He who watches the wind will fail to sow, and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap.
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.
For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions.
To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent—each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey.
The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work and gained five more.
Likewise, the one with the two talents gained two more.
But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
. . .
If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ we will die there from the famine in the city; but if we sit here, we will also die. So come now, let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.”
Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.
Divide your portion among seven, or even eight, for you do not know what disaster may befall the land.
If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain upon the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
Then the LORD said to me, “Get up. Continue your journey ahead of the people, that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
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 this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.
We love because He first loved us.
If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
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.
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
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.
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.
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
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.
But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds.
After He had sent them away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone,
but the boat was already far from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them, walking on the sea.
When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.
. . .
David added, “The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” “Go,” said Saul, “and may the LORD be with you.”
But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.
For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
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 think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him.
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom:
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.
For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.
So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
On the following Sabbath, nearly the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.
Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
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.”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel
will fail to receive a hundredfold in the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, along with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.
At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,
and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.
Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.
. . .
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,
to guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His saints.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,
so that no one may boast in His presence.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.”
But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect,
keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.
For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
A sense of awe came over everyone, and the apostles performed many wonders and signs.
All the believers were together and had everything in common.
Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need.
With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart,
. . .
In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.
They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen.
And now, Lord, consider their threats, and enable Your servants to speak Your word with complete boldness,
as You stretch out Your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”
After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Now Stephen, who was full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.
But resistance arose from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and men from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. They began to argue with Stephen,
but they could not stand up to his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.
Then they prompted some men to say, “We heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.”
So they stirred up the people, elders, and scribes and confronted Stephen. They seized him and brought him before the Sanhedrin,
. . .
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
Take notice: I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
Just then the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
So Noah did everything precisely as God had commanded him.
Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.’”
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
But Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.
“Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well.”
Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven.
But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.
If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.
More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.
I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,
This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
O LORD, save us, we pray. We beseech You, O LORD, cause us to prosper!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
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,
That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.
For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
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.
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.
This is why the ancients were commended.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
. . .
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith in God,
instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
And this we will do, if God permits.
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age—
. . .
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”