Thursday, May 25

2Now it shall come to pass in the last days, the mountain of the Lord and the house of God shall be visible on the tops of the mountains and exalted above the hills. All the Gentiles shall come to it.

3Many Gentiles shall travel and say, 'Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will proclaim His way to us, and we shall walk in it.' For the law of the Lord shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

10Go through My gates, make a way for My people, throw the stones off the road, and lift up a standard for the Gentiles.'

11For behold, the Lord caused this to be heard to the ends of the earth: 'Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your Savior is come, and has His reward, and His work before His face.' '

12One shall call them a holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and you shall be called a City Sought for and Not Forsaken.

1Who is this who comes from Edom with red garments from Bozrah, so beautiful in His apparel, with force of strength? 'I speak of righteousness and saving judgment.'

2Why are Your garments red and Your apparel as one who treads in a winepress?

3'I am full of the treading of grapes, and there is no man with Me among the nations. I trampled them in My anger, and crushed them like earth, and brought down their blood to the ground.

4For the day of recompense has come upon them, and the year of redemption has arrived.

5I looked, but there was no helper; and I observed, but there was no one to help; therefore, My arm delivered them, and My anger was suddenly present.

6So I trampled them in My wrath and brought their blood down to the ground.'

7I remembered the Lord's mercy, the praises of the Lord in all things in which the Lord recompenses us. The Lord is a good judge to the house of Israel, and He deals with us according to His mercy, and according to the multitude of His righteousness.

8He said, 'Surely My people, My children, have not rejected Me?' So He became their salvation.

9Not an elder or an angel, but the Lord Himself saved them from all their tribulation, because He loved them and spared them. He redeemed and took them up, and lifted them up all the days of old.

1Behold, the days of the Lord come, and your plunder will be divided among you.

2And I shall gather together all the nations to war against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken, the houses plundered, the women defiled, and half of the city will go forth into exile, but the rest of My people shall not be utterly cut off from the city.

3And the Lord will go forth and prepare for battle against those nations, as in the day of His battle array in the day of war.

4And on that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, half towards the east and half towards the sea, a very great divide; and half the mountain shall lean toward the north and half of it toward the south.

5And the valley of my mountains will be blocked up, and the ravine of the mountains will be joined as far as Azal. And it will be blocked up as he had blocked it up in the days of the earthquake, in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah, and the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with Him.

6And in that day, it shall be that there will not be any light, but there shall be cold and frost

7for one day, and that day shall be known to the Lord. It will be neither a day nor a night, but towards evening there will be light.

8And in that day living water shall come forth out of Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea and half toward the western sea. So it will be in both summer and spring.

9And the Lord shall be King of all the earth, and in that day the Lord shall be one Lord, and His name one name,

10encircling all the land, even the wilderness from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Rama shall remain in her place; from Benjamin's Gate to the place of the First Gate; to the Gate of the Corners, and to the Tower of Hananeel, as far as the king's winepresses,

11they will dwell in her, and it will no longer be a curse. Jerusalem shall dwell securely.

9Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.

10She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.

11And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

12After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.

13And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

14Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

15And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

16He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

17And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

18they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.'

19So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

20And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

17And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.

18Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things.

19And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?'

20When the men had come to Him, they said, 'John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?' '

21And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.

22Jesus answered and said to them, 'Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.

23And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.'

24When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: 'What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

25But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts.

26But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.

27This is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.'

28For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.'

29And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.

30But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.

1The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

2until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen,

3to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

4And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which,' He said, 'you have heard from Me;

5for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'

6Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?'

7And He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.

8But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'

9Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

10And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,

11who also said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.'

12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey.

6For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

8We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—

10always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

11For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

12So then death is working in us, but life in you.

13And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, 'I believed and therefore I spoke,' we also believe and therefore speak,

14knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.

15For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

36Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, 'Peace to you.'

37But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.

38And He said to them, 'Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?

39Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.'

40When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.

41But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, 'Have you any food here?'

42So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.

43And He took it and ate in their presence.

44Then He said to them, 'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.'

45And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

46Then He said to them, 'Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,

47and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

48And you are witnesses of these things.

49Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.'

50And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.

51Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.

52And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

53and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.

2And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples

3and said to Him, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?'

4Jesus answered and said to them, 'Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:

5The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

6And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.'

7As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: 'What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

8But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.

9But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.

10For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.'

11'Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

12And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

14And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.

15He who has ears to hear, let him hear!