Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

¹² Then he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. ^13 (A)For Solomon had made a bronze platform, ^[a]five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the courtyard; and he stood on it, ^(B)knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. ¹⁴ He said, “Lord, God of Israel, ^(C)there is no god like You in heaven or on earth, ^(D)keeping ^[b]Your covenant and ^[c]Your faithfulness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart; ^15 (E)You who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You ^[d]promised him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. ¹⁶ Now then, Lord, God of Israel, keep to Your servant David, my father, that which You ^[e]promised him, saying, ‘^[f](F)You shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay attention to their way, to walk in My Law as you have walked before Me.’ ¹⁷ Now then, Lord, God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant David.

¹⁸ “But ^(G)will God really dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, ^(H)heaven and the ^[g]highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built! ¹⁹ Nevertheless, turn Your attention to the prayer of Your servant and to his plea, Lord, my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You; ²⁰ that Your ^(I)eye will be open toward this house day and night, toward ^(J)the place of which You have said that You would put Your name there, to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. ²¹ Listen to the pleadings of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place; hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; ^(K)hear and forgive.

²² “If someone sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house, ²³ then hear from heaven and take action and judge Your servants, ^[h](L)punishing the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by ^[i]repaying him according to his righteousness.

²⁴ “If Your people Israel are ^[j]defeated before an enemy because ^(M)they have sinned against You, and they return to You and praise Your name, and pray and plead before You in this house, ²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You have given to them and to their fathers.

²⁶ “When the ^(N)heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and praise Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them, ²⁷ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel; indeed, ^(O)teach them the good way in which they are to walk. And provide rain on Your land, which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

²⁸ “If there is a ^(P)famine in the land, if there is a plague, if there is blight or mildew, if there is locust or grasshopper, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their ^[k]cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, ²⁹ whatever prayer or plea is made by anyone or by all Your people Israel, ^[l]each knowing his own affliction and his own pain, and spreading his hands toward this house, ³⁰ then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know—^(Q)for You alone know the hearts of the sons of mankind— ³¹ so that they may ^[m]fear You, to walk in Your ways ^[n]as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

³² “Also concerning ^(R)the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country on account of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house, ³³ then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and ^[o]fear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that ^[p]this house which I have built is ^(S)called by Your name.

³⁴ “When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name, ³⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their pleading, and maintain their cause.

³⁶ “When they sin against You (^(T)for there is no one who does not sin), and You are angry with them and turn them over to an enemy, so that ^[q]they take them away captive to a land far off or near, ³⁷ if they ^[r]take it to heart in the land where they are taken captive, and repent and plead to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and have acted wickedly’; ^38 (U)if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name, ³⁹ then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and pleadings, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.

⁴⁰ “Now, my God, please, ^(V)let Your eyes be open and ^(W)Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

⁴¹ “^(X)Now then arise, Lord God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might; let Your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let Your godly ones rejoice in what is good.

⁴² “Lord God, do not turn away the face of Your anointed; ^(Y)remember Your faithfulness to Your servant David.”

Overcoming the World

5 ^(A)Everyone who believes that Jesus is the ^[a]Christ has been ^(B)born of God, and everyone who loves the ^[b]Father ^(C)loves the child born of Him. ^2 (D)By this we know that ^(E)we love the children of God, when we love God and ^[c]follow His commandments. ³ For ^(F)this is the love of God, that we ^(G)keep His commandments; and ^(H)His commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For ^[d]whoever has been ^(I)born of God ^(J)overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.

⁵ Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who ^(K)believes that Jesus is the Son of God? ⁶ This is the One who came ^(L)by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not ^[e]with the water only, but ^[f]with the water and ^[g]with the blood. It is ^(M)the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are ^(N)three that testify: ^8 [h]the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are ^[i]in agreement. ^9 (O)If we receive the testimony of people, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that ^(P)He has testified concerning His Son. ¹⁰ The one who believes in the Son of God ^(Q)has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has ^(R)made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. ¹¹ And the testimony is this, that God has given us ^(S)eternal life, and ^(T)this life is in His Son. ^12 (U)The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

This Is Written That You May Know

^13 (V)These things I have written to you who ^(W)believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have ^(X)eternal life. ¹⁴ This is ^(Y)the confidence which we have ^[j]before Him, that, ^(Z)if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, ^(AA)we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother or sister ^[k]committing a sin not leading to death, ^(AB)he shall ask and ^[l]God will, for him, give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. ^(AC)There is sin leading to death; ^(AD)I am not saying that he should ask about that. ^17 (AE)All unrighteousness is sin, and ^(AF)there is sin not leading to death.

^18 (AG)We know that ^(AH)no one who has been born of God ^[m]sins; but He who was born of God ^(AI)keeps him, and ^(AJ)the evil one does not ^(AK)touch him. ^19 (AL)We know that ^(AM)we are of God, and that ^(AN)the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. ²⁰ And ^(AO)we know that ^(AP)the Son of God has come, and has ^(AQ)given us understanding so that we may know ^(AR)Him who is true; and we ^(AS)are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. ^(AT)This is the true God and ^(AU)eternal life.

^21 (AV)Little children, guard yourselves from ^(AW)idols.

Chaldeans Used to Punish Judah

1 The ^(A)pronouncement which Habakkuk the prophet saw:

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

20 ^(A)On one of the days while ^(B)He was teaching the people in the temple and ^(C)preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ^(D)confronted Him, ² and they declared, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ But He replied to them, “I will also ask you a ^[a]question, and you tell Me: ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵ They discussed among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, since they are convinced that John was a ^(E)prophet.” ⁷ And so they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Vine-growers

^9 (F)But He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to ^[b]vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. ¹⁰ At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ And he proceeded to send another slave; but they beat him also and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he proceeded to send a third; but this one too they wounded and threw out. ¹³ Now the ^[c]owner of the vineyard said, ‘What am I to do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will ^(G)respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the vine-growers saw him, they discussed with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵ And so they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the ^[d]owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and ^(H)put these vine-growers to death, and will give the vineyard to others.” However, when they heard this, they said, “^(I)May it never happen!” ¹⁷ But ^[e]Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what is this statement that has been written:

^18 (L)Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹⁹ The scribes and the chief priests ^(M)tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and yet they feared the people; for they were aware that He had spoken this parable against them. ^20 (N)And so they watched Him ^[g]closely, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order ^(O)that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could hand Him over to the jurisdiction and authority of ^(P)the governor. ²¹ And the spies questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You ^[h]are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God on the basis of truth. ²² Is it ^[i]permissible for us ^(Q)to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ²³ But He saw through their trickery and said to them, ²⁴ “Show Me a ^[j]denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “Then ^(R)pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶ And they were unable to ^(S)catch Him in a statement in the presence of the people; and they were amazed at His answer, and said nothing.

Is There a Resurrection?

^27 (T)Now some of the ^(U)Sadducees (who maintain that there is no resurrection) came to Him, ²⁸ and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(V)if ^[k]a man’s brother dies, ^[l]leaving a wife, and he is childless, that his brother is to ^[m]marry the wife and raise up children ^[n]for his brother. ²⁹ So then, there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless; ³⁰ and the second ³¹ and the third ^[o]married her; and in the same way ^[p]all seven ^[q]died, leaving no children. ³² Finally the woman also died. ³³ Therefore, in the resurrection, ^[r]which one’s wife does the woman become? For ^[s]all seven ^[t]married her.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “The sons of ^(W)this age marry and the women are given in marriage, ³⁵ but those who are considered worthy to attain to ^(X)that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; ³⁶ for they cannot even die anymore, for they are like angels, and are ^(Y)sons of God, being ^[u]sons of the resurrection. ³⁷ But as for the fact that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed this in ^(Z)the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord ^(AA)the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ^38 (AB)Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for ^(AC)all live to Him.” ³⁹ Some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ For ^(AD)they did not have the courage to question Him any longer about anything.

^41 (AE)But He said to them, “How is it that they say the ^[v]Christ is ^(AF)David’s son? ⁴² For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

⁴⁴ Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and so how is He his son?”

^45 (AI)And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes, ^(AJ)who like to walk around in long robes, and love personal greetings in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁷ who ^[w]devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.”