Saturday, April 7, 2035

^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.

^6:9But, beloved, we are persuaded of better things for you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we speak like this. ¹⁰For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them. ¹¹We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end, ¹²that you won’t be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherited the promises.

^15:47The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. ⁴⁸As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. ⁴⁹As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly. ⁵⁰Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable. ⁵¹Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

⁵³For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵“Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?” ⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

^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.

^7:31Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the sea of Galilee through the middle of the region of Decapolis. ³²They brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. They begged him to lay his hand on him. ³³He took him aside from the multitude privately and put his fingers into his ears; and he spat and touched his tongue. ³⁴Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” ³⁵Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly.

³⁶He commanded them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them, so much the more widely they proclaimed it. ³⁷They were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

^5:24“Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. ²⁵Most certainly I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live. ²⁶For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. ²⁷He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man.

²⁸Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice ²⁹and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. ³⁰I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is righteous, because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.

^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.

^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.