1    Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 

2    Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 

3    Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 

4    For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

5    There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6    one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.

9    O God, we meditate on your unfailing love as we worship in your Temple.

10  As your name deserves, O God, you will be praised to the ends of the earth. Your strong right hand is filled with victory.

11  Let the people on Mount Zion rejoice. Let all the towns of Judah be glad

because of your justice.

12  Go, inspect the city of Jerusalem. Walk around and count the many towers.

13  Take note of the fortified walls, and tour all the citadels, that you may describe them to future generations.

14  For that is what God is like. He is our God forever and ever, and he will guide us until we die.

1    When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, he returned to Capernaum. 

2    At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. 

3    When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. 

4    So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, 

5    “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”

6    So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. 

7    I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 

8    I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

9    When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” 

10  And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.

11  Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. 

12  A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. 

13  When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. 

14  Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” 

15  Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16  Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” 

17  And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.

14  Can any mortal be pure? Can anyone born of a woman be just?

15  Look, God does not even trust the angels. Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight.

16  How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person with a thirst for wickedness!

17  “If you will listen, I will show you. I will answer you from my own experience.

18  And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men who have heard the same thing from their fathers—

19  from those to whom the land was given long before any foreigners arrived.

20  “The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives. Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.

21  The sound of terror rings in their ears, and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.

22  They dare not go out into the darkness for fear they will be murdered.

23  They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’ They know their day of destruction is near.

24  That dark day terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for battle.

25  For they shake their fists at God, defying the Almighty.

26  Holding their strong shields, they defiantly charge against him.

27  “These wicked people are heavy and prosperous; their waists bulge with fat.

28  But their cities will be ruined. They will live in abandoned houses that are ready to tumble down.

29  Their riches will not last, and their wealth will not endure. Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon.

30  “They will not escape the darkness. The burning sun will wither their shoots, and the breath of God will destroy them.

31  Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches, for emptiness will be their only reward.

32  They will be cut down in the prime of life; their branches will never again be green.

33  They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early, like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form.

34  For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.

35  They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. Their womb produces deceit.”

1    Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands.

2    Obey my commands and live! Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes.

3    Tie them on your fingers as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.

4    Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family.

15  So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16  Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 

17  Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. 

18  Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, 

19  singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. 

20  And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1    What if the Lord had not been on our side? Let all Israel repeat:

2    What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us?

3    They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger.

4   The waters would have engulfed us; a torrent would have overwhelmed us.

5    Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives.

6    Praise the Lord, who did not let their teeth tear us apart!

7    We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, and we are free!

8    Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

18  The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, 

19  and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

20  John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’”

21  At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind. 

22  Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” 

23  And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”

24  After John’s disciples left, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? 

25  Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people who wear beautiful clothes and live in luxury are found in palaces. 

26  Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. 

27  John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’ 

28  I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!”

29  When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right, for they had been baptized by John. 

30  But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.

31  “To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them? 

32  They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t weep.’

33  For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ 

34  The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ 

35  But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.”

1    Then Job spoke again:

2    “I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are!

3    Won’t you ever stop blowing hot air? What makes you keep on talking?

4    I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you.

5    But if it were me, I would encourage you. I would try to take away your grief.

6    Instead, I suffer if I defend myself, and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak.

7    “O God, you have ground me down and devastated my family.

8    As if to prove I have sinned, you’ve reduced me to skin and bones. My gaunt flesh testifies against me.

9    God hates me and angrily tears me apart. He snaps his teeth at me and pierces me with his eyes.

10  People jeer and laugh at me. They slap my cheek in contempt. A mob gathers against me.

11  God has handed me over to sinners. He has tossed me into the hands of the wicked.

12  “I was living quietly until he shattered me. He took me by the neck and broke me in pieces. Then he set me up as his target,

13  and now his archers surround me. His arrows pierce me without mercy. The ground is wet with my blood.

14  Again and again he smashes against me, charging at me like a warrior.

15  I wear burlap to show my grief. My pride lies in the dust.

16  My eyes are red with weeping; dark shadows circle my eyes.

17  Yet I have done no wrong, and my prayer is pure.

18  “O earth, do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf.

19  Even now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is there on high.

20  My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God.

21  I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends.

22  For soon I must go down that road from which I will never return.

1    Meanwhile, Elisha the prophet had summoned a member of the group of prophets. “Get ready to travel,” he told him, “and take this flask of olive oil with you. Go to Ramoth-gilead, 

2    and find Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Call him into a private room away from his friends, 

3    and pour the oil over his head. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you to be the king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run for your life!”

4    So the young prophet did as he was told and went to Ramoth-gilead. 

5    When he arrived there, he found Jehu sitting around with the other army officers. “I have a message for you, Commander,” he said. “For which one of us?” Jehu asked. “For you, Commander,” he replied.

6    So Jehu left the others and went into the house. Then the young prophet poured the oil over Jehu’s head and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, Israel. 

7    You are to destroy the family of Ahab, your master. In this way, I will avenge the murder of my prophets and all the Lord’s servants who were killed by Jezebel. 

8    The entire family of Ahab must be wiped out. I will destroy every one of his male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel. 

9    I will destroy the family of Ahab as I destroyed the families of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah. 

10  Dogs will eat Ahab’s wife Jezebel at the plot of land in Jezreel, and no one will bury her.” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran.

11  Jehu went back to his fellow officers, and one of them asked him, “What did that madman want? Is everything all right?” “You know how a man like that babbles on,” Jehu replied.

12  “You’re hiding something,” they said. “Tell us.” So Jehu told them, “He said to me, ‘This is what the Lord says: I have anointed you to be king over Israel.’”

13  Then they quickly spread out their cloaks on the bare steps and blew the ram’s horn, shouting, “Jehu is king!”

11  Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 

12  In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.

1    O God, listen to my complaint. Protect my life from my enemies’ threats.

2    Hide me from the plots of this evil mob, from this gang of wrongdoers.

3    They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows.

4    They shoot from ambush at the innocent, attacking suddenly and fearlessly.

5    They encourage each other to do evil and plan how to set their traps in secret. “Who will ever notice?” they ask.

6    As they plot their crimes, they say, “We have devised the perfect plan!” Yes, the human heart and mind are cunning.

7    But God himself will shoot them with his arrows, suddenly striking them down.

8    Their own tongues will ruin them, and all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.

9    Then everyone will be afraid; they will proclaim the mighty acts of God and realize all the amazing things he does.

10  The godly will rejoice in the Lord and find shelter in him. And those who do what is right will praise him.

36  One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 

37  When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 

38  Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

39  When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

40  Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.” “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.

41  Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 

42  But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”

43  Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”

“That’s right,” Jesus said. 

44  Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 

45  You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 

46  You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

47  “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48  Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49  The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”

50  And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”