What the Bible Says About the OG Meaning

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.”

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.

Psalm 19:1-14: ¹ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
² Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
⁴ Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵ Which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
⁸ The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
¹² Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
¹³ Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 119:1-176: ¹ Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!
² Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart.
³ They do not walk in the way of the wicked.
⁴ You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.
⁵ Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
⁶ Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
⁷ I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules.
⁸ I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!
⁹ How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
¹⁰ With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
¹¹ I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
¹² Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes!
¹³ With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.
¹⁴ In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
¹⁵ I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
¹⁶ I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
¹⁷ Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.
¹⁸ Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
¹⁹ I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!
²⁰ My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.
²¹ You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments.
²² Take away from me their scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies.
²³ Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
²⁴ Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.
²⁵ My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!
²⁶ When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes.
²⁷ Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
²⁸ My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!
²⁹ Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law.
³⁰ I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.
³¹ I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame.
³² I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!
³³ Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.
³⁴ Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
³⁵ Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.
³⁶ Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!
³⁷ Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.
³⁸ Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared.
³⁹ Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good.
⁴⁰ Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life!
⁴¹ Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise.
⁴² Then I shall have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in your word.
⁴³ And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules.
⁴⁴ I will keep your law continually, forever and ever,
⁴⁵ And I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts.
⁴⁶ I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame.
⁴⁷ for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.
⁴⁸ I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
⁴⁹ Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.
⁵⁰ This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.
⁵¹ The insolent utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law.
⁵² When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O Lord.
⁵³ Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law.
⁵⁴ Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.
⁵⁵ I remember your name in the night, O Lord, and keep your law.
⁵⁶ This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts.
⁵⁷ The Lord is my portion; I promise to keep your words.
⁵⁸ I entreat your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.
⁵⁹ When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies.
⁶⁰ I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments.
⁶¹ The cords of the wicked have ensnared me, but I have not forgotten your law.
⁶² At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous rules.
⁶³ I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts.
⁶⁴ The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes.
⁶⁵ You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word.
⁶⁶ Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.
⁶⁷ Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
⁶⁸ You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.
⁶⁹ The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts.
⁷⁰ Their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law.
⁷¹ It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.
⁷² The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
⁷³ Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
⁷⁴ Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word.
⁷⁵ I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
⁷⁶ Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.
⁷⁷ Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.
⁷⁸ Let the insolent be put to shame, because they have wronged me with falsehood; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
⁷⁹ Let those who fear you turn to me, that they may know your testimonies.
⁸⁰ May my heart be blameless in your statutes, that I may not be put to shame!
⁸¹ My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.
⁸² My eyes long for your promise; I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
⁸³ For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes.
⁸⁴ How long must your servant endure? When will you judge those who persecute me?
⁸⁵ The insolent have dug pitfalls for me; they do not live according to your law.
⁸⁶ All your commandments are sure; they persecute me with falsehood; help me!
⁸⁷ They had almost made an end of me on earth, but I did not forsake your precepts.
⁸⁸ In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.
⁸⁹ Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
⁹⁰ Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
⁹¹ By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants.
⁹² If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
⁹³ I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.
⁹⁴ I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts.
⁹⁵ The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies.
⁹⁶ I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.
⁹⁷ Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
⁹⁸ Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.
⁹⁹ I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
¹⁰⁰ I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.
¹⁰¹ I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.
¹⁰² I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.
¹⁰³ How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴ Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
¹⁰⁶ I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.
¹⁰⁷ I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word!
¹⁰⁸ Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules.
¹⁰⁹ I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law.
¹¹⁰ The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts.
¹¹¹ Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
¹¹² I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.
¹¹³ I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.
¹¹⁴ You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.
¹¹⁵ Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.
¹¹⁶ Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope.
¹¹⁷ Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually.
¹¹⁸ You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain.
¹¹⁹ All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies.
¹²⁰ My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.
¹²¹ I have done what is just and right; do not leave me to my oppressors.
¹²² Give your servant a pledge of good; let not the insolent oppress me.
¹²³ My eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.
¹²⁴ Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes.
¹²⁵ I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies.
¹²⁶ It is time for the Lord to act, for your law has been broken.
¹²⁷ Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold.
¹²⁸ Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way.
¹²⁹ Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them.
¹³⁰ The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
¹³¹ I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments.
¹³² Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name.
¹³³ Keep steady my steps according to your promise,
and let no iniquity get dominion over me.
¹³⁴ Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep your precepts.
¹³⁵ Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.
¹³⁶ My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.
¹³⁷ Righteous are you, O Lord, and right are your rules.
¹³⁸ You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness.
¹³⁹ My zeal consumes me because my foes forget your words.
¹⁴⁰ Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.
¹⁴¹ I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts.
¹⁴² Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true.
¹⁴³ Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight.
¹⁴⁴ Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.
¹⁴⁵ With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord! I will keep your statutes.
¹⁴⁶ I call to you; save me, that I may observe your testimonies.
¹⁴⁷ I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.
¹⁴⁸ My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.
¹⁴⁹ Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O Lord, according to your justice give me life.
¹⁵⁰ They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from your law.
¹⁵¹ But you are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are true.
¹⁵² Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever.
¹⁵³ Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law.
¹⁵⁴ Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise!
¹⁵⁵ Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes.
¹⁵⁶ Great is your mercy, O Lord; give me life according to your rules.
¹⁵⁷ Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not swerve from your testimonies.
¹⁵⁸ I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands.
¹⁵⁹ Consider how I love your precepts! Give me life according to your steadfast love!
¹⁶⁰ The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
¹⁶¹ Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words.
¹⁶² I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil.
¹⁶³ I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love your law.
¹⁶⁴ Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.
¹⁶⁵ Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.
¹⁶⁶ I hope for your salvation, O Lord, and I do your commandments.
¹⁶⁷ My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly.
¹⁶⁸ I keep your precepts and testimonies, for all my ways are before you.
¹⁶⁹ Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word!
¹⁷⁰ Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word.
¹⁷¹ My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes.
¹⁷² My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.
¹⁷³ Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
¹⁷⁴ I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight.
¹⁷⁵ Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.
¹⁷⁶ I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

Isaiah 40:1-31: ¹ Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
³ A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
⁶ A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
⁹ Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
¹⁰ Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
¹¹ He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
¹² Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
¹³ Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel?
¹⁴ Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
¹⁵ Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
¹⁶ Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
¹⁷ All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
¹⁸ To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
¹⁹ The idol! a workman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.
²⁰ He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move.
²¹ Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
²² It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
²³ who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
²⁴ Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
²⁵ To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? Says the Holy One.
²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?
He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.
²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
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.

Isaiah 55:1-13: ¹ “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
³ Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
⁴ Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.
⁵ Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
⁶ “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;”
⁷ let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord,
that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God,
for he will abundantly pardon.
⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
¹⁰ “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,”
¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
¹² “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
¹³ Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Jeremiah 31:31-34: ³¹ “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
³² not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.
³³ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
³⁴ And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.

Matthew 5:1-48: 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.
¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
¹⁹ Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’”
²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
²³ So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
²⁵ Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.
²⁶ truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’”
²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
³¹ “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’
³² But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
³³ “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’”
³⁴ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
³⁶ Nor shall you swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
³⁷ Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
³⁹ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
⁴⁰ And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
⁴¹ And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
⁴² Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’”
⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
⁴⁵ so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
⁴⁸ You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 6:1-34: ¹ “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
² “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
⁵ “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
⁶ But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
⁷ “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.”
⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
⁹ Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
¹⁰ Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
¹⁴ For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
¹⁶ “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
¹⁷ But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
¹⁸ that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,”
²³ But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
²⁴ “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Matthew 7:1-29: ¹ “Judge not, that you be not judged.”
² For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
³ Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
⁶ “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.”
⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
⁹ Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
¹¹ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
¹² “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.”
¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
²⁰ Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
²³ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
²⁴ “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
²⁷ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.
²⁸ And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
²⁹ for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

John 1:1-18: ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
² He was in the beginning with God.
³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
¹⁵ (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)
¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

John 3:1-21: ¹ Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
² This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.
⁹ Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”
¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.
¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
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.

John 14:1-31: ¹ “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”
² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
⁴ And you know the way to where I am going.”
⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.
⁸ Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
¹² “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
¹³ Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
¹⁴ If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
¹⁹ Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
²¹ Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.
²² Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?”
²³ Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.
²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
²⁸ You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
²⁹ And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.
³⁰ I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me,
³¹ but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

Romans 1:16-32: ¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
²⁴ Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
²⁷ and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
³² Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Romans 3:21-31: ²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
²⁷ Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
²⁸ For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
³⁰ since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
³¹ Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Romans 8:1-39: ¹ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
⁶ For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
¹² So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
²² For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
²⁷ And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
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 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.

Hebrews 1:1-14: ¹ Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
³ He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
⁴ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
⁵ For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?
⁶ And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
⁷ Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”
⁸ But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
⁷ Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”
¹⁰ And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;
¹¹ They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment.
¹² like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will have no end.”
¹³ And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
¹⁴ Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

Hebrews 4:12-13: ¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 8:6-13: ⁶ But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.
⁷ For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.
⁸ For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
⁹ not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
¹¹ And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
¹² For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.
¹³ In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

James 1:19-27: ¹⁹ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
²⁰ for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
²¹ Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
²⁴ for he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
²⁵ But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
²⁶ If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
²⁷ Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

1 Peter 1:22-25: ²² Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
²³ since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
²⁴ for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,
²⁵ but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

2 Peter 1:16-21: ¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
¹⁷ For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,”
We ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.
¹⁹ And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,
²⁰ knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.
²¹ For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Revelation 22:18-21: ¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,
¹⁹ and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.