Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes.
Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and consume your flesh like fire. You have hoarded treasure in the last days.
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.
. . .
Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.
When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share,
treasuring up for themselves a firm foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.
Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.
For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it.
But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.
Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
. . .
The beast that you saw—it was, and now is no more, but is about to come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet will be.
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.
. . .
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one.”
And when Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why are you surprised by this? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him.
You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.
By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know has been made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given him this complete healing in your presence.
. . .
For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld.
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
Then each of them was given a white robe and told to rest a little while longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers, were killed, just as they had been killed.
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.
Righteousness will be the belt around His hips, and faithfulness the sash around His waist.
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.
. . .
Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
Are they not the ones who blaspheme the noble name by which you have been called?
But I have testimony more substantial than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works I am doing—testify about Me that the Father has sent Me.
And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form,
nor does His word abide in you, because you do not believe the One He sent.
So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me.
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
After I had made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell securely.
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.
A Psalm of Asaph. God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods:
“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.
Rescue the weak and needy; save them from the hand of the wicked.
They do not know or understand; they wander in the darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
. . .
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.
And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know.
For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He tells you.
For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will come.
They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
You show loving devotion to thousands but lay the iniquity of the fathers into the laps of their children after them, O great and mighty God whose name is the LORD of Hosts,
I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
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.
I and the Father are one.”
At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”
“We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, declare Yourself to be God.”
At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”
“We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, declare Yourself to be God.”
Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’?
If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—
then what about the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world? How then can you accuse Me of blasphemy for stating that I am the Son of God?
Jesus, knowing all that was coming upon Him, stepped forward and asked them, “Whom are you seeking?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. Jesus said, “I am He.” And Judas His betrayer was standing there with them.
When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”
Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
Even in your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.
I am One who testifies about Myself, and the Father, who sent Me, also testifies about Me.”
“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.
After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared before them, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You wish, I will put up three shelters—one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
. . .
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he said, ‘and I will pay you whatever is right.’
So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.
. . .
As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, His disciples came up to Him to point out its buildings.
“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you.
For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.
. . .
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it.
His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.
The guards trembled in fear of him and became like dead men.
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
. . .
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay.
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.
Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!