¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven^(A) say:

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind.^(A) Your enemy the devil prowls around^(B) like a roaring lion^(C) looking for someone to devour.

²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold.^(A)

BOOK I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

¹² “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.^{(A) 13} Everyone will hate you because of me,^(B) but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.^(C)

Blessings and Woes^(A)

¹⁷ He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon,^{(B) 18} who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, ¹⁹ and the people all tried to touch him,^(C) because power was coming from him and healing them all.^(D)

²⁰ Looking at his disciples, he said:

²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,^(K) because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.^(L)

The World Hates the Disciples

¹⁸ “If the world hates you,^(A) keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you^(B) out of the world. That is why the world hates you.^{(C) 20} Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’^[a](D) If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.^(E) If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ They will treat you this way because of my name,^(F) for they do not know the one who sent me.^{(G) 22} If I had not come and spoken to them,^(H) they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.^{(I) 23} Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works no one else did,^(J) they would not be guilty of sin.^(K) As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law:^(L) ‘They hated me without reason.’^[b](M)

The Work of the Holy Spirit

²⁶ “When the Advocate^(N) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father^(O)—the Spirit of truth^(P) who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.^{(Q) 27} And you also must testify,^(R) for you have been with me from the beginning.^(S)

¹¹ Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. ¹² As you enter the home, give it your greeting.^{(A) 13} If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.^{(B) 15} Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah^(C) on the day of judgment^(D) than for that town.^(E)

¹⁶ “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.^(F) Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.^{(G) 17} Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils^(H) and be flogged in the synagogues.^{(I) 18} On my account you will be brought before governors and kings^(J) as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.^(K) At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰ for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father^(L) speaking through you.

²¹ “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents^(M) and have them put to death.^{(N) 22} You will be hated by everyone because of me,^(O) but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.^{(P) 23} When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.^(Q)

²⁴ “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master.^{(R) 25} It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul,^(S) how much more the members of his household!

²⁶ “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.^{(T) 27} What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One^(U) who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.^{[a] 30} And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.^{(V) 31} So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.^(W)

³² “Whoever acknowledges me before others,^(X) I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.^(Y)

³⁴ “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to turn

³⁷ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.^{(AB) 38} Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.^{(AC) 39} Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.^(AD)

⁴⁰ “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me,^(AE) and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.^{(AF) 41} Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴² And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”^(AG)