JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH

Proverbs 8

The Excellence of Wisdom

¹   Does not wisdom cry out,
And understanding lift up her voice?
²  She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,
Beside the way, where the paths meet.
³  She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,
At the entrance of the doors:
⁴“ To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.
⁵  O you simple ones, understand prudence,
And you fools, be of an understanding heart.
⁶   Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,
And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
⁷  For my mouth will speak truth;
Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
⁸  All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;
Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
⁹  They are all plain to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.
¹⁰   Receive my instruction, and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choice gold;
¹¹  For wisdom is better than rubies,
And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.
¹²“ I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And find out knowledge and discretion.
¹³  The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverse mouth I hate.
¹⁴   Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, I have strength.
¹⁵  By me kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
¹⁶  By me princes rule, and nobles,
All the judges of the earth.
¹⁷  I love those who love me,
And those who seek me diligently will find me.
¹⁸   Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring riches and righteousness.
¹⁹  My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold,
And my revenue than choice silver.
²⁰  I traverse the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
²¹  That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.
²²“ The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
²³  I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
²⁴  When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
²⁵   Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
²⁶  While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
Or the primal dust of the world.
²⁷  When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸  When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
²⁹  When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
³⁰  Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
³¹   Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And my delight was with the sons of men.
³²“ Now therefore, listen to me, my children,
For blessed are those who keep my ways.
³³  Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.
³⁴   Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
³⁵  For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the LORD;
³⁶  But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
All those who hate me love death.”

Psalm 138

A Psalm of David.

¹ I will praise You with my whole heart;
Before the gods I will sing praises to You.
² I will worship toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name
For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
³ In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul.

⁴ All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O LORD,
When they hear the words of Your mouth.
⁵ Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
For great is the glory of the LORD.
⁶ Though the LORD is on high,
Yet He regards the lowly;
But the proud He knows from afar.

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
⁸ The LORD will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Psalm 117

Let All Peoples Praise the LORD

¹ Praise the Lord, all you nations.
Praise him, all you people of the earth.
² For he loves us with unfailing love;
the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever.

Praise the Lord!

Ezekiel 14

Idolatry Will Be Punished

¹ Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. ² And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ³ “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?
⁴ “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, ⁵ that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.”’
⁶ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations. ⁷ For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the LORD will answer him by Myself. ⁸ I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.
⁹ “And if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I the LORD have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. ¹⁰ And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired, ¹¹that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me, nor be profaned anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people and I may be their God,” says the Lord GOD.’”

Judgment on Persistent Unfaithfulness

¹² The word of the LORD came again to me, saying: ¹³ “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. ¹⁴ Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord GOD.
¹⁵ “If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they empty it, and make it so desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts, ¹⁶ even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be desolate.
¹⁷ “Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land,’ and I cut off man and beast from it, ¹⁸ even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered.
¹⁹ “Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast, ²⁰ even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”
²¹ For thus says the Lord GOD: “How much more it shall be when I send My four severe judgments on Jerusalem—the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence—to cut off man and beast from it? ²² Yet behold, there shall be left in it a remnant who will be brought out, both sons and daughters; surely they will come out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all that I have brought upon it. ²³ And they will comfort you, when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have done nothing without cause that I have done in it,” says the Lord GOD.

Zechariah 14

The Day of the LORD

¹ Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,
And your spoil will be divided in your midst.
²  For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem;
The city shall be taken,
The houses rifled,
And the women ravished.
Half of the city shall go into captivity,
But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
³  Then the LORD will go forth
And fight against those nations,
As He fights in the day of battle.
⁴  And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west,
Making a very large valley;
Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
And half of it toward the south.
⁵  Then you shall flee through My mountain valley,
For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal.
Yes, you shall flee
As you fled from the earthquake
In the days of Uzziah king of Judah.

Thus the LORD my God will come,
And all the saints with You.
⁶  It shall come to pass in that day
That there will be no light;
The lights will diminish.
⁷  It shall be one day
Which is known to the LORD—
Neither day nor night.
But at evening time it shall happen
That it will be light.
⁸  And in that day it shall be
That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem,
Half of them toward the eastern sea
And half of them toward the western sea;
In both summer and winter it shall occur.
⁹  And the LORD shall be King over all the earth.
In that day it shall be—

“ The LORD is one,”
And His name one.

¹⁰ All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.
¹¹ The people shall dwell in it;
And no longer shall there be utter destruction,
But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

¹² And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem:

Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet,
Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets,
And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
¹³  It shall come to pass in that day
That a great panic from the LORD will be among them.
Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor,
And raise his hand against his neighbor’s hand;
¹⁴  Judah also will fight at Jerusalem.
And the wealth of all the surrounding nations
Shall be gathered together:
Gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance.
¹⁵  Such also shall be the plague
On the horse and the mule,
On the camel and the donkey,
And on all the cattle that will be in those camps.
So shall this plague be.

The Nations Worship the King

¹⁶ And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁷ And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. ¹⁸ If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁹ This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
²⁰ In that day “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the LORD’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. ²¹ Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the LORD of hosts. Everyone who sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them. In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

Isaiah 24

Impending Judgment on the Earth

¹ Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste,
Distorts its surface
And scatters abroad its inhabitants.
²  And it shall be:
As with the people, so with the priest;
As with the servant, so with his master;
As with the maid, so with her mistress;
As with the buyer, so with the seller;
As with the lender, so with the borrower;
As with the creditor, so with the debtor.
³  The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered,
For the LORD has spoken this word.
⁴  The earth mourns and fades away,
The world languishes and fades away;
The haughty people of the earth languish.
⁵  The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,
Because they have transgressed the laws,
Changed the ordinance,
Broken the everlasting covenant.
⁶   Therefore the curse has devoured the earth,
And those who dwell in it are desolate.
Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned,
And few men are left.
⁷  The new wine fails, the vine languishes,
All the merry-hearted sigh.
⁸  The mirth of the tambourine ceases,
The noise of the jubilant ends,
The joy of the harp ceases.
⁹  They shall not drink wine with a song;
Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
¹⁰  The city of confusion is broken down;
Every house is shut up, so that none may go in.
¹¹ There is a cry for wine in the streets,
All joy is darkened,
The mirth of the land is gone.
¹²  In the city desolation is left,
And the gate is stricken with destruction.
¹³ When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people,
It shall be like the shaking of an olive tree,
Like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.
¹⁴  They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing;
For the majesty of the LORD
They shall cry aloud from the sea.
¹⁵   Therefore glorify the LORD in the dawning light,
The name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea.
¹⁶  From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:

“ Glory to the righteous!”
But I said, “I am ruined, ruined!
Woe to me!
The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously,
Indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.”
¹⁷  Fear and the pit and the snare
Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
¹⁸   And it shall be
That he who flees from the noise of the fear
Shall fall into the pit,
And he who comes up from the midst of the pit
Shall be caught in the snare;
For the windows from on high are open,
And the foundations of the earth are shaken.
¹⁹  The earth is violently broken,
The earth is split open,
The earth is shaken exceedingly.
²⁰  The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,
And shall totter like a hut;
Its transgression shall be heavy upon it,
And it will fall, and not rise again.
²¹  It shall come to pass in that day
That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones,
And on the earth the kings of the earth.
²²  They will be gathered together,
As prisoners are gathered in the pit,
And will be shut up in the prison;
After many days they will be punished.
²³  Then the moon will be disgraced
And the sun ashamed;
For the LORD of hosts will reign
On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
And before His elders, gloriously.

Isaiah 66

True Worship and False

¹ Thus says the LORD:

“ Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
²  For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the LORD.

“ But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.
³“ He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man;
He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck;
He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood;
He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol.
Just as they have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delights in their abominations,
⁴  So will I choose their delusions,
And bring their fears on them;
Because, when I called, no one answered,
When I spoke they did not hear;
But they did evil before My eyes,
And chose thatin which I do not delight.”

The LORD Vindicates Zion

⁵  Hear the word of the LORD,
You who tremble at His word:

“ Your brethren who hated you,
Who cast you out for My name’s sake, said,

‘ Let the LORD be glorified,
That we may see your joy.’
But they shall be ashamed.”
⁶  The sound of noise from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of the LORD,
Who fully repays His enemies!
⁷“ Before she was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her pain came,
She delivered a male child.
⁸  Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.
⁹  Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the LORD.

“ Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God.
¹⁰“ Rejoice with Jerusalem,
And be glad with her, all you who love her;
Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
¹¹  That you may feed and be satisfied
With the consolation of her bosom,
That you may drink deeply and be delighted
With the abundance of her glory.”

¹² For thus says the LORD:

“ Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.
Then you shall feed;
On her sides shall you be carried,
And be dandled on her knees.
¹³  As one whom his mother comforts,
So I will comfort you;
And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”

The Reign and Indignation of God

¹⁴  When you see this, your heart shall rejoice,
And your bones shall flourish like grass;
The hand of the LORD shall be known to His servants,
And His indignation to His enemies.
¹⁵  For behold, the LORD will come with fire
And with His chariots, like a whirlwind,
To render His anger with fury,
And His rebuke with flames of fire.
¹⁶  For by fire and by His sword
The LORD will judge all flesh;
And the slain of the LORD shall be many.
¹⁷“ Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves,
To go to the gardens
After an idol in the midst,
Eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse,
Shall be consumed together,” says the LORD.

¹⁸ “For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. ¹⁹ I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. ²⁰ Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the LORD out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. ²¹ And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites,” says the LORD.
²²“ For as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the LORD,

“ So shall your descendants and your name remain.
²³  And it shall come to pass
That from one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.
²⁴“ And they shall go forth and look
Upon the corpses of the men
Who have transgressed against Me.
For their worm does not die,
And their fire is not quenched.
They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

Acts 3

A Lame Man Healed

¹ Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. ² And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; ³ who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. ⁴ And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” ⁵ So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” ⁷ And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. ⁸ So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. ⁹ And all the people saw him walking and praising God. ¹⁰Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Preaching in Solomon’s Portico

¹¹ Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. ¹² So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. ¹⁴ But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. ¹⁶ And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
¹⁷ “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸ But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. ¹⁹ Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰ and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. ²² For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. ²³ And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴ Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. ²⁵ You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

1 Peter 3

Submission to Husbands

¹ Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, ² when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. ³ Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— ⁴ rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. ⁵ For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, ⁶as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

A Word to Husbands

⁷ Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as beingheirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

Called to Blessing

⁸ Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; ⁹ not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For

“ He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
¹¹ Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.
¹² For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”

Suffering for Right and Wrong

¹³ And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”^{] 15} But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; ¹⁶ having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. ¹⁷ For it isbetter, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

Christ’s Suffering and Ours

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, ¹⁹ by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, ²⁰ who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. ²¹ There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

1 Peter 5

Shepherd the Flock

¹ The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: ² Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; ³ nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; ⁴and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

Submit to God, Resist the Devil

⁵ Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for

“ God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

⁶ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, ⁷ casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. ¹⁰ But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. ¹¹ To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.