Tuesday, September 1

1The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because of which He anointed Me. He sent Me to proclaim good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind;

2to declare the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of recompense, and to comfort all who mourn;

3to give those who mourn in Zion glory instead of ashes, the oil of gladness to those who mourn; the garment of glory instead of a spirit of indifference. They shall be called generations of righteousness, the planting of the Lord for glory.

4They shall build the ancient deserts, raise up those formerly abandoned, and renew the desert cities that laid waste for generations.

5Foreigners shall come and shepherd your sheep, and aliens shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

6but you shall be called priests of the Lord and the ministers of God. You shall eat the strength of nations and be admired because of their wealth.

7So they shall inherit the land a second time, and eternal gladness shall be upon their head.

8For I am the Lord, who loves righteousness and hates robberies of wrongdoing. I will give their labor to the righteous and will make with them an everlasting covenant.

9Their seed and their offspring shall be known among the Gentiles. All who see them shall know these are the seed blessed by God;

7But though a righteous man may die before his time, He shall be at rest.

8For old age is not honored for its length of existence, Nor measured by its number of years;

9But discernment is gray hair for mankind, And a spotless life is the maturity of old age.

10There was once a man pleasing to God and loved by Him, And while living among sinners he was taken up.

11He was caught up lest evil change his understanding Or deceit deceive his soul.

12For envy arising from lack of judgment obscures what is good, And a whirling of desire undermines an innocent heart.

13He was made perfect, For in a short time he fulfilled long years,

14For his soul was pleasing to the Lord; Therefore, He took him early from the midst of evil. Yet peoples saw this but did not understand, Nor take such a thing to heart,

15That the Lord's grace and mercy are with His elect And that He watches over His holy ones.

20For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults;

21lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.

1This will be the third time I am coming to you. 'By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.'

2I have told you before, and foretell as if I were present the second time, and now being absent I write to those who have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare

1Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,

2for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

4who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

5For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

6who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

7for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

12Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;

13bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

14But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

24Then He said to them, 'Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.

25For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.'

26And He said, 'The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground,

27and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.

28For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.

29But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.'

30Then He said, 'To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it?

31It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth;

32but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.'

33And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.

34But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.

16So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

17And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

18'The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

19To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.'

20Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

21And He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'

22So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, 'Is this not Joseph's son?'

27All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

28Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.'