Friday, January 1

1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am your God; be pleasing before Me and blameless.

2I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.'

3Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

4'As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.

5No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.

6I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.

7I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be your God and the God of your seed after you.

8Also I will give you and your seed after you the land you are occupying as a sojourner, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.'

9Then God said to Abraham, 'As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.

10This is the covenant you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations: Every male child among you shall be circumcised;

11and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

12A child of eight days old shall be circumcised by you—every male child throughout your genealogy, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner not of your seed.

13He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

14And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin on the eighth day, that soul shall be cut off from his people; for he has broken My covenant.'

22If I declare to you the things that happen daily, I will also remember to recount the things of old.

23The Lord created me in the beginning of His ways for His works; He established me in the beginning before time,

24Before He made the earth, and before He made the abysses, Before the going forth of the fountains of waters,

25Before the mountains were created; And He begot me before all hills.

26The Lord made the fields and the uninhabited places And the inhabited heights under heaven.

27When He prepared heaven, I was present with Him, And when He set apart His throne upon the winds.

28When He made strong the things above the clouds, And made sure the fountains under heaven,

29And made strong the foundations of the earth, I was working beside Him;

30I was He in whom He rejoiced; Daily and continually I was gladdened by His face.

31A righteous man will never fail, But the ungodly shall not inhabit the earth.

32The mouth of a righteous man distills wisdom, But the tongue of an unrighteous man utterly destroys.

33The lips of righteous men distill grace, But the mouth of the ungodly is perverse.

1Deceitful scales are an abomination before the Lord, But a righteous weight is acceptable to Him.

2Wherever arrogance enters, there also is dishonor, But the mouth of the humble meditates on wisdom.

3When a righteous man dies, he leaves regret, But the destruction of the ungodly is immediate and brings joy.

4Righteousness cuts straight and blameless paths, But ungodliness embraces wrongdoing.

5The righteousness of upright men delivers them, But lawless men are taken to their destruction.

6When a righteous man dies, his hope does not perish, But the boast of the ungodly perishes.

7A righteous man escapes from a snare, But the ungodly man is handed over in his place.

8There is a snare for citizens in the mouth of the ungodly, But the perception of the righteous is prosperous.

9A city stays upright in the good things of the righteous, But it is razed to the ground by the mouths of the ungodly.

10A man in need of discernment treats citizens with contempt, But a man of discernment keeps quiet.

11A double-tongued man reveals deliberations heard in council, But a man faithful in spirit conceals matters.

12Those for whom there is no leadership fall like leaves, But there is salvation in much counsel.

9I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

10The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

11'I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

12But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.

13The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.

14I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.

15As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

16And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

8Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

9For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;

10and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

11In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

12buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

26For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;

27who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

28For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

1Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

2a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

20Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

21And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

22Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, 'Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD'),

24and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, 'A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.'

25And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

27So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law,

28he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

29'Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word;

30For my eyes have seen Your salvation

31Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,

32A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.'

33And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.

34Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, 'Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against

35(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.'

36Now there was one, Anna, prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity;

37and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

38And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

39So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.

40And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

41His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

42And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.

43When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it;

44but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances.

45So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him.

46Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

47And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.

48So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, 'Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.'

49And He said to them, 'Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?'

50But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

51Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.

52And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

17And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases,

18as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed.

19And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.

20'Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.

21Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.

22Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake.

23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.