Leviticus 26–27

You shall not make sidols for yourselves or erect an timage or upillar, and you shall not set up a vfigured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God. wYou shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

xIf you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then yI will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. zYour threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And ayou shall eat your bread to the full and bdwell in your land securely. cI will give peace in the land, and dyou shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And eI will remove harmful beasts from the land, fand the sword shall not go through your land. You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. gFive of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. hI will turn to you and imake you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat jold store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. 11 kI will make my dwelling1 among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 lAnd I mwill walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 nI am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. oAnd I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

14 pBut if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but qbreak my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with rwasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And syou shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will tset my face against you, and uyou shall be struck down before your enemies. vThose who hate you shall rule over you, and wyou shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again xsevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break ythe pride of your power, and I zwill make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And ayour strength shall be spent in vain, for byour land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

21 cThen if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And dI will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that eyour roads shall be deserted.

23 And fif by this discipline you are not turned to me cbut walk contrary to me, 24 gthen I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 And hI will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, iI will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 jWhen I break your supply2 of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and kyou shall eat and not be satisfied.

27 But lif in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you min fury, and I myself will discipline you xsevenfold for your sins. 29 nYou shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And oI will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and pcast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. 31 And I will qlay your cities waste and will rmake your sanctuaries desolate, and sI will not smell your pleasing aromas. 32 And tI myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be uappalled at it. 33 And vI will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

34 wThen the land shall enjoy3 its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. 36 And as for those of you who are left, xI will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The ysound of a zdriven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And ayou shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you who are left shall brot away in your enemies’ lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.

40 But if cthey confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they dcommitted against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemiesif then their euncircumcised heart is fhumbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will gremember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will hremember the land. 43 But wthe land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, iI will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and jbreak my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, kwhom I brought out of the land of Egypt lin the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.

46 mThese are the statutes and rules and laws that the Lord made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses non Mount Sinai.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone omakes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons, then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels4 of silver, according to the pshekel of the sanctuary. If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.

If the vow5 is an animal that may be offered as an offering to the Lord, all of it that he gives to the Lord is holy. 10 qHe shall not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute shall be holy. 11 And if it is any unclean animal that may not be offered as an offering to the Lord, then he shall stand the animal before the priest, 12 and the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall be. 13 rBut if he wishes to redeem it, he shall add a sfifth to the valuation.

14 When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the Lord, the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. 15 tAnd if the donor wishes to redeem his house, he shall add a sfifth to the valuation price, and it shall be his.

16 If a man dedicates to the Lord part of the land that is his possession, then the valuation shall be in proportion to its seed. A homer6 of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he dedicates his field from the year of jubilee, the valuation shall stand, 18 but if he dedicates his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall ucalculate the price according to the years that remain until the year of jubilee, and a deduction shall be made from the valuation. 19 vAnd if he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he shall add a sfifth to its valuation price, and it shall remain his. 20 But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore. 21 But the field, wwhen it is released in the jubilee, shall be a holy gift to the Lord, like a field that has been xdevoted. The priest shall be in ypossession of it. 22 If he dedicates to the Lord a field that he has bought, zwhich is not a part of his possession, 23 athen the priest shall calculate the amount of the valuation for it up to the year of jubilee, and the man shall give the valuation on that day as a holy gift to the Lord. 24 bIn the year of jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to whom the land belongs as a possession. 25 Every valuation shall be according to cthe shekel of the sanctuary: dtwenty gerahs7 shall make a shekel.

26 But a efirstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lord’s. 27 And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back at the valuation, fand add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at the valuation.

28 But gno devoted thing that a man devotes to the Lord, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord. 29 hNo one devoted, who is to be devoted for destruction8 from mankind, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.

30 iEvery tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. 31 If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. 32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that jpass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord. 33 One shall not differentiate between good or bad, kneither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

34 lThese are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel mon Mount Sinai.

Read in Context

Jeremiah 16:17–17:14

17 For hmy eyes are on all their ways. iThey are not hidden from me, inor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. 18 But first jI will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and khave filled my inheritance with their abominations.

19  lO Lord, my strength and my stronghold,

mmy refuge in the day of trouble,

nto you shall the nations come

from the ends of the earth and say:

Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies,

oworthless things in which there is no profit.

20  Can man make for himself pgods?

Such are not gods!

21 Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that qmy name is the Lord.

The sin of Judah is written with ra pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on sthe tablet of their heart, and on tthe horns of their altars, while utheir children remember their altars and their vAsherim, wbeside every green tree and on the high hills, xon the mountains in the open country. yYour wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, zand I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, afor in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.

Thus says the Lord:

Cursed is the man bwho trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,1

whose heart turns away from the Lord.

cHe is like a shrub in the desert,

dand shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,

in ean uninhabited salt land.

fBlessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

gwhose trust is the Lord.

hHe is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit.

The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately sick;

who can understand it?

10  iI the Lord search the heart

jand test the mind,2

kto give every man according to his ways,

according to the fruit of his deeds.

11  Like the lpartridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,

so is mhe who gets riches but not by justice;

nin the midst of his days they will leave him,

oand at his end he will be a fool.

12  A glorious throne set on high from the beginning

is the place of our sanctuary.

13  O Lord, pthe hope of Israel,

qall who forsake you shall be put to shame;

those who turn away from you3 rshall be written in the earth,

for sthey have forsaken tthe Lord, the fountain of living water.

14  uHeal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;

save me, and I shall be saved,

for vyou are my praise.

Read in Context

Jeremiah 23

uWoe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning uthe shepherds who care for my people: You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. vBehold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. wThen I will gather the remnant of my flock xout of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, yand they shall be fruitful and multiply. zI will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

aBehold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous bBranch, and che shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and dIsrael will edwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: fThe Lord is our righteousness.

gTherefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them. Then they shall dwell in their own land.

Concerning the prophets:

hMy heart is broken within me;

iall my bones shake;

I am like a drunken man,

like a man overcome by wine,

because of the Lord

and because of his holy words.

10  jFor the land is full of adulterers;

kbecause of the curse lthe land mourns,

and mthe pastures of the wilderness are dried up.

nTheir course is evil,

and their might is not right.

11  oBoth prophet and priest are ungodly;

even pin my house I have found their evil,

declares the Lord.

12  qTherefore their way shall be to them

like slippery paths rin the darkness,

into which they shall be driven and fall,

for I will bring disaster upon them

sin the year of their punishment,

declares the Lord.

13  In the prophets of tSamaria

uI saw an unsavory thing:

vthey prophesied by Baal

wand led my people Israel astray.

14  But in the prophets of Jerusalem

I have seen a horrible thing:

xthey commit adultery and walk in lies;

ythey strengthen the hands of evildoers,

so that no one turns from his evil;

zall of them have become like Sodom to me,

zand its inhabitants like Gomorrah.

15  Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:

aBehold, I will feed them with bitter food

aand give them bpoisoned water to drink,

for from the prophets of Jerusalem

ungodliness has gone out into all the land.

16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, cfilling you with vain hopes. dThey speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, eIt shall be well with you; and to everyone who fstubbornly follows his own heart, they say, gNo disaster shall come upon you.

18  For hwho among them has stood in the council of the Lord

to see and to hear his word,

or who has paid attention to his word and listened?

19  iBehold, the storm of the Lord!

Wrath has gone forth,

ja whirling tempest;

it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

20  kThe anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has executed and kaccomplished

the intents of his heart.

lIn the latter days you will understand it clearly.

21  mI did not send the prophets,

yet they ran;

I did not speak to them,

yet they prophesied.

22  nBut if they had stood in my council,

then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

oand they would have turned them from their evil way,

and pfrom the evil of their deeds.

23 qAm I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 qCan a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. rDo I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said swho prophesy lies in my name, saying, tI have dreamed, I have dreamed! 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of uthe prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name tby their dreams that they tell one another, even as their vfathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 wLet the prophet who has a dream xtell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. yWhat has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29 yIs not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and zlike a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 aTherefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, declares the Lord. 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and blead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when cI did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

33 dWhen one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, What is the burden of the Lord? you shall say to them, You are the burden,2 and fI will cast you off, declares the Lord. 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, The burden of the Lord, dI will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, What has the Lord answered? or What has the Lord spoken? 36 But the burden of the Lord you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and gyou pervert the words of hthe living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, What has the Lord answered you? or What has the Lord spoken? 38 But if you say, The burden of the Lord, thus says the Lord, Because you have said these words, The burden of the Lord, when I sent to you, saying, You shall not say, The burden of the Lord, 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and fcast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 iAnd I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and iperpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

Read in Context

Jeremiah 30–31

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: eWrite in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. fFor behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, gwhen I will restore hthe fortunes of my people, iIsrael and Judah, says the Lord, jand I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.

These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning iIsrael and Judah:

Thus says the Lord:

We have heard a cry of panic,

of terror, and no peace.

Ask now, and see,

can a man bear a child?

kWhy then do I see every man

with his hands on his stomach klike a woman in labor?

lWhy has every face turned pale?

Alas! mThat day is so great

nthere is none like it;

it is a time of distress for Jacob;

yet he shall be saved out of it.

And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will obreak his pyoke from off your neck, and I will oburst your bonds, qand foreigners shall no more make a servant of him.1 But they shall serve the Lord their God and rDavid their king, whom I will raise up for them.

10  sThen fear not, tO Jacob my servant, declares the Lord,

nor be dismayed, O Israel;

for behold, sI will save you from far away,

uand your offspring from the land of their captivity.

sJacob shall return and have quiet and ease,

and none shall make him afraid.

11  vFor I am with you to save you,

declares the Lord;

vI will make a full end of all the nations

among whom I scattered you,

but of you I will not make a full end.

vI will wdiscipline you in just measure,

and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

12  For thus says the Lord:

xYour hurt is incurable,

yand your wound is grievous.

13  There is none to uphold your cause,

no medicine for your wound,

zno healing for you.

14  aAll your lovers have forgotten you;

they care nothing for you;

for I have dealt you the blow of ban enemy,

the punishment cof a merciless foe,

because your guilt is great,

dbecause your sins are flagrant.

15  xWhy do you cry out over your hurt?

xYour pain is incurable.

Because your guilt is great,

dbecause your sins are flagrant,

I have done these things to you.

16  eTherefore all who devour you shall be devoured,

and fall your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;

gthose who plunder you shall be plundered,

hand all who prey on you I will make a prey.

17  iFor I will restore jhealth to you,

and kyour wounds I will heal,

declares the Lord,

because lthey have called you an outcast:

lIt is Zion, for whom no one cares!

18  Thus says the Lord:

Behold, mI will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob

and have compassion on his dwellings;

the city shall be rebuilt on nits mound,

and the palace shall stand where it used to be.

19  oOut of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,

and the voices of those who celebrate.

pI will multiply them, and they shall not be few;

I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.

20  qTheir children shall be as they were of old,

and their congregation shall be established before me,

and I will punish all who oppress them.

21  rTheir prince shall be one of themselves;

rtheir ruler shall come out from their midst;

sI will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,

tfor who would dare of himself to approach me?

declares the Lord.

22  uAnd you shall be my people,

and I will be your God.

23  vBehold wthe storm of the Lord!

Wrath has gone forth,

a whirling tempest;

it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

24  xThe fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has executed and accomplished

the intentions of his mind.

yIn the latter days you will understand this.

zAt that time, declares the Lord, aI will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.

Thus says the Lord:

The people who survived the sword

found grace in the wilderness;

bwhen Israel sought for rest,

the Lord appeared to him2 from far away.

cI have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore dI have continued emy faithfulness to you.

fAgain I will build you, and you shall be built,

O virgin Israel!

gAgain you shall adorn yourself with tambourines

and shall go forth in hthe dance of the merrymakers.

iAgain you shall plant vineyards

on the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant

and shall enjoy the fruit.

For there shall be a day when watchmen will call

in jthe hill country of Ephraim:

kArise, and let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.

For thus says the Lord:

lSing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

and raise shouts for mthe chief of the nations;

proclaim, give praise, and say,

nO Lord, save your people,

the remnant of Israel.

Behold, I will bring them ofrom the north country

and pgather them from qthe farthest parts of the earth,

among them rthe blind and the lame,

the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;

a great company, they shall return here.

sWith weeping they shall come,

tand with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,

I will make them uwalk by brooks of water,

vin a straight path in which they shall not stumble,

for wI am a father to Israel,

and Ephraim is xmy firstborn.

10  Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

and declare it in the coastlands far away;

say, He who scattered Israel will pgather him,

and will keep him yas a shepherd keeps his flock.

11  zFor the Lord has ransomed Jacob

and has redeemed him from ahands too strong for him.

12  They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,

band they shall be radiant cover the goodness of the Lord,

dover the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and over the young of the flock and the herd;

etheir life shall be like a watered garden,

fand they shall languish no more.

13  gThen shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

and the young men and the old shall be merry.

hI will turn their mourning into joy;

I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

14  iI will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,

and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,

declares the Lord.

15  Thus says the Lord:

jA voice is heard in kRamah,

lamentation and bitter weeping.

lRachel is weeping for her children;

she refuses to be comforted for her children,

mbecause they are no more.

16  Thus says the Lord:

Keep your voice from weeping,

and your eyes from tears,

for there is a reward for your work,

declares the Lord,

and nthey shall come back from the land of the enemy.

17  oThere is hope for your future,

declares the Lord,

and your children shall come back to their own country.

18  I have heard pEphraim grieving,

You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,

like an untrained calf;

qbring me back that I may be restored,

for you are the Lord my God.

19  For after rI had turned away, I relented,

and after I was instructed, sI struck my thigh;

tI was ashamed, and I was confounded,

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.

20  pIs Ephraim my dear son?

uIs he my darling child?

For as often as I speak against him,

I do remember him still.

vTherefore my heart3 yearns for him;

I will surely have mercy on him,

declares the Lord.

21  wSet up road markers for yourself;

make yourself guideposts;

xconsider well the highway,

wthe road by which you went.

Return, O virgin Israel,

return to these your cities.

22  yHow long will you waver,

zO faithless daughter?

For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:

a woman encircles a man.

23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, awhen I restore their fortunes:

bThe Lord bless you, cO habitation of righteousness,

dO holy hill!

24 eAnd Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and ethe farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will fsatisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.

26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

27 gBehold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when hI will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with ithe seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that jas I have watched over them kto pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, jso I will watch over them lto build and to plant, declares the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:

mThe fathers have eaten sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are set on edge.

30 nBut everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

31 oBehold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make pa new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when qI took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, rthough I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 sFor this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: sI will put my law within them, and I will write it ton their hearts. uAnd I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord, vfor they shall all know me, wfrom the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For xI will forgive their iniquity, and yI will remember their sin no more.

35  Thus says the Lord,

who zgives the sun for light by day

and athe fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,

who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar

bthe Lord of hosts is his name:

36  cIf this fixed order departs

from before me, declares the Lord,

then shall the offspring of Israel cease

from being a nation before me forever.

37  Thus says the Lord:

If the heavens above can be measured,

and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,

dthen I will cast off all the offspring of Israel

for all that they have done,

declares the Lord.

38 eBehold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord ffrom the Tower of Hananel to gthe Corner Gate. 39 hAnd the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40 iThe whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the jbrook Kidron, to the corner of kthe Horse Gate toward the east, lshall be sacred to the Lord. mIt shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.

Read in Context

Ezekiel 37

dThe hand of the Lord was upon me, and ehe brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;1 it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, fSon of man, gcan these bones live? And hI answered, O Lord God, you know. Then he said to me, iProphesy over these bones, and say to them, jO dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause kbreath2 to enter you, and you shall live. lAnd I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and lcover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, mand you shall know that I am the Lord.

So I prophesied nas I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, oa rattling,3 and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But pthere was no breath in them. Then he said to me, iProphesy to the breath; prophesy, fson of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from qthe four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied nas he commanded me, and rthe breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11 Then he said to me, fSon of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and sour hope is lost; twe are indeed cut off. 12 Therefore iprophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, uI will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And vI will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And wyou shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And xI will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; yI have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 zSon of man, atake a stick4 and write on it, For bJudah, and cthe people of Israel associated with him; then take another stick and write on it, For bJoseph (the stick of dEphraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him. 17 And ejoin them one to another into one stick, that fthey may become gone in your hand. 18 And when hyour people say to you, iWill you not tell us what you mean by these? 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take jthe stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the jstick of Judah,5 and kmake them one stick, gthat they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand lbefore their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, mI will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and mbring them to their own land. 22 And nI will make them one nation in the land, on othe mountains of Israel. And pone king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer qtwo nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 rThey shall not sdefile themselves anymore twith their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But uI will save them from all the backslidings6 in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and vthey shall be my people, and I will be their God.

24 My servant wDavid xshall be king over them, and they shall all have yone shepherd. zThey shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 aThey shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there bforever, and David my servant shall be their prince cforever. 26 dI will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be ean everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land7 and fmultiply them, and will gset my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 hMy dwelling place shall be with them, vand I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then ithe nations will know that jI am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when gmy sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.

Read in Context

Hosea 2

1 Say to your brothers, xYou are my people,2 and to your sisters, yYou have received mercy.3

Plead with your mother, plead

for zshe is not my wife,

and I am not her husband

that she put away aher whoring from her face,

and her adultery from between her breasts;

lest bI strip her naked

and make her as cin the day she was born,

and dmake her like a wilderness,

and make her like a parched land,

and kill her with thirst.

eUpon her children also I will have no mercy,

fbecause they are children of whoredom.

For gtheir mother has played the whore;

she who conceived them has acted shamefully.

For hshe said, I will go after my lovers,

who igive me my bread and my water,

my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.

Therefore jI will hedge up her4 way with thorns,

and kI will build a wall against her,

so that she cannot find her paths.

She shall pursue her lovers

but not overtake them,

and she shall seek them

but shall not find them.

lThen she shall say,

I will go and return to mmy first husband,

lfor it was better for me then than now.

And nshe did not know

that it was oI who gave her

pthe grain, the wine, and the oil,

and who lavished on qher silver and gold,

rwhich they used for Baal.

Therefore sI will take back

my grain in its time,

and my wine in its season,

and sI will take away my wool and my flax,

which were to cover her nakedness.

10  Now tI will uncover her lewdness

in the sight of her lovers,

and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.

11  uAnd I will put an end to all her mirth,

her feasts, her vnew moons, her vSabbaths,

and all her wappointed feasts.

12  And xI will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,

yof which she said,

These are zmy wages,

which my lovers have given me.

I will make them a forest,

aand the beasts of the field shall devour them.

13  And bI will punish her for cthe feast days of the Baals

when she burned offerings to them

and dadorned herself with her ring and jewelry,

and went after her lovers

and forgot me, declares the Lord.

14  Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

and ebring her into the wilderness,

and fspeak tenderly to her.

15  And there I will give her her vineyards

and make the Valley of Achor5 a door of hope.

And there she shall answer gas in the days of her youth,

as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

16 And hin that day, declares the Lord, you will call me My Husband, and no longer will you call me My Baal. 17 For iI will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And jI will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And kI will abolish6 the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in lsafety. 19 And I will betroth you to me mforever. nI will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 nI will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And oyou shall know the Lord.

21  And pin that day qI will answer, declares the Lord,

I will answer the heavens,

and they shall answer the earth,

22  and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and they shall answer rJezreel,7

23  and sI will sow her for myself in the land.

And tI uwill have mercy on No Mercy,8

and vI will say to Not My People,9 wYou are my people;

and he shall say, You are my God.

Read in Context

Zechariah 11:12–17

12 Then I said to them, If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them. And they weighed out as my wages zthirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, Throw it to the potterathe lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the zthirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. 14 Then I broke bmy second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 Then the Lord said to me, Take once more the equipment of ca foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd dwho does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but edevours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

17  fWoe to my worthless shepherd,

gwho deserts the flock!

May the sword strike his arm

and hhis right eye!

Let his arm be wholly withered,

his right eye utterly blinded!

Read in Context

Matthew 5

Seeing the crowds, ohe went up on the mountain, and when he psat down, his disciples came to him.

And qhe opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

rBlessed are sthe poor in spirit, for utheirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are vthose who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the wmeek, for they wshall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and xthirst yfor righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are zthe merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are athe pure in heart, for bthey shall see God.

Blessed are cthe peacemakers, for dthey shall be called esons1 of God.

10 fBlessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for utheirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 gBlessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely hon my account. 12 iRejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for jso they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

13 You are the salt of the earth, kbut if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

14 lYou are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 mNor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so nthat2 they may see your good works and ogive glory to your Father who is in heaven.

17 pDo not think that I have come to abolish qthe Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but rto fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, suntil heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 tTherefore whoever relaxes uone of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least vin the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great vin the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds wthat of the scribes and Pharisees, you xwill never enter the kingdom of heaven.

21 yYou have heard that it was said to those of old, zYou shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable ato judgment. 22 But I say to you that beveryone who is angry with his brother3 will be liable ato judgment; whoever insults4 his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, You fool! will be liable to cthe hell5 of fire. 23 dSo if eyou are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 fCome to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, gyou will never get out until you have paid the last penny.6

27 hYou have heard that it was said, iYou shall not commit adultery. 28 But I say to you that jeveryone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 kIf your right eye lcauses you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into mhell. 30 kAnd if your right hand lcauses you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into mhell.

31 hIt was also said, nWhoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. 32 oBut I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and pwhoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

33 Again hyou have heard that it was said to those of old, qYou shall not swear falsely, but rshall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. 34 But I say to you, sDo not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for tit is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is uthe city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply Yes or No; vanything more than this comes from evil.7

38 hYou have heard that it was said, yAn eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 39 But I say to you, zDo not resist the one who is evil. But aif anyone bslaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And zif anyone would sue you and take your tunic,8 let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone cforces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 dGive to the one who begs from you, and edo not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

43 fYou have heard that it was said, gYou shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I say to you, iLove your enemies and jpray for those who persecute you, 45 kso that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and lsends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 mFor if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,9 what more are you doing than others? Do not even nthe Gentiles do the same? 48 oYou therefore must be pperfect, qas your heavenly Father is perfect.

Read in Context

Matthew 7

rJudge not, that you be not judged. sFor with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and twith the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but udo not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye, when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

vDo not give wdogs what is holy, and do not throw your xpearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

yAsk, zand it will be given to you; aseek, and you will find; bknock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for cbread, will give him ca stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, dwho are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will zyour Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

12 So ewhatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is fthe Law and the Prophets.

13 gEnter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy1 that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and hthe way is hard that leads to life, and ithose who find it are few.

15 jBeware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are kravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them lby their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, mevery healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 nEvery tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them lby their fruits.

21 oNot everyone who psays to me, Lord, Lord, will qenter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who rdoes the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 sOn that day tmany will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not uprophesy in your name, and cast out demons vin your name, and do many mighty works in your name? 23 tAnd then will I declare to them, I wnever knew you; xdepart from me, yyou workers of lawlessness.

24 zEveryone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like aa wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like aa foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, bthe crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 cfor he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Read in Context

Matthew 21:33–46

33 qHear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ra vineyard sand put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and tleased it to tenants, and uwent into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants1 to the tenants tto get his fruit. 35 vAnd the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and wstoned another. 36 xAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, They will respect my son. 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, yThis is the heir. Come, zlet us kill him and have his inheritance. 39 And they took him and athrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 bWhen therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? 41 They said to him, cHe will put those wretches to a miserable death and dlet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.

42 Jesus said to them, eHave you never read in the Scriptures:

fThe stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;2

this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes?

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God gwill be taken away from you and given to a people hproducing its fruits. 44 And ithe one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and jwhen it falls on anyone, it will crush him.3

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And lalthough they were seeking to arrest him, mthey feared the crowds, because they held him to be na prophet.

Read in Context

Matthew 23–24:2

Then Jesus tsaid to the crowds and to his disciples, uThe scribes and the Pharisees vsit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, wbut not the works they do. xFor they preach, but do not practice. yThey tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,1 and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. tThey do all their deeds zto be seen by others. For they make atheir phylacteries broad and btheir fringes long, and they clove the place of honor at feasts and dthe best seats in the synagogues and dgreetings in ethe marketplaces and being called frabbi2 by others. gBut you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are hall brothers.3 iAnd call no man your father on earth, for jyou have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, kthe Christ. 11 lThe greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 mWhoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

13 But woe nto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you oshut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you pneither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.4 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single qproselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a rchild of shell5 as yourselves.

16 Woe to tyou, ublind guides, who say, vIf anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath. 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or wthe temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by xthe gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath. 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ythe altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by zhim who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by aheaven swears by bthe throne of God and by chim who sits upon it.

23 dWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For eyou tithe mint and dill and fcumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: gjustice and mercy and faithfulness. hThese you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ia camel!

25 jWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For kyou clean the outside of lthe cup and the plate, but inside they are full of mgreed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of lthe cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

27 nWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like owhitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and pall uncleanness. 28 So you also qoutwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of rhypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 sWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are tsons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 uFill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, vyou brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to whell? 34 xTherefore yI send you zprophets and wise men and ascribes, bsome of whom you will kill and crucify, and bsome you will cflog in your synagogues and dpersecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all ethe righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous fAbel to the blood of gZechariah the son of Barachiah,6 whom you murdered between hthe sanctuary and ithe altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, jall these things will come upon this generation.

37 kO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that lkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have mgathered nyour children together oas a hen gathers her brood punder her wings, and qyou were not willing! 38 See, ryour house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, sBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

tJesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, uthere will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

Read in Context

Matthew 27:1–10

wWhen morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people xtook counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him and yled him away and zdelivered him over to aPilate the governor.

Then when bJudas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus1 was condemned, che changed his mind and brought back dthe thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. They said, What is that to us? eSee to it yourself. And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, fhe departed, and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, It is not lawful to put them into gthe treasury, since it is blood money. So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore hthat field has been called the Field of Blood ito this day. jThen was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, kAnd they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.

Read in Context

Luke 15

Now zthe tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes agrumbled, saying, bThis man receives sinners and ceats with them.

So he told them this parable: dWhat man of you, having a hundred sheep, eif he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine fin the open country, and ggo after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, hhe lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for iI have found my sheep that was lost. Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who jrepents than over ninety-nine krighteous persons who need no repentance.

Or what woman, having ten silver coins,1 if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost. 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before lthe angels of God over one sinner who repents.

11 And he said, There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me mthe share of property that is coming to me. And he divided nhis property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in oreckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to2 one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he pwas longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 But qwhen he rcame to himself, he said, How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, sI have sinned against theaven and before you. 19 uI am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and vran and wembraced him and xkissed him. 21 And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. uI am no longer worthy to be called your son.3 22 But the father said to his servants,4 Bring quickly ythe best robe, and put it on him, and put za ring on his hand, and ashoes on his feet. 23 And bring bthe fattened calf and kill it, and clet us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son dwas dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to celebrate.

25 Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound. 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might ecelebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, fwho has devoured gyour property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him! 31 And he said to him, Son, hyou are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting eto celebrate and be glad, for this your brother iwas dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.

Read in Context

John 8:1–11

but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. bEarly in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and che sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now din the Law, Moses commanded us eto stone such women. So what do you say? This they said fto test him, gthat they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, hLet him who is without sin among you ibe the first to throw a stone at her. And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? 11 She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said, jNeither do I condemn you; go, and from now on ksin no more.]]

Read in Context

John 14:15–21

15 bIf you love me, you will ckeep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another dHelper,1 to be with you forever, 17 even ethe Spirit of truth, fwhom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and gwill be2 in you.

18 I will not leave you as orphans; hI will come to you. 19 iYet a little while and the world will see me no more, but jyou will see me. kBecause I live, you also will live. 20 lIn that day you will know that mI am in my Father, and nyou in me, and oI in you. 21 pWhoever has my commandments and qkeeps them, he it is who loves me. And rhe who loves me swill be loved by my Father, and I will love him and tmanifest myself to him.

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John 15:10–12

10 kIf you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as lI have kept mmy Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, nthat my joy may be in you, and that oyour joy may be full.

12 pThis is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

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2 Corinthians 6:14–18

14 zDo not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For awhat partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or bwhat fellowship has light with darkness? 15 cWhat accord has Christ with Belial?1 Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For dwe are the temple of the living God; as God said,

eI will make my dwelling among them and fwalk among them,

and gI will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

17  Therefore hgo out from their midst,

and be separate from them, says the Lord,

and touch no unclean thing;

then I will welcome you,

18  iand I will be a father to you,

and you shall be sons and daughters to me,

says the Lord Almighty.

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2 View All Leviticus 19:27