Israel the Lord's Chosen

The Syrophoenician Woman's Faith

²⁴ And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.^[a] And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. ²⁵ But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. ^26 (A)Now the woman was a ^(B)Gentile, ^(C)a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ And he said to her, “Let the children be ^(D)fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and ^(E)throw it to the dogs.” ²⁸ But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's ^(F)crumbs.” ²⁹ And he said to her, “For this statement you may ^(G)go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

^31 (H)Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to ^(I)the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the ^(J)Decapolis. ³² And they brought to him ^(K)a man who was deaf and ^(L)had a speech impediment, and they begged him to ^(M)lay his hand on him. ³³ And ^(N)taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and ^(O)after spitting touched his tongue. ³⁴ And ^(P)looking up to heaven, ^(Q)he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” ^35 (R)And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶ And ^(S)Jesus^[b] charged them to tell no one. But ^(T)the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷ And they were ^(U)astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

8 ^(V)In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, ^2 (W)“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. ³ And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” ⁴ And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” ⁵ And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, ^(X)“Seven.” ⁶ And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and ^(Y)having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. ⁷ And they had a few small fish. And ^(Z)having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. ⁸ And ^(AA)they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, ^(AB)seven baskets full. ⁹ And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. ¹⁰ And immediately he got into ^(AC)the boat with his disciples and went to the district of ^(AD)Dalmanutha.^[c]

Besides Me There Is No God

The Folly of Idolatry

^9 (G)All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. ^10 (H)Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? ^11 (I)Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

^12 (J)The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. ¹³ The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.^[b] He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. ^(K)He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. ^14 (L)He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. ¹⁵ Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. ¹⁶ Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” ¹⁷ And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. ^(M)He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

¹⁸ They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. ¹⁹ No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an ^(N)abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” ^20 (O)He feeds on ^(P)ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not ^(Q)a lie in my right hand?”

The Lord Redeems Israel

Rejoicing in Heaven

19 After this I heard ^(A)what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

³ Once more they cried out,

⁴ And ^(G)the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” ⁵ And from the throne came a voice saying,

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

⁶ Then I heard what seemed to be ^(J)the voice of a great multitude, like ^(K)the roar of many waters and ^(L)like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

for the fine linen is ^(Q)the righteous deeds of the saints.

⁹ And the angel said^[a] to me, “Write this: ^(R)Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, ^(S)“These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰ Then ^(T)I fell down at his feet to worship him, ^(U)but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to ^(V)the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

¹¹ Then I saw ^(W)heaven opened, and behold, ^(X)a white horse! The one sitting on it is called ^(Y)Faithful and True, and ^(Z)in righteousness he judges and makes war. ^12 (AA)His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are ^(AB)many diadems, and he has ^(AC)a name written that no one knows but himself. ¹³ He is clothed in ^(AD)a robe dipped in^[b] blood, and the name by which he is called is ^(AE)The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies of heaven, ^(AF)arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, ^(AG)were following him on white horses. ^15 (AH)From his mouth comes a sharp sword ^(AI)with which to strike down the nations, and ^(AJ)he will rule^[c] them with a rod of iron. ^(AK)He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh ^(AL)he has a name written, ^(AM)King of kings and Lord of lords.

¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to ^(AN)all the birds that fly directly overhead, ^(AO)“Come, gather for ^(AP)the great supper of God, ^18 (AQ)to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,^[d] both small and great.” ¹⁹ And I saw ^(AR)the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies ^(AS)gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. ²⁰ And the beast was captured, and with it ^(AT)the false prophet ^(AU)who in its presence^[e] had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who ^(AV)worshiped its image. These two were ^(AW)thrown alive into the lake of ^(AX)fire that burns with sulfur. ²¹ And the rest were slain by the sword ^(AY)that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and ^(AZ)all the birds were gorged with their flesh.