Isaiah 1:10-20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!(A)
11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls
or of lambs or of goats.(B)
12 When you come to appear before me,[a]
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more!(C)
13 Bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and calling of convocation—
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.(D)
14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.(E)
15 When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.(F)
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove your evil deeds
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil;(G)
17 learn to do good;
seek justice;
rescue the oppressed;
defend the orphan;
plead for the widow.(H)
18 Come now, let us argue it out,
says the Lord:
If your sins are like scarlet,
will they become like snow?
If they are red like crimson,
will they become like wool?(I)
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land,(J)
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured by the sword,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(K)
Footnotes
- 1.12 Or see my face
1 Thessalonians 1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Salutation
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
The Thessalonians’ Faith and Example
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly(A) 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake.(B) 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy from the Holy Spirit,(C) 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it.(D) 9 For they report about us what kind of welcome we had among you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God(E) 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.(F)
Read full chapter
Luke 20:1-8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
20 One day as he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders(A) 2 and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?”(B) 3 He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: 4 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” 5 They discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”(C) 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Read full chapterNew Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.