The Daily Practice

27 They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. 28 “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”

29 Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!”

31 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)

33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

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

8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity[b] and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace. 13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, 14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.

15 Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?

18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas[c] and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

7 In the days of her affliction and wandering     Jerusalem remembers all the treasures     that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands,     there was no one to help her. Her enemies looked at her     and laughed at her destruction.

8 Jerusalem has sinned greatly     and so has become unclean. All who honored her despise her,     for they have all seen her naked; she herself groans     and turns away.

9 Her filthiness clung to her skirts;     she did not consider her future. Her fall was astounding;     there was none to comfort her. “Look, Lord, on my affliction,     for the enemy has triumphed.”

10 The enemy laid hands     on all her treasures; she saw pagan nations     enter her sanctuary— those you had forbidden     to enter your assembly.

11 All her people groan     as they search for bread; they barter their treasures for food     to keep themselves alive. “Look, Lord, and consider,     for I am despised.”

12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?     Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering     that was inflicted on me, that the Lord brought on me     in the day of his fierce anger?

1 My heart is stirred by a noble theme     as I recite my verses for the king;     my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

2 You are the most excellent of men     and your lips have been anointed with grace,     since God has blessed you forever.

3 Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one;     clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. 4 In your majesty ride forth victoriously     in the cause of truth, humility and justice;     let your right hand achieve awesome deeds. 5 Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;     let the nations fall beneath your feet. 6 Your throne, O God,[c] will last for ever and ever;     a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. 7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness;     therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions     by anointing you with the oil of joy. 8 All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;     from palaces adorned with ivory     the music of the strings makes you glad.

12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’[a]? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[b]”

18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples[c] went out of the city.

20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly[d] I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:

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

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

1 [a]How deserted lies the city,     once so full of people! How like a widow is she,     who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces     has now become a slave.

2 Bitterly she weeps at night,     tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers     there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her;     they have become her enemies.

3 After affliction and harsh labor,     Judah has gone into exile. She dwells among the nations;     she finds no resting place. All who pursue her have overtaken her     in the midst of her distress.

4 The roads to Zion mourn,     for no one comes to her appointed festivals. All her gateways are desolate,     her priests groan, her young women grieve,     and she is in bitter anguish.

5 Her foes have become her masters;     her enemies are at ease. The Lord has brought her grief     because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile,     captive before the foe.

6 All the splendor has departed     from Daughter Zion. Her princes are like deer     that find no pasture; in weakness they have fled     before the pursuer.

13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,     the scorn and derision of those around us. 14 You have made us a byword among the nations;     the peoples shake their heads at us. 15 I live in disgrace all day long,     and my face is covered with shame 16 at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,     because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

17 All this came upon us,     though we had not forgotten you;     we had not been false to your covenant. 18 Our hearts had not turned back;     our feet had not strayed from your path. 19 But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals;     you covered us over with deep darkness.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God     or spread out our hands to a foreign god, 21 would not God have discovered it,     since he knows the secrets of the heart? 22 Yet for your sake we face death all day long;     we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

23 Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?     Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. 24 Why do you hide your face     and forget our misery and oppression?

25 We are brought down to the dust;     our bodies cling to the ground. 26 Rise up and help us;     rescue us because of your unfailing love.

41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash 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 God’s coming to you.”

45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’[a]; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[b]”

47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”

11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”