What the Bible Says: Understanding Bible Words in Tamil

Scripture

¹ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
² The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
⁴ And God saw that the light was good.
⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
⁶ And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
⁷ And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.
⁸ And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
⁹ And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
¹¹ And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.
¹² The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,
¹⁵ and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.
¹⁶ And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.
¹⁷ And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
¹⁸ to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.”
²¹ So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
²² And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
²³ And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
²⁵ And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
²⁹ And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
³⁰ And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:1-31

Exodus 20:1-17: ¹ And God spoke all these words, saying,
² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
³ “You shall have no other gods before me.
⁴ “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
⁵ You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
⁶ but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
⁷ You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
⁹ Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,
¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
¹³ “You shall not murder.”
¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.”
¹⁵ “You shall not steal.”
¹⁶ “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
¹⁷ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Leviticus 19:1-37: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
² “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
³ Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
⁴ Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.
⁵ “When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.
⁶ It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned with fire.
⁷ You shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
⁸ You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes.
⁹ “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.
¹⁰ And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
¹¹ “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.”
¹² You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
¹³ “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.”
¹⁴ You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.
¹⁵ “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.”
¹⁶ You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
¹⁷ You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.
¹⁸ You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
¹⁹ “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.
²⁰ “If a man lies with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free;
²¹ But if the man is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil;
²² And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.
²³ “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten.”
²⁴ But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord.
²⁵ And in the fifth year you shall eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the Lord your God.
²⁶ “You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes.
²⁷ You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.
²⁸ You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.
²⁹ “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity.
³⁰ You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
³¹ “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.
³² “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.
³³ “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
³⁴ You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
³⁵ You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity.
³⁶ You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
³⁷ You shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.”

Numbers 6:22-27: ²⁴ The Lord bless you and keep you;
²⁴ The Lord bless you and keep you;
²⁴ The Lord bless you and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
²⁶ The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
²⁷ “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

Deuteronomy 6:4-9: ⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Joshua 1:1-9: ¹ After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant,
² “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.”
³ Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.
⁴ From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.
⁵ No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
⁶ Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.
⁷ Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
⁸ This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Judges 6:11-24: ¹¹ Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
¹² And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”
¹³ And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
¹⁴ And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”
¹⁵ And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
¹⁶ And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”
¹⁷ And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.
¹⁸ Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”
¹⁹ So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them.
²⁰ And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so.
²¹ Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
²² Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.”
²³ But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”
²⁴ Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace.

Ruth 1:16-18: ¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”
¹⁸ And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

1 Samuel 3:1-21: ³ Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
² At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place.
³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
⁴ Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!”
⁵ and he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.
⁶ And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”
⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
⁸ And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.
⁹ Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
¹⁰ And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”
¹¹ Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
¹² On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.
¹³ And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.
¹⁴ Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
¹⁵ And Samuel lay until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
¹⁶ Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.”
¹⁷ And he said, “What is the word that the Lord spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.”
¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”
¹⁹ And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
²⁰ And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord.
²¹ And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

2 Samuel 7:18-29: ¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?
¹⁹ And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God!
²⁰ And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God!
²¹ Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
²² Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
²³ And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods?
²⁴ For you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God.
²⁵ And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken.
²⁶ And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you.
²⁷ For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.
²⁸ And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.
²⁹ Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

1 Kings 3:5-14: ⁵ At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”
⁶ And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day.
⁷ And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.
⁸ And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude.
⁹ Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
¹⁰ It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.
¹¹ And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,
¹² behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.
¹³ I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.
¹⁴ And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.

2 Kings 2:1-14: ¹ Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
² And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
³ And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”
⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
⁵ The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”
⁶ And Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.
⁷ Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.
⁸ Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.
⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.”
¹⁰ And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.”
¹¹ And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
¹² And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
¹³ He picked up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
¹⁴ Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10: ⁹ Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”
¹⁰ Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.

2 Chronicles 7:12-22: ¹² Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.
²² And they shall answer, “Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.”
¹⁴ if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
¹⁵ Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.
¹⁶ For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.
¹⁷ And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules,
¹⁸ then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’
¹⁹ But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them,
²⁰ then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
²¹ And as for this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’
²² And they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’

Ezra 7:10-28: ¹⁰ For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
¹¹ This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel:
¹² Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace. And now
¹³ I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.
¹⁴ For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand,
¹⁵ and to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,
¹⁶ and all the silver and gold that you find in all the province of Babylonia, with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem.
¹⁷ with this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem.
¹⁸ And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king’s treasury.
¹⁹ The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem.
²⁰ And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king’s treasury.
²¹ “And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence,
²² up to 100 talents of silver, 100 cors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
²³ Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons.
²⁴ We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
²⁵ “And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach.
²⁶ Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”
²⁷ Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem,
²⁸ I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

Nehemiah 1:4-11: ⁴ As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
⁵ And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
⁶ let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.
⁷ We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.
⁸ Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,
⁹ but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’
¹⁰ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
¹¹ O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.

Esther 4:12-17: ¹² And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.
¹³ Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.
¹⁴ For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
¹⁵ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,
¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Job 1:1-22: ¹ There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.
² There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
³ His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.
⁴ His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
⁵ And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.
⁶ Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
⁷ The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
⁸ And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”
⁹ Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason?
¹⁰ Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
¹¹ But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
¹² And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
¹³ Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
¹⁴ and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,
¹⁵ and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
¹⁶ While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
¹⁷ While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
¹⁸ While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
¹⁹ Behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
²⁰ Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
²¹ And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
²² In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Psalms 23:1-6: ¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
³ He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Proverbs 3:1-12: ¹ My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments,
² for length of days and years of life
and peace they will add to you.
³ Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ So you will find favor and good success
in the sight of God and man.
⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
⁷ Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
⁸ It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
⁹ Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
¹⁰ then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
¹¹ My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
¹² for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: ¹ For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
² a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

Song of Solomon 2:10-13: ¹⁰ My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
¹¹ For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.
¹² The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land.
¹³ The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.

Isaiah 40:28-31: ²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
³⁰ Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
³¹ but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Jeremiah 29:11-14: ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
¹³ You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
¹⁴ I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Lamentations 3:22-26: ²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Ezekiel 37:1-14: ¹ The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.
² 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.
³ And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”
⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”
⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
⁶ And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
⁸ And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.
⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”
¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
¹¹ Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’
¹² Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.
¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.
¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.

Daniel 6:10-23: ¹⁰ When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
¹¹ Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God.
¹² Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.”
¹³ Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”
¹⁴ Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him.
¹⁵ Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”
¹⁶ Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
¹⁷ And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
¹⁸ Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
¹⁹ Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions.
²⁰ As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
²¹ Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever!
²² My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”
²³ Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

Hosea 6:1-3: ¹ “Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.”
² After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
³ Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.

Joel 2:28-32: ²⁸ “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.”
²⁹ Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
³⁰ “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.”
³¹ The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
³² And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Amos 5:14-15: ¹⁴ Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said.
¹⁵ Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Obadiah 1:15-21: ¹⁵ For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.
¹⁶ For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually; they shall drink and swallow, and shall be as though they had never been.
¹⁷ But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.
¹⁸ The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau stubble;
they shall burn them and consume them,
and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,
for the Lord has spoken.
¹⁹ Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,
and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines;
they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria,
and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
²⁰ The exiles of this host of the people of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the Negeb.
²¹ Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

Jonah 2:1-10: ¹ Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish,
² saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
³ For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
⁴ Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’
⁵ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head.
⁶ I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
⁷ When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
⁸ Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
⁹ But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!
¹⁰ And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Micah 6:6-8: ⁶ “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?”
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
⁸ He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Nahum 1:7-8: ⁷ The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.
⁸ But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

Habakkuk 3:17-19: ¹⁷ Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹ God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.

Zephaniah 3:14-17: ¹⁴ Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
¹⁵ The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.
¹⁶ On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.
¹⁷ The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.

Haggai 2:4-9: ⁴ Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts,
⁵ According to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.
⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.
⁷ And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.
⁸ The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.
⁹ The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.

Zechariah 4:6-10: ⁶ Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
⁷ Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.”
¹⁰ For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

Malachi 3:8-12: ⁸ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
⁹ You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.
¹⁰ Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
¹¹ I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts.
¹² Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

Matthew 5:1-12: ¹ Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
² And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”
¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Mark 12:28-34: ²⁸ And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
³¹ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
³² And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him.
³³ And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
³⁴ And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Luke 15:11-32: 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 the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his 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 reckless living.
¹⁴ And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.
And he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
¹⁶ And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
¹⁷ “But when he came 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, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
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 ran and embraced him and kissed him.
²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.
²³ And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.
²⁴ For this my son was 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 celebrate with my friends.
³⁰ But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
³² It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

John 3:16-21: ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

Acts 2:1-4: ¹ When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
² And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
³ And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Romans 8:28-39: ²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
³³ Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
³⁴ Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
³⁶ As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13: ¹ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
⁶ it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
⁸ Love never ends.
⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
¹² For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
¹³ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21: ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
¹⁸ All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Galatians 5:22-26: ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Ephesians 6:10-18: ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Philippians 4:4-9: ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
⁹ What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Colossians 3:12-17: ¹² Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18: ¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
¹⁵ For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5: Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you.
² that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith.
³ But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
⁴ And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command.
⁵ May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

1 Timothy 4:12-16: ¹² Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
¹³ Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.
¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
¹⁵ Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.
¹⁶ Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

2 Timothy 3:14-17: ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it,
¹⁵ and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Titus 2:11-14: ¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
¹² training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
¹³ waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Philemon 1:4-7: ⁴ I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers,
⁵ because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints,
⁶ and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
⁷ For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

Hebrews 11:1-40: ¹ Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
² For by it the people of old received their commendation.
³ By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.
⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
⁷ By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
⁹ By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
¹¹ By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.
¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,
¹⁸ of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
¹⁹ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
²⁰ By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.
²² By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
²⁴ By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
²⁵ choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
²⁶ He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
²⁹ By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
³¹ By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
³² And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—
³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
³⁵ Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
³⁶ Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated.
³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
³⁹ And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
⁴⁰ since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

James 1:2-8: ² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

1 Peter 5:6-11: ⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
⁷ casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
⁸ Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
⁹ Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
¹⁰ And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
¹¹ To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

2 Peter 1:3-11: ³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
¹¹ For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

1 John 4:7-21: ⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
⁸ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
¹³ By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
¹⁶ So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
¹⁷ By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
¹⁹ We love because he first loved us.
²⁰ If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
²¹ And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

2 John 1:4-6: ⁴ I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.
⁵ And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
⁶ And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

3 John 1:2-4: ² Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
³ For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.
⁴ I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Jude 1:20-25: ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
²² And have mercy on those who doubt;
²³ and have mercy on those who doubt;
²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Revelation 21:1-8: ¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
⁵ And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
⁶ And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
⁷ The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
⁸ But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”