⁸ “Keep, then, the entire commandment that I am commanding you today, so that you may have strength to go in and occupy the land that you are crossing over to occupy^{(A) 9} and so that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.^{(B) 10} For the land that you are about to enter to occupy is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sow your seed and irrigate by foot like a vegetable garden. ¹¹ But the land that you are crossing over to occupy is a land of hills and valleys watered by rain from the sky,^{(C) 12} a land that the Lord your God looks after. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

¹³ “If you will only heed his every commandment^[a] that I am commanding you today—loving the Lord your God and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul^(D)— ¹⁴ then he^[b] will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil,^{(E) 15} and he^[c] will give grass in your field for your livestock, and you will eat your fill.^{(F) 16} Take care, or you will be seduced into turning away, serving other gods and worshiping them,^{(G) 17} for then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will not yield its produce; then you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.^(H)

¹⁸ “You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and fix them as an emblem on your forehead.^{(I) 19} Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise up.^{(J) 20} Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,^{(K) 21} so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

5 Once while Jesus^[a] was standing beside the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ² he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.^{(A) 4} When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”^{(B) 5} Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”^{(C) 6} When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst. ⁷ So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”^{(D) 11} When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.^(E)

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

²² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands to heaven.^{(A) 23} He said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love with your servants who walk before you with all their heart,^{(B) 24} the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand. ²⁵ Therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’^{(C) 26} Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed that you promised to your servant my father David.^(D)

²⁷ “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!^{(E) 28} Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today, ²⁹ that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.^{(F) 30} Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; hear and forgive.^(G)

³¹ “If someone sins against a neighbor and is required to take an oath and comes and swears before your altar in this house,^{(H) 32} then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing their conduct on their own heads and vindicating the righteous by rewarding them according to their righteousness.^(I)

³³ “When your people Israel, having sinned against you, are defeated before an enemy but turn again to you, confess your name, pray and plead with you in this house,^{(J) 34} then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land that you gave to their ancestors.

³⁵ “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you and then they pray toward this place, confess your name, and turn from their sin because you punish^[a] them,^{(K) 36} then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain on your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.^(L)

³⁷ “If there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in any^[b] of their cities; whatever suffering, whatever sickness there is;^{(M) 38} whatever prayer, whatever plea there is from any individual or from all your people Israel, all knowing the suffering of their own hearts so that they stretch out their hands toward this house; ³⁹ then hear in heaven your dwelling place, forgive, act, and render to all whose hearts you know—according to all their ways, for only you know the human heart^(N)— ⁴⁰ so that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our ancestors.^(O)

⁴¹ “Likewise when foreigners, who are not of your people Israel, come from a distant land because of your name ⁴² —for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—when foreigners come and pray toward this house,^{(P) 43} then hear in heaven your dwelling place and do whatever the foreigners ask of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.^(Q)

Warning to Rich Oppressors

5 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. ² Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten.^{(A) 3} Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure^[a] during the last days. ⁴ Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.^{(B) 5} You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter.^{(C) 6} You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

⁷ Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.^{(D) 8} You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.^{[b](E) 9} Brothers and sisters, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!^{(F) 10} As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Indeed, we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about, for the Lord is compassionate and merciful.^(G)

¹² Above all, brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.^[c]

The Prayer of Faith

¹³ Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.^{(H) 14} Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.^{(I) 15} The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up, and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.^{(J) 17} Elijah was a human like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.^{(K) 18} Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth yielded its harvest.^(L)