7 Then the Lord said to Noah, ^(A)“Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that ^(B)you are righteous before me in this generation. ² Take with you seven pairs of all ^(C)clean animals,^[a] the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, ³ and seven pairs^[b] of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For in seven days ^(D)I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, ^(E)and every living thing^[c] that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” ^5 (F)And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. ⁷ And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸ Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹ two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

Joshua Renews the Covenant

³⁰ At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(A)on Mount Ebal, ³¹ just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. ³² And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on ^(B)the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. ³³ And all Israel, ^(C)sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests ^(D)who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, ^(E)just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. ³⁴ And afterward ^(F)he read all the words of the law, ^(G)the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. ³⁵ There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, ^(H)and the women, and the little ones, and ^(I)the sojourners who lived^[a] among them.

The Sign of Immanuel

¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: ¹¹ “Ask ^(A)a sign of the Lord your^[a] God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” ¹³ And he^[b] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you ^(B)weary my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the ^(C)Lord himself will give you a sign. ^(D)Behold, the ^(E)virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name ^(F)Immanuel.^{[c] 15} He shall eat ^(G)curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ^16 (H)For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ^(I)deserted. ^17 (J)The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that ^(K)Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will ^(L)whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and ^(M)in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.^[d]

²⁰ In that day ^(N)the Lord will ^(O)shave with a razor that is ^(P)hired beyond ^(Q)the River^[e]—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

^21 (R)In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, ²² and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat ^(S)curds and honey.

²³ In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels^[f] of silver, will become ^(T)briers and thorns. ^24 (U)With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. ^25 (V)And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear ^(W)of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

The Sermon on the Mount

5 Seeing the crowds, ^(A)he went up on the mountain, and when he ^(B)sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

² And ^(C)he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

^3 (D)“Blessed are ^(E)the poor in spirit, for ^(F)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are ^(G)those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the ^(H)meek, for they ^(I)shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and ^(J)thirst ^(K)for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are ^(L)the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are ^(M)the pure in heart, for ^(N)they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are ^(O)the peacemakers, for ^(P)they shall be called ^(Q)sons^[a] of God.

^10 (R)“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for ^(S)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

^11 (T)“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely ^(U)on my account. ^12 (V)Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for ^(W)so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Peter and John Before the Council

4 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and ^(A)the captain of the temple and ^(B)the Sadducees came upon them, ² greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming ^(C)in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. ³ And they arrested them and ^(D)put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. ⁴ But many of those who had heard the word believed, and ^(E)the number of the men came to about five thousand.

⁵ On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, ⁶ with ^(F)Annas the high priest and ^(G)Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. ⁷ And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, ^(H)“By what power or ^(I)by what name did you do this?” ⁸ Then Peter, ^(J)filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, ⁹ if we are being examined today ^(K)concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, ¹⁰ let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that ^(L)by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, ^(M)whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.