“Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God:
You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
The fruit of your womb will be blessed, as well as the produce of your land and the offspring of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed.
. . .
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.”
The LORD will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none.
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.
Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of His praise be heard.
He preserves our lives and keeps our feet from slipping.
For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us like silver.
You led us into the net; You laid burdens on our backs.
You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but You brought us into abundance.
May there be an abundance of grain in the land; may it sway atop the hills. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon, and its people like the grass of the field.
But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.
Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.
Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.
“Do not be afraid,” Elijah said to her. “Go and do as you have said. But first make me a small cake of bread from what you have, and bring it out to me. Afterward, make some for yourself and your son,
for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be exhausted and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain upon the face of the earth.’”
So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and there was food every day for Elijah and the woman and her household.
The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Elijah.
I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances.
I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. I am accustomed to any and every situation—to being filled and being hungry, to having plenty and having need.
He told them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it there, and they were unable to haul it in because of the great number of fish.
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.
And keep the charge of the LORD your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commandments, ordinances, and decrees, as is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you turn,
Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds—
He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion,
who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
. . .
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
So the LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the LORD will again delight in your goodness, as He delighted in that of your fathers,
‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ replied his master. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed.
Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received it back with interest.
Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents.
For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will last forever.
In the time of evil they will not be ashamed, and in the days of famine they will be satisfied.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.
The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple.
. . .
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God.
You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.
If you follow My statutes and carefully keep My commandments,
I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.
Your threshing will continue until the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have your fill of food to eat and will dwell securely in your land.
. . .
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.
David provided a large quantity of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, together with more bronze than could be weighed
So I answered them and said, “The God of heaven is the One who will grant us success. We, His servants, will start rebuilding, but you have no portion, right, or claim in Jerusalem.”
This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,
who testifies to everything he saw. This is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and obey what is written in it, because the time is near.
John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven Spirits before His throne,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,
. . .
Amaziah asked the man of God, “What should I do about the hundred talents I have given to the army of Israel?” And the man of God replied, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”
Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who directs you in the way you should go.
Asa’s son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place, and he strengthened himself against Israel.
He stationed troops in every fortified city of Judah and put garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek out the Baals,
but he sought the God of his father and walked by His commandments rather than the practices of Israel.
So the LORD established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought him tribute, so that he had an abundance of riches and honor.
. . .
And you will again obey the voice of the LORD and follow all His commandments I am giving you today.
So the LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the LORD will again delight in your goodness, as He delighted in that of your fathers,
if you obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
No one 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.
This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.
Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.
You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me.
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.
I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your land, and the vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the LORD of Hosts.
“Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,” says the LORD of Hosts.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”
When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain and sat down. His disciples came to Him,
and He began to teach them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
. . .
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive an abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
When Jesus heard about John, He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. But the crowds found out about it and followed Him on foot from the towns.
When He stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.
When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is already late. Dismiss the crowds so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
“They do not need to go away,” Jesus replied. “You give them something to eat.”
“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
. . .
After David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent.”
And Nathan replied to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying,
“Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build Me a house in which to dwell.
For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt until this day, but I have moved from tent to tent and dwelling to dwelling.
. . .
“In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,
that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear My name,” declares the LORD, who will do this.
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow.
I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God.
On the third day, Esther put on her royal attire and stood in the inner court of the palace across from the king’s quarters. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the royal courtroom, facing the entrance.
As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she found favor in his sight. The king extended the gold scepter in his hand toward Esther, and she approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
“What is it, Queen Esther?” the king inquired. “What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given to you.”
“If it pleases the king,” Esther replied, “may the king and Haman come today to the banquet I have prepared for the king.”
“Hurry,” commanded the king, “and bring Haman, so we can do as Esther has requested.” So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
. . .
This is the text of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the others Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
(This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.)
The letter was entrusted to Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It stated:
This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:
“Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce.
. . .
I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.