Monday, February 24, 2031

^1:1The vision which Esaias the son of Amos saw, which he saw against Juda and against Jerusalem, in the reign of Ozias, and Joatham, and Achaz, and Ezekias, who reigned over Judea. ²Hear, O heaven, and hearken, O earth: for the Lord has spoken, saying, I have begotten and reared up children, but they have rebelled against me. ³The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel does not know me, and the people has not regarded me. ⁴Ah sinful nation, a people full of sins, an evil seed, lawless children: ye have forsaken the Lord, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

⁵Why should ye be smitten any more, transgressing more and more? the whole head is pained, and the whole heart sad. ⁶From the feet to the head, there is no soundness in them; neither wound, nor bruise, nor festering ulcer are healed: it is not possible to apply a plaister, nor oil, nor bandages. ⁷Your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is made desolate, overthrown by strange nations. ⁸The daughter of Sion shall be deserted as a tent in a vineyard, and as a storehouse of fruits in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

⁹And if the Lord of Sabaoth had not left us a seed, we should have been as Sodoma, and we should have been made like to Gomorrha. ¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodoma; attend to the law of God, thou people of Gomorrha. ¹¹Of what value to me is the abundance of your sacrifices? saith the Lord: I am full of whole-burnt-offerings of rams; and I delight not in the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats: ¹²neither shall ye come with these to appear before me; for who has required these things at your hands? Ye shall no more tread my court.

¹³Though ye bring fine flour, it is vain; incense is an abomination to me; I cannot bear your new moons, and your sabbaths, and the great day; ¹⁴your fasting, and rest from work, your new moons also, and your feasts my soul hates: ye have become loathsome to me; I will no more pardon your sins. ¹⁵When ye stretch forth your hands, I will turn away mine eyes from you: and though ye make many supplications, I will not hearken to you; for your hands are full of blood. ¹⁶Wash you, be clean; remove your iniquities from your souls before mine eyes; cease from your iniquities; ¹⁷learn to do well; diligently seek judgment, deliver him that is suffering wrong, plead for the orphan, and obtain justice for the widow.

¹⁸And come, let us reason together, saith the Lord: and though your sins be as purple, I will make them white as snow; and though they be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool. ¹⁹And if ye be willing, and hearken to me, ye shall eat the good of the land: ²⁰but if ye be not willing, nor hearken to me, a sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this.

^1:1In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. ²But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water. ³And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. ⁴And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided between the light and the darkness. ⁵And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night, and there was evening and there was morning, the first day. ⁶And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be a division between water and water, and it was so.

⁷And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament. ⁸And God called the firmament Heaven, and God saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning, the second day. ⁹And God said, Let the water which is under the heaven be collected into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. And the water which was under the heaven was collected into its places, and the dry land appeared.

¹⁰And God called the dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called Seas, and God saw that it was good. ¹¹And God said, Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit-tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and it was so. ¹²And the earth brought forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and God saw that it was good. ¹³And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

^1:1The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, who reigned in Israel; ²to know wisdom and instruction, and to perceive words of understanding; ³to receive also hard sayings, and to understand true justice, and how to direct judgment; ⁴that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding. ⁵For by the hearing of these a wise man will be wiser, and the man of understanding will gain direction; ⁶and will understand a parable, and a dark speech; the sayings of the wise also, and riddles.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and there is good understanding to all that practise it: and piety toward God is the beginning of discernment; but the ungodly will set at nought wisdom and instruction. ⁸Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and reject not the rules of thy mother. ⁹For thou shalt receive for thine head a crown of graces, and a chain of gold round thy neck. ¹⁰My son, let not ungodly men lead thee astray, neither consent thou to them. ¹¹If they should exhort thee, saying, Come with us, partake in blood, and let us unjustly hide the just man in the earth: ¹²and let us swallow him alive, as Hades would, and remove the memorial of him from the earth:

¹³let us seize on his valuable property, and let us fill our houses with spoils: ¹⁴but do thou cast in thy lot with us, and let us all provide a common purse, and let us have one pouch: ¹⁵go not in the way with them, but turn aside thy foot from their paths: ¹⁷for nets are not without cause spread for birds. ¹⁸For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of transgressors is evil. ¹⁹These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life. ²⁰Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly.

^7:17This report went out concerning him in the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region. ¹⁸The disciples of John told him about all these things. ¹⁹John, calling to himself two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are you the one who is coming, or should we look for another?” ²⁰When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptizer has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?’” ²¹In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits; and to many who were blind he gave sight.

²²Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard: that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. ²³Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.” ²⁴When John’s messengers had departed, he began to tell the multitudes about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously dressed and live delicately are in kings’ courts.

²⁶But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. ²⁷This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ ²⁸“For I tell you, among those who are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in God’s Kingdom is greater than he.” ²⁹When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they declared God to be just, having been baptized with John’s baptism. ³⁰But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God, not being baptized by him themselves.

^4:6seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ⁷But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves. ⁸We are pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not to despair; ⁹pursued, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed; ¹⁰always carrying in the body the putting to death of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

¹¹For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh. ¹²So then death works in us, but life in you. ¹³But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, “I believed, and therefore I spoke.” We also believe, and therefore we also speak, ¹⁴knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also through Jesus, and will present us with you. ¹⁵For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

^11:2Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples ³and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?” ⁴Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: ⁵the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. ⁶Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.” ⁷As these went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

⁸But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. ⁹But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. ¹⁰For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ ¹¹Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

¹²From the days of John the Baptizer until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. ¹³For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come. ¹⁵He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

^1:1The vision which Esaias the son of Amos saw, which he saw against Juda and against Jerusalem, in the reign of Ozias, and Joatham, and Achaz, and Ezekias, who reigned over Judea. ²Hear, O heaven, and hearken, O earth: for the Lord has spoken, saying, I have begotten and reared up children, but they have rebelled against me. ³The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel does not know me, and the people has not regarded me. ⁴Ah sinful nation, a people full of sins, an evil seed, lawless children: ye have forsaken the Lord, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

⁵Why should ye be smitten any more, transgressing more and more? the whole head is pained, and the whole heart sad. ⁶From the feet to the head, there is no soundness in them; neither wound, nor bruise, nor festering ulcer are healed: it is not possible to apply a plaister, nor oil, nor bandages. ⁷Your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is made desolate, overthrown by strange nations. ⁸The daughter of Sion shall be deserted as a tent in a vineyard, and as a storehouse of fruits in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

⁹And if the Lord of Sabaoth had not left us a seed, we should have been as Sodoma, and we should have been made like to Gomorrha. ¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodoma; attend to the law of God, thou people of Gomorrha. ¹¹Of what value to me is the abundance of your sacrifices? saith the Lord: I am full of whole-burnt-offerings of rams; and I delight not in the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats: ¹²neither shall ye come with these to appear before me; for who has required these things at your hands? Ye shall no more tread my court.

¹³Though ye bring fine flour, it is vain; incense is an abomination to me; I cannot bear your new moons, and your sabbaths, and the great day; ¹⁴your fasting, and rest from work, your new moons also, and your feasts my soul hates: ye have become loathsome to me; I will no more pardon your sins. ¹⁵When ye stretch forth your hands, I will turn away mine eyes from you: and though ye make many supplications, I will not hearken to you; for your hands are full of blood. ¹⁶Wash you, be clean; remove your iniquities from your souls before mine eyes; cease from your iniquities; ¹⁷learn to do well; diligently seek judgment, deliver him that is suffering wrong, plead for the orphan, and obtain justice for the widow.

¹⁸And come, let us reason together, saith the Lord: and though your sins be as purple, I will make them white as snow; and though they be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool. ¹⁹And if ye be willing, and hearken to me, ye shall eat the good of the land: ²⁰but if ye be not willing, nor hearken to me, a sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this.

^1:1In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. ²But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water. ³And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. ⁴And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided between the light and the darkness. ⁵And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night, and there was evening and there was morning, the first day. ⁶And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be a division between water and water, and it was so.

⁷And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament. ⁸And God called the firmament Heaven, and God saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning, the second day. ⁹And God said, Let the water which is under the heaven be collected into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. And the water which was under the heaven was collected into its places, and the dry land appeared.

¹⁰And God called the dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called Seas, and God saw that it was good. ¹¹And God said, Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit-tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and it was so. ¹²And the earth brought forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and God saw that it was good. ¹³And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

^1:1The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, who reigned in Israel; ²to know wisdom and instruction, and to perceive words of understanding; ³to receive also hard sayings, and to understand true justice, and how to direct judgment; ⁴that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding. ⁵For by the hearing of these a wise man will be wiser, and the man of understanding will gain direction; ⁶and will understand a parable, and a dark speech; the sayings of the wise also, and riddles.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and there is good understanding to all that practise it: and piety toward God is the beginning of discernment; but the ungodly will set at nought wisdom and instruction. ⁸Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and reject not the rules of thy mother. ⁹For thou shalt receive for thine head a crown of graces, and a chain of gold round thy neck. ¹⁰My son, let not ungodly men lead thee astray, neither consent thou to them. ¹¹If they should exhort thee, saying, Come with us, partake in blood, and let us unjustly hide the just man in the earth: ¹²and let us swallow him alive, as Hades would, and remove the memorial of him from the earth:

¹³let us seize on his valuable property, and let us fill our houses with spoils: ¹⁴but do thou cast in thy lot with us, and let us all provide a common purse, and let us have one pouch: ¹⁵go not in the way with them, but turn aside thy foot from their paths: ¹⁷for nets are not without cause spread for birds. ¹⁸For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of transgressors is evil. ¹⁹These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life. ²⁰Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly.