Tuesday, 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.

12But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.

13But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.

14Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer;

15for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.

16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.

17And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.

18But not a hair of your head shall be lost.

19By your patience possess your souls.

1Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

2Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

3Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

4For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

5But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

6And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

7as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

8Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

9Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you!'

10But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.

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.

39Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. And He said to them, 'It is enough.'

40When He came to the place, He said to them, 'Pray that you may not enter into temptation.'

41And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed,

42saying, 'Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.'

43Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.

44And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

45When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.

46Then He said to them, 'Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.'

47And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him.

48But Jesus said to him, 'Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?'

49When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, 'Lord, shall we strike with the sword?'

50And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.

51But Jesus answered and said, 'Permit even this.' And He touched his ear and healed him.

52Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, 'Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?

53When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.'

54Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest's house. But Peter followed at a distance.

55Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.

56And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, 'This man was also with Him.'

57But he denied Him, saying, 'Woman, I do not know Him.'

58And after a little while another saw him and said, 'You also are of them.'

59But Peter said, 'Man, I am not!' Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, 'Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean.'

60But Peter said, 'Man, I do not know what you are saying!'

61Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, 'Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.'

62So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

63Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him.

64And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, 'Prophesy! Who is the one who struck You?'

65And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.

66As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying,

67'If You are the Christ, tell us.'

68But He said to them, 'If I tell you, you will by no means believe. And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go.

69Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.'

70Then they all said, 'Are You then the Son of God?'

71So He said to them, 'You rightly say that I am.' And they said, 'What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.'

1Then the whole multitude of them arose and led Him to Pilate.

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.'