Sunday, December 9, 2035

^16:9Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. ¹⁰She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. ¹¹When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they disbelieved. ¹²After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them as they walked, on their way into the country. ¹³They went away and told it to the rest. They didn’t believe them, either.

¹⁴Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table; and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn’t believe those who had seen him after he had risen. ¹⁵He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to the whole creation. ¹⁶He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. ¹⁷These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; ¹⁸they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

¹⁹So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

^4:1I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, ²with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling, ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in us all.

^4:22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman. ²³However, the son by the servant was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise. ²⁴These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar. ²⁵For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. ²⁶But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

²⁷For it is written, “Rejoice, you barren who don’t bear. Break out and shout, you who don’t travail. For the desolate women have more children than her who has a husband.” ²⁸Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise. ²⁹But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. ³⁰However, what does the Scripture say? “Throw out the servant and her son, for the son of the servant will not inherit with the son of the free woman.” ³¹So then, brothers, we are not children of a servant, but of the free woman.

^17:12As he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him, who stood at a distance. ¹³They lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As they went, they were cleansed. ¹⁵One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice. ¹⁶He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks; and he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Jesus answered, “Weren’t the ten cleansed? But where are the nine? ¹⁸Were there none found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” ¹⁹Then he said to him, “Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you.”

^8:16“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a container or puts it under a bed; but puts it on a stand, that those who enter in may see the light. ¹⁷For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. ¹⁸Be careful therefore how you hear. For whoever has, to him will be given; and whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he thinks he has.” ¹⁹His mother and brothers came to him, and they could not come near him for the crowd.

²⁰Some people told him, “Your mother and your brothers stand outside, desiring to see you.” ²¹But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

^16:9Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. ¹⁰She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. ¹¹When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they disbelieved. ¹²After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them as they walked, on their way into the country. ¹³They went away and told it to the rest. They didn’t believe them, either.

¹⁴Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table; and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn’t believe those who had seen him after he had risen. ¹⁵He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to the whole creation. ¹⁶He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. ¹⁷These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; ¹⁸they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

¹⁹So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

^4:1I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, ²with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling, ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in us all.

^13:10He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. ¹¹Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. She was bent over and could in no way straighten herself up. ¹²When Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” ¹³He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and glorified God. ¹⁴The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!”

¹⁵Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath and lead him away to water? ¹⁶Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” ¹⁷As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.