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Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. ¹¹He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. ¹²And he dreamed that there was a ladder^* set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³And the Lord stood beside him^* and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; ¹⁴and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed^* in you and in your offspring. ¹⁵Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ ¹⁶Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ ¹⁷And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’

¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
   and his kingdom rules over all.
²⁰ Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
   you mighty ones who do his bidding,
   obedient to his spoken word.
²¹ Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
   his ministers that do his will.
²² Bless the Lord, all his works,
   in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Michael Defeats the Dragon

7 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,
‘Now have come the salvation and the power
   and the kingdom of our God
   and the authority of his Messiah,^*
for the accuser of our comrades^* has been thrown down,
   who accuses them day and night before our God.
¹¹ But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
   and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
¹² Rejoice then, you heavens
   and those who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
   for the devil has come down to you
with great wrath,
   because he knows that his time is short!’

The Son Is Superior to Angels

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
‘You are my Son;
   today I have begotten you’?
Or again,
‘I will be his Father,
   and he will be my Son’?
⁶And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’
⁷Of the angels he says,
‘He makes his angels winds,
   and his servants flames of fire.’
⁸But of the Son he says,
‘Your throne, O God, is^* for ever and ever,
   and the righteous sceptre is the sceptre of your^* kingdom.
⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
   with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.’
¹⁰And,
‘In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth,
   and the heavens are the work of your hands;
¹¹ they will perish, but you remain;
   they will all wear out like clothing;
¹² like a cloak you will roll them up,
   and like clothing^* they will be changed.
But you are the same,
   and your years will never end.’
¹³But to which of the angels has he ever said,
‘Sit at my right hand
   until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’?
¹⁴Are not all angels^* spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ ⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ ⁴⁹Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ ⁵⁰Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ ⁵¹And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you,^* you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’

THE LETTER OF PAUL TO THE

Philippians

Salutation

1Paul and Timothy, servants^* of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops^* and deacons:^*

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians

3 I thank my God every time I remember you, ⁴constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, ⁵because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart,^* for all of you share in God’s grace^* with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. ⁹And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight ¹⁰to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Paul’s Present Circumstances

12 I want you to know, beloved,^* that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, ¹³so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard^* and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ; ¹⁴and most of the brothers and sisters,^* having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word^* with greater boldness and without fear.

15 Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. ¹⁶These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defence of the gospel; ¹⁷the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. ¹⁸What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice.

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,