Bible Browser

Judgement on Israel’s Enemies

2Gather together, gather,
   O shameless nation,
² before you are driven away
   like the drifting chaff,^*
before there comes upon you
   the fierce anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you
   the day of the Lord’s wrath.
³ Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
   who do his commands;
seek righteousness, seek humility;
   perhaps you may be hidden
   on the day of the Lord’s wrath.
⁴ For Gaza shall be deserted,
   and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
   and Ekron shall be uprooted.

⁵ Ah, inhabitants of the sea coast,
   you nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
   O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
   and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
⁶ And you, O sea coast, shall be pastures,
   meadows for shepherds
   and folds for flocks.
⁷ The sea coast shall become the possession
   of the remnant of the house of Judah,
   on which they shall pasture,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
   they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will be mindful of them
   and restore their fortunes.

⁸ I have heard the taunts of Moab
   and the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
   and made boasts against their territory.
⁹ Therefore, as I live, says the Lord of hosts,
   the God of Israel,
Moab shall become like Sodom
   and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt-pits,
   and a waste for ever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
   and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.
¹⁰ This shall be their lot in return for their pride,
   because they scoffed and boasted
   against the people of the Lord of hosts.
¹¹ The Lord will be terrible against them;
   he will shrivel all the gods of the earth,
and to him shall bow down,
   each in its place,
   all the coasts and islands of the nations.

¹² You also, O Ethiopians,^*
   shall be killed by my sword.

¹³ And he will stretch out his hand against the north,
   and destroy Assyria;
and he will make Nineveh a desolation,
   a dry waste like the desert.
¹⁴ Herds shall lie down in it,
   every wild animal;^*
the desert-owl^* and the screech-owl^*
   shall lodge on its capitals;
the owl^* shall hoot at the window,
   the raven^* croak on the threshold;
   for its cedar-work will be laid bare.
¹⁵ Is this the exultant city
   that lived secure,
that said to itself,
   ‘I am, and there is no one else’?
What a desolation it has become,
   a lair for wild animals!
Everyone who passes by it
   hisses and shakes the fist.

Psalm 131

Song of Quiet Trust

A Song of Ascents. Of David.
¹ O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
   my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
   too great and too marvellous for me.
² But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
   like a weaned child with its mother;
   my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.^*

³ O Israel, hope in the Lord
   from this time on and for evermore.

9¹And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with^* power.’

The Transfiguration

2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one^* on earth could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. ⁵Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings,^* one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ ⁶He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved;^* listen to him!’ ⁸Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

The Coming of Elijah

9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. ¹⁰So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. ¹¹Then they asked him, ‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ ¹²He said to them, ‘Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? ¹³But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.’

The Healing of a Boy with a Spirit

14 When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. ¹⁶He asked them, ‘What are you arguing about with them?’ ¹⁷Someone from the crowd answered him, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; ¹⁸and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.’ ¹⁹He answered them, ‘You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.’ ²⁰And they brought the boy^* to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it threw the boy^* into convulsions, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. ²¹Jesus^* asked the father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. ²²It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.’ ²³Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ ²⁴Immediately the father of the child cried out,^* ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’ ²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You spirit that keep this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!’ ²⁶After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, ‘He is dead.’ ²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. ²⁸When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ ²⁹He said to them, ‘This kind can come out only through prayer.’^*

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.’

Another Exorcist

38 John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone^* casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ ³⁹But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. ⁴⁰Whoever is not against us is for us. ⁴¹For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

Temptations to Sin

42 ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me,^* it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. ⁴³If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell,^* to the unquenchable fire.^{* 45}And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.^{*,* 47}And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,^{* 48}where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

49 ‘For everyone will be salted with fire.^{* 50}Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?^* Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’