Psalm 48:1

New International Version

⁹Within your temple, O God,
    we meditate^(A) on your unfailing love.^(B)
¹⁰Like your name,^(C) O God,
    your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;^(D)
    your right hand is filled with righteousness.

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Jeremiah 23:16-29

New International Version

¹⁶This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Do not listen^(A) to what the prophets are prophesying to you;
    they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions^(B) from their own minds,
    not from the mouth^(C) of the Lord.
¹⁷They keep saying^(D) to those who despise me,
    ‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’^(E)
And to all who follow the stubbornness^(F) of their hearts
    they say, ‘No harm^(G) will come to you.’
¹⁸But which of them has stood in the council^(H) of the Lord
    to see or to hear his word?
    Who has listened and heard his word?
¹⁹See, the storm^(I) of the Lord
    will burst out in wrath,
a whirlwind^(J) swirling down
    on the heads of the wicked.
²⁰The anger^(K) of the Lord will not turn back^(L)
    until he fully accomplishes
    the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
    you will understand it clearly.
²¹I did not send^(M) these prophets,
    yet they have run with their message;
I did not speak to them,
    yet they have prophesied.
²²But if they had stood in my council,^(N)
    they would have proclaimed^(O) my words to my people
and would have turned^(P) them from their evil ways
    and from their evil deeds.^(Q)

²³“Am I only a God nearby,^(R)”
declares the Lord,
    “and not a God far away?
²⁴Who can hide^(S) in secret places
    so that I cannot see them?”
declares the Lord.
    “Do not I fill heaven and earth?”^(T)
declares the Lord.

²⁵“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies^(U) in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream!^(V) I had a dream!’ ²⁶How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions^(W) of their own minds?^(X) ²⁷They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget^(Y) my name, just as their ancestors forgot^(Z) my name through Baal worship.^(AA) ²⁸Let the prophet who has a dream^(AB) recount the dream, but let the one who has my word^(AC) speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. ²⁹“Is not my word like fire,”^(AD) declares the Lord, “and like a hammer^(AE) that breaks a rock in pieces?

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Psalm 26

New International Version

Psalm 26

Of David.

¹Vindicate me,^(A) Lord,
    for I have led a blameless life;^(B)
I have trusted^(C) in the Lord
    and have not faltered.^(D)
²Test me,^(E) Lord, and try me,
    examine my heart and my mind;^(F)
³for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love^(G)
    and have lived^(H) in reliance on your faithfulness.^(I)

⁴I do not sit^(J) with the deceitful,
    nor do I associate with hypocrites.^(K)
⁵I abhor^(L) the assembly of evildoers
    and refuse to sit with the wicked.
⁶I wash my hands in innocence,^(M)
    and go about your altar, Lord,
⁷proclaiming aloud your praise^(N)
    and telling of all your wonderful deeds.^(O)

⁸Lord, I love^(P) the house where you live,
    the place where your glory dwells.^(Q)
⁹Do not take away my soul along with sinners,
    my life with those who are bloodthirsty,^(R)
¹⁰in whose hands are wicked schemes,^(S)
    whose right hands are full of bribes.^(T)
¹¹I lead a blameless life;
    deliver me^(U) and be merciful to me.

¹²My feet stand on level ground;^(V)
in the great congregation^(W) I will praise the Lord.

Acts 20:27-38

New International Version

²⁷For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.^(A) ²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock^(B) of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.^(C) Be shepherds of the church of God,^[a]^(D) which he bought^(E) with his own blood.^[b]^(F) ²⁹I know that after I leave, savage wolves^(G) will come in among you and will not spare the flock.^(H) ³⁰Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples^(I) after them. ³¹So be on your guard! Remember that for three years^(J) I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.^(K)

³²“Now I commit you to God^(L) and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance^(M) among all those who are sanctified.^(N) ³³I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.^(O) ³⁴You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.^(P) ³⁵In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

³⁶When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.^(Q) ³⁷They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him.^(R) ³⁸What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again.^(S) Then they accompanied him to the ship.^(T)

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Footnotes

Acts 20:28 Many manuscripts of the Lord
Acts 20:28 Or with the blood of his own Son

Romans 8:12-17

New International Version

¹²Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.^(A) ¹³For if you live according to the flesh, you will die;^(B) but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,^(C) you will live.^(D)

¹⁴For those who are led by the Spirit of God^(E) are the children of God.^(F) ¹⁵The Spirit^(G) you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again;^(H) rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.^[a] And by him we cry, “Abba,^[b] Father.”^(I) ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit^(J) that we are God’s children.^(K) ¹⁷Now if we are children, then we are heirs^(L)—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings^(M) in order that we may also share in his glory.^(N)

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Footnotes

Romans 8:15 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture; also in verse 23.
Romans 8:15 Aramaic for father

Matthew 7:15-23

New International Version

True and False Prophets

¹⁵“Watch out for false prophets.^(A) They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.^(B) ¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them.^(C) Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?^(D) ¹⁷Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.^(E) ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.^(F) ²⁰Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

True and False Disciples

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’^(G) will enter the kingdom of heaven,^(H) but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.^(I) ²²Many will say to me on that day,^(J) ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’^(K) ²³Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’^(L)