The Transfiguration

17 ^(A)And after six days Jesus took with him ^(B)Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ² And he was ^(C)transfigured before them, and ^(D)his face shone like the sun, and ^(E)his clothes became white as light. ³ And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. ⁴ And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for ^(F)Elijah.” ⁵ He was still speaking when, behold, ^(G)a bright cloud overshadowed them, and ^(H)a voice from the cloud said, ^(I)“This is my beloved Son,^[a] with whom I am well pleased; ^(J)listen to him.” ⁶ When ^(K)the disciples heard this, ^(L)they fell on their faces and were terrified. ⁷ But Jesus came and ^(M)touched them, saying, “Rise, and ^(N)have no fear.” ⁸ And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

^9 (O)And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, ^(P)“Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” ¹⁰ And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say ^(Q)that first Elijah must come?” ¹¹ He answered, “Elijah does come, and ^(R)he will restore all things. ¹² But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but ^(S)did to him whatever they pleased. ^(T)So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” ^13 (U)Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon

^14 (V)And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, ¹⁵ said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has ^(W)seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. ¹⁶ And I brought him to your disciples, and ^(X)they could not heal him.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered, “O faithless and ^(Y)twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? ^(Z)How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” ¹⁸ And Jesus ^(AA)rebuked the demon,^[b] and it^[c] came out of him, and ^(AB)the boy was healed instantly.^{[d] 19} Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁰ He said to them, ^(AC)“Because of your little faith. For ^(AD)truly, I say to you, ^(AE)if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, ^(AF)you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and ^(AG)nothing will be impossible for you.”^[e]

Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection

^22 (AH)As they were gathering^[f] in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, ²³ and they will kill him, and he will be raised on ^(AI)the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.

The Temple Tax

^24 (AJ)When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of ^(AK)the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” ²⁵ He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, ^(AL)“What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or ^(AM)tax? From their sons or from others?” ²⁶ And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. ²⁷ However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel.^[g] Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”

Who Is the Greatest?

18 ^(AN)At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them ³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you ^(AO)turn and ^(AP)become like children, you ^(AQ)will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ^4 (AR)Whoever humbles himself like this child is the ^(AS)greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

^5 (AT)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ⁶ but ^(AU)whoever causes one of these ^(AV)little ones who believe in me to sin,^[h] it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Temptations to Sin

⁷ “Woe to the world for ^(AW)temptations to sin!^{[i] (AX)}For it is necessary that temptations come, ^(AY)but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! ^8 (AZ)And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into ^(BA)the eternal fire. ^9 (BB)And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the ^(BC)hell^[j] of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise ^(BD)one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven ^(BE)their angels always ^(BF)see the face of my Father who is in heaven.^{[k] 12 (BG)}What do you think? ^(BH)If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ¹⁴ So ^(BI)it is not the will of my^[l] Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

If Your Brother Sins Against You

^15 (BJ)“If your brother sins against you, ^(BK)go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have ^(BL)gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established ^(BM)by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, ^(BN)tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^(BO)let him be to you as ^(BP)a Gentile and ^(BQ)a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, ^(BR)whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[m] in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, if two of you ^(BS)agree on earth about anything they ask, ^(BT)it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are ^(BU)gathered in my name, ^(BV)there am I among them.”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often ^(BW)will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? ^(BX)As many as seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

²³ “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished ^(BY)to settle accounts with his servants.^{[n] 24} When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ^(BZ)ten thousand ^(CA)talents.^{[o] 25 (CB)}And since he could not pay, his master ordered him ^(CC)to be sold, with his wife and ^(CD)children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the servant^{[p] (CE)}fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and ^(CF)forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred ^(CG)denarii,^[q] and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. ³² Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ^33 (CH)And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ ^34 (CI)And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,^{[r] (CJ)}until he should pay all his debt. ^35 (CK)So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother ^(CL)from your heart.”

Famine, Sword, and Death

16 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. ³ For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land: ^4 (A)They shall die of deadly diseases. ^(B)They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. ^(C)They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. ^(D)They shall perish by the sword and by famine, ^(E)and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

⁵ “For thus says the Lord: ^(F)Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy, declares the Lord. ⁶ Both great and small shall die in this land. ^(G)They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or ^(H)cut himself ^(I)or make himself bald for them. ⁷ No one shall ^(J)break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother. ⁸ You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. ⁹ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(K)Behold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

¹⁰ “And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ^(L)‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ ¹¹ then you shall say to them: ^(M)‘Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the Lord, and ^(N)have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, ¹² and because ^(O)you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, ^(P)every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. ¹³ Therefore ^(Q)I will hurl you out of this land into ^(R)a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, ^(S)and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’

The Lord Will Restore Israel

^14 (T)“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, ^(U)‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ ¹⁵ but ^(V)‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel ^(W)out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For ^(X)I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.

¹⁶ “Behold, ^(Y)I am sending for many fishers, declares the Lord, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out ^(Z)of the clefts of the rocks. ¹⁷ For ^(AA)my eyes are on all their ways. ^(AB)They are not hidden from me, ^(AC)nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. ¹⁸ But first ^(AD)I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and ^(AE)have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”

²¹ “Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that ^(AK)my name is the Lord.”

The Sin of Judah

17 “The sin of Judah is written with ^(AL)a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on ^(AM)the tablet of their heart, and on ^(AN)the horns of their altars, ² while ^(AO)their children remember their altars and their ^(AP)Asherim, ^(AQ)beside every green tree and on the high hills, ^3 (AR)on the mountains in the open country. ^(AS)Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. ⁴ You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, ^(AT)and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, ^(AU)for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance

Keep the Sabbath Holy

¹⁹ Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which ^(BX)the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, ²⁰ and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, ^(BY)you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. ²¹ Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and ^(BZ)do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. ²² And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath ^(CA)or do any work, but ^(CB)keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. ²³ Yet ^(CC)they did not listen or incline their ear, ^(CD)but stiffened their neck, that they ^(CE)might not hear and receive instruction.

²⁴ “‘But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and ^(CF)bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but ^(CG)keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, ²⁵ then ^(CH)there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. ²⁶ And people shall come from ^(CI)the cities of Judah ^(CJ)and the places around Jerusalem, ^(CK)from the land of Benjamin, ^(CL)from the Shephelah, from the hill country, ^(CM)and from ^(CN)the Negeb, bringing ^(CO)burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and ^(CP)bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. ²⁷ But if you do not listen to me, to ^(CQ)keep the Sabbath day holy, ^(CR)and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will ^(CS)kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall ^(CT)devour the palaces of Jerusalem and ^(CU)shall not be quenched.’”

Job Continues: A Plea to God