The Essence of the Law

¹² “And now, Israel, ^(A)what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to ^(B)love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today ^(C)for your ^[a]good? ¹⁴ Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the ^(D)Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. ¹⁵ The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their ^[b]descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. ¹⁶ Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your ^(E)heart, and be ^(F)stiff-necked^[c] no longer. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is ^(G)God of gods and ^(H)Lord of lords, the great God, ^(I)mighty and awesome, who ^(J)shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. ^18 (K)He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹ Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. ^20 (L)You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name. ²¹ He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. ²² Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude.

Listen to the Teaching of God

Woe to Jerusalem

The Blindness of Disobedience

¹¹ The whole vision has become to you like the words of a ^[e]book ^(R)that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.”

^(S)And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”

¹² Then the book is delivered to one who ^[f]is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.”

And he says, “I am not literate.”

¹³ Therefore the Lord said:

Order in Church Meetings

²⁶ How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, ^(A)has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. ^(B)Let all things be done for ^[a]edification. ²⁷ If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. ²⁸ But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and ^(C)let the others judge. ³⁰ But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, ^(D)let the first keep silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. ³² And ^(E)the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. ³³ For God is not the author of ^[b]confusion but of peace, ^(F)as in all the churches of the saints.

^34 (G)Let ^[c]your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the ^(H)law also says. ³⁵ And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

³⁶ Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached? ^37 (I)If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. ³⁸ But ^[d]if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

³⁹ Therefore, brethren, ^(J)desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. ^40 (K)Let all things be done decently and in order.

Who Is the Greatest?^(A)

18 At ^(B)that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² Then Jesus called a little ^(C)child to Him, set him in the midst of them, ³ and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, ^(D)unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. ^4 (E)Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ^5 (F)Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.

Jesus Warns of Offenses^(G)

^6 (H)“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. ⁷ Woe to the world because of ^[a]offenses! For ^(I)offenses must come, but ^(J)woe to that man by whom the offense comes!

^8 (K)“If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. ⁹ And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into ^[b]hell fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep^(L)

¹⁰ “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven ^(M)their angels always ^(N)see the face of My Father who is in heaven. ^11 (O)For^[c] the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

^12 (P)“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? ¹³ And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. ¹⁴ Even so it is not the ^(Q)will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Dealing with a Sinning Brother

¹⁵ “Moreover ^(R)if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, ^(S)you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ^(T)‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ ¹⁷ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a ^(U)heathen and a tax collector.

¹⁸ “Assuredly, I say to you, ^(V)whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

^19 (W)“Again^[d] I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, ^(X)it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.