The Rewards of Wisdom

Mattathias and His Sons

2 In those days Mattathias son of John son of Simeon, a priest of the clan of Joarib, moved from Jerusalem and settled in Modein.^{(A) 2} He had five sons: John surnamed Gaddi,^{(B) 3} Simon called Thassi,^{(C) 4} Judas called Maccabeus,^{(D) 5} Eleazar called Avaran, and Jonathan called Apphus.^{(E) 6} He saw the blasphemies being committed in Judah and Jerusalem ⁷ and said,

¹⁴ Then Mattathias and his sons tore their clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned greatly.^(I)

Pagan Worship Refused

¹⁵ The king’s officers who were enforcing the apostasy came to the town of Modein to make them offer sacrifice. ¹⁶ Many from Israel came to them, and Mattathias and his sons were assembled. ¹⁷ Then the king’s officers spoke to Mattathias as follows: “You are a leader, honored and great in this town, and supported by sons and brothers. ¹⁸ Now be the first to come and do what the king commands, as all the nations and the people of Judah and those who are left in Jerusalem have done. Then you and your sons will be numbered among the Friends of the king, and you and your sons will be honored with silver and gold and many gifts.”^(J)

¹⁹ But Mattathias answered and said in a loud voice: “Even if all the nations that live under the rule of the king obey him and have chosen to obey his commandments, every one of them abandoning the religion of their ancestors,^{(K) 20} I and my sons and my brothers will continue to live by the covenant of our ancestors.^{(L) 21} Far be it from us to desert the law and the ordinances. ²² We will not obey the king’s words by turning aside from our religion to the right hand or to the left.”^(M)

Feeding the Five Thousand

¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.^{(A) 15} When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”^{(B) 18} And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.^{(C) 20} And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

²² Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³ And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,^{(D) 24} but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land,^[a] for the wind was against them. ²⁵ And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. ²⁶ But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.^{(E) 27} But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”^(F)

²⁸ Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he noticed the strong wind,^[b] he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”^{(G) 32} When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³ And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”^(H)

Salutation

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God that is in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:^(A)

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.^(B)

Paul’s Thanksgiving after Affliction

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation,^{(C) 4} who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. ⁵ For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ.^{(D) 6} If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. ⁷ Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.

⁸ We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself.^{(E) 9} Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us;^[a] on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again,^{(F) 11} as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many may give thanks on our^[b] behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.^(G)

The Postponement of Paul’s Visit

¹² Indeed, this is our boast, the testimony of our conscience: we have behaved in the world with holiness^[c] and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God—and all the more toward you.^{(H) 13} For we write you nothing other than what you can read and also understand; I hope you will understand until the end— ¹⁴ as you have already understood us in part—that on the day of the Lord Jesus we are your boast even as you are our boast.^(I)

¹⁵ Since I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double favor;^{[d](J) 16} I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judea.^{(K) 17} Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to ordinary human standards,^[e] ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? ¹⁸ As surely as God is faithful, our word to you is not^[f] “Yes and No.” ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not “Yes and No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.”^{(L) 20} For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God.^{(M) 21} But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us,^{(N) 22} who has put his seal on us and given^[g] us his Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.^(O)