Friday, September 1

1The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because of which He anointed Me. He sent Me to proclaim good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind;

2to declare the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of recompense, and to comfort all who mourn;

3to give those who mourn in Zion glory instead of ashes, the oil of gladness to those who mourn; the garment of glory instead of a spirit of indifference. They shall be called generations of righteousness, the planting of the Lord for glory.

4They shall build the ancient deserts, raise up those formerly abandoned, and renew the desert cities that laid waste for generations.

5Foreigners shall come and shepherd your sheep, and aliens shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

6but you shall be called priests of the Lord and the ministers of God. You shall eat the strength of nations and be admired because of their wealth.

7So they shall inherit the land a second time, and eternal gladness shall be upon their head.

8For I am the Lord, who loves righteousness and hates robberies of wrongdoing. I will give their labor to the righteous and will make with them an everlasting covenant.

9Their seed and their offspring shall be known among the Gentiles. All who see them shall know these are the seed blessed by God;

7But though a righteous man may die before his time, He shall be at rest.

8For old age is not honored for its length of existence, Nor measured by its number of years;

9But discernment is gray hair for mankind, And a spotless life is the maturity of old age.

10There was once a man pleasing to God and loved by Him, And while living among sinners he was taken up.

11He was caught up lest evil change his understanding Or deceit deceive his soul.

12For envy arising from lack of judgment obscures what is good, And a whirling of desire undermines an innocent heart.

13He was made perfect, For in a short time he fulfilled long years,

14For his soul was pleasing to the Lord; Therefore, He took him early from the midst of evil. Yet peoples saw this but did not understand, Nor take such a thing to heart,

15That the Lord's grace and mercy are with His elect And that He watches over His holy ones.

5For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.

6Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things.

7Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?

8I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you.

9And when I was present with you, and in need, I was a burden to no one, for what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. And in everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself.

10As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.

11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows!

12But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.

13For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.

14And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

15Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

16I say again, let no one think me a fool. If otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, that I also may boast a little.

17What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.

18Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast.

19For you put up with fools gladly, since you yourselves are wise!

20For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face.

21To our shame I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold—I speak foolishly—I am bold also.

1Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,

2for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

4who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

5For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

6who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

7for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

12Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;

13bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

14But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

1And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.

2Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:

3'Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.

4And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.

5Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.

6But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.

7And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

8But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.'

9And He said to them, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear!'

16So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

17And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

18'The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

19To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.'

20Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

21And He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'

22So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, 'Is this not Joseph's son?'

27All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

28Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.'