of David, according to my Good News, ⁹in which I suffer hardship to the point of chains as a criminal. But God’s word isn’t chained. ¹⁰Therefore I endure all things for the chosen ones’ sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

^11:14He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the multitudes marveled. ¹⁵But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.” ¹⁶Others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven. ¹⁷But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls. ¹⁸If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.

¹⁹But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁰But if I by God’s finger cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come to you. ²¹“When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe. ²²But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes from him his whole armor in which he trusted, and divides his plunder. ²³“He who is not with me is against me. He who doesn’t gather with me scatters.

^8:23When he got into a boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴Behold, a violent storm came up on the sea, so much that the boat was covered with the waves; but he was asleep. ²⁵The disciples came to him and woke him up, saying, “Save us, Lord! We are dying!” ²⁶He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷The men marveled, saying, “What kind of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

^15:17“I command these things to you, that you may love one another. ¹⁸If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

²¹But they will do all these things to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³He who hates me, hates my Father also. ²⁴If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now they have seen and also hated both me and my Father. ²⁵But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’

²⁶“When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. ²⁷You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. ^16:1“I have said these things to you so that you wouldn’t be caused to stumble. ²They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.