Sunday, March 9

9All the nations are gathered together, and the rulers shall be assembled from among them. Who will declare these things or tell us things from the beginning? Let them bring forth their witnesses, and be proven right; and let them speak the truth.

10'You are My witnesses, and I am a witness,' says the Lord God, 'and My Servant whom I chose, that you may know and believe, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no other God, nor shall there be after Me.

11I am God, and besides Me there is no one who saves.

12I proclaimed, and I saved. I denounced foreign gods so there were none among you. You are My witnesses, and I am a witness,' says the Lord God.

13'Even from the beginning, there is no one who can deliver out of My hands; I will work, and who will reverse it?'

14Thus says the Lord God who redeems you, the Holy One of Israel: 'For your sake I will send to Babylon and arouse all who flee, and the Chaldeans shall be bound in ships.

1But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, And no torture will ever touch them.

2In the eyes of the undiscerning they seemed to have died, And their departure was considered to be misfortune,

3And their passage from us to be their destruction; But they are at peace.

4For though in man's view they were punished, Their hope is full of immortality.

5Though chastened in a few things, Great kindness will be shown them, For God tested them and found them worthy of Himself.

6He tested them like gold in a furnace And accepted them as a whole burnt offering.

7In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, And they will run about like sparks through straw.

8They will judge nations and rule over peoples, And the Lord shall reign over them unto the ages.

9Those who trust in Him will understand truth, And the faithful shall continue with Him in love, Because grace and mercy are upon His elect.

15But the righteous live forever, And their reward is with the Lord; And their care is by the Most High.

16Therefore they shall receive a kingly dwelling of dignity And a crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord, Because He will shelter them with His right hand And protect them with His arm.

17He will take His zeal as His full armor And will turn His creation into weapons against His enemies.

18He will wear righteousness as a breastplate And put on impartial judgment as a helmet.

19He will take holiness as an unconquerable shield

20And sharpen His relentless wrath for a sword; And creation will fight with Him against the senseless.

21Well-aimed flashes of lightning will strike And leap to their object as from a well-drawn bow of clouds;

22And hailstones full of anger will be hurled As from an engine of war. The water of the sea will be vexed with them, And the rivers will wash over them severely.

23A powerful wind will oppose them, And like a storm it will winnow them away. Lawlessness will lay waste all the earth, And wrongdoing will overturn the thrones of rulers.

1Listen therefore, O kings, and understand; Learn, O judges of the ends of the earth.

2Give ear, you that rule over multitudes, And take pride in yourself over a multitude of nations.

3For power was given to you from the Lord, And your lordship from the Most High, Who will make a careful search of your works And examine closely your plans.

1Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.

2But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

3Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

4And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.

5Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, 'Why do you seek the living among the dead?

6He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,

7saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.' '

8And they remembered His words.

9Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.

11And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.

12But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.

24By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,

25choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,

26esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

27By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

29By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

30By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.

31By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

32And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:

33who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

34quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

35Women received their dead raised to life again.

36Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.

37They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—

38of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

39And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,

40God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

1Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

2looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

1Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

2looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

4You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

5And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: 'My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;

6For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.'

7If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

8But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

9Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?

10For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

43Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, 'You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas' (which is translated, A Stone). The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, 'Follow Me.'

44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 'We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.'

46And Nathanael said to him, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?'

47Philip said to him, 'Come and see.' Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, 'Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!'

48Nathanael said to Him, 'How do You know me?'

49Jesus answered and said to him, 'Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.' Nathanael answered and said to Him, 'Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!'

50Jesus answered and said to him, 'Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these.'

51And He said to him, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.'

1For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

2Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

3And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

4and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went.

5Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.

6And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'

7They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'

8'So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'

9And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.

10But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius.

11And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner,

12saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'

13But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

14Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.

15Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?'

16So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.'