What the Bible Says About the Meaning of Book Names

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 3:1-22: ¹ Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
² And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
⁵ Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
⁶ And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
⁷ Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,
⁸ and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
⁹ And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
¹⁰ Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
¹² He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
¹³ Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
¹⁶ Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt,
¹⁷ and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
¹⁸ And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’
¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.
²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.
²¹ And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty,
²² But each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

Leviticus 1:1-17: ¹ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
² “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock.”
³ If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord.
⁴ He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
⁵ Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
⁶ And he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces,
⁷ The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.
⁸ And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar;
⁹ but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
¹⁰ “But if his offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from sheep or goats, he shall offer a male without blemish.
¹¹ And he shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar.
¹² And he shall cut it into pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood that is on the fire on the altar,
¹³ But he shall wash the entrails and the legs with water. And the priest shall offer all of it and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
¹⁴ “If his offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or pigeons.”
¹⁵ And the priest shall bring it to the altar and wring off its head and burn it on the altar. Its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar.
¹⁶ And he shall remove its crop with its contents and cast it beside the altar on the east side, in the place for ashes.
¹⁷ It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.

Numbers 1:1-54: ¹ The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying:
² “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head.”
³ from twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company.
⁴ And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.
⁵ These are the names of the men who shall assist you: from Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;
⁶ from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;
⁷ from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar;
⁸ from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar;
⁹ from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;
¹⁰ from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;
¹¹ those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.
¹² from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;
¹³ Of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran.
¹⁴ those listed of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.
¹⁵ from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.”
¹⁶ These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.
¹⁷ Then Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named,
¹⁸ and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their ancestry by their clans and their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, head by head,
¹⁹ as the Lord had commanded Moses.
²⁰ The people of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
²¹ those listed of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.
²² Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
²³ those listed of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.
²⁴ Of the sons of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
²⁵ those listed of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.
²⁶ Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:
²⁷ those listed of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.
²⁸ Those listed of the sons of Issachar, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:
²⁹ “those listed of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.”
³⁰ from the sons of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael,
³¹ Those listed of the tribe of Asher were forty-one thousand five hundred.
³² Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:
³³ those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.
³⁴ from twenty years old and upward, all who can go to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company.
³⁵ those listed of the tribe of the sons of Dan were 62,700.
³⁶ Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:
³⁷ those who were listed of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.
³⁸ those listed of the sons of Dan were 62,700.
³⁹ those listed of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.
⁴⁰ Of the sons of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:
⁴¹ Those mustered of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.
⁴² Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:
⁴³ Those are the clans of the sons of Naphtali, 80,500.
⁴⁴ These are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers’ house.
⁴⁵ So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel—
⁴⁶ All those listed were 603,550.
⁴⁷ But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe.
⁴⁸ For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
⁴⁹ “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel.”
⁵⁰ but appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle.
⁵¹ When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.
⁵² The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard.
⁵³ But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.”
⁵⁴ Thus the people of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his father’s house.

Deuteronomy 1:1-46: ¹ These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
² It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.
³ In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them,
⁴ after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei.
⁵ Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying:
⁶ “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.
⁷ Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
⁸ See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.
⁹ “At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself.”
¹⁰ The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven.
¹¹ May the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you!
¹² How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife?
¹³ Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.
¹⁴ Then you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’
¹⁵ So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes.
¹⁶ And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him.
¹⁷ You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.
¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.
¹⁹ Then we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea.
²⁰ And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us.
²¹ See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
²² Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’
²³ And the thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe.
²⁴ And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out.
²⁵ And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’
²⁶ Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God.
²⁷ And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
²⁸ Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”
²⁹ Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them.
³⁰ The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
³¹ and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.
³² Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the Lord your God,
³³ who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.
³⁴ And the Lord heard your words and was angered, and he swore,
³⁵ ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers,
³⁶ except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!
³⁷ Even with me the Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there.
³⁸ Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
³⁹ And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there, and to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.
⁴⁰ But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’
⁴¹ “Then you answered me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country.”
⁴² And the Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’
⁴³ So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the Lord and presumptuously went up into the hill country.
⁴⁴ Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir, as far as Hormah.
⁴⁵ And you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you.
⁴⁶ So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

Joshua 1:1-18: 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.
¹⁰ And Joshua commanded the officers of the people,
¹¹ “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’”
¹² And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said,
¹³ “Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’”
¹⁴ Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them,
¹⁵ until the Lord gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the Lord your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.
¹⁶ They answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us, we will go.
¹⁷ Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses!
¹⁸ Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

Judges 1:1-36: ¹ After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”
² The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”
³ Then Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him.
⁴ Judah went up, and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand of them at Bezek.
⁵ And they found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
⁶ Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.
⁷ Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
⁸ And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.
⁹ And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland.
¹⁰ Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron. Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba. And they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
¹¹ From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher.
¹² And Caleb said, “I will give Achsah my daughter as wife to the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it.”
¹³ Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife.
¹⁴ When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”
¹⁵ She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
¹⁶ And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people.
¹⁷ And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah.
¹⁸ Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
¹⁹ And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron.
²⁰ And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak.
²¹ But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
²² The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.
²³ And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.)
²⁴ And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will deal kindly with you.”
²⁵ So he showed them the entrance into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.
²⁶ And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.
²⁷ Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.
²⁸ When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.
²⁹ And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
³⁰ Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor.
³¹ Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob,
³² So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
³³ Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land.
³⁴ The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.
³⁵ But the Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.
³⁶ And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.

Ruth 1:1-22: ¹ In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
² The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.
³ But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.
⁴ They took Moabite wives, the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years.
⁵ Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
⁶ Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food.
⁷ So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
⁹ The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!”
¹⁰ And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”
¹¹ But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?
¹² Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons,
¹³ would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”
¹⁴ Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
¹⁵ And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”
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.
¹⁹ So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?”
²⁰ She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
²¹ I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?
²² So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

1 Samuel 1:1-28: ¹ There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite.
² He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
³ Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord.
⁴ On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters.
⁵ But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.
⁶ And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.
⁷ So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.
⁸ And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”
⁹ After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord.
¹⁰ She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.
¹¹ And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”
¹² As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth.
¹³ Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman.
¹⁴ And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.”
¹⁵ But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.
¹⁶ Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.”
¹⁷ Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.”
¹⁸ And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
¹⁹ They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.
²⁰ And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”
²¹ The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow.
²² But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.”
²³ And Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.
²⁴ And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh.
²⁵ Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli.
²⁶ And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord.
²⁷ For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him.
²⁸ Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.

2 Samuel 1:1-27: ¹ After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag.
² It happened on the third day that a man came from Saul’s camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage.
³ And David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”
⁴ And David said to him, “How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”
⁵ And David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
⁶ And the young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him.”
⁷ And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’
⁸ And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’
⁹ And he said to me, ‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’
¹⁰ So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”
¹¹ Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him.
¹² And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
¹³ And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.”
¹⁴ And David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”
¹⁵ And David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died.
¹⁶ And David said to him, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’”
¹⁷ And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son
And he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar.
¹⁹ “Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!”
²⁰ Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
²¹ “You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.”
²² From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.
²³ “Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.”
²⁴ “You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.”
²⁵ How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle!
²⁶ I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.
²⁷ “How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!”

1 Kings 1:1-53: ¹ Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.
² So his servants said to him, “Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms, that my lord the king may be warm.”
³ So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
⁴ The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not.
⁵ Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
⁶ His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?”
⁷ He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest. And they followed Adonijah and helped him.
⁸ But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and David’s mighty men were not with Adonijah.
⁹ Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent’s Stone, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah.
¹⁰ But he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon his brother.
¹¹ Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it?
¹² Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.
¹³ Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’
¹⁴ Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it?
¹⁵ So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber (Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king).
¹⁶ Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”
¹⁷ She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’
¹⁸ And now, behold, Adonijah is king, although you, my lord the king, do not know it.
¹⁹ He has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but Solomon your servant he has not invited.
²⁰ And my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
²¹ Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.”
²² While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in.
²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “God do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life!
²⁴ And Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’?
²⁵ For he has gone down this day and has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’
²⁶ But me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he has not invited.
²⁷ Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king and you have not told your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”
²⁸ Then King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king.
²⁹ And the king swore, saying, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity,
³⁰ Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”
³¹ Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”
³² King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king.
³³ The king also said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.
³⁴ There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Then blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’
³⁵ Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, for he shall be king in my place.
³⁶ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so.
³⁷ As the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”
³⁸ So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule and brought him to Gihon.
³⁹ Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”
⁴⁰ And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.
⁴¹ Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “What does this uproar in the city mean?”
⁴² While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and bring good news.”
⁴³ Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king.
⁴⁴ The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and they had him ride on the king’s mule.
⁴⁵ Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard.
⁴⁶ And besides, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne.
⁴⁷ Moreover, the king’s servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed himself on the bed.
⁴⁸ And the king also said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted someone to sit on my throne this day in my own eyes.’
⁴⁹ Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose, and each went his own way.
⁵⁰ And Adonijah feared Solomon. So he arose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar.
⁵¹ Then it was told Solomon, “Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, for behold, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’”
⁵² And Solomon said, “If he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.”
⁵³ So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and paid homage to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

2 Kings 1:1-18: ¹ After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel.
² Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.”
³ But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?
⁴ Now therefore thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So Elijah went.
⁵ The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?”
⁶ And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’”
⁷ He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?”
⁸ They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
⁹ Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’”
¹⁰ But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
¹¹ Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight.
¹² But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
¹³ Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight.
¹⁴ Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.”
¹⁵ And the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king.
¹⁶ And he said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’”
¹⁷ So he died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken.
¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

1 Chronicles 1:1-54: ¹ Adam, Seth, Enosh;
² Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
³ Enoch fathered Methuselah, Methuselah fathered Lamech, and Lamech fathered Noah.
⁴ Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
⁵ The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
⁶ The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
⁷ The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.
⁸ The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.
⁹ The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
¹⁰ Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty man.
¹¹ (The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.)
¹² Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.
¹³ Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth,
¹⁴ The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael.
¹⁵ The sons of Pharaoh’s daughter: his daughter Attai, and his daughter Attaliah, and his daughter Attaliah.
¹⁶ the sons of Ishmael: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
¹⁷ The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. And the sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.
¹⁸ The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
¹⁹ Two sons were born to Eber: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan.
²⁰ Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.
²¹ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
²² Ebal, Abimael, Sheba,
²³ Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau born to him in the land of Canaan.
²⁴ Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah;
²⁵ Eber, Peleg, Reu,
²⁶ Dishan, Ezer, and Dishan.
²⁷ Abram, that is, Abraham.
²⁸ The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael.
²⁹ These are their genealogies: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
³⁰ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema,
³¹ Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.
³² The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.
³³ The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
³⁴ Abraham fathered Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.
³⁵ The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
³⁶ The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz, and Timna, and Amalek.
³⁷ The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
³⁸ The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
³⁹ The sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan’s sister.
⁴⁰ The sons of Shobal: Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah.
⁴¹ The sons of Anah: Dishon. And the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
⁴² The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
⁴³ Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the people of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, the name of his city being Dinhabah.
⁴⁴ Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place.
⁴⁵ When Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, and the name of his city was Avith.
⁴⁶ Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, and the name of his city was Avith.
⁴⁷ When Hadad died, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place.
⁴⁸ When Samlah died, Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place.
⁴⁹ When Shaul died, Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.
⁵⁰ When Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, and the name of his city was Avith.
⁵¹ Hadad died. The chiefs of Edom were: chiefs Timna, Aliah, Jetheth,
⁵² Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
⁵³ Magdiel, Iram.
⁵⁴ Magdiel, Iram.

2 Chronicles 1:1-17: ² Solomon the son of David established himself in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.
² Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers’ houses.
³ So Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon, for the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness, was there.
⁴ (Solomon) brought up the ark of God from the city of David, which is Zion.
⁵ Moreover, the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord. And Solomon and the assembly sought it out.
⁶ And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
⁷ In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.”
⁸ And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king in his place.
⁹ Now, O Lord God, let your promise to David my father be established, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.
¹⁰ Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?”
¹¹ God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked long life, but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king,
¹² wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have.
¹³ So Solomon came from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel.
¹⁴ The chariots were imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver apiece, and the horses for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
¹⁵ And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah.
¹⁶ And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders received them from Kue at a price.
¹⁷ They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Ezra 1:1-11: ¹ In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
² “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.”
³ Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem.
⁴ And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
⁵ Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.
⁶ And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered.
⁷ Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.
⁸ Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.
⁹ And this was the inventory: 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers,
¹⁰ thirty basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers,
¹¹ All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 1:1-11: ¹ The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel,
¹ that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.
³ And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
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 1:1-22: ¹ Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces,
² in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel,
³ in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him,
⁴ He displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days.
⁵ And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.
⁶ There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones.
⁷ Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king.
⁸ By the king’s command they served drinks in golden vessels, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was lavished according to the king’s bounty.
⁹ Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.
¹⁰ On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,
¹¹ to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at.
¹² But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.
¹³ Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times (for this was the king’s procedure toward all who were versed in law and judgment,
¹⁴ while they were in high spirits, they commanded the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,
¹⁵ According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?”
¹⁶ And Memucan answered before the king and the officials, “Queen Vashti has not only wronged the king, but also all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.
¹⁷ For the queen’s behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt, since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.’
¹⁸ This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s behavior will say the same to all the king’s officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty.
¹⁹ If it please the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.
²⁰ And when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike.”
²¹ And the proposal pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed.
²² He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people.

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 1:1-6: ¹ Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
² but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
⁴ The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Proverbs 1:1-33: ¹ The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
² To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
³ to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴ to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—
⁵ Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
⁶ to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
⁸ Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
⁹ for they will be a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
¹¹ If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason;
¹² like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
¹³ we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder;
¹⁴ throw in your lot among us;
we will all have one purse”—
¹⁵ my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths,
¹⁶ for their feet run to evil,
and they make haste to shed blood.
¹⁷ For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird,
¹⁸ but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
they set an ambush for their own lives.
¹⁹ Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.
²⁰ Wisdom cries aloud in the street; in the markets she raises her voice;
²¹ She cries in the street; in the markets she raises her voice;
²² “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?”
²³ If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.
²⁴ Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
²⁵ because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
²⁷ when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
³⁰ Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
³¹ Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.
³² For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
³³ but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

Ecclesiastes 1:1-18: ¹ The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
² Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
³ What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
⁴ A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
⁵ The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.
⁶ The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.
⁷ All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.
⁸ All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
⁹ What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰ Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us.
¹¹ There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.
¹² I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
¹³ And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
¹⁴ I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
¹⁶ I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”
¹⁷ And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
¹⁸ For in much wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Song of Solomon 1:1-17: ¹ The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
² Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine;
³ Your anointing oils are fragrant; your name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you.
⁴ Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.
⁵ I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
⁶ Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept.
⁷ Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions?
⁸ If you do not know, O most beautiful among women, follow in the tracks of the flock and graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
⁹ I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
¹⁰ Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
¹¹ We will make for you ornaments of gold, studded with silver.
¹² While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance.
¹³ As a sachet of myrrh, that lies between my breasts.
¹⁴ My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi.
¹⁵ Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.
¹⁶ Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. Our couch is green.
¹⁷ The beams of our house are cedar; our rafters are pine.

Isaiah 1:1-31: ¹ The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
² Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.
³ The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s crib,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
⁴ Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged.
⁵ Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
⁶ From the sole of the foot even to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
but bruises and sores
and raw wounds;
they are not pressed out or bound up
or softened with oil.
⁷ Your country lies desolate;
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
foreigners devour your land;
it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.
⁸ And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.
⁹ If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors,
we should have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomorrah.
¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
¹¹ “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.”
¹² “When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you
this trampling of my courts?
¹³ Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me.
¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
¹⁶ Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
¹⁷ learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.
¹⁸ “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
²¹ How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.
²² Your silver has become dross,
your best wine mixed with water.
²³ Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them.
²⁴ Therefore the Lord declares, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: “Ah, I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes.
²⁵ I will turn my hand against you
and will smelt away your dross as with lye
and remove all your alloy.
²⁶ And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
²⁷ Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
²⁸ But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,
and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
²⁹ For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen.
³⁰ For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers,
and like a garden without water.
³¹ The strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them.

Jeremiah 1:1-19: ¹ The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,
² to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
³ It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
⁴ Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
⁶ Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”
⁷ But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
⁸ Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.
⁹ Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
¹⁰ See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
¹¹ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.”
¹² Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
¹³ The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.”
¹⁴ Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land.”
¹⁵ “For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah.”
¹⁶ And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.
¹⁷ But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.
¹⁸ And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.
¹⁹ They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”

Lamentations 1:1-22: ¹ How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations!
² She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
she has none to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
³ Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.
⁴ The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly.
⁵ Her foes have become the head; her enemies prosper, because the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe.
⁶ From the daughter of Zion all her majesty has departed. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer.
⁷ Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wandering all the precious things that were hers from days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was none to help her, her foes gloated over her; they mocked at her downfall.
⁸ Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns her face away.
⁹ Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she took no thought of her future;
therefore her fall is terrible;
she has no comforter.
“O Lord, behold my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!”
¹⁰ The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things; for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom you forbade to enter your congregation.
¹¹ All her people groan as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength.
¹² “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger.”
¹³ “From on high he sent fire;
into my bones he made it descend;
he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
he has left me stunned,
faint all the day long.
¹⁴ “My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail; the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand.”
¹⁵ “The Lord rejected all my mighty men in my midst;
he summoned an assembly against me
to crush my young men;
the Lord has trodden as in a winepress
the virgin daughter of Judah.”
¹⁶ “For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed.”
¹⁷ Zion stretches out her hands,
but there is none to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
¹⁸ “The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples, and see my suffering; my young women and my young men have gone into captivity.”
¹⁹ “I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city, while they sought food to revive their strength.”
²⁰ “Look, O Lord, for I am in distress; my stomach churns; my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death.”
²¹ They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You will bring the day you have announced, and they will be like me.
²² Let all their evildoing come before you, and deal with them as you have dealt with me because of all my transgressions; for my groans are many, and my heart is faint.

Ezekiel 1:1-28: ¹ In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
² On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin),
³ the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.
⁴ As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal.
⁵ And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness.
⁶ but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.
⁷ Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze.
⁸ Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands.
⁹ their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went.
¹⁰ As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle.
¹¹ Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies.
¹² And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went.
¹³ As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
¹⁴ And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.
¹⁵ Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.
¹⁶ As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel.
¹⁷ When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel faced, the others followed without turning as they went.
¹⁸ And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around.
¹⁹ And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose.
²⁰ Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
²¹ When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
²² Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads.
²³ And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. Each creature had two wings covering its body.
²⁴ And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings.
²⁵ And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads when they stood still and let down their wings.
²⁶ And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.
²⁷ And I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.
²⁸ Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Daniel 1:1-21: ¹ In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
² And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.
³ Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility,
⁴ youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
⁵ The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.
⁶ Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.
⁷ And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
⁸ But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.
⁹ And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs,
¹⁰ and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.”
¹¹ Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
¹² “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.”
¹³ Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”
¹⁴ So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.
¹⁵ At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food.
¹⁶ So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
¹⁷ As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
¹⁸ At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
¹⁹ And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king.
²⁰ And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom.
²¹ And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.

Hosea 1:1-11: ¹ The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
² When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”
³ So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
⁵ And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.
⁶ She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.
⁷ But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.
⁸ When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son.
⁹ And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
¹⁰ Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”
¹¹ And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Joel 1:1-20: ¹ The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel:
² Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?
³ Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.
⁴ What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.
⁵ Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
and wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of the sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
⁶ For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions’ teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness.
⁷ He has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; he has stripped it bare and cast it away; its branches are made white.
⁸ Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.
⁹ The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, the ministers of the Lord.
¹⁰ The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes.
¹¹ Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil; wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
¹² The vine dries up; the fig tree languishes. The pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man.
¹³ Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.
¹⁴ Consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
¹⁵ Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.
¹⁶ Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
¹⁷ The seed shrivels under the clods; the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up.
¹⁸ How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer.
¹⁹ To you, O Lord, I call. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has burned all the trees of the field.
²⁰ Even the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Amos 1:1-15: ¹ The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
² And he said: “The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.”
³ Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron.
⁴ So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.
⁵ I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,” says the Lord.
⁶ Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they carried into exile a whole people to deliver them up to Edom.
⁷ So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour her strongholds.
⁸ I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod, and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,” says the Lord God.
⁹ Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they delivered up a whole people to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
¹⁰ So I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour her strongholds.
¹¹ Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever.
¹² So I will send a fire upon Teman,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.
¹³ Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border.
¹⁴ So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,
and it shall devour her strongholds,
with shouting on the day of battle,
with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
¹⁵ The Lord has spoken: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border.

Obadiah 1:1-21: ¹ The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
² Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be utterly despised.
³ The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
in your lofty dwelling,
who say in your heart,
“Who will bring me down to the ground?”
⁴ Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
though your nest is set among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,
declares the Lord.
⁵ “If thieves came to you, if plunderers came by night— how you have been destroyed!— would they not steal only enough for themselves? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings?”
⁶ How Esau has been pillaged,
his treasures sought out!
⁷ All your allies have driven you to your border; those at peace with you have deceived you; they have prevailed against you; those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you— you have no understanding.
⁸ “Will I not on that day, declares the Lord, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of Mount Esau?”
⁹ And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman, so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
¹⁰ Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off forever.
¹¹ On the day that you stood aloof,
on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
¹² But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress.
¹³ Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity; do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity.
¹⁴ Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives; do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress.
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 1:1-17: ¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
² “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
³ But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
⁴ But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
⁵ Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
⁶ So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
⁷ And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
⁸ Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”
⁹ And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
¹⁰ Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
¹¹ Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” for the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
¹² He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”
¹³ Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.
¹⁴ Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.”
¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
¹⁷ And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Micah 1:1-16: ¹ The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
² Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
³ For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
⁴ And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place.
⁵ All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
⁶ Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations.
⁷ All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
⁸ For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches.
⁹ For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.
¹⁰ Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all; in Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust.
¹¹ Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame; the inhabitants of Zaanan do not come out; the lamentation of Beth-ezel shall take away from you its standing place.
¹² For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.
¹³ Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish; it was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel.
¹⁴ Therefore you shall give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel.
¹⁵ I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.
¹⁶ Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
for the children of your delight;
make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
for they shall go from you into exile.

Nahum 1:1-15: ¹ The oracle of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
² The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.
³ The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
⁴ He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers.
⁵ The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it.
⁶ Who can stand before his indignation?
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.
⁹ What do you plot against the Lord? He will make a complete end; trouble will not rise up a second time.
¹⁰ For they are like entangled thorns, like drunkards as they drink; they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
¹¹ From you came one who plotted evil against the Lord, a worthless counselor.
¹² Thus says the Lord: “Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.
¹³ And now I will break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds apart.”
¹⁴ And the Lord has given commandment about you: “No more shall your name be perpetuated; from the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the metal image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.”
¹⁵ Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows, for never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off.

Habakkuk 1:1-17: ¹ The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
² O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
³ Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
⁴ So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.
⁵ “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.”
⁶ For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own.
⁷ They are dreaded and fearsome;
their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
⁸ Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
⁹ They all come for violence, all their faces forward, and they gather captives like sand.
¹⁰ At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it.
¹¹ Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!
¹² Are you not from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
¹³ You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong,
why do you idly look at traitors
and remain silent when the wicked swallows up
the man more righteous than he?
¹⁴ And make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler.
¹⁵ He brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is glad.
¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and makes offerings to his dragnet;
for by them he lives in luxury,
and his food is rich.
¹⁷ Is he then to keep on emptying his net
and mercilessly killing nations forever?

Zephaniah 1:1-18: ¹ The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
² “I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
³ “I will sweep away man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
and the fish of the sea,
and the rubble with the wicked.
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
⁴ “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,”
⁵ those who bow down on the roofs
to the host of the heavens,
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
and yet swear by Milcom,
⁶ those who have turned back from following the Lord,
who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”
⁷ Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests.
⁸ And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice—
“I will punish the officials and the king’s sons
and all who array themselves in foreign attire.
⁹ On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud.
¹⁰ “On that day,” declares the Lord,
“a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter,
a loud crash from the hills.
¹¹ Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! For all the traders are no more; all who weigh out silver are cut off.
¹² At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
who are complacent,
those who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do ill.’
¹³ Their goods shall be plundered,
and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.
¹⁴ The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there.
¹⁵ A day of wrath is that day,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
¹⁶ a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.
¹⁷ I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.
¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold
shall be able to deliver them
on the day of the wrath of the Lord.

Haggai 1:1-15: ¹ In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest:
² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.”
³ Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,
⁴ “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”
⁵ Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.
⁶ You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.”
⁸ Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.
⁹ You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.
¹⁰ Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.
¹¹ And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.
¹² Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.
¹³ Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.”
¹⁴ And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,
¹⁵ On the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

Zechariah 1:1-21: ¹ In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying:
² “The Lord was very angry with your fathers.
³ Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
⁴ Be not like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord.
⁵ Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
⁶ But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”
⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying:
⁸ I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.
⁶ But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”
¹⁰ And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.’
¹¹ And they answered the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.”
¹² Then the angel of the Lord said, ‘O Lord of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’
¹³ And the Lord answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.
¹⁴ So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion.
¹⁵ And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster.
¹⁶ Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.’
¹⁷ Cry yet again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.
¹⁸ And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns!
¹⁹ And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.
²¹ Then I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

Malachi 1:1-14: ¹ The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
¹ “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob”
³ but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.
⁴ If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’”
⁵ A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? declares the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
⁶ “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? declares the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
⁷ By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table may be despised.
⁸ When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Offer that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? declares the Lord of hosts.
⁹ And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? Declares the Lord of hosts.
¹⁰ Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.
¹¹ For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.
¹² “But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised.”
¹³ But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord.
¹⁴ “But cursed be the deceiver who has in his flock a male, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.”

Matthew 1:1-25: ¹ The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
² Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
³ and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,
⁴ and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon,
⁵ and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,
⁶ and Jesse the father of David the king.
⁷ and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,
⁸ and Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah,
⁹ and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud,
¹⁰ and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah,
¹¹ and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
¹² And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel.
¹³ and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor,
¹⁴ and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud,
¹⁵ and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob,
¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Mark 1:1-45: ¹ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
² As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way,”
³ “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”
⁴ John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
⁵ And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
⁶ Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
⁷ And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
⁸ I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
¹⁰ And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
¹² The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
¹³ And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,
¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
¹⁶ Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
¹⁸ And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
¹⁹ And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.
²⁰ And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
²¹ And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.
²² And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.
²³ And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,
²⁴ “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”
²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”
²⁶ And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.
²⁷ And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
²⁸ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
²⁹ And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
³⁰ Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.
³¹ And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
³² That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.
³³ And the whole city was gathered together at the door.
³⁴ And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
³⁵ And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
³⁶ And Simon and those who were with him searched for him,
³⁷ and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”
³⁸ And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”
³⁹ And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
⁴⁰ And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.”
⁴¹ Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”
⁴² And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
⁴³ And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once,
⁴⁴ and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”
⁴⁵ But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Luke 1:1-80: ¹ Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
² just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us,
³ it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
⁴ that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
⁵ In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.
⁷ But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
⁸ Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,
⁹ according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.
¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
¹⁵ for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,
¹⁷ and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
¹⁹ And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
²⁰ And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
²¹ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.
²² And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute.
²³ And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
²⁴ After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,
²⁵ “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
²⁶ In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
²⁹ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
³⁴ And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
³⁵ And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
³⁶ And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.
³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
³⁹ In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah,
⁴⁰ and entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
⁴¹ And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
⁴² and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
⁴³ And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
⁴⁶ And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,
⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
⁴⁹ for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
⁵⁰ And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
⁵² he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
⁵⁵ as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.
⁵⁶ And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
⁵⁷ Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.
⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
⁵⁹ And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,
⁶⁰ But his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.”
⁶¹ And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.”
⁶² And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.
⁶³ And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.
⁶⁴ And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.
⁶⁵ And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea.
⁶⁶ And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.
⁶⁷ And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying:
⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people.
⁶⁹ and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
⁷⁰ as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
⁷¹ that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
⁷² to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
⁷³ the oath that he swore to our father Abraham,
⁷⁴ that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.
⁷⁷ to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

John 1:1-51: 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.
¹⁹ And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
²⁰ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
²² So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
²³ He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
²⁴ (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)
²⁵ They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know,
²⁷ He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
²⁸ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’
³¹ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
³² And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
³³ I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
³⁵ The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples,
³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
³⁸ Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
³⁹ He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).
⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
⁵¹ And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Acts 1:1-26: ¹ In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,
² until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
³ He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
⁴ And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;
⁵ for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.
⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
¹⁰ And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,
¹¹ and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
¹³ And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James.
¹⁴ All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
¹⁵ In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said,
¹⁶ “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
¹⁷ For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.
¹⁸ (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.
¹⁹ And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.
²⁰ “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and ‘Let another take his office.’”
²¹ So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
²² beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
²³ And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias.
²⁴ And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen.
²⁶ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
²⁶ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Romans 1:1-32: ¹ Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
² which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
³ concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
⁴ and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
⁵ through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
⁶ including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
⁷ To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers,
¹⁰ always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
¹¹ For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—
¹² that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
¹⁴ I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
¹⁵ So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
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.

1 Corinthians 1:1-31: ¹ Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
² To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
⁴ I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,
⁵ that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—
⁶ even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—
⁷ so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
⁸ who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
⁹ God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.
¹¹ For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.
¹² What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”
¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
¹⁴ I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
¹⁵ so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.
¹⁶ (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)
¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
¹⁹ For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
²⁷ But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
²⁹ so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
³⁰ And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
³¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 1:1-24: ¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
⁵ For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
⁶ If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.
⁷ and our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
⁸ For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia.
⁹ Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.
¹⁰ He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
¹¹ You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
¹² For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.
¹³ For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand, and I hope you will fully understand—
¹⁴ just as you did partially acknowledge us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.
¹⁵ Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace.
¹⁶ I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea.
¹⁷ Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?
¹⁸ As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.
¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes.
²⁰ For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
²¹ And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us,
²² and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee,
²³ But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth.
²⁴ Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.

Galatians 1:1-24: ¹ Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—
² and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:
³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
⁴ who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
⁵ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
⁶ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.
⁷ not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
¹⁰ For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
¹¹ For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.
¹² For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.
¹⁴ And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
¹⁵ But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
¹⁶ to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
¹⁸ Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.
¹⁹ But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.
²⁰ (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!)
²¹ Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
²² And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
²³ They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
²⁴ And they glorified God because of me.

Ephesians 1:1-23: ¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
⁴ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
⁵ he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
⁸ which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
¹¹ In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
¹² so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
¹³ In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
¹⁵ For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,
¹⁶ I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
¹⁸ having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
²⁰ that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
²² And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Philippians 1:1-30: ¹ Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
⁶ And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
⁸ For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
⁹ And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
¹⁰ so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
¹² I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,
¹³ so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.
¹⁴ And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
¹⁵ Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.
¹⁵ Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.
¹⁷ The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.
¹⁸ What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
¹⁹ for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,
²⁰ as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
²¹ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
²² If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
²³ I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
²⁴ But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,
²⁶ so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
²⁷ Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
²⁸ and not frightened in anything by your opponents.
²⁹ For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
³⁰ engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Colossians 1:1-29: ¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
² To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
³ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
⁴ since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,
⁵ because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.
⁶ which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,
⁷ just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
⁸ and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
⁹ And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
¹⁰ so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
¹¹ May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,
¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
¹³ He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
¹⁶ For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
²¹ And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
²² he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
²³ if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,
²⁵ of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,
²⁶ the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.
²⁷ To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
²⁸ Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
²⁹ For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10: ¹ Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
² We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,
³ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
⁴ For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,
⁵ because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
⁶ And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
⁸ For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.
⁹ For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
¹⁰ and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12: ¹ Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
³ We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
⁴ Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
⁵ This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—
⁶ since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
⁷ and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
⁸ in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
⁹ They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
¹⁰ when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
¹¹ To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power,
¹² so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 1:1-20: ¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
² To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
³ As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine,
⁴ nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.
⁵ The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
⁶ Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion,
⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
⁸ Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully,
⁹ understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers,
¹⁰ the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,
¹¹ in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
¹² I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,
¹³ though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.
¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
¹⁵ The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
¹⁶ But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
¹⁷ To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
¹⁸ This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
¹⁹ holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,
²⁰ among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

2 Timothy 1:1-18: ¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,
² Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.
⁴ As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.
⁵ I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,
⁷ for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
⁸ Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,
⁹ who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
¹⁰ and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
¹¹ for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher,
¹² which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
¹³ Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
¹⁴ By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
¹⁵ You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.
¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains,
¹⁷ but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me—
¹⁸ (the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!)—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

Titus 1:1-16: ¹ Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,
² in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.
³ and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;
⁴ To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
⁵ This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—
⁶ if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.
⁷ For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,
⁸ but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.
⁹ He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
¹⁰ For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.
¹¹ They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.
¹² One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
¹³ This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,
¹⁴ not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.
¹⁵ To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
¹⁶ They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

Philemon 1:1-25: ¹ Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker
² and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:
³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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.
⁸ Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required,
⁹ yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus—
¹⁰ I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment.
¹¹ Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.
¹² I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.
¹³ I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel,
¹⁴ but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.
¹⁵ For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever,
¹⁶ no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
¹⁷ So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me.
¹⁸ If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
¹⁹ I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self.
²⁰ Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
²¹ Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
²² At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.
²³ Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you,
²⁴ and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
²⁵ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

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?

James 1:1-27: ¹ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
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.
⁹ Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,
¹⁰ and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.
¹¹ For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
¹² Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
¹⁸ Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
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 1:1-25: ¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,
¹¹ inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
¹² It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
¹³ Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
¹⁵ but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
¹⁶ since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
¹⁷ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,
¹⁸ knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you
²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
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 1:1-21: ¹ Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
² May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
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.
¹² Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.
¹³ I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder,
¹⁴ since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
¹⁵ And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
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.

1 John 1:1-10: ¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—
² the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—
³ that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
⁴ And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
⁶ If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

2 John 1:1-13: ¹ The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth,
² because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:
³ Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.
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.
⁷ For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
⁸ Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.
⁹ Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting,
¹¹ For whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
¹² Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
¹³ The children of your elect sister greet you.

3 John 1:1-15: ¹ The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
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.
⁵ Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are,
⁶ who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.
⁷ For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.
⁸ Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
⁹ I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.
¹⁰ So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.
¹¹ Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
¹² Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.
¹³ I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink.
¹⁴ I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name.
¹⁵ Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name.

Jude 1:1-25: ¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
² May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
³ Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
⁴ For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
⁵ Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
⁶ And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.
⁷ just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
⁸ Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.
⁹ But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
¹⁰ But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.
¹¹ Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion.
¹² These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted;
¹³ wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
¹⁴ It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,
¹⁵ to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
¹⁶ These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
¹⁷ But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
¹⁸ “They said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.’”
¹⁹ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.
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 1:1-20: ¹ The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
² who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
³ Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
⁴ John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.
⁶ and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
⁷ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
⁹ I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
¹⁰ I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.
¹¹ saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
¹² Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,
¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
¹⁴ The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
¹⁵ his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.
¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
¹⁸ and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
¹⁹ Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.
²⁰ As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.