Institution of the Passover

⁴³ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, ⁴⁴ but every slave^[a] that is ^(A)bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. ^45 (B)No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. ⁴⁶ It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and ^(C)you shall not break any of its bones. ^47 (D)All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ^48 (E)If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he ^(F)shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. ⁴⁹ There shall be ^(G)one law for the native and for the ^(H)stranger who sojourns among you.”

⁵⁰ All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ And on that very day the ^(I)Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their ^(J)hosts.

Consecration of the Firstborn

13 The Lord said to Moses, ^2 (K)“Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

Abner Joins David

3 There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.

^2 (A)And sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, of ^(B)Ahinoam of Jezreel; ³ and his second, Chileab, of ^(C)Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah ^(D)the daughter of Talmai king of ^(E)Geshur; ⁴ and the fourth, ^(F)Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; ⁵ and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron.

⁶ While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. ⁷ Now Saul had a concubine whose name was ^(G)Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, ^(H)“Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?” ⁸ Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I ^(I)a dog's head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman. ^9 (J)God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David ^(K)what the Lord has sworn to him, ¹⁰ to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, ^(L)from Dan to Beersheba.” ¹¹ And Ish-bosheth could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.

¹² And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf,^[a] saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring over all Israel to you.” ¹³ And he said, “Good; I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you; that is, ^(M)you shall not see my face unless you first bring ^(N)Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see my face.” ¹⁴ Then David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, ^(O)for whom I paid the bridal price of a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” ¹⁵ And Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband Paltiel the son of Laish. ¹⁶ But her husband went with her, weeping after her all the way to ^(P)Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go, return.” And he returned.

¹⁷ And Abner conferred with the elders of Israel, saying, “For some time past you have been seeking David as king over you. ¹⁸ Now then bring it about, ^(Q)for the Lord has promised David, saying, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and from the hand of all their enemies.’” ¹⁹ Abner also spoke to ^(R)Benjamin. And then Abner went to tell David at Hebron all that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin thought good to do.

²⁰ When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. ²¹ And Abner said to David, “I will arise and go and ^(S)will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may ^(T)reign over all that your heart desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

The Potter and the Clay

18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Arise, and go down to ^(A)the potter's house, and there I will let you hear^[a] my words.” ³ So I went down to ^(B)the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴ And the vessel he was making of clay was ^(C)spoiled in the potter's hand, and ^(D)he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶ “O house of Israel, ^(E)can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. ^(F)Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will ^(G)pluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸ and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, ^(H)turns from its evil, ^(I)I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. ⁹ And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will ^(J)build and plant it, ¹⁰ and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. ¹¹ Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. ^(K)Return, every one from his evil way, and ^(L)amend your ways and your deeds.’

¹² “But they say, ^(M)‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to ^(N)the stubbornness of his evil heart.’

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

^[a] Of David, when he ^(A)changed his behavior before ^(B)Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

^30 (A)And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? ³¹ It is like ^(B)a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³² yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

^33 (C)With many such parables he spoke ^(D)the word to them, ^(E)as they were able to hear it. ³⁴ He did not speak to them ^(F)without a parable, but ^(G)privately to his own disciples he ^(H)explained everything.

Jesus Calms a Storm

^35 (I)On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves ^(J)were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸ But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ And he awoke and ^(K)rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and ^(L)there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ He said to them, “Why are you ^(M)so afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹ And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ^(N)“Who then is this, that even ^(O)the wind and the sea obey him?”

Test the Spirits

4 Beloved, ^(A)do not believe every spirit, but ^(B)test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ^(C)many ^(D)false prophets ^(E)have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(F)every spirit that confesses that ^(G)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit ^(H)that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and ^(I)now is in the world already. ⁴ Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for ^(J)he who is in you is greater than ^(K)he who is in the world. ^5 (L)They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and ^(M)the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God. ^(N)Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^(O)the Spirit of truth and ^(P)the spirit of error.