We begin Isaiah today. The prophecies of Isaiah are interconnected throughout the New Testament. Jesus was the fulfillment of dozens of prophecies. In the aftermath of the resurrection of Christ, it was the prophecies of Isaiah that helped people make sense of John the Baptist and Jesus. God’s masterpiece, laid forth centuries before Jesus, has continued to be fleshed out over the millennia.

We will be in Isaiah for a while. Do your best to see the many layers on which these prophecies operate. It might be worth spending some time to learn the history of ancient Israel, its dispersion under the Babylonians, then its reconstitution. The brokenness of the covenant people, and their eventual restoration by a loving God who overlooks their many infractions, provides the same hope for Christians today. The Lord, I believe, will fulfill his promises to the Jews. We who are in Christ have an even richer promise. God is faithful. His prophecies show this. Enjoy!

Isaiah 1

This is the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,

for the LORD has spoken:

“I have raised children and brought them up,

but they have rebelled against Me.

The ox knows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s manger,

but Israel does not know;

My people do not understand.”

Alas, O sinful nation,

a people laden with iniquity,

a brood of evildoers,

children of depravity!

They have forsaken the LORD;

they have despised the Holy One of Israel

and turned their backs on Him.

Why do you want more beatings?

Why do you keep rebelling?

Your head has a massive wound,

and your whole heart is afflicted.

From the sole of your foot to the top of your head,

there is no soundness—

only wounds and welts and festering sores

neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.

Your land is desolate;

your cities are burned with fire.

Foreigners devour your fields before you—

a desolation demolished by strangers.

And the Daughter of Zion is abandoned

like a shelter in a vineyard,

like a shack in a cucumber field,

like a city besieged.

Unless the LORD of Hosts

had left us a few survivors,

we would have become like Sodom,

we would have resembled Gomorrah.

Hear the word of the LORD,

you rulers of Sodom;

listen to the instruction of our God,

you people of Gomorrah!

“What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?”

says the LORD.

“I am full from the burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of well-fed cattle;

I take no delight in the blood of bulls

and lambs and goats.

When you come to appear before Me,

who has required this of you—

this trampling of My courts?

Bring your worthless offerings no more;

your incense is detestable to Me—

your New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations.

I cannot endure iniquity

in a solemn assembly.

I hate your New Moons

and your appointed feasts.

They have become a burden to Me;

I am weary of bearing them.

When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I will hide My eyes from you;

even though you multiply your prayers,

I will not listen.

Your hands are covered with blood.

Wash and cleanse yourselves.

Remove your evil deeds from My sight.

Stop doing evil!

Learn to do right;

seek justice and correct the oppressor.

Defend the fatherless

and plead the case of the widow.”

“Come now, let us reason together,”

says the LORD.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

they will be as white as snow;

though they are as red as crimson,

they will become like wool.

If you are willing and obedient,

you will eat the best of the land.

But if you resist and rebel,

you will be devoured by the sword.”

For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

See how the faithful city has become a harlot!

She once was full of justice;

righteousness resided within her,

but now only murderers!

Your silver has become dross;

your fine wine is diluted with water.

Your rulers are rebels,

friends of thieves.

They all love bribes

and chasing after rewards.

They do not defend the fatherless,

and the plea of the widow never comes before them.

Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts,

the Mighty One of Israel, declares:

“Ah, I will be relieved of My foes

and avenge Myself on My enemies.

I will turn My hand against you;

I will thoroughly purge your dross;

I will remove all your impurities.

I will restore your judges as at first,

and your counselors as at the beginning.

After that you will be called the City of Righteousness,

the Faithful City.”

Zion will be redeemed with justice,

her repentant ones with righteousness.

But rebels and sinners will together be shattered,

and those who forsake the LORD will perish.

Surely you will be ashamed of the sacred oaks

in which you have delighted;

you will be embarrassed by the gardens

that you have chosen.

For you will become like an oak whose leaves are withered,

like a garden without water.

The strong man will become tinder

and his work will be a spark;

both will burn together,

with no one to quench the flames.

Isaiah 2

This is the message that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD

will be established as the chief of the mountains;

it will be raised above the hills,

and all nations will stream to it.

And many peoples will come and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,

to the house of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us His ways

so that we may walk in His paths.”

For the law will go forth from Zion,

and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Then He will judge between the nations

and arbitrate for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation,

nor train anymore for war.

Come, O house of Jacob,

let us walk in the light of the LORD.

For You have abandoned Your people,

the house of Jacob,

because they are filled

with influences from the east;

they are soothsayers like the Philistines;

they strike hands with the children of foreigners.

Their land is full of silver and gold,

with no limit to their treasures;

their land is full of horses,

with no limit to their chariots.

Their land is full of idols;

they bow down to the work of their hands,

to what their fingers have made.

So mankind is brought low,

and man is humbled—

do not forgive them!

Go into the rocks

and hide in the dust

from the terror of the LORD

and the splendor of His majesty.

The proud look of man will be humbled,

and the loftiness of men brought low;

the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

For the Day of the LORD of Hosts

will come against all the proud and lofty,

against all that is exalted—

it will be humbled—

against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up,

against all the oaks of Bashan,

against all the tall mountains,

against all the high hills,

against every high tower,

against every fortified wall,

against every ship of Tarshish,

and against every stately vessel.

So the pride of man will be brought low,

and the loftiness of men will be humbled;

the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

and the idols will vanish completely.

Men will flee to caves in the rocks

and holes in the ground,

away from the terror of the LORD

and from the splendor of His majesty,

when He rises to shake the earth.

In that day men will cast away

to the moles and bats

their idols of silver and gold—

the idols they made to worship.

They will flee to caverns in the rocks

and crevices in the cliffs,

away from the terror of the LORD

and from the splendor of His majesty,

when He rises to shake the earth.

Put no more trust in man,

who has only the breath in his nostrils.

Of what account is he?

Isaiah 3

For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts

is about to remove

from Jerusalem and Judah

both supply and support:

the whole supply of food and water,

the mighty man and the warrior,

the judge and the prophet,

the soothsayer and the elder,

the commander of fifty and the dignitary,

the counselor, the cunning magician, and the clever enchanter.

“I will make mere lads their leaders,

and children will rule over them.”

The people will oppress one another,

man against man, neighbor against neighbor;

the young will rise up against the old,

and the base against the honorable.

A man will seize his brother

within his father’s house:

“You have a cloak—you be our leader!

Take charge of this heap of rubble.”

On that day he will cry aloud:

“I am not a healer.

I have no food or clothing in my house.

Do not make me leader of the people!”

For Jerusalem has stumbled

and Judah has fallen

because they spoke and acted against the LORD,

defying His glorious presence.

The expression on their faces testifies against them,

and like Sodom they flaunt their sin;

they do not conceal it.

Woe to them,

for they have brought disaster upon themselves.

Tell the righteous it will be well with them,

for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.

Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them!

For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.

Youths oppress My people,

and women rule over them.

O My people, your guides mislead you;

they turn you from your paths.

The LORD arises to contend;

He stands to judge the people.

The LORD brings this charge

against the elders and leaders of His people:

“You have devoured the vineyard;

the plunder of the poor is in your houses.

Why do you crush My people

and grind the faces of the poor?”

declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.

The LORD also says:

“Because the daughters of Zion are haughty—

walking with heads held high

and wanton eyes,

prancing and skipping as they go,

jingling the bracelets on their ankles—

the Lord will bring sores

on the heads of the daughters of Zion,

and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.”

In that day the Lord will take away their finery:

their anklets and headbands and crescents;

their pendants, bracelets, and veils;

their headdresses, ankle chains, and sashes;

their perfume bottles and charms;

their signet rings and nose rings;

their festive robes, capes, cloaks, and purses;

and their mirrors, linen garments, tiaras, and shawls.

Instead of fragrance

there will be a stench;

instead of a belt, a rope;

instead of styled hair, baldness;

instead of fine clothing, sackcloth;

instead of beauty, shame.

Your men will fall by the sword,

and your warriors in battle.

And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn;

destitute, she will sit on the ground.

Isaiah 4

In that day seven women

will take hold of one man and say,

“We will eat our own bread

and provide our own clothes.

Just let us be called by your name.

Take away our disgrace!”

On that day the Branch of the LORD

will be beautiful and glorious,

and the fruit of the land

will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors.

Whoever remains in Zion

and whoever is left in Jerusalem

will be called holy—

all in Jerusalem who are recorded among the living—

when the Lord has washed away

the filth of the daughters of Zion

and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem

by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.

Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion

and over her assemblies

a cloud of smoke by day

and a glowing flame of fire by night.

For over all the glory

there will be a canopy,

a shelter to give shade

from the heat by day,

and a refuge and hiding place

from the storm and the rain.

Isaiah 5

I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard:

My beloved had a vineyard

on a very fertile hill.

He dug it up and cleared the stones

and planted the finest vines.

He built a watchtower in the middle

and dug out a winepress as well.

He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes,

but the fruit it produced was sour!

“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem

and men of Judah,

I exhort you to judge

between Me and My vineyard.

What more could I have done for My vineyard

than I already did for it?

Why, when I expected sweet grapes,

did it bring forth sour fruit?

Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard:

I will take away its hedge,

and it will be consumed;

I will tear down its wall,

and it will be trampled.

I will make it a wasteland,

neither pruned nor cultivated,

and thorns and briers will grow up.

I will command the clouds

that rain shall not fall on it.”

For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts

is the house of Israel,

and the men of Judah

are the plant of His delight.

He looked for justice,

but saw bloodshed;

for righteousness,

but heard a cry of distress.

Woe to you who add house to house

and join field to field

until no place is left

and you live alone in the land.

I heard the LORD of Hosts declare:

“Surely many houses will become desolate,

great mansions left unoccupied.

For ten acres of vineyard

will yield but a bath of wine,

and a homer of seed

only an ephah of grain.”

Woe to those who rise early in the morning

in pursuit of strong drink,

who linger into the evening,

to be inflamed by wine.

At their feasts are the lyre and harp,

tambourines and flutes and wine.

They disregard the actions of the LORD

and fail to see the work of His hands.

Therefore My people will go into exile

for their lack of understanding;

their dignitaries are starving

and their masses are parched with thirst.

Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat

and opens wide its enormous jaws,

and down go Zion’s nobles and masses,

her revelers and carousers!

So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled;

the arrogant will lower their eyes.

But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice,

and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.

Lambs will graze as in their own pastures,

and strangers will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.

Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit

and pull sin along with cart ropes,

to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work

so that we may see it!

Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come

so that we may know it!”

Woe to those who call evil good

and good evil,

who turn darkness to light

and light to darkness,

who replace bitter with sweet

and sweet with bitter.

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes

and clever in their own sight.

Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine

and champions in mixing beer,

who acquit the guilty for a bribe

and deprive the innocent of justice.

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw,

and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,

so their roots will decay

and their blossoms will blow away like dust;

for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts

and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people;

His hand is raised against them to strike them down.

The mountains quake,

and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets.

Despite all this, His anger is not turned away;

His hand is still upraised.

He lifts a banner for the distant nations

and whistles for those at the ends of the earth.

Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!

None of them grows weary or stumbles;

no one slumbers or sleeps.

No belt is loose

and no sandal strap is broken.

Their arrows are sharpened,

and all their bows are strung.

The hooves of their horses are like flint;

their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.

Their roaring is like that of a lion;

they roar like young lions.

They growl and seize their prey;

they carry it away from deliverance.

In that day they will roar over it,

like the roaring of the sea.

If one looks over the land,

he will see darkness and distress;

even the light will be obscured by clouds.

Psalm 148

Hallelujah!

Praise the LORD from the heavens;

praise Him in the highest places.

Praise Him, all His angels;

praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.

Praise Him, O sun and moon;

praise Him, all you shining stars.

Praise Him, O highest heavens,

and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the LORD,

for He gave the command and they were created.

He established them forever and ever;

He issued a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the LORD from the earth,

all great sea creatures and ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and clouds,

powerful wind fulfilling His word,

mountains and all hills,

fruit trees and all cedars,

wild animals and all cattle,

crawling creatures and flying birds,

kings of the earth and all peoples,

princes and all rulers of the earth,

young men and maidens,

old and young together.

Let them praise the name of the LORD,

for His name alone is exalted;

His splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

He has raised up a horn for His people,

the praise of all His saints,

of Israel, a people near to Him.

Hallelujah!

Acts 8

And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death.

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

God-fearing men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.

But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them.

The crowds gave their undivided attention to Philip’s message and to the signs they saw him perform.

With loud shrieks, unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, and many of the paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.

Prior to that time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and astounded the people of Samaria. He claimed to be someone great,

and all the people, from the least to the greatest, heeded his words and said, “This man is the divine power called the Great Power.”

They paid close attention to him because he had astounded them for a long time with his sorcery.

But when they believed Philip as he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. He followed Philip closely and was astounded by the great signs and miracles he observed.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. On their arrival, they prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.

For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.

“Give me this power as well,” he said, “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

But Peter replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!

You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God.

Repent, therefore, of your wickedness, and pray to the Lord. Perhaps He will forgive you for the intent of your heart. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and captive to iniquity.”

Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

And after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many of the Samaritan villages.

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship,

and on his return was sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet.

The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that chariot and stay by it.”

So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,

so He did not open His mouth.

In His humiliation He was deprived of justice.

Who can recount His descendants?

For His life was removed from the earth.”

“Tell me,” said the eunuch, “who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”

Then Philip began with this very Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?”

And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.

But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

John 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe.

He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—

children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’ ”

From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.

And this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” He did not refuse to confess, but openly declared, “I am not the Christ.”

“Then who are you?” they inquired. “Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

So they said to him, “Who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“I am a voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ”

Then the Pharisees who had been sent asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands One you do not know. He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

All this happened at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

This is He of whom I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’

I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.”

Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and resting on Him.

I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’

I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

And when the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

Jesus turned and saw them following. “What do you want?” He asked.

They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are You staying?”

“Come and see,” He replied. So they went and saw where He was staying, and spent that day with Him. It was about the tenth hour.

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s testimony and followed Jesus.

He first found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated as Christ).

Andrew brought him to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated as Peter).

The next day Jesus decided to set out for Galilee. Finding Philip, He told him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the same town as Andrew and Peter.

Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”

“How do You know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus replied, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

“Rabbi,” Nathanael answered, “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Jesus said to him, “Do you believe just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.”

Then He declared, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

The books of the Bible were largely written to be read aloud in one sitting. Today’s popular method of doing a verse or two at a time would seem strange and quite faithless to the first generations of believers. Those who died to self and lived in Christ were expected to commit large portions of scripture to memory. They understood these words to be divinely inspired, full of life.

I rejoice that I have this opportunity to read through the whole letter to the Ephesians. It is a very important book in establishing proper and holy household relations, equipping us for spiritual warfare, determining our ethics as we navigate a fallen world, and conducting ourselves rightly in relation to the church. Soak it all in!

Ephesians 1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love

He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ

as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.

In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,

in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory.

And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.

I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength,

which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,

far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 2

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—

remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility

by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace

and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He extinguished their hostility.

He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

And in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God in His Spirit.

Ephesians 3

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles...

Surely you have heard about the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,

that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,

which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.

This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power.

Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

and to illuminate for everyone the stewardship of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,

according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence.

So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

... for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,

will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth

of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do so much more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,

to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 4

As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received: with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

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

Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. This is why it says:

“When He ascended on high,

He led captives away,

and gave gifts to men.”

What does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth?

He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.

And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ,

until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.

But this is not the way you came to know Christ. Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him—in keeping with the truth that is in Jesus—

to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be renewed in the spirit of your minds;

and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.

“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger, and do not give the devil a foothold.

He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.

Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.

Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 5

Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.

Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.

For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.

Test and prove what pleases the Lord.

Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself. So it is said:

“Wake up, O sleeper,

rise up from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.”

Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,

always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.

Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. For we are members of His body.

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church.

Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ephesians 6

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.”

Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve with good will, as to the Lord and not to men,

because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

And masters, do the same for your slaves. Give up your use of threats, because you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel,

for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.

Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know about me and what I am doing.

I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about us, and that he may encourage your hearts.

Peace to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Today we conclude the Gospel of Luke. Jesus gives his last teachings, he has his Last Supper, he prays at Gethsemane, is arrested and put on trial, convicted and crucified, resurrects and ascends into heaven. The arrangement of these various details covers aspects that other gospels do not carry. These are matters of emphasis rather than substance.

Christ prays for our forgiveness even though we are the ones who are crucifying him. It is a hard thing to convey to folks that our sins and lives today can be connected to those who came before us. It wasn’t just ancient Jews who killed Jesus. It was us. We are told in Hebrews that every time we willingly give ourselves to sin, we are recrucifying him.

Crucifixion is heinous and humiliating, excruciating and embarrassing. It is unspeakable. It is what our Lord did to pay the price for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to. King Jesus did not have to do this. He does not need us. He in his sovereignty could be just fine without us. He chose us anyway. We self-interested people have a hard time understanding this. Why would he die for us if he doesn’t need us? Because he loves us.

Thank you, Jesus, for this unfathomable gift!

Luke 19

Then Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, who was very wealthy.

He was trying to see who Jesus was, but could not see over the crowd because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him, since Jesus was about to pass that way.

When Jesus came to that place, He looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down, for I must stay at your house today.”

So Zacchaeus hurried down and welcomed Him joyfully. And all who saw this began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinful man!”

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold.”

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

While the people were listening to this, Jesus proceeded to tell them a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they thought the kingdom of God would appear imminently.

So He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to lay claim to his kingship and then return.

Beforehand, he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Conduct business with this until I return,’ he said.

But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’

When he returned from procuring his kingship, he summoned the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what each one had earned.

The first servant came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has produced ten more minas.’

His master replied, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you shall have authority over ten cities.’

The second servant came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’

And to this one he said, ‘You shall have authority over five cities.’

Then another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have laid away in a piece of cloth.

For I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’

His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?

Why then did you not deposit my money in the bank, and upon my return I could have collected it with interest?’

Then he told those standing by, ‘Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

‘Master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’

He replied, ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more; but the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’ ”

After Jesus had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

As He approached Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, He sent out two of His disciples,

saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here.

If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”

So those who were sent went out and found it just as Jesus had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked, “Why are you untying the colt?”

“The Lord needs it,” they answered. Then they led the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks over it, and put Jesus on it.

As He rode along, the people spread their cloaks on the road.

And as He approached the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began to praise God joyfully in a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

But some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!”

“I tell you,” He answered, “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.”

As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.

For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side.

They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling there.

He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be a house of prayer.’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Jesus was teaching at the temple every day, but the chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people were intent on killing Him.

Yet they could not find a way to do so, because all the people hung on His words.

Luke 20

One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and scribes, together with the elders, came up to Him.

“Tell us,” they said, “by what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”

“I will also ask you a question,” Jesus replied. “Tell Me: John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or from men?”

They deliberated among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why did you not believe him?’

But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

So they answered that they did not know where it was from.

And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Then He proceeded to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time.

At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed.

So he sent another servant, but they beat him and treated him shamefully, sending him away empty-handed.

Then he sent a third, but they wounded him and threw him out.

‘What shall I do?’ asked the owner of the vineyard. ‘I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.’

But when the tenants saw the son, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants, and will give the vineyard to others.”

And when the people heard this, they said, “May such a thing never happen!”

But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:

‘The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone’?

Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

When the scribes and chief priests realized that Jesus had spoken this parable against them, they sought to arrest Him that very hour. But they were afraid of the people.

So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor.

“Teacher,” they inquired, “we know that You speak and teach correctly. You show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.

Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

But Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them, “Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”

“Caesar’s,” they answered.

So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

And they were unable to trap Him in His words before the people; and amazed at His answer, they fell silent.

Then some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to question Him.

“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.

Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a wife, but died childless. Then the second

and the third married the widow, and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children. And last of all, the woman died.

So then, in the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven were married to her.”

Jesus answered, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.

But those who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage.

In fact, they can no longer die, because they are like the angels. And since they are sons of the resurrection, they are sons of God.

Even Moses demonstrates that the dead are raised, in the passage about the burning bush. For he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive.”

Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, You have spoken well!” And they did not dare to question Him any further.

Then Jesus declared, “How can it be said that the Christ is the Son of David? For David himself says in the book of Psalms:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand

until I make Your enemies

a footstool for Your feet.” ’

Thus David calls Him ‘Lord.’ So how can He be David’s son?”

In the hearing of all the people, Jesus said to His disciples,

“Beware of the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, and they love the greetings in the marketplaces, the chief seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets.

They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”

Luke 21

Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.

“Truly I tell you,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.

For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”

As some of the disciples were remarking how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and consecrated gifts, Jesus said,

“As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

Jesus answered, “See to it that you are not deceived. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.

When you hear of wars and rebellions, do not be alarmed. These things must happen first, but the end is not imminent.”

Then He told them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, along with fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. On account of My name they will deliver you to the synagogues and prisons, and they will bring you before kings and governors.

This will be your opportunity to serve as witnesses. So make up your mind not to worry beforehand how to defend yourselves.

For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death. And you will be hated by everyone because of My name.

Yet not even a hair of your head will perish. By your patient endurance you will gain your souls.

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near.

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country stay out of the city.

For these are the days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.

How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people.

They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.

Men will faint from fear and anxiety over what is coming upon the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Then Jesus told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near.

So also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.

For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth.

So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Every day Jesus taught at the temple, but every evening He went out to spend the night on the Mount of Olives.

And early in the morning all the people would come to hear Him at the temple.

Luke 22

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death; for they feared the people.

Then Satan entered Judas Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve. And Judas went to discuss with the chief priests and temple officers how he might betray Jesus to them.

They were delighted and agreed to give him money. Judas consented, and began to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus to them in the absence of a crowd.

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare for us to eat the Passover.”

“Where do You want us to prepare it?” they asked.

He answered, “When you enter the city, a man carrying a jug of water will meet you. Follow him to the house he enters,

and say to the owner of that house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’

And he will show you a large upper room, already furnished. Make preparations there.”

So they went and found it just as Jesus had told them. And they prepared the Passover.

When the hour had come, Jesus reclined at the table with His apostles. And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before My suffering.

For I tell you that I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves.

For I tell you that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”

And He took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.

Look! The hand of My betrayer is with Mine on the table. Indeed, the Son of Man will go as it has been determined, but woe to that man who betrays Him.”

Then they began to question among themselves which of them was going to do this.

A dispute also arose among the disciples as to which of them would be considered the greatest.

So Jesus declared, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them call themselves benefactors.

But you shall not be like them. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves.

For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines? But I am among you as one who serves.

You are the ones who have stood by Me in My trials. And I bestow on you a kingdom, just as My Father has bestowed one on Me,

so that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.

But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

“Lord,” said Peter, “I am ready to go with You even to prison and to death.”

But Jesus replied, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”

Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you out without purse or bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”

“Nothing,” they answered.

“Now, however,” He told them, “the one with a purse should take it, and likewise a bag; and the one without a sword should sell his cloak and buy one.

For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about Me is reaching its fulfillment.”

So they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.”

“That is enough,” He answered.

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him. When He came to the place, He told them, “Pray that you will not enter into temptation.”

And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.

When Jesus rose from prayer and returned to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.

“Why are you sleeping?” He asked. “Get up and pray so that you will not enter into temptation.”

While He was still speaking, a crowd arrived, led by the man called Judas, one of the Twelve. He approached Jesus to kiss Him.

But Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

Those around Jesus saw what was about to happen and said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?”

And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And He touched the man’s ear and healed him.

Then Jesus said to the chief priests, temple officers, and elders who had come for Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against an outlaw?

Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on Me. But this hour belongs to you and to the power of darkness.”

Then they seized Jesus, led Him away, and took Him into the house of the high priest. And Peter followed at a distance.

When those present had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them.

A servant girl saw him seated in the firelight and looked intently at him. “This man also was with Him,” she said.

But Peter denied it. “Woman, I do not know Him,” he said.

A short time later, someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”

But Peter said, “Man, I am not.”

About an hour later, another man insisted, “Certainly this man was with Him, for he too is a Galilean.”

“Man, I do not know what you are talking about,” Peter replied.

While he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

Then Peter remembered the word that the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

The men who were holding Jesus began to mock Him and beat Him. They blindfolded Him and kept demanding, “Prophesy! Who hit You?”

And they said many other blasphemous things against Him.

At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and scribes, met together. They led Jesus into their Sanhedrin and said, “If You are the Christ, tell us.”

Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe. And if I ask you a question, you will not answer.

But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”

So they all asked, “Are You then the Son of God?”

He replied, “You say that I am.”

“Why do we need any more testimony?” they declared. “We have heard it for ourselves from His own lips.”

Luke 23

Then the whole council rose and led Jesus away to Pilate.

And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar, and proclaiming Himself to be Christ, a King.”

So Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

But they kept insisting, “He stirs up the people all over Judea with His teaching. He began in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean. And learning that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself was in Jerusalem at that time.

When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased. He had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had heard about Him and was hoping to see Him perform a miracle.

Herod questioned Jesus at great length, but He gave no answer.

Meanwhile, the chief priests and scribes stood there, vehemently accusing Him.

And even Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked Him. Dressing Him in a fine robe, they sent Him back to Pilate.

That day Herod and Pilate became friends; before this time they had been enemies.

Then Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people,

and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined Him here in your presence and found Him not guilty of your charges against Him.

Neither has Herod, for he sent Him back to us. As you can see, He has done nothing deserving of death. Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.”

But they all cried out in unison: “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been imprisoned for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate addressed them again, but they kept shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

A third time he said to them, “What evil has this man done? I have found in Him no offense worthy of death. So after I punish Him, I will release Him.”

But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices for Jesus to be crucified. And their clamor prevailed. So Pilate sentenced that their demand be met.

As they had requested, he released the one imprisoned for insurrection and murder, and handed Jesus over to their will.

As the soldiers led Him away, they seized Simon of Cyrene on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him to carry behind Jesus.

A great number of people followed Him, including women who kept mourning and wailing for Him.

But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’ At that time

‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”

and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’

For if men do these things while the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Two others, who were criminals, were also led away to be executed with Jesus.

When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.

The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”

The soldiers also mocked Him and came up to offer Him sour wine. “If You are the King of the Jews,” they said, “save Yourself!”

Above Him was posted an inscription:

THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

One of the criminals who hung there heaped abuse on Him. “Are You not the Christ?” he said. “Save Yourself and us!”

But the other one rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same judgment?

We are punished justly, for we are receiving what our actions deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”

And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour. The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn down the middle.

Then Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” And when He had said this, He breathed His last.

When the centurion saw what had happened, he gave glory to God, saying, “Surely this was a righteous man.”

And when all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their breasts.

But all those who knew Jesus, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things.

Now there was a Council member named Joseph, a good and righteous man,

who had not consented to their decision or action. He was from the Judean town of Arimathea, and was waiting for the kingdom of God.

He went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had yet been laid.

It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was beginning.

The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how His body was placed.

Then they returned to prepare spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath, according to the commandment.

Luke 24

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,

but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in radiant apparel stood beside them.

As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee:

‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ ”

Then they remembered His words. And when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.

It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.

But their words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women.

Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. And after bending down and seeing only the linen cloths, he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

That same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.

And as they talked and deliberated, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.

He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”

They stood still, with sadness on their faces.

One of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, “Are You the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in recent days?”

“What things?” He asked.

“The events involving Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet, powerful in speech and action before God and all the people.

Our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and they crucified Him.

But we were hoping He was the One who would redeem Israel. And besides all this, it is the third day since these things took place.

Furthermore, some of our women astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning,

but they did not find His body. They came and told us they had seen a vision of angels, who said that Jesus was alive.

Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had described. But Him they did not see.”

Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.

As they approached the village where they were headed, He seemed to be going farther. But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”

So He went in to stay with them. While He was reclining at the table with them, He took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to them.

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus—and He disappeared from their sight.

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem.

There they found the Eleven and those with them, gathered together and saying, “The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon!”

Then the two told what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

While they were describing these events, Jesus Himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and frightened, thinking they had seen a spirit.

“Why are you troubled,” Jesus asked, “and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see—for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet.

While they were still in disbelief because of their joy and amazement, He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” So they gave Him a piece of broiled fish,

and He took it and ate it in front of them.

Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

When Jesus had led them out as far as Bethany, He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven.

And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, praising God continually in the temple.

I wonder what prolonged experience to Jesus does to folks. It so rarely really takes place. Despite the fact that churches talk a lot about Jesus, few really spend much time reading about the things he said and did while living among us. What happens to a person when they spend prolonged amounts of time with the Jesus of the bible?

At some point, she realizes that the mood is often somewhat dour. There is a lot of conflict. Even in situations of healing, there are often very difficult teachings or confrontations with authority. The things he says about money and sex are very difficult to accept, especially in this society that normalized greed and lust. We want to imagine that Jesus is quite happy with America. Reading his words will almost certainly lead one to question if there is much for him to really congratulate us for.

Every person who comes to Jesus eventually has to make a decision about if they are going to actually listen, or if they are going to continue insisting that he be someone else. “Are you the one to come, or should we wait for another?” the disciples of John asked. He came. He healed, he spoke, he died, he ascended. And yet so many of his followers act like they are waiting for another. As he says in today’s reading, he will be returning, but nobody is going to see it coming until it is too late. Those of us who listen, who believe…we obey now rather than regretting later.

Luke 13

At that time some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

To this He replied, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.

So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’ ”

One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman there had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was hunched over and could not stand up straight.

When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your disability.”

Then He placed His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and began to glorify God.

But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on the Sabbath.”

“You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water?

Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?”

When Jesus said this, all His adversaries were humiliated. And the whole crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things He was doing.

Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it?

It is like a mustard seed that a man tossed into his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

Again He asked, “To what can I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.”

Then Jesus traveled throughout the towns and villages, teaching as He made His way toward Jerusalem. “Lord,” someone asked Him, “will only a few people be saved?”

Jesus answered, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.

After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’

But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’

Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’

And he will answer, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out.

People will come from east and west and north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.

And indeed, some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.”

At that very hour, some Pharisees came to Jesus and told Him, “Leave this place and get away, because Herod wants to kill You.”

But Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I will keep driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.’

Nevertheless, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day, for it is not admissible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!

Look, your house is left to you desolate. And I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Luke 14

One Sabbath, Jesus went to eat in the home of a leading Pharisee, and those in attendance were watching Him closely. Right there before Him was a man with dropsy.

So Jesus asked the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”

But they remained silent.

Then Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him on his way.

And He asked them, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?”

And they were unable to answer these questions.

When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, He told them a parable:

“When you are invited to a wedding banquet, do not sit in the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited.

Then the host who invited both of you will come and tell you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ And in humiliation, you will have to take the last place.

But when you are invited, go and sit in the last place, so that your host will come and tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in front of everyone at the table with you.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid.

But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind,

and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

When one of those reclining with Him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is everyone who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

But Jesus replied, “A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many guests.

When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’

Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’

Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, so I cannot come.’

The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

‘Sir,’ the servant replied, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’

So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.

For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’ ”

Large crowds were now traveling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them,

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.

Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?

Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’

Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

And if he is unable, he will send a delegation while the other king is still far off, to ask for terms of peace.

In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.

Salt is good, but if the salt loses its savor, with what will it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile, and it is thrown out.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Luke 15

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around to listen to Jesus. So the Pharisees and scribes began to grumble: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Then Jesus told them this parable:

“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, comes home, and calls together his friends and neighbors to tell them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’

In the same way, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent.

Or what woman who has ten silver coins and loses one of them does not light a lamp, sweep her house, and search carefully until she finds it?

And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors to say, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost coin.’

In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger son said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in wild living.

After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need.

So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.

He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.

Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death!

I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’

So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

Meanwhile the older son was in the field, and as he approached the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what was going on.

‘Your brother has returned,’ he said, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has him back safe and sound.’

The older son became angry and refused to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.

But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.

But when this son of yours returns from squandering your wealth with prostitutes, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

‘Son, you are always with me,’ the father said, ‘and all that is mine is yours.

But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

Luke 16

Jesus also said to His disciples, “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.

So he called him in to ask, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in an account of your management, for you cannot be manager any longer.’

The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking away my position? I am too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg.

I know what I will do, so that after my removal from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

And he called in each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked the first.

‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he answered.

‘Take your bill,’ said the manager. ‘Sit down quickly, and write fifty.’

Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’

‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he replied.

‘Take your bill and write eighty,’ he told him.

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.

I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.

Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?

And if you have not been faithful with the belongings of another, who will give you belongings of your own?

No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.

So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.

The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor. And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores

and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.

In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’

But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’

‘Then I beg you, father,’ he said, ‘send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also end up in this place of torment.’

But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let your brothers listen to them.’

‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will repent.’

Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

Luke 17

Jesus said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

And the Lord answered, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

Which of you whose servant comes in from plowing or shepherding in the field will say to him, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?

Instead, won’t he tell him, ‘Prepare my meal and dress yourself to serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’?

Does he thank the servant because he did what he was told?

So you also, when you have done everything commanded of you, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ”

While Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers. They stood at a distance

and raised their voices, shouting, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were on their way, they were cleansed.

When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. He fell facedown at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving to Him—and he was a Samaritan.

“Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine? Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”

Then Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well!”

When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs.

Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Then He said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.

People will tell you, ‘Look, there He is!’ or ‘Look, here He is!’ Do not go out or chase after them.

For just as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will be the Son of Man in His day.

But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:

People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.

But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind. Remember Lot’s wife!

Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed: One will be taken and the other left.

Two women will be grinding grain together: One will be taken and the other left.”

“Where, Lord?” they asked.

Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”

Luke 18

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.

And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men,

yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Then she will stop wearing me out with her perpetual requests.’ ”

And the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the unjust judge. Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?

I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:

“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’

I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Now people were even bringing their babies to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them. And when the disciples saw this, they rebuked those who brought them.

But Jesus called the children to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Then a certain ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call Me good?” Jesus replied. “No one is good except God alone.

You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.’”

“All these I have kept from my youth,” he said.

On hearing this, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

But when the ruler heard this, he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy.

Seeing the man’s sadness, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!

Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

But Jesus said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

“Look,” said Peter, “we have left all we had to follow You.”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God

will fail to receive many times more in this age—and in the age to come, eternal life.”

Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.

He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will flog Him and kill Him, and on the third day He will rise again.”

But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.

As Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting beside the road, begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening.

“Jesus of Nazareth is passing by,” they told him.

So he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Those who led the way admonished him to be silent, but he cried out all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and directed that the man be brought to Him. When he had been brought near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

“Lord,” he said, “let me see again.”

“Receive your sight!” Jesus replied. “Your faith has healed you.”

Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, glorifying God. And all the people who saw this gave praise to God.

Lots of content to cover today. Do some jumping jacks before you start listening. It’s okay to pause me a few times in order to re-center yourself. Covering this much ground in on reading, especially when it is full of so many teachings and anecdotes, is quite difficult.

I have noticed over the years how many stories Luke has that focus on the role of women in the ministry of Jesus. This reading highlights some women (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna) who are accompanying him, funding him. It also addresses the sinful woman who anoints his feet at a special dinner.

Jesus is especially uncompromising and, frankly, rude, through much of Luke. While invited to a dinner party, he directly insults his host and everyone like him. Twice in today’s reading, he insults an entire generation, calling them faithless. When one actually reads their bibles, it isn’t hard for them to see why they killed our Lord. He is hard to like.

But oh! do we love him. He died for us, paying the price we could not pay, rewarding us with a blessing we could never earn. This is what real love looks like. It isn’t warm and fuzzy. It is hard and sometimes feels quite mean. It is what we need, rather than what we want. In order to receive it, we have to abandon ourselves, our pride, our preferences. May we be so blessed!

Luke 7

When Jesus had concluded His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum. There a highly valued servant of a centurion was sick and about to die.

When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask Him to come and heal his servant. They came to Jesus and pleaded with Him earnestly, “This man is worthy to have You grant this, for he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”

So Jesus went with them. But when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends with the message: “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy to have You come under my roof.

That is why I did not consider myself worthy to come to You. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell one to go, and he goes; and another to come, and he comes. I tell my servant to do something, and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, He marveled at the centurion. Turning to the crowd following Him, He said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

And when the messengers returned to the house, they found the servant in good health.

Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples went with Him, accompanied by a large crowd.

As He approached the town gate, He saw a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.

When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Do not weep.”

Then He went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. “Young man,” He said, “I tell you, get up!”

And the dead man sat up and began to speak! Then Jesus gave him back to his mother.

A sense of awe swept over all of them, and they glorified God. “A great prophet has appeared among us!” they said. “God has visited His people!”

And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding region.

Then John’s disciples informed him about all these things.

So John called two of his disciples and sent them to ask the Lord, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”

When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?’ ”

At that very hour Jesus healed many people of their diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits, and He gave sight to many who were blind.

So He replied, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”

After John’s messengers had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

Otherwise, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear elegant clothing and live in luxury are found in palaces.

What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:

‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You,who will prepare Your way before You.’

I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John, yet even the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

All the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God’s justice. For they had received the baptism of John.

But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.

“To what, then, can I compare the men of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another:

‘We played the flute for you,and you did not dance;we sang a dirge,and you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Then one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.

When a sinful woman from that town learned that Jesus was dining there, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume.

As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. Then she kissed His feet and anointed them with the perfume.

When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know who this is and what kind of woman is touching Him—for she is a sinner!”

But Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, Teacher,” he said.

“Two men were debtors to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

When they were unable to repay him, he forgave both of them. Which one, then, will love him more?”

“I suppose the one who was forgiven more,” Simon replied.

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give Me water for My feet, but she wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

You did not greet Me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing My feet since I arrived. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with perfume.

Therefore I tell you, because her many sins have been forgiven, she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

But those at the table began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

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

Luke 8

Soon afterward, Jesus traveled from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with Him,

as well as some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

Joanna the wife of Herod’s household manager Chuza, Susanna, and many others. These women were ministering to them out of their own means.

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, He told them this parable:

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, where it was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it.

Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture.

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the seedlings.

Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprang up and produced a crop—a hundredfold.”

As Jesus said this, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Then His disciples asked Him what this parable meant.

He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,

‘though seeing, they may not see;though hearing, they may not understand.’

Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.

The seeds along the path are those who hear, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away.

The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.

But the seeds on good soil are those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop.

No one lights a lamp and covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he sets it on a stand, so those who enter can see the light.

For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light.

Pay attention, therefore, to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see Him, but they were unable to reach Him because of the crowd.

He was told, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see You.”

But He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and carry it out.”

One day Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side of the lake.” So He got into a boat with them and set out.

As they sailed, He fell asleep, and a windstorm came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”

Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters, and they subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” He asked.

Frightened and amazed, they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him!”

Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee.

When Jesus stepped ashore, He was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothing or lived in a house, but he stayed in the tombs.

When the man saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, shouting in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You not to torture me!”

For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and been driven by the demon into solitary places.

“What is your name?” Jesus asked.

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And the demons kept begging Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss.

There on the hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. So the demons begged Jesus to let them enter the pigs, and He gave them permission.

Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside.

So the people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man whom the demons had left, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

Meanwhile, those who had seen it reported how the demon-possessed man had been healed.

Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to depart from them, because great fear had taken hold of them. So He got into the boat and started back.

The man whom the demons had left begged to go with Jesus. But He sent him away, saying,

“Return home and describe how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and proclaimed all over the town how much Jesus had done for him.

When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.

Just then a synagogue leader named Jairus came and fell at Jesus’ feet. He begged Him to come to his house, because his only daughter, who was about twelve, was dying.

As Jesus went with him, the crowds pressed around Him,

including a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. She had spent all her money on physicians, but no one was able to heal her.

She came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

“Who touched Me?” Jesus asked.

But they all denied it. “Master,” said Peter, “the people are crowding and pressing against You.”

But Jesus declared, “Someone touched Me, for I know that power has gone out from Me.”

Then the woman, seeing that she could not escape notice, came trembling and fell down before Him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched Him and how she had immediately been healed.

“Daughter,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

While He was still speaking, someone arrived from the house of the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he told Jairus. “Do not bother the Teacher anymore.”

But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Do not be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

When He entered the house, He did not allow anyone to go in with Him except Peter, John, James, and the child’s father and mother.

Meanwhile, everyone was weeping and mourning for her. But Jesus said, “Stop weeping; she is not dead but asleep.” And they laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead.

But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, “Child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and at once she got up. And He directed that she be given something to eat.

Her parents were astounded, but Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

Luke 9

Then Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and power to cure diseases. And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

“Take nothing for the journey,” He told them, “no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no second tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that area.

If anyone does not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that town, as a testimony against them.”

So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.

When Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, he was perplexed. For some were saying that John had risen from the dead,

others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that a prophet of old had arisen.

“I beheaded John,” Herod said, “but who is this man I hear such things about?” And he kept trying to see Jesus.

Then the apostles returned and reported to Jesus all that they had done. Taking them away privately, He withdrew to a town called Bethsaida.

But the crowds found out and followed Him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and He healed those who needed healing.

As the day neared its end, the Twelve came to Jesus and said, “Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside for lodging and provisions. For we are in a desolate place here.”

But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.”

“We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

(There were about five thousand men.)

He told His disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” They did so, and everyone was seated.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, Jesus spoke a blessing and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples to set before the people.

They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

One day as Jesus was praying in private and the disciples were with Him, He questioned them: “Who do the crowds say I am?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that a prophet of old has arisen.”

“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone.

“The Son of Man must suffer many things,” He said. “He must be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self?

If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

But I tell you truthfully, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

About eight days after Jesus had said these things, He took with Him Peter, John, and James, and went up on a mountain to pray.

And as He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became radiantly white. Suddenly two men, Moses and Elijah, began talking with Jesus.

They appeared in glory and spoke about His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Meanwhile Peter and his companions were overcome by sleep, but when they awoke, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with Him.

As Moses and Elijah were leaving, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters —one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)

While Peter was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

And a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, whom I have chosen. Listen to Him!”

After the voice had spoken, only Jesus was present with them. The disciples kept this to themselves, and in those days they did not tell anyone what they had seen.

The next day, when they came down from the mountain, Jesus was met by a large crowd.

Suddenly a man in the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only child.

A spirit keeps seizing him, and he screams abruptly. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It keeps mauling him and rarely departs from him.

I begged Your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable.”

“O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”

Even while the boy was approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

And they were all astonished at the greatness of God.

While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus was doing, He said to His disciples,

“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”

But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.

Then an argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the thoughts of their hearts, had a little child stand beside Him.

And He said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me. For whoever is the least among all of you, he is the greatest.”

“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.”

“Do not stop him,” Jesus replied, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

As the day of His ascension approached, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

He sent messengers on ahead, who went into a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him.

But the people there refused to welcome Him, because He was heading for Jerusalem.

When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”

But Jesus turned and rebuked them. And He and His disciples went on to another village.

As they were walking along the road, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow You wherever You go.”

Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.”

The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You, however, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Still another said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first let me bid farewell to my family.”

Then Jesus declared, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Luke 10

After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place He was about to visit.

And He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.

Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse or bag or sandals. Do not greet anyone along the road.

Whatever house you enter, begin by saying, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.

Stay at the same house, eating and drinking whatever you are offered. For the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

If you enter a town and they welcome you, eat whatever is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’

But if you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into the streets and declare,

‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off as a testimony against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’

I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.

And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades!

Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.”

So He told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.

Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

At that time Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.

All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.

Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

So too, when a Levite came to that spot and saw him, he passed by on the other side.

But when a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, he looked at him and had compassion.

He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he said, ‘and on my return I will repay you for any additional expense.’

Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

“The one who showed him mercy,” replied the expert in the law.

Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

As they traveled along, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His message.

But Martha was distracted by all the preparations to be made. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord replied, “you are worried and upset about many things.

But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 11

One day in a place where Jesus had just finished praying, one of His disciples requested, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

So Jesus told them, “When you pray, say:

‘Father, hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.’ ”

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you goes to his friend at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.’

And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Do not bother me. My door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’

I tell you, even though he will not get up to provide for him because of his friendship, yet because of the man’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

One day Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. And when the demon was gone, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowds were amazed,

but some of them said, “It is by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons, that He drives out demons.” And others tested Him by demanding a sign from heaven.

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and a house divided against a house will fall.

If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? After all, you say that I drive out demons by Beelzebul.

And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are secure.

But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted, and then he divides up his plunder.

He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’

On its return, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.

Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first.”

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You!”

But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

As the crowds were increasing, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.

For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.

The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.

The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.

No one lights a lamp and puts it in a cellar or under a basket. Instead, he sets it on a stand, so those who enter can see the light.

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body is full of darkness.

Be careful, then, that the light within you is not darkness. So if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, you will be radiant, as though a lamp were shining on you.”

As Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to dine with him; so He went in and reclined at the table.

But the Pharisee was surprised to see that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.

“Now then,” said the Lord, “you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

You fools! Did not the One who made the outside make the inside as well? But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you.

Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.

Woe to you Pharisees! You love the chief seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces.

Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without even noticing.”

One of the experts in the law told Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us as well.”

“Woe to you as well, experts in the law!” He replied. “You weigh men down with heavy burdens, but you yourselves will not lift a finger to lighten their load.

Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, but it was your fathers who killed them.

So you are witnesses consenting to the deeds of your fathers: They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.

Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute.’

As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world,

from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, all of it will be charged to this generation.

Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”

As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things,

waiting to catch Him in something He might say.

Luke 12

In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.

What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.

I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.

But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear the One who, after you have been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

I tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God.

But whoever denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

When you are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say.

For at that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say.”

Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

But Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed Me judge or executor between you?”

And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance.

So he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to store my crops?’

Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods.

Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!” ’

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.

For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.

Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds!

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? So if you cannot do such a small thing, why do you worry about the rest?

Consider how the lilies grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith!

And do not be concerned about what you will eat or drink. Do not worry about it. For the Gentiles of the world strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added unto you.

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.

Then you will be like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.

Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night and finds them alert, those servants will be blessed.

But understand this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.”

“Lord,” said Peter, “are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?”

And the Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their portion at the proper time?

Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

But suppose that servant says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk.

The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows.

But the one who unknowingly does things worthy of punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded.

I have come to ignite a fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!

Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.

They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Then Jesus said to the crowds, “As soon as you see a cloud rising in the west, you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and that is what happens.

And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It will be hot,’ and it is.

You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky. Why don’t you know how to interpret the present time?

And why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?

Make every effort to reconcile with your adversary while you are on your way to the magistrate. Otherwise, he may drag you off to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and the officer may throw you into prison.

I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

"Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment." - Matthew 15:23-28

The Canaanite woman and the feeding of the four thousand. This week we finish up chapter 15 of the Gospel of Matthew.

The chapters in Luke are long and dense, but of course, wonderful. Today we get the story of the nativity, Jesus’ middle years, then his early ministry as he recruits his disciples, heals, and begins teaching his gospel. The gospel. Our gospel.

Remember that ‘gospel’ means ‘good news.’ It isn’t necessarily the news we want to hear, but it is the news we need to hear. Some people receive it as good news. Others, like his audience in Nazareth, receive it very poorly. He tells them, by referencing two incidents in which God showed preference for Gentiles, that he will similarly not play favorites the way that they want him to. They get so angry that they try to throw him off a cliff!

One of the confusions of our era is the mistaken belief that people of the world will always receive the gospel happily. The scriptural witness is rather that people will receive it quite differently from one another. Many will hate you and harm you for uttering the things that Jesus said. He prepares us for these things in his “Sermon on the Plain” in the final chapter today. We should not be surprised when life is difficult, when we are called to be poor, miserable, hungry. We should rather rejoice in living and dying as Christ did, as he is the only way to the Father.

Luke 1

Many have undertaken to compose an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

Therefore, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron.

Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.

But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.

One day while Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,

he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside.

Just then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear.

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.

He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth,

for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.

Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God.

And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

“How can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”

“I am Gabriel,” replied the angel. “I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this comes to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he took so long in the temple.

When he came out and was unable to speak to them, they realized he had seen a vision in the temple. He kept making signs to them but remained speechless.

And when the days of his service were complete, he returned home.

After these days, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. She declared,

“The Lord has done this for me. In these days He has shown me favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,

and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”

“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.

Look, even Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah, where she entered the home of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

In a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord’s word to her will be fulfilled.”

Then Mary said:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed.

For the Mighty One has done great things for me.

Holy is His name.

His mercy extends to those who fear Him,

from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with His arm;

He has scattered those who are proud

in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones,

but has exalted the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped His servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful,

as He promised to our fathers,

to Abraham and his descendants forever.”

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.

On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him after his father Zechariah. But his mother replied, “No! He shall be called John.”

They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who bears this name.” So they made signs to his father to find out what he wanted to name the child.

Zechariah asked for a tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed.

Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak, praising God.

All their neighbors were filled with awe, and people throughout the hill country of Judea were talking about these events.

And all who heard this wondered in their hearts and asked, “What then will this child become?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

because He has visited and redeemed His people.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of His servant David,

as He spoke through His holy prophets,

those of ages past,

salvation from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us,

to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember His holy covenant,

the oath He swore to our father Abraham,

to grant us deliverance from hostile hands,

that we may serve Him without fear,

in holiness and righteousness before Him

all the days of our lives.

And you, child, will be called

a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord

to prepare the way for Him,

to give to His people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,

to shine on those who live in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet

into the path of peace.”

And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.

Luke 2

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire. This was the first census to take place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.

He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to him in marriage and was expecting a child.

While they were there, the time came for her Child to be born.

And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

Just then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:

Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!

And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men

on whom His favor rests!”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger.

After they had seen the Child, they spread the message they had received about Him. And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as the angel had told them.

When the eight days until His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.

And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

(as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord”),

and to offer the sacrifice specified in the Law of the Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Led by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him what was customary under the Law,

Simeon took Him in his arms and blessed God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as You have promised,

You now dismiss Your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

which You have prepared in the sight of all people,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory to Your people Israel.”

The Child’s father and mother were amazed at what was spoken about Him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary:

“Behold, this Child is appointed to cause

the rise and fall of many in Israel,

and to be a sign that will be spoken against,

so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed—

and a sword will pierce your soul as well.”

There was also a prophetess named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was well along in years. She had been married for seven years,

and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

Coming forward at that moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the Child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When Jesus’ parents had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.

Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the Feast.

When those days were over and they were returning home, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were unaware He had stayed.

Assuming He was in their company, they traveled on for a day before they began to look for Him among their relatives and friends.

When they could not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for Him.

Finally, after three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

And all who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers.

When His parents saw Him, they were astonished. “Child, why have You done this to us?” His mother asked. “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”

“Why were you looking for Me?” He asked. “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house ?” But they did not understand the statement He was making to them.

Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Luke 3

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for Him.

Every valley shall be filled in,

and every mountain and hill made low.

The crooked ways shall be made straight,

and the rough ways smooth.

And all humanity will see God’s salvation.’ ”

Then John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

The crowds asked him, “What then should we do?”

John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”

Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

“Collect no more than you are authorized,” he answered.

Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

“Do not take money by force or false accusation,” he said. “Be content with your wages.”

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John could be the Christ.

John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

With these and many other exhortations, John proclaimed the good news to the people.

But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias and all the evils he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened,

and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry.

He was regarded as the son of Joseph,

the son of Heli,

the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi,

the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum,

the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,

the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein,

the son of Josech, the son of Joda,

the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel,

the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam,

the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,

the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim,

the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph,

the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,

the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha,

the son of Nathan, the son of David,

the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz,

the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon,

the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni,

the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham,

the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg,

the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,

the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem,

the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared,

the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan,

the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam,

the son of God.

Luke 4

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.

The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

Then the devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.

“I will give You authority over all these kingdoms and all their glory,” he said. “For it has been relinquished to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish. So if You worship me, it will all be Yours.”

But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

Then the devil led Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down from here. For it is written:

‘He will command His angels concerning You

to guard You carefully;

and they will lift You up in their hands,

so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

But Jesus answered, “It also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread throughout the surrounding region. He taught in their synagogues and was glorified by everyone.

Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read,

the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,

because He has anointed Me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then He rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him,

and He began by saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in Your hometown what we have heard that You did in Capernaum.’ ”

Then He added, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.

But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land.

Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to the widow of Zarephath in Sidon.

And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. Yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

On hearing this, all the people in the synagogue were enraged.

They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff.

But Jesus passed through the crowd and went on His way.

Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath He began to teach the people. They were astonished at His teaching, because His message had authority.

In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon. He cried out in a loud voice,

“Ha! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

But Jesus rebuked the demon. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!” At this, the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without harming him.

All the people were overcome with amazement and asked one another, “What is this message? With authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

And the news about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding region.

After Jesus had left the synagogue, He went to the home of Simon, whose mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. So they appealed to Jesus on her behalf,

and He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and began to serve them.

At sunset, all who were ill with various diseases were brought to Jesus, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them.

Demons also came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But He rebuked the demons and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Christ.

At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place, and the crowds were looking for Him. They came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving.

But Jesus told them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, because that is why I was sent.”

And He continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea.

Luke 5

On one occasion, while Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret with the crowd pressing in on Him to hear the word of God,

He saw two boats at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.

Jesus got into the boat belonging to Simon and asked him to put out a little from shore. And sitting down, He taught the people from the boat.

When Jesus had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

“Master,” Simon replied, “we have worked hard all night without catching anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.”

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to tear.

So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”

For he and his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were his partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

“Do not be afraid,” Jesus said to Simon. “From now on you will catch men.” And when they had brought their boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him.

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell facedown and begged Him, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

“Do not tell anyone,” Jesus instructed him. “But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

But the news about Jesus spread all the more, and great crowds came to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. Yet He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray.

One day Jesus was teaching, and the Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. People had come from Jerusalem and from every village of Galilee and Judea, and the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick.

Just then some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They tried to bring him inside to set him before Jesus,

but they could not find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

But the scribes and Pharisees began thinking to themselves, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus replied, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins...” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.”

And immediately the man stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.

Everyone was taken with amazement and glorified God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him.

Then Levi hosted a great banquet for Jesus at his house. A large crowd of tax collectors was there, along with others who were eating with them.

But the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Then they said to Him, “John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees frequently fast and pray, but Yours keep on eating and drinking.”

Jesus replied, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”

He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will tear the new garment as well, and the patch from the new will not match the old.

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined.

Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”

Luke 6

One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them.

But some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

He entered the house of God, took the consecrated bread and gave it to his companions, and ate what is lawful only for the priests to eat.”

Then Jesus declared, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

On another Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.

Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.

But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand among us.” So he got up and stood there.

Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

And after looking around at all of them, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and it was restored.

But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God.

When daylight came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated as apostles:

Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alphaeus and Simon called the Zealot;

Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples was there, along with a great number of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon.

They had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases, and those troubled by unclean spirits were healed.

The entire crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all.

Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now,

for you will be filled.

Blessed are you who weep now,

for you will laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.

But woe to you who are rich,

for you have already received your comfort.

Woe to you who are well fed now,

for you will hunger.

Woe to you who laugh now,

for you will mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you,

for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.

But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.

Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.

If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.

And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?

How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.

For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor grapes from brambles.

The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them:

He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—and great was its destruction!”

Micah is a short book corresponding to a prophet of the same name who made prophesies of condemnation and promise to the people of the Jews. It is from Micah that we receive the blessed prophecy of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ in the town of Bethlehem. It is Micah who promises the dispersion of the Jews, followed by the great restoration of the Jewish people on Zion, as the Lord calls not just the Jews, but all the nations, to serve him on his holy mountain.

In this time of Jewish restoration and expansion, it is hard to read these scriptures divorced from the context of this world. God is faithful and just, with foreknowledge and providence. He has fulfilled many of these prophesies, and he will bring the rest to fruition. On the Last Day we will stand in awe of his faithfulness, the wondrous ways in which he bore fruit in every word of his testimony.

Micah 1

This is the word of the LORD that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem:

Hear, O peoples, all of you;

listen, O earth, and everyone in it!

May the Lord GOD bear witness against you,

the Lord from His holy temple.

For behold, the LORD comes forth

from His dwelling place;

He will come down and tread

on the high places of the earth.

The mountains will melt beneath Him,

and the valleys will split apart,

like wax before the fire,

like water rushing down a slope.

All this is for the transgression of Jacob

and 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?

Therefore I will make Samaria

a heap of rubble in the open field,

a planting area for a vineyard.

I will pour her stones into the valley

and expose her foundations.

All her carved images will be smashed to pieces;

all her wages will be burned in the fire,

and I will destroy all her idols.

Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,

they will be used again on a prostitute.

Because of this I will lament and wail;

I will walk barefoot and naked.

I will howl like a jackal

and mourn like an ostrich.

For her wound is incurable;

it has reached even Judah;

it has approached the gate of my people,

as far as Jerusalem itself.

Do not tell it in Gath; do not weep at all.

Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.

Depart in shameful nakedness,

O dwellers of Shaphir.

The dwellers of Zaanan

will not come out.

Beth-ezel is in mourning;

its support is taken from you.

For the dwellers of Maroth pined for good,

but calamity came down from the LORD,

even to the gate of Jerusalem.

Harness your chariot horses,

O dweller of Lachish.

You were the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion,

for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.

Therefore, send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath;

the houses of Achzib will prove deceptive

to the kings of Israel.

I will again bring a conqueror against you,

O dweller of Mareshah.

The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.

Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair

in mourning for your precious children;

make yourselves as bald as an eagle,

for they will go from you into exile.

Micah 2

Woe to those who devise iniquity

and plot evil on their beds!

At morning’s light they accomplish it

because the power is in their hands.

They covet fields and seize them;

they take away houses.

They deprive a man of his home,

a fellow man of his inheritance.

Therefore this is what the LORD says:

“I am planning against this nation a disaster

from which you cannot free your necks.

Then you will not walk so proudly,

for it will be a time of calamity.

In that day they will take up a proverb against you

and taunt you with this bitter lamentation:

‘We are utterly ruined!

He has changed the portion of my people.

How He has removed it from me!

He has allotted our fields to traitors.’ ”

Therefore, you will have no one in the assembly of the LORD

to divide the land by lot.

“Do not preach,” they preach.

“Do not preach these things;

disgrace will not overtake us.”

Should it be said, O house of Jacob,

“Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient?

Are these the things He does?”

Do not My words bring good

to him who walks uprightly?

But of late My people have risen up

like an enemy:

You strip off the splendid robe

from unsuspecting passersby

like men returning from battle.

You drive the women of My people

from their pleasant homes.

You take away My blessing

from their children forever.

Arise and depart,

for this is not your place of rest,

because its defilement brings destruction—

a grievous destruction!

If a man of wind were to come

and say falsely,

“I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,”

he would be just the preacher for this people!

I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob;

I will collect the remnant of Israel.

I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,

like a flock in the midst of its pasture—

a noisy throng.

One who breaks open the way

will go up before them;

they will break through the gate,

and go out by it.

Their King will pass through before them,

the LORD as their leader.

Micah 3

Then I said:

“Hear now, O leaders of Jacob,

you rulers of the house of Israel.

Should you not know justice?

You hate good and love evil.

You tear the skin from my people

and strip the flesh from their bones.

You eat the flesh of my people

after stripping off their skin

and breaking their bones.

You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot,

like meat in a cauldron.”

Then they will cry out to the LORD,

but He will not answer them.

At that time He will hide His face from them

because of the evil they have done.

This is what the LORD says:

“As for the prophets

who lead My people astray,

who proclaim peace

while they chew with their teeth,

but declare war against one

who puts nothing in their mouths:

Therefore night will come over you without visions,

and darkness without divination.

The sun will set on these prophets,

and the daylight will turn black over them.

Then the seers will be ashamed

and the diviners will be disgraced.

They will all cover their mouths

because there is no answer from God.”

As for me, however, I am filled with power

by the Spirit of the LORD,

with justice and courage,

to declare to Jacob his transgression

and to Israel his sin.

Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob

and rulers of the house of Israel,

who despise justice

and pervert all that is right,

who build Zion with bloodshed

and Jerusalem with iniquity.

Her leaders judge for a bribe,

her priests teach for a price,

and her prophets practice divination for money.

Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying,

“Is not the LORD among us?

No disaster can come upon us.”

Therefore, because of you,

Zion will be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,

and the temple mount a wooded ridge.

Micah 4

In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD

will be established as the chief of the mountains;

it will be raised above the hills,

and the peoples will stream to it.

And many nations will come and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,

to the house of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us His ways,

so that we may walk in His paths.”

For the law will go forth from Zion

and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Then He will judge between many peoples

and arbitrate for strong nations far and wide.

Then they will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation,

nor will they train anymore for war.

And each man will sit under his own vine

and under his own fig tree,

with no one to frighten him.

For the mouth of the LORD of Hosts has spoken.

Though each of the peoples

may walk in the name of his god,

yet we will walk in the name of the LORD our God

forever and ever.

“On that day,” declares the LORD,

“I will gather the lame;

I will assemble the outcast,

even those whom I have afflicted.

And I will make the lame into a remnant,

and the outcast into a strong nation.

Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion

from that day and forever.

And you, O watchtower of the flock,

O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion—

the former dominion will be restored to you;

sovereignty will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem.”

Why do you now cry aloud?

Is there no king among you?

Has your counselor perished

so that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?

Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion,

like a woman in labor.

For now you will leave the city

and camp in the open fields.

You will go to Babylon;

there you will be rescued;

there the LORD will redeem you

from the hand of your enemies!

But now many nations

have assembled against you,

saying, “Let her be defiled,

and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”

But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD

or understand His plan,

for He has gathered them

like sheaves to the threshing floor.

Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion,

for I will give you horns of iron

and hooves of bronze

to break to pieces many peoples.

Then you will devote their gain to the LORD,

their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

Micah 5

Now, O daughter of troops,

mobilize your troops;

for a siege is laid against us!

With a rod they will strike the cheek

of the judge of Israel.

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

who are small among the clans of Judah,

out of you will come forth for Me

One to be ruler over Israel —

One whose origins are of old,

from the days of eternity.

Therefore Israel will be abandoned

until she who is in labor has given birth;

then the rest of His brothers will return

to the children of Israel.

He will stand and shepherd His flock

in the strength of the LORD,

in the majestic name of the LORD His God.

And they will dwell securely,

for then His greatness will extend

to the ends of the earth.

And He will be our peace

when Assyria invades our land

and tramples our citadels.

We will raise against it seven shepherds,

even eight leaders of men.

And they will rule the land of Assyria with the sword,

and the land of Nimrod with the blade drawn.

So He will deliver us

when Assyria invades our land

and marches into our borders.

Then the remnant of Jacob will be

in the midst of many peoples

like dew from the LORD,

like showers on the grass,

which do not wait for man

or linger for mankind.

Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,

in the midst of many peoples,

like a lion among the beasts of the forest,

like a young lion among flocks of sheep,

which tramples and tears as it passes through,

with no one to rescue them.

Your hand will be lifted over your foes,

and all your enemies will be cut off.

“In that day,”

declares the LORD,

“I will remove your horses from among you

and wreck your chariots.

I will remove the cities of your land

and tear down all your strongholds.

I will cut the sorceries from your hand,

and you will have no fortune-tellers.

I will also cut off the carved images

and sacred pillars from among you,

so that you will no longer bow down

to the work of your own hands.

I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst

and demolish your cities.

I will take vengeance in anger and wrath

upon the nations that have not obeyed Me.”

Micah 6

Hear now what the LORD says:

“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

and let the hills hear your voice.

Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment,

you enduring foundations of the earth.

For the LORD has a case against His people,

and He will argue it against Israel:

‘My people, what have I done to you?

Testify against Me how I have wearied you!

For I brought you up from the land of Egypt

and redeemed you from the house of slavery.

I sent Moses before you,

as well as Aaron and Miriam.

My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled

and what Balaam son of Beor answered.

Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,

so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’ ”

With what shall I come before the LORD

when I bow before the God on high?

Should I come to Him with burnt offerings,

with year-old calves?

Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has shown you, O man, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you

but to act justly, to love mercy,

and to walk humbly with your God?

The voice of the LORD calls out to the city

(and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name):

“Heed the rod

and the One who ordained it.

Can I forget any longer,

O house of the wicked,

the treasures of wickedness

and the short ephah, which is accursed?

Can I excuse dishonest scales

or bags of false weights?

For the wealthy of the city

are full of violence,

and its residents speak lies;

their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.

Therefore I am striking you severely,

to ruin you because of your sins.

You will eat but not be satisfied,

and your hunger will remain with you.

What you acquire, you will not preserve;

and what you save, I will give to the sword.

You will sow but not reap;

you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil;

you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.

You have kept the statutes of Omri

and all the practices of Ahab’s house;

you have followed their counsel.

Therefore I will make you a desolation,

and your inhabitants an object of contempt;

you will bear the scorn of the nations.”

Micah 7

Woe is me!

For I am like one gathering summer fruit

at the gleaning of the vineyard;

there is no cluster to eat,

no early fig that I crave.

The godly man has perished from the earth;

there is no one upright among men.

They all lie in wait for blood;

they hunt one another with a net.

Both hands are skilled at evil;

the prince and the judge demand a bribe.

When the powerful utters his evil desire,

they all conspire together.

The best of them is like a brier;

the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns.

The day for your watchmen has come,

the day of your visitation.

Now is the time of their confusion.

Do not rely on a friend;

do not trust in a companion.

Seal the doors of your mouth

from her who lies in your arms.

For a son dishonors his father,

a daughter rises against her mother,

and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

A man’s enemies are the members

of his own household.

But as for me, I will look to the LORD;

I will wait for the God of my salvation.

My God will hear me.

Do not gloat over me, my enemy!

Though I have fallen, I will arise;

though I sit in darkness,

the LORD will be my light.

Because I have sinned against Him,

I must endure the rage of the LORD,

until He argues my case

and executes justice for me.

He will bring me into the light;

I will see His righteousness.

Then my enemy will see

and will be covered with shame—

she who said to me,

“Where is the LORD your God?”

My eyes will see her;

at that time she will be trampled

like mud in the streets.

The day for rebuilding your walls will come—

the day for extending your boundary.

On that day they will come to you

from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

even from Egypt to the Euphrates,

from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

Then the earth will become desolate

because of its inhabitants,

as the fruit of their deeds.

Shepherd with Your staff Your people,

the flock of Your inheritance.

They live alone in a woodland,

surrounded by pastures.

Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead,

as in the days of old.

As in the days when you came out of Egypt,

I will show My wonders.

Nations will see and be ashamed,

deprived of all their might.

They will put their hands over their mouths,

and their ears will become deaf.

They will lick the dust like a snake,

like reptiles slithering on the ground.

They will crawl from their holes

in the presence of the LORD our God;

they will tremble in fear of You.

Who is a God like You,

who pardons iniquity

and passes over the transgression

of the remnant of His inheritance—

who does not retain His anger forever,

because He delights in loving devotion?

He will again have compassion on us;

He will vanquish our iniquities.

You will cast out all our sins

into the depths of the sea.

You will show faithfulness to Jacob

and loving devotion to Abraham,

as You swore to our fathers

from the days of old.

Psalm 18, as well as all the other psalms, was authored by King David. In today’s reading, we get the original of Psalm 18, and we get some other wonderful depictions of the Lord descending to earth. The hidden pillars of the earth, its foundations, it innards are exposed as the Lord, our God of justice, descends to kill the wicked. These depictions of our God are so strange to our ears that many in the church today are somewhat uncomfortable with this notion. Even so, these are common images for ancients. They should be for us, as well.

Every good legacy comes to an end. While the Lord made an everlasting covenant with David, it was fulfilled by God’s blessing to Solomon and, finally, in his commission of his only begotten Son to bless the household of David. As the mighty men of David are described, I yearn to know more stories of these ancient men who fought giants and prevailed. I wish I could travel back in time and see this momentous events as they prevailed against man and beast alike.

Today the righteous of the Lord continue to prevail in battle against enemies, but our enemies are spiritual powers. That means that some of our mightiest warriors are actually little old ladies, mighty in prayer. That means some of our more vicious assassins are actually humble children, whose prayers are delivered by angels to the throne of their Heavenly Father. Mightier than any of the Old Testament heroes are the martyrs doing holy combat by the shedding of their own blood, transported to the altar in God’s presence, where they pray continually. Come, Lord Jesus!

2 Samuel 19

Then it was reported to Joab, “The king is weeping and mourning over Absalom.” 

And that day’s victory was turned into mourning for all the people, because on that day they were told, “The king is grieving over his son.” 

So they returned to the city quietly that day, as people steal away in humiliation after fleeing a battle. 

But the king covered his face and cried out at the top of his voice, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!” 

Then Joab went into the house and said to the king, “Today you have disgraced all your servants who have saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, of your wives, and of your concubines. 

You love those who hate you and hate those who love you! For you have made it clear today that the commanders and soldiers mean nothing to you. I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead, it would have pleased you! 

Now therefore get up! Go out and speak comfort to your servants, for I swear by the LORD that if you do not go out, not a man will remain with you tonight. This will be worse for you than all the adversity that has befallen you from your youth until now!” 

So the king got up and sat in the gate, and all the people were told: “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” So they all came before the king. 

Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled, each man to his home. 

And all the people throughout the tribes of Israel were arguing, “The king rescued us from the hand of our enemies and delivered us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled the land because of Absalom. 

But Absalom, the man we anointed over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about restoring the king?” 

Then King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests: “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to restore the king to his palace, since the talk of all Israel has reached the king at his quarters? 

You are my brothers, my own flesh and blood. So why should you be the last to restore the king?’ 

And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from this time you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’ ” 

So he swayed the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man, and they sent word to the king: “Return, you and all your servants.” 

So the king returned, and when he arrived at the Jordan, the men of Judah came to Gilgal to meet him and escort him across the Jordan. 

Then Shimei son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David, along with a thousand men of Benjamin, as well as Ziba the steward of the house of Saul and his fifteen sons and twenty servants. 

They rushed down to the Jordan before the king and crossed at the ford to carry over the king’s household and to do what was good in his sight. 

When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan, he fell down before the king and said, “My lord, do not hold me guilty, and do not remember your servant’s wrongdoing on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. May the king not take it to heart. 

For your servant knows that I have sinned, so here I am today as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.” 

But Abishai son of Zeruiah said, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?” 

And David replied, “Sons of Zeruiah, what have I to do with you, that you should be my adversaries today? Should any man be put to death in Israel today? Am I not indeed aware that today I am king over Israel?” 

So the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore an oath to him. 

Then Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, went down to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king had left until the day he returned safely. 

And he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, who asked him, “Mephibosheth, why did you not go with me?” 

“My lord the king,” he replied, “because I am lame, I said, ‘I will have my donkey saddled  so that I may ride on it and go with the king.’ But my servant Ziba deceived me, and he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. 

Yet my lord the king is like the angel  of God, so do what is good in your eyes. 

For all the house of my grandfather deserves death from my lord the king, yet you have set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right, then, do I have to keep appealing to the king?” 

The king replied, “Why say any more? I hereby declare that you and Ziba are to divide the land.” 

And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Instead, since my lord the king has safely come to his own house, let Ziba take it all!” 

Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim to cross the Jordan with the king and send him on his way from there. 

Barzillai was quite old, eighty years of age, and since he was a very wealthy man, he had provided for the king while he stayed in Mahanaim. 

The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I will provide for you at my side in Jerusalem.” 

But Barzillai replied, “How many years of my life remain, that I should go up to Jerusalem with the king? 

I am now eighty years old. Can I discern what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or drinks? Can I still hear the voice of singing men and women? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? 

Your servant could go with the king only a short distance past the Jordan; why should the king repay me with such a reward? 

Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city near the tomb of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight.” 

The king replied, “Chimham will cross over with me, and I will do for him what seems good in your sight, and I will do for you whatever you desire of me.” 

So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and Barzillai returned home. 

Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham crossed over with him. All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel escorted the king. 

Soon all the men of Israel came to the king and asked, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, take you away secretly and bring the king and his household across the Jordan, together with all of David’s men?” 

And all the men of Judah replied to the men of Israel, “We did this because the king is our relative. Why does this anger you? Have we ever eaten at the king’s expense or received anything for ourselves?” 

“We have ten shares in the king,” answered the men of Israel, “so we have more claim to David than you. Why then do you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of restoring our king?” 

But the men of Judah pressed even harder than the men of Israel.

2 Samuel 20

Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: 

“We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Every man to his tent, O Israel!” 

So all the men of Israel deserted David to follow Sheba son of Bichri. But the men of Judah stayed by their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem. 

When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace, and he placed them in a house under guard. He provided for them, but he no longer slept with them. They were confined until the day of their death, living as widows. 

Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself.” 

So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he took longer than the time allotted him. 

And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.” 

So Joab’s men, along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, marched out of Jerusalem in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri. 

And while they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa joined them. 

Now Joab was dressed in military attire, with a dagger strapped to his belt. And as he stepped forward, he slipped the dagger from its sheath. 

“Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him. 

Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri. 

One of Joab’s young men stood near Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!” 

But Amasa wallowed in his blood in the middle of the road, and when the man saw that all the troops were stopping there, he dragged the body off the road into a field and threw a garment over it. 

As soon as Amasa’s body was removed from the road, all the men went on with Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri. 

Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel-beth-maacah  and through the entire region of the Berites, who gathered together and followed him. 

And Joab’s troops came and besieged Sheba in Abel-beth-maacah and built a siege ramp against the outer rampart of the city. 

As all the troops with Joab were battering the wall to topple it, a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come here so that I may speak with him.” 

When he had come near to her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” 

“I am,” he replied. 

“Listen to the words of your servant,” she said. 

“I am listening,” he answered. 

Then the woman said, “Long ago they used to say, ‘Seek counsel at Abel,’ and that is how disputes were settled. 

I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?” 

“Far be it!” Joab declared. “Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy! 

That is not the case. But a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him alone, and I will depart from the city.” 

“Look,” the woman replied, “his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” 

Then the woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the ram’s horn and his men dispersed from the city, each to his own home. And Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem. 

Now Joab was over the whole army of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; 

Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder; Sheva  was the scribe; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; and Ira the Jairite  was David’s priest.

2 Samuel 21

During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. 

And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.” 

At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal for Israel and Judah, Saul had sought to kill them.) 

So David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How can I make amends so that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?” 

The Gibeonites said to him, “We need no silver or gold from Saul or his house, nor should you put to death anyone in Israel for us.” 

“Whatever you ask, I will do for you,” he replied. 

And they answered the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us to exterminate us from existing within any border of Israel, 

let seven of his male descendants be delivered to us so that we may hang them  before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” 

“I will give them to you,” said the king. 

Now the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 

But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, as well as the five sons whom Merab  daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 

And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the LORD. So all seven of them fell together; they were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest. 

And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain from heaven poured down on the bodies, she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. 

When David was told what Saul’s concubine Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, had done, 

he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies after they had struck down Saul at Gilboa. 

So David had the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan brought from there, along with the bones of those who had been hanged. 

And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. 

After they had done everything the king had commanded, God answered their prayers for the land. 

Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines; but David became exhausted. 

Then Ishbi-benob, a descendant of Rapha, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels  and who was bearing a new sword, resolved to kill David. 

But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. 

Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished.” 

Some time later at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha. 

Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair  the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath  the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 

And there was still another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha, 

and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimei  killed him. 

So these four descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.

2 Samuel 22

And David sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: 

“The LORD is my rock, 

my fortress, and my deliverer. 

My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, 

my shield, and the horn of my salvation. 

My stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, 

You save me from violence. 

I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; 

so shall I be saved from my enemies. 

For the waves of death engulfed me; 

the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me. 

The cords of Sheol entangled me; 

the snares of death confronted me. 

In my distress I called upon the LORD; 

I cried out to my God. 

And from His temple He heard my voice, 

and my cry for help reached His ears. 

Then the earth shook and quaked; 

the foundations of the heavens  trembled; 

they were shaken because He burned with anger. 

Smoke rose from His nostrils, 

and consuming fire came from His mouth; 

glowing coals blazed forth. 

He parted the heavens and came down 

with dark clouds beneath His feet. 

He mounted a cherub and flew; 

He soared  on the wings of the wind. 

He made darkness a canopy around Him, 

a gathering of water and thick clouds. 

From the brightness of His presence 

coals of fire  blazed forth. 

The LORD thundered from heaven; 

the voice of the Most High resounded. 

He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; 

He hurled lightning and routed them. 

The channels of the sea appeared, 

and the foundations of the world were exposed 

at the rebuke of the LORD, 

at the blast of the breath of His nostrils. 

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; 

He drew me out of deep waters. 

He rescued me from my powerful enemy, 

from foes too mighty for me. 

They confronted me in my day of calamity, 

but the LORD was my support. 

He brought me out into the open; 

He rescued me because He delighted in me. 

The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; 

He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands. 

For I have kept the ways of the LORD 

and have not wickedly departed from my God. 

For all His ordinances are before me; 

I have not disregarded His statutes. 

And I have been blameless before Him 

and kept myself from iniquity. 

So the LORD has repaid me according to my righteousness, 

according to my cleanness in His sight. 

To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, 

to the blameless You show Yourself blameless; 

to the pure You show Yourself pure, 

but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd. 

You save an afflicted people, 

but Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. 

For You, O LORD, are my lamp; 

the LORD lights up my darkness. 

For in You I can charge an army; 

with my God I can scale a wall. 

As for God, His way is perfect; 

the word of the LORD is flawless. 

He is a shield to all 

who take refuge in Him. 

For who is God besides the LORD? 

And who is the Rock except our God? 

God is my strong fortress 

and He makes my way clear. 

He makes my feet like those of a deer 

and stations me upon the heights. 

He trains my hands for battle; 

my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 

You have given me Your shield of salvation, 

and Your gentleness exalts me. 

You broaden the path beneath me 

so that my ankles do not give way. 

I pursued my enemies and destroyed them; 

I did not turn back until they were consumed. 

I devoured and crushed them so they could not rise; 

they have fallen under my feet. 

You have armed me with strength for battle; 

You have subdued my foes beneath me. 

You have made my enemies retreat before me; 

I put an end to those who hated me. 

They looked, but there was no one to save them— 

to the LORD, but He did not answer. 

I ground them as the dust of the earth; 

I crushed and trampled them like mud in the streets. 

You have delivered me from the strife of my people; 

You have preserved me as the head of nations; 

a people I had not known shall serve me. 

Foreigners cower before me; 

when they hear me, they obey me. 

Foreigners lose heart 

and come trembling  from their strongholds. 

The LORD lives, and blessed be my Rock! 

And may God, the Rock of my salvation, be exalted— 

the God who avenges me 

and brings down nations beneath me, 

who frees me from my enemies. 

You exalt me above my foes; 

You rescue me from violent men. 

Therefore I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations; 

I will sing praises to Your name. 

Great salvation He brings to His king. 

He shows loving devotion to His anointed, 

to David and his descendants forever.”

2 Samuel 23

These are the last words of David: 

“The oracle of David son of Jesse, 

the oracle of the man raised on high, 

the one anointed by the God of Jacob, 

and the sweet psalmist of Israel: 

The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; 

His word was on my tongue. 

The God of Israel spoke; 

the Rock of Israel said to me, 

‘He who rules the people with justice, 

who rules in the fear of God, 

is like the light of the morning 

at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, 

the glistening after the rain 

on the sprouting grass of the earth.’ 

Is not my house right with God? 

For He has established with me 

an everlasting covenant, 

ordered and secured in every part. 

Will He not bring about my full salvation 

and my every desire? 

But the worthless are all like thorns raked aside, 

for they can never be gathered by hand. 

The man who touches them must be armed with iron 

or with the shaft of a spear. 

The fire burns them to ashes 

in the place where they lie.” 

These are the names of David’s mighty men: 

Josheb-basshebeth the Tahchemonite  was chief of the Three. He wielded his spear against  eight hundred men, whom he killed at one time. 

Next in command was Eleazar son of Dodo  the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he went with David to taunt the Philistines who had gathered for battle at Pas-dammim. The men of Israel retreated, but Eleazar stood his ground and struck the Philistines until his hand grew weary and stuck to his sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. Then the troops returned to him, but only to plunder the dead. 

And after him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines had banded together near a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. 

But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field, defended it, and struck down the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory. 

At harvest time, three of the thirty chief men went down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a company of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 

At that time David was in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was at Bethlehem. 

David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” 

So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD, saying, “Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this! Is this not the blood of the men who risked their lives?” So he refused to drink it. 

Such were the exploits of the three mighty men. 

Now Abishai, the brother of Joab and son of Zeruiah, was chief of the Three, and he lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three. 

Was he not more honored than the Three? And he became their commander, even though he was not included among the Three. 

And Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a man of valor  from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions  of Moab, and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion. 

He also killed an Egyptian, a huge man. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club, snatched the spear from his hand, and killed the Egyptian with his own spear. 

These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who won a name alongside the three mighty men. 

He was most honored among the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. And David appointed him over his guard. 

Now these were members of the Thirty: 

Asahel the brother of Joab, 

Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 

Shammah the Harodite, 

Elika the Harodite, 

Helez the Paltite, 

Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, 

Abiezer the Anathothite, 

Mebunnai  the Hushathite, 

Zalmon the Ahohite, 

Maharai the Netophathite, 

Heled  son of Baanah the Netophathite, 

Ittai  son of Ribai from Gibeah of the Benjamites, 

Benaiah the Pirathonite, 

Hiddai  from the brooks  of Gaash, 

Abi-albon the Arbathite, 

Azmaveth the Barhumite, 

Eliahba the Shaalbonite, 

the sons of Jashen, 

Jonathan son of Shammah  the Hararite, 

Ahiam son of Sharar  the Hararite, 

Eliphelet son of Ahasbai the Maacathite, 

Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, 

Hezro the Carmelite, 

Paarai the Arbite, 

Igal son of Nathan of Zobah, 

Bani the Gadite, 

Zelek the Ammonite, 

Naharai the Beerothite, the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah, 

Ira the Ithrite, 

Gareb the Ithrite, 

and Uriah the Hittite. 

There were thirty-seven in all.

2 Samuel 24

Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.” 

So the king said to Joab the commander of his army, who was with him, “Go now throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the troops, so that I may know their number.” 

But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?” 

Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army departed from the presence of the king to count the troops of Israel. 

They crossed the Jordan and camped near Aroer, south of the town in the middle of the valley, and proceeded toward Gad and Jazer. 

Then they went to Gilead and the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. 

They went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to the Negev of Judah, to Beersheba. 

At the end of nine months and twenty days, having gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem. 

And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 men of valor who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000. 

After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 

When David got up in the morning, a revelation from the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: 

“Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’ ” 

So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three  years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.” 

David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” 

So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. 

But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah  the Jebusite. 

When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.” 

And that day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 

So David went up at the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded. 

When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, he went out and bowed facedown before the king. 

“Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said. 

“To buy your threshing floor,” David replied, “that I may build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.” 

Araunah said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever seems good and offer it up. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. 

O king, Araunah gives all these to the king.” He also said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” 

“No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” 

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 

And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 

Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.

Psalm 18

I love You, O LORD, my strength. 

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. 

My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, 

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, 

my stronghold. 

I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; 

so shall I be saved from my enemies. 

The cords of death encompassed me; 

the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me. 

The cords of Sheol entangled me; 

the snares of death confronted me. 

In my distress I called upon the LORD; 

I cried to my God for help. 

From His temple He heard my voice, 

and my cry for His help reached His ears. 

Then the earth shook and quaked, 

and the foundations of the mountains trembled; 

they were shaken because He burned with anger. 

Smoke rose from His nostrils, 

and consuming fire came from His mouth; 

glowing coals blazed forth. 

He parted the heavens and came down 

with dark clouds beneath His feet. 

He mounted a cherub and flew; 

He soared on the wings of the wind. 

He made darkness His hiding place, 

and storm clouds a canopy around Him. 

From the brightness of His presence 

His clouds advanced— 

hailstones and coals of fire. 

The LORD thundered from heaven; 

the voice of the Most High resounded— 

hailstones and coals of fire. 

He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; 

He hurled lightning and routed them. 

The channels of the sea appeared, 

and the foundations of the world were exposed, 

at Your rebuke, O LORD, 

at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. 

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; 

He drew me out of deep waters. 

He rescued me from my powerful enemy, 

from foes too mighty for me. 

They confronted me in my day of calamity, 

but the LORD was my support. 

He brought me out into the open; 

He rescued me because He delighted in me. 

The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; 

He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands. 

For I have kept the ways of the LORD 

and have not wickedly departed from my God. 

For all His ordinances are before me; 

I have not disregarded His statutes. 

And I have been blameless before Him 

and kept myself from iniquity. 

So the LORD has repaid me according to my righteousness, 

according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight. 

To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, 

to the blameless You show Yourself blameless; 

to the pure You show Yourself pure, 

but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd. 

For You save an afflicted people, 

but You humble those with haughty eyes. 

For You, O LORD, light my lamp; 

my God lights up my darkness. 

For in You I can charge an army, 

and with my God I can scale a wall. 

As for God, His way is perfect; 

the word of the LORD is flawless. 

He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. 

For who is God besides the LORD? 

And who is the Rock except our God? 

It is God who arms me with strength 

and makes my way clear. 

He makes my feet like those of a deer 

and stations me upon the heights. 

He trains my hands for battle; 

my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 

You have given me Your shield of salvation; 

Your right hand upholds me, 

and Your gentleness exalts me. 

You broaden the path beneath me 

so that my ankles do not give way. 

I pursued my enemies and overtook them; 

I did not turn back until they were consumed. 

I crushed them so they could not rise; 

they have fallen under my feet. 

You have armed me with strength for battle; 

You have subdued my foes beneath me. 

You have made my enemies retreat before me; 

I put an end to those who hated me. 

They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— 

to the LORD, but He did not answer. 

I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; 

I trampled them  like mud in the streets. 

You have delivered me from the strife of the people; 

You have made me the head of nations; 

a people I had not known shall serve me. 

When they hear me, they obey me; 

foreigners cower before me. 

Foreigners lose heart 

and come trembling from their strongholds. 

The LORD lives, and blessed be my Rock! 

And may the God of my salvation be exalted— 

the God who avenges me 

and subdues nations beneath me, 

who delivers me from my enemies. 

You exalt me above my foes; 

You rescue me from violent men. 

Therefore I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations; 

I will sing praises to Your name. 

Great salvation He brings to His king. 

He shows loving devotion to His anointed, 

to David and his descendants forever.

Psalm 50

The Mighty One, God the LORD, 

speaks and summons the earth 

from where the sun rises to where it sets. 

From Zion, perfect in beauty, 

God shines forth. 

Our God approaches and will not be silent! 

Consuming fire precedes Him, 

and a tempest rages around Him. 

He summons the heavens above, 

and the earth, that He may judge His people: 

“Gather to Me My saints, 

who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” 

And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, 

for God Himself is Judge. 

Selah 

“Hear, O My people, and I will speak, 

O Israel, and I will testify against you: 

I am God, your God. 

I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, 

and your burnt offerings are ever before Me. 

I have no need for a bull from your stall 

or goats from your pens, 

for every beast of the forest is Mine— 

the cattle on a thousand hills. 

I know every bird in the mountains, 

and the creatures of the field are Mine. 

If I were hungry, I would not tell you, 

for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof. 

Do I eat the flesh of bulls, 

or drink the blood of goats? 

Sacrifice a thank offering to God, 

and fulfill your vows to the Most High. 

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; 

I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.” 

To the wicked, however, God says, 

“What right have you to recite My statutes 

and to bear My covenant on your lips? 

For you hate My instruction 

and cast My words behind you. 

When you see a thief, you befriend him, 

and throw in your lot with adulterers. 

You unleash your mouth for evil 

and unharness your tongue for deceit. 

You sit and malign your brother; 

you slander your own mother’s son. 

You have done these things, and I kept silent; 

you thought I was  just like you. 

But now I rebuke you 

and accuse you to your face. 

Now consider this, you who forget God, 

lest I tear you to pieces, 

with no one to rescue you: 

He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, 

and to him who rights his way, 

I will show the salvation of God.”

Psalm 59

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; 

protect me from those who rise against me. 

Deliver me from workers of iniquity, 

and save me from men of bloodshed. 

See how they lie in wait for me. 

Fierce men conspire against me 

for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD. 

For no fault of my own, 

they move swiftly to attack me. 

Arise to help me, and take notice. 

O LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, 

rouse Yourself to punish all the nations; 

show no mercy to the wicked traitors. 

Selah 

They return in the evening, snarling like dogs 

and prowling around the city. 

See what they spew from their mouths— 

sharp words from their lips: 

“For who can hear us?” 

But You, O LORD, laugh at them; 

You scoff at all the nations. 

I will keep watch for You, O my strength, 

because You, O God, are my fortress. 

My God of loving devotion will come to meet me; 

God will let me stare down my foes. 

Do not kill them, 

or my people will forget. 

Scatter them by Your power, 

and bring them down, 

O Lord, our shield. 

By the sins of their mouths 

and the words of their lips, 

let them be trapped in their pride, 

in the curses and lies they utter. 

Consume them in wrath; 

consume them till they are no more, 

so it may be known to the ends of the earth 

that God rules over Jacob. 

Selah 

They return in the evening, 

snarling like dogs 

and prowling around the city. 

They scavenge for food, 

and growl if they are not satisfied. 

But I will sing of Your strength 

and proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning. 

For You are my fortress, 

my refuge in times of trouble. 

To You, O my strength, I sing praises, 

for You, O God, are my fortress, 

my God of loving devotion.

Poison has a way of spreading. Amnon’s wicked rape of his sister Tamar resulted in a murderous heart in his brother Absalom. The vengeance wasn’t satisfied after Amnon was murdered, nor when Absalom was received back into the capitol city. Rather, the bitterness grew in Absalom’s heart as he fostered a true insurrection and rebellion against his own father, King David. Even after Absalom’s end, did the poison stop spreading?

The truth is that this poison entered the world the moment that Adam and Eve partook of the fruit. It has caused all kinds of heartache and bloodshed ever since. Cycles of violence and retribution have consistently taken place across history. On a group level, group trauma leads to group psychosis and the perpetuation of dysfunction. In the Old Testament, the best that could be done was to create a system of sacrifices, sanctuary cities, and scapegoats. In the New Covenant, these cycles of trauma and dysfunction are finally put to an end in Christ. Because of his work on the cross, we can finally rest by putting our trust in him. In many ways, the Old Testament is an account of how miserable life is outside of Christ, explaining the yearning the ancients had, and that we have today, for God to bring his Kingdom to earth. Those of us who believe in the truth of the scriptures are a new creation, no longer enslaved to the trauma of the past.

2 Samuel 16

When David had gone a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred clusters of raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a skin of wine. 

“Why do you have these?” asked the king. 

Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness.” 

“Where is your master’s grandson?” asked the king. 

And Ziba answered, “Indeed, he is staying in Jerusalem, for he has said, ‘Today, the house of Israel will restore to me the kingdom of my grandfather.’ ” 

So the king said to Ziba, “All that belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours!” 

“I humbly bow before you,” said Ziba. “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king!” 

As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out curses. 

He threw stones at David and at all the servants of the king, though the troops and all the mighty men were on David’s right and left. 

And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed! 

The LORD has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, you have come to ruin because you are a man of bloodshed!” 

Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!” 

But the king replied, “What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses me because the LORD told him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why did you do this?’ ” 

Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son, my own flesh and blood, seeks my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone and let him curse me, for the LORD has told him so. 

Perhaps the LORD will see my affliction and repay me with good for the cursing I receive today.” 

So David and his men proceeded along the road as Shimei went along the ridge of the hill opposite him. As Shimei went, he yelled curses, threw stones, and flung dust at David. 

Finally, the king and all the people with him arrived, exhausted. And there he refreshed himself. 

Then Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. 

And David’s friend Hushai the Archite went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!” 

“Is this the loyalty you show your friend?” Absalom replied. “Why did you not go with your friend?” 

“Not at all,” Hushai answered. “For the one chosen by the LORD, by the people, and by all the men of Israel—his I will be, and with him I will remain. 

Furthermore, whom should I serve if not the son? As I served in your father’s presence, so also I will serve in yours.” 

Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give me counsel. What should we do?” 

Ahithophel replied, “Sleep with your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become a stench to your father, then the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.” 

So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. 

Now in those days the advice of Ahithophel was like the consultation of the word of God. Such was the regard that both David and Absalom had for Ahithophel’s advice.

2 Samuel 17

Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. 

I will attack him while he is weak and weary; I will throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will flee; I will strike down only the king and bring all the people back to you as a bride returning to her husband. You seek the life of only one man; then all the people will be at peace.” 

This proposal seemed good to Absalom and all the elders of Israel. 

Then Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite as well, and let us hear what he too has to say.” 

So Hushai came to Absalom, who told him, “Ahithophel has spoken this proposal. Should we carry it out? If not, what do you say?” 

Hushai replied, “This time the advice of Ahithophel is not sound.” 

He continued, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Moreover, your father is a man of war who will not spend the night with the troops. 

Surely by now he is hiding in a cave or some other location. If some of your troops fall first, whoever hears of it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’ 

Then even the most valiant soldier with the heart of a lion will melt with fear, because all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man who has valiant men with him. 

Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beersheba—a multitude like the sand on the seashore—be gathered to you, and that you yourself lead them into battle. 

Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. And of all the men with him, not even one will remain. 

If he retreats to a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not even a pebble can be found.” 

Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom. 

So Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “This is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I have advised. 

Now send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but be sure to cross over. Otherwise the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.’ ” 

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, where a servant girl would come and pass along information to them. They in turn would go and inform King David, for they dared not be seen entering the city. 

But a young man did see them and told Absalom. So the two left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. 

Then the man’s wife took a covering and spread it over the mouth of the well, scattering grain over it so nobody would know a thing. 

When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” 

“They have crossed over the brook,” she replied. The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. 

After the men had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed up out of the well and went to inform King David, saying, “Get up and cross over the river at once, for Ahithophel has given this advice against you.” 

So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one left who had not crossed the Jordan. 

When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb. 

Then David went to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. 

Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite  who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash  and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab. 

So the Israelites and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead. 

When David came to Mahanaim, he was met by Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim. 

They brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, as well as wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,   honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”

2 Samuel 18

Then David reviewed his troops and appointed over them commanders of hundreds and of thousands. 

He sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I will surely march out with you as well.” 

But the people pleaded, “You must not go out! For if we have to flee, they will pay no attention to us. Even if half of us die, they will not care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It is better for now if you support us from the city.” 

“I will do whatever seems best to you,” the king replied. So he stood beside the gate, while all the troops marched out by hundreds and by thousands. 

Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” And all the people heard the king’s orders to each of the commanders regarding Absalom. 

So David’s army marched into the field to engage Israel in the battle, which took place in the forest of Ephraim. 

There the people of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the slaughter was great that day—twenty thousand men. 

The battle spread over the whole countryside, and that day the forest devoured more people than the sword. 

Now Absalom was riding on his mule when he met the servants of David, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so that he was suspended in midair. 

When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!” 

“You just saw him!” Joab exclaimed. “Why did you not strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you ten shekels of silver  and a warrior’s belt!” 

The man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels of silver  were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the son of the king. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ 

If I had jeopardized my own life —and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have abandoned me.” 

But Joab declared, “I am not going to wait like this with you!” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak tree. 

And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him. 

Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and the troops broke off their pursuit of Israel because Joab had restrained them. 

They took Absalom, cast him into a large pit in the forest, and piled a huge mound of stones over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled, each to his home. 

During his lifetime, Absalom had set up for himself a pillar in the King’s Valley, for he had said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he gave the pillar his name, and to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument. 

Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Please let me run and tell the king the good news that the LORD has avenged him of his enemies.” 

But Joab replied, “You are not the man to take good news today. You may do it another day, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.” 

So Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running. 

Ahimaaz son of Zadok, however, persisted and said to Joab, “Regardless of whatever may happen, please let me also run behind the Cushite!” 

“My son,” Joab replied, “why do you want to run, since you will not receive a reward?” 

“No matter what, I want to run!” he replied. 

“Then run!” Joab told him. 

So Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain  and outran the Cushite. 

Now David was sitting between the two gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall, looked out, and saw a man running alone. 

So he called out and told the king. 

“If he is alone,” the king replied, “he bears good news.” 

As the first runner drew near, the watchman saw another man running, and he called out to the gatekeeper, “Look! Another man is running alone!” 

“This one also brings good news,” said the king. 

The watchman said, “The first man appears to me to be running like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” 

“This is a good man,” said the king. “He comes with good news.” 

Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” And he bowed facedown before the king. 

He continued, “Blessed be the LORD your God! He has delivered up the men who raised their hands against my lord the king.” 

The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” 

And Ahimaaz replied, “When Joab sent the king’s servant and your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I do not know what it was.” 

“Move aside,” said the king, “and stand here.” 

So he stepped aside. 

Just then the Cushite came and said, “May my lord the king hear the good news: Today the LORD has avenged you of all who rose up against you!” 

The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” 

And the Cushite replied, “May what has become of the young man happen to the enemies of my lord the king and to all who rise up against you to harm you.” 

The king was shaken and went up to the gate chamber and wept. And as he walked, he cried out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

Psalm 4

Answer me when I call, 

O God of my righteousness! 

You have relieved my distress; 

show me grace and hear my prayer. 

How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? 

How long will you love vanity and seek after lies ? 

Selah 

Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; 

the LORD hears when I call to Him. 

Be angry, yet do not sin; 

on your bed, search your heart and be still. 

Selah 

Offer the sacrifices of the righteous 

and trust in the LORD. 

Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” 

Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD. 

You have filled my heart with more joy 

than when grain and new wine abound. 

I will lie down and sleep in peace, 

for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 5

Answer me when I call, 

O God of my righteousness! 

You have relieved my distress; 

show me grace and hear my prayer. 

How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? 

How long will you love vanity and seek after lies ? 

Selah 

Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; 

the LORD hears when I call to Him. 

Be angry, yet do not sin; 

on your bed, search your heart and be still. 

Selah 

Offer the sacrifices of the righteous 

and trust in the LORD. 

Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” 

Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD. 

You have filled my heart with more joy 

than when grain and new wine abound. 

I will lie down and sleep in peace, 

for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 7

Answer me when I call, 

O God of my righteousness! 

You have relieved my distress; 

show me grace and hear my prayer. 

How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? 

How long will you love vanity and seek after lies ? 

Selah 

Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; 

the LORD hears when I call to Him. 

Be angry, yet do not sin; 

on your bed, search your heart and be still. 

Selah 

Offer the sacrifices of the righteous 

and trust in the LORD. 

Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” 

Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD. 

You have filled my heart with more joy 

than when grain and new wine abound. 

I will lie down and sleep in peace, 

for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.