Thursday, April 30

1James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.

2My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

3knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

4But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

7For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,

10but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.

11For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.

12Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

13Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

14But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

15Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

16Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

18Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

19So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

20for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

21Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;

24for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

25But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

26If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.

27Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

1My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.

2For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes,

3and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, 'You sit here in a good place,' and say to the poor man, 'You stand there,' or, 'Sit here at my footstool,'

4have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

5Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

6But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?

7Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?

8If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you do well;

9but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

10For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

11For He who said, 'Do not commit adultery,' also said, 'Do not murder.' Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

12So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.

13For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

15So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' He said to him, 'Feed My lambs.'

16He said to him again a second time, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' He said to him, 'Tend My sheep.'

17He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?' Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'Do you love Me?' And he said to Him, 'Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed My sheep.'

18Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.'

19This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, 'Follow Me.'

20Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, 'Lord, who is the one who betrays You?'

21Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, 'But Lord, what about this man?'

22Jesus said to him, 'If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.'

23Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, 'If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?'

24This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.

25And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

26Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, 'Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' This is desert.

27So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,

28was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.

29Then the Spirit said to Philip, 'Go near and overtake this chariot.'

30So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, 'Do you understand what you are reading?'

31And he said, 'How can I, unless someone guides me?' And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

32The place in the Scripture which he read was this: 'He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

33In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.'

34So the eunuch answered Philip and said, 'I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?'

35Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.

36Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, 'See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?'

37Then Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may.'

38And he answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.

39Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.

1Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.

2Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

3And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

4So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.

5Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

6And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.

7Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, 'Arise quickly!' And his chains fell off his hands.

8Then the angel said to him, 'Gird yourself and tie on your sandals'; and so he did. And he said to him, 'Put on your garment and follow me.'

9So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

10When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

11And when Peter had come to himself, he said, 'Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.'

40And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.'

41The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, 'I am the bread which came down from heaven.'

42And they said, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?'

43Jesus therefore answered and said to them, 'Do not murmur among yourselves.

44No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

1So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret,

2and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.

3Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

4When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, 'Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.'

5But Simon answered and said to Him, 'Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.'

6And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.

7So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!'

9For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken;

10and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.'

11So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.