Saturday, December 27

11But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.

12Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

13I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

14that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing,

15which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

16who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

11Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—

12that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

8And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

9Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen.

10And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

11Then they secretly induced men to say, 'We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.'

12And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council.

13They also set up false witnesses who said, 'This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law;

14for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.'

15And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.

7:1Then the high priest said, 'Are these things so?'

2And he said, 'Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,

3and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.'

4Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.

5And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him.

47But Solomon built Him a house.

48'However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:

49'Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest?

50Has My hand not made all these things?'

51' You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

52Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,

53who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.'

54When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

55But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,

56and said, 'Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!'

57Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;

58and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.'

60Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not charge them with this sin.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

15But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.

16Yet He warned them not to make Him known,

17that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

18'Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

19I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

20A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory;

21And in His name Gentiles will trust.'

10He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

11Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

12And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?

13'No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.'

14Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.

15And He said to them, 'You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

33'Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. Jesus said to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.

34Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.

35And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.

36Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.

37Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

38But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'

39So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40'Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?'

41They said to Him, 'He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.'

42Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'?'