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

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

^35 (A)And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and ^(B)there he prayed. ³⁶ And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, ³⁷ and they found him and said to him, ^(C)“Everyone is looking for you.” ³⁸ And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for ^(D)that is why I came out.” ^39 (E)And ^(F)he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

^40 (G)And a leper^[a] came to him, imploring him, and ^(H)kneeling said to him, ^(I)“If you will, you can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” ⁴² And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. ⁴³ And ^(J)Jesus^[b] sternly charged him and sent him away at once, ⁴⁴ and said to him, ^(K)“See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, ^(L)show yourself to the priest and ^(M)offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, ^(N)for a proof to them.” ^45 (O)But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter ^(P)a town, but was out in ^(Q)desolate places, and ^(R)people were coming to him from every quarter.

⁴³ After ^(A)the two days he departed for Galilee. ⁴⁴ (For Jesus himself had testified ^(B)that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) ⁴⁵ So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, ^(C)having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For ^(D)they too had gone to the feast.

Jesus Heals an Official's Son

⁴⁶ So he came again to ^(E)Cana in Galilee, ^(F)where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus ^(G)had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, ^(H)“Unless you^[a] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The official said to him, “Sir, come down ^(I)before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. ⁵¹ As he was going down, his servants^[b] met him and told him that his son was recovering. ⁵² So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour^[c] the fever left him.” ⁵³ The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, ^(J)and all his household. ^54 (K)This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath

5 After this there was a ^(L)feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

² Now there is in Jerusalem by ^(M)the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic^[d] called Bethesda,^[e] which has five roofed colonnades. ³ In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and ^(N)paralyzed.^{[f] 5} One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ⁷ The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” ⁸ Jesus said to him, ^(O)“Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” ^9 (P)And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

^(Q)Now that day was the Sabbath.