Tuesday, April 25

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.

1After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.

2Then He said to them, 'The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

3Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.

4Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.

5But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'

6And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.

7And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.

8Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.

9And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'

10But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say,

11'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'

12But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.

13'Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

14But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.

15And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.

1Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them,

2being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

3And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

4However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

5And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes,

6as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.

7And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, 'By what power or by what name have you done this?'

8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:

9If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well,

10let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.

6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

7casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

9Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

10But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

11To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

12By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.

13She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son.

14Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18'He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.'

7And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.

8He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts—

9but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.

10Also He said to them, 'In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place.

11And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!'

12So they went out and preached that people should repent.

13And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.