Saturday, March 25, 2034

^1:39Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah, ⁴⁰and entered into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴²She called out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy!

⁴⁵Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!” ⁴⁶Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord. ⁴⁷My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, ⁴⁸for he has looked at the humble state of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. ⁴⁹For he who is mighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name. ⁵⁶Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her house.

^2:11For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers, ¹²saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the congregation I will sing your praise.” ¹³Again, “I will put my trust in him.” Again, “Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.” ¹⁴Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

¹⁶For most certainly, he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the offspring of Abraham. ¹⁷Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

^1:24After 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.” ²⁶Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”

²⁹But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be. ³⁰The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name him ‘Jesus.’ ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”

³⁴Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?” ³⁵The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God. ³⁶Behold, Elizabeth your relative also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. ³⁷For nothing spoken by God is impossible.” ³⁸Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

^9:24For Christ hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; ²⁵nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own, ²⁶or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

²⁷Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment, ²⁸so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

^9:1Now indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and an earthly sanctuary. ²For a tabernacle was prepared. In the first part were the lamp stand, the table, and the show bread, which is called the Holy Place. ³After the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, ⁴having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ⁵and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we can’t speak now in detail.

⁶Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in continually into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services, ⁷but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.

^8:27Jesus went out, with his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” ²⁸They told him, “John the Baptizer, and others say Elijah, but others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” ³⁰He commanded them that they should tell no one about him. ³¹He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

^10:38As they went on their way, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. ³⁹She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard his word. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me.” ⁴¹Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, ⁴²but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

^11:27It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!” ²⁸But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.”