Friday, December 31

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.

15To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.

16They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

1But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine:

2that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience;

3the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—

4that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

5to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

6Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded,

7in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility,

8sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

9Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back,

10not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.

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.'

1Then He began to speak to them in parables: 'A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.

2Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.

3And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

4Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.

5And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.

6Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

7But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'

8So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.

9'Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.

10Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.

11This was the Lord's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'? '

12And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.