Bible Browser

Duties towards God

2My child, when you come to serve the Lord,
   prepare yourself for testing.^*
2 Set your heart right and be steadfast,
   and do not be impetuous in time of calamity.
³ Cling to him and do not depart,
   so that your last days may be prosperous.
⁴ Accept whatever befalls you,
   and in times of humiliation be patient.
⁵ For gold is tested in the fire,
   and those found acceptable, in the furnace of humiliation.^*
6 Trust in him, and he will help you;
   make your ways straight, and hope in him.

⁷ You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy;
   do not stray, or else you may fall.
⁸ You who fear the Lord, trust in him,
   and your reward will not be lost.
⁹ You who fear the Lord, hope for good things,
   for lasting joy and mercy.^*
10 Consider the generations of old and see:
   has anyone trusted in the Lord and been disappointed?
Or has anyone persevered in the fear of the Lord^* and been forsaken?
   Or has anyone called upon him and been neglected?
¹¹ For the Lord is compassionate and merciful;
   he forgives sins and saves in time of distress.

Trial and Temptation

12 Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord^* has promised to those who love him. ¹³No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; ¹⁵then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. ¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved.^*

17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.^{* 18}In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

3  Trust in the Lord and be doing good; ♦︎
   dwell in the land and be nourished with truth.
4  Let your delight be in the Lord ♦︎
   and he will give you your heart’s desire.
5  Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, ♦︎
   and he will bring it to pass.
6  He will make your righteousness as clear as the light ♦︎
   and your just dealing as the noonday.
27  Depart from evil and do good ♦︎
   and you shall abide for ever.
28  For the Lord loves the thing that is right ♦︎
   and will not forsake his faithful ones.

¹² Happy are those whom you discipline, O Lord,
   and whom you teach out of your law,
¹³ giving them respite from days of trouble,
   until a pit is dug for the wicked.
¹⁴ For the Lord will not forsake his people;
   he will not abandon his heritage;
¹⁵ for justice will return to the righteous,
   and all the upright in heart will follow it.

¹⁶ Who rises up for me against the wicked?
   Who stands up for me against evildoers?
¹⁷ If the Lord had not been my help,
   my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
¹⁸ When I thought, ‘My foot is slipping’,
   your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death and Resurrection

30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; ³¹for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ ³²But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Who Is the Greatest?

33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ ³⁴But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. ³⁵He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ ³⁶Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’