The Daily Practice

7 Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant[a] in the Lord. 8 I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our[b] circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. 9 He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.

10 My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) 11 Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews[c] among my co-workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. 13 I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14 Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.

16 After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.

17 Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”

18 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.

4 Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness     and grieved him in the wasteland! 41 Again and again they put God to the test;     they vexed the Holy One of Israel. 42 They did not remember his power—     the day he redeemed them from the oppressor, 43 the day he displayed his signs in Egypt,     his wonders in the region of Zoan. 44 He turned their river into blood;     they could not drink from their streams. 45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,     and frogs that devastated them. 46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,     their produce to the locust. 47 He destroyed their vines with hail     and their sycamore-figs with sleet. 48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,     their livestock to bolts of lightning. 49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,     his wrath, indignation and hostility—     a band of destroying angels. 50 He prepared a path for his anger;     he did not spare them from death     but gave them over to the plague. 51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,     the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham. 52 But he brought his people out like a flock;     he led them like sheep through the wilderness. 53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;     but the sea engulfed their enemies. 54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,     to the hill country his right hand had taken. 55 He drove out nations before them     and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;     he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

18 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.

2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”[a]

10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.

15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.

17 “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.

He replied, “I am not.”

18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,     yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,     and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,     so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.     Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living;     for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b] 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,     and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence,     nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,     and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days,     and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has suffered,     he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e]; by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,     and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]     and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h] because he poured out his life unto death,     and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many,     and made intercession for the transgressors.

17 But they continued to sin against him,     rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High. 18 They willfully put God to the test     by demanding the food they craved. 19 They spoke against God;     they said, “Can God really     spread a table in the wilderness? 20 True, he struck the rock,     and water gushed out,     streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread?     Can he supply meat for his people?” 21 When the Lord heard them, he was furious;     his fire broke out against Jacob,     and his wrath rose against Israel, 22 for they did not believe in God     or trust in his deliverance. 23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above     and opened the doors of the heavens; 24 he rained down manna for the people to eat,     he gave them the grain of heaven. 25 Human beings ate the bread of angels;     he sent them all the food they could eat. 26 He let loose the east wind from the heavens     and by his power made the south wind blow. 27 He rained meat down on them like dust,     birds like sand on the seashore. 28 He made them come down inside their camp,     all around their tents. 29 They ate till they were gorged—     he had given them what they craved. 30 But before they turned from what they craved,     even while the food was still in their mouths, 31 God’s anger rose against them;     he put to death the sturdiest among them,     cutting down the young men of Israel.

32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;     in spite of his wonders, they did not believe. 33 So he ended their days in futility     and their years in terror. 34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;     they eagerly turned to him again. 35 They remembered that God was their Rock,     that God Most High was their Redeemer. 36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,     lying to him with their tongues; 37 their hearts were not loyal to him,     they were not faithful to his covenant. 38 Yet he was merciful;     he forgave their iniquities     and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger     and did not stir up his full wrath. 39 He remembered that they were but flesh,     a passing breeze that does not return.

1 My people, hear my teaching;     listen to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth with a parable;     I will utter hidden things, things from of old— 3 things we have heard and known,     things our ancestors have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their descendants;     we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,     his power, and the wonders he has done. 5 He decreed statutes for Jacob     and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors     to teach their children, 6 so the next generation would know them,     even the children yet to be born,     and they in turn would tell their children. 7 Then they would put their trust in God     and would not forget his deeds     but would keep his commands. 8 They would not be like their ancestors—     a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God,     whose spirits were not faithful to him.

9 The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,     turned back on the day of battle; 10 they did not keep God’s covenant     and refused to live by his law. 11 They forgot what he had done,     the wonders he had shown them. 12 He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors     in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. 13 He divided the sea and led them through;     he made the water stand up like a wall. 14 He guided them with the cloud by day     and with light from the fire all night. 15 He split the rocks in the wilderness     and gave them water as abundant as the seas; 16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag     and made water flow down like rivers.

13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him,[a] God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

13 Your ways, God, are holy.     What god is as great as our God? 14 You are the God who performs miracles;     you display your power among the peoples. 15 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,     the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

16 The waters saw you, God,     the waters saw you and writhed;     the very depths were convulsed. 17 The clouds poured down water,     the heavens resounded with thunder;     your arrows flashed back and forth. 18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,     your lightning lit up the world;     the earth trembled and quaked. 19 Your path led through the sea,     your way through the mighty waters,     though your footprints were not seen.

20 You led your people like a flock     by the hand of Moses and Aaron.