Daniel Interprets the Second Dream

19 ^cThen Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, “Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies! 20 The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth, 21 whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived— 22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. 23 And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven periods of time pass over him,’ 24 this is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, 25 that ^dyou shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. 26 And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, ^eyour kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.”

Nebuchadnezzar Praises God

1 ¹ King Nebuchadnezzar ^jto all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you!

19 And this is the judgment: the ^elight has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the ^flight and does not come to the light, ^glest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was ^hbaptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for ⁱJohn had not yet been put in prison).

25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you ^jbore witness—look, he is baptizing, and ^kall are going to him.” 27 John answered, ^l“A person cannot receive even one thing ^munless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, ⁿthat I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been ^osent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the ^pbridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore ^qthis joy of mine is now complete. 30 ^rHe must increase, but I must decrease.”¹

31 He who comes ^sfrom above is ^tabove all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and ^uspeaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his ^vseal to this, that God is ^wtrue. 34 For he whom God has sent ^xutters the words of God, for ^yhe gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father ^zloves the Son and has given ^aall things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Jesus and the Woman of Samaria

1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and ^bbaptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed ^cagain for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near ^dthe field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.²

Jesus Begins His Ministry

14 ^wAnd Jesus returned in the ^xpower of the Spirit to Galilee, and a ^yreport about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he ^ztaught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

16 ^aAnd he came to ^bNazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ^h“Is not this ⁱJoseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” ^jWhat we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, ^kno prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, ^lthere were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And ^mthere were many lepers¹ in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.