Jeremiah 17:5-14

New American Standard Bible

⁵This is what the Lord says:
“^(A)Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes ^(B)flesh his ^[a]strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
⁶For he will be like a ^(C)bush in the desert,
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A ^(D)land of salt that is not inhabited.
⁷^(E)Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose ^(F)trust is the Lord.
⁸For he will be like a ^(G)tree planted by the water
That extends its roots by a stream,
And does not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of ^(H)drought,
Nor cease to yield fruit.

⁹“The ^(I)heart is more ^(J)deceitful than all else
And is desperately ^(K)sick;
Who can understand it?
¹⁰I, the Lord, ^(L)search the heart,
I test the ^[b]mind,
^(M)To give to each person according to his ways,
According to the ^[c]results of his deeds.
¹¹As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid,
So is a person who ^(N)makes a fortune, but unjustly;
In the middle of his days it will abandon him,
And in ^[d]the end he will be a ^(O)fool.”

¹²^(P)A glorious throne on high from the beginning
Is the place of our sanctuary.
¹³Lord, the ^(Q)hope of Israel,
All who ^(R)abandon You will be put to shame.
Those who turn ^[e]away on earth will be ^(S)written down,
Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, that is the Lord.
¹⁴^(T)Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;
^(U)Save me and I will be saved,
For You are my ^(V)praise.

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 17:5 Lit arm
Jeremiah 17:10 Lit kidneys
Jeremiah 17:10 Lit fruit
Jeremiah 17:11 Lit his
Jeremiah 17:13 Lit away from Me

Ezra 1:1-8

New American Standard Bible

Cyrus’ Proclamation

1 ^(A)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he ^(B)sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:

²“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and ^(C)He has appointed me to rebuild for Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! ^[a]Go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel; ^(D)He is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴And every survivor, at whatever place he may ^[b]live, the people of ^[c]that place are to support him with silver and gold, with equipment and cattle, together with a ^[d]voluntary offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

Holy Vessels Restored

⁵Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites rose up, ^(E)everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. ⁶And all of those around them ^[e]^(F)encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with equipment, cattle, and with valuables, aside from everything that was given as a ^[f]voluntary offering. ⁷^(G)Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, ^(H)which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; ⁸and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to ^(I)Sheshbazzar, the leader of Judah.

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Footnotes

Ezra 1:3 Lit he is to go up
Ezra 1:4 Or reside as a stranger
Ezra 1:4 Lit his
Ezra 1:4 Or freewill offering
Ezra 1:6 Lit strengthened their hands
Ezra 1:6 Or freewill offering

Matthew 6:1-18

New American Standard Bible

Charitable Giving to the Poor and Prayer

6 “Take care not to practice your righteousness in the sight of people, ^(A)to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

²“So when you ^[a]give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they ^(B)will be praised by people. ^(C)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ³But when you ^[b]give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your charitable giving will be in secret; and ^(D)your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁵“And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to ^(E)stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners ^(F)so that they ^[c]will be seen by people. ^(G)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ⁶But as for you, when you pray, ^(H)go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and ^(I)your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁷“And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their ^(J)many words. ⁸So do not be like them; for ^(K)your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

The Lord’s Prayer

⁹“^(L)Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
^[d]Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰^[e]^(M)Your kingdom come.
^(N)Your will be done,
^[f]On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹^(O)Give us this day ^[g]our daily bread.
¹²And ^(P)forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³And do not lead us into temptation, but ^(Q)deliver us from ^[h]^(R)evil.^[i]’

¹⁴^(S)For if you forgive other people for their ^[j]offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵But ^(T)if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your ^[k]offenses.

Fasting; The True Treasure; Wealth

¹⁶“Now ^(U)whenever you fast, do not make a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they ^[l]distort their faces so that they will be noticed by people when they are fasting. ^(V)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ¹⁷But as for you, when you fast, ^[m]^(W)anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret; and your ^(X)Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

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Footnotes

Matthew 6:2 Lit make a charitable gift
Matthew 6:3 Lit make a charitable gift
Matthew 6:5 Lit may show themselves to
Matthew 6:9 I.e., treated as sacred or holy
Matthew 6:10 Or May Your...come
Matthew 6:10 Lit as in heaven, also on earth
Matthew 6:11 Or our bread for tomorrow
Matthew 6:13 Or the evil one
Matthew 6:13 Late mss add For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen
Matthew 6:14 Or wrongdoings
Matthew 6:15 Or wrongdoings
Matthew 6:16 I.e., leave unwashed, or discolor their faces with makeup
Matthew 6:17 I.e., rub oil in the hair

1 Corinthians 1:1-25

New American Standard Bible

Appeal to Unity

1 Paul, ^(A)called as an apostle of Jesus Christ ^[a]by ^(B)the will of God, and our ^(C)brother ^(D)Sosthenes,

²To ^(E)the church of God which is in ^(F)Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, ^[b]saints ^(G)by calling, with all who in every place ^(H)call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

³^(I)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴^(J)I thank ^[c]my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵that in everything you were ^(K)enriched in Him, in all ^(L)speech and ^(M)all knowledge, ⁶just as ^(N)the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed ^[d]in you, ⁷so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you eagerly ^(O)await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁸^(P)who will also ^[e]confirm you to the end, blameless on ^(Q)the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹^(R)God is faithful, through whom you were ^(S)called into ^(T)fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁰Now ^(U)I urge you, ^(V)brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all ^[f]agree and that there be no ^[g]^(W)divisions among you, but that you be ^[h]made complete in ^(X)the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers and sisters, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. ¹²Now I mean this, that ^(Y)each one of you is saying, “I am ^[i]with Paul,” ^[j]or “I am ^[k]with ^(Z)Apollos,” ^[l]or “I am ^[m]with ^[n]^(AA)Cephas,” ^[o]or “I am ^[p]with Christ.” ¹³^[q]Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you ^(AB)baptized ^[r]in the name of Paul? ¹⁴I am thankful that I ^(AC)baptized none of you except ^(AD)Crispus and ^(AE)Gaius, ¹⁵so that no one would say you were baptized ^[s]in my name! ¹⁶But I did baptize the ^(AF)household of Stephanas also; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else. ¹⁷^(AG)For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, ^(AH)not with ^[t]cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made of no effect.

The Wisdom of God

¹⁸For the word of the cross is ^(AI)foolishness to ^(AJ)those who ^[u]are perishing, but to us who ^[v]are being saved it is ^(AK)the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written:

“^(AL)I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the understanding of those who have understanding, I will confound.”

²⁰^(AM)Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of ^(AN)this age? Has God not ^(AO)made foolish the wisdom of ^(AP)the world? ²¹For since in the wisdom of God ^(AQ)the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, ^(AR)God ^[w]was pleased through the ^(AS)foolishness of the ^[x]message preached to ^(AT)save those who believe. ²²For indeed ^(AU)Jews ask for ^[y]signs and Greeks search for wisdom; ²³but we preach ^[z]^(AV)Christ crucified, ^(AW)to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles ^(AX)foolishness, ²⁴but to those who are ^(AY)the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^(AZ)the power of God and ^(BA)the wisdom of God. ²⁵For the ^(BB)foolishness of God is wiser than mankind, and ^(BC)the weakness of God is stronger than mankind.