Salvation for Foreigners
1 Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation kwill come,
and my righteousness be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man who does this,
and the son of man who holds it fast,
who lkeeps the Sabbath, not mprofaning it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
3 Let not the foreigner who has njoined himself to the Lord say,
o“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
“Behold, I am a dry tree.”
4 For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
5 I will give in my house and within my walls
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.
6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be paccepted on my altar;
for qmy house shall be called a house of prayer
rfor all peoples.”
8 The Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
“I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered.”
Keep in Step with the Spirit
16 But I say, twalk by the Spirit, and you will unot gratify the vdesires of the flesh. 17 For wthe desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, xto keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are yled by the zSpirit, you are anot under the law. 19 Now bthe works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,1 drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that cthose who do2 such things dwill not einherit the kingdom of God. 22 But fthe fruit of the Spirit is glove, hjoy, ipeace, jpatience, kkindness, lgoodness, mfaithfulness, 23 ngentleness, oself-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And pthose who qbelong to Christ Jesus have rcrucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
The Transfiguration
2 jAnd after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And khe was ltransfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became mradiant, intensely white, as no one1 on earth could bleach them. 4 nAnd there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter said to Jesus, o“Rabbi,2 it is good that we are here. Let us make three ptents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a qcloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, r“This is my beloved Son;3 slisten to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
9 tAnd as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to utell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning vwhat this rising from the dead might mean. 11 And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that wfirst Elijah must come?” 12 And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it xwritten of the Son of Man ythat he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him zwhatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”
