Jeremiah 31:1-14

English Standard Version

The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy

31 ^(A)“At that time, declares the Lord, ^(B)I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”

²Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;
^(C)when Israel sought for rest,
³    the Lord appeared to him^[a] from far away.
^(D)I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore ^(E)I have continued ^(F)my faithfulness to you.
⁴^(G)Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
    O virgin Israel!
^(H)Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
    and shall go forth in ^(I)the dance of the merrymakers.
⁵^(J)Again you shall plant vineyards
    on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
    and shall enjoy the fruit.
⁶For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
    in ^(K)the hill country of Ephraim:
^(L)‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.’”

⁷For thus says the Lord:
^(M)“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
    and raise shouts for ^(N)the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
    ^(O)‘O Lord, save your people,
    the remnant of Israel.’
⁸Behold, I will bring them ^(P)from the north country
    and ^(Q)gather them from ^(R)the farthest parts of the earth,
among them ^(S)the blind and the lame,
    the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
    a great company, they shall return here.
⁹^(T)With weeping they shall come,
    ^(U)and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them ^(V)walk by brooks of water,
    ^(W)in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for ^(X)I am a father to Israel,
    and Ephraim is ^(Y)my firstborn.

¹⁰“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
    and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will ^(Z)gather him,
    and will keep him ^(AA)as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
¹¹^(AB)For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
    and has redeemed him from ^(AC)hands too strong for him.
¹²They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    ^(AD)and they shall be radiant ^(AE)over the goodness of the Lord,
^(AF)over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
^(AG)their life shall be like a watered garden,
    ^(AH)and they shall languish no more.
¹³^(AI)Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
^(AJ)I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
¹⁴^(AK)I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
    and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the Lord.”

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 31:3 Septuagint; Hebrew me

Acts 26:1-23

English Standard Version

Paul's Defense Before Agrippa

26 So ^(A)Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

²“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today ^(B)against all the accusations of the Jews, ³especially because you are familiar with all the ^(C)customs and ^(D)controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴^(E)“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among ^(F)my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. ⁵They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that ^(G)according to the strictest ^(H)party of our ^(I)religion I have lived as ^(J)a Pharisee. ⁶And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in ^(K)the promise made by God to our fathers, ⁷^(L)to which ^(M)our twelve tribes hope to ^(N)attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope ^(O)I am accused by Jews, O king! ⁸Why is it thought ^(P)incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

⁹^(Q)“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of ^(R)Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰^(S)And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority ^(T)from the chief priests, but ^(U)when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. ¹¹And ^(V)I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them ^(W)blaspheme, and ^(X)in raging fury against them I ^(Y)persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹²“In this connection ^(Z)I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me ^(AA)in the Hebrew language,^[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶But rise and ^(AB)stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^(AC)to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ¹⁷^(AD)delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—^(AE)to whom I ^(AF)am sending you ¹⁸^(AG)to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from ^(AH)the power of Satan to God, that they may receive ^(AI)forgiveness of sins and ^(AJ)a place among those who are sanctified ^(AK)by faith in me.’

¹⁹“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to ^(AL)the heavenly vision, ²⁰but declared first ^(AM)to those in Damascus, ^(AN)then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^(AO)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(AP)repent and ^(AQ)turn to God, performing deeds ^(AR)in keeping with their repentance. ²¹For this reason ^(AS)the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²²^(AT)To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so ^(AU)I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what ^(AV)the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ²³^(AW)that the Christ ^(AX)must suffer and that, ^(AY)by being the first ^(AZ)to rise from the dead, ^(BA)he would proclaim ^(BB)light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

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Footnotes

Acts 26:14 Or the Hebrew dialect (probably Aramaic)

Micah 7:7-20

English Standard Version

⁷But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
^(A)I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.

⁸^(B)Rejoice not over me, O ^(C)my enemy;
    ^(D)when I fall, I shall rise;
^(E)when I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be a light to me.
⁹^(F)I will bear the indignation of the Lord
    because I have sinned against him,
until ^(G)he pleads my cause
    and executes judgment for me.
^(H)He will bring me out to the light;
    I shall look upon his vindication.
¹⁰Then ^(I)my enemy will see,
    and shame will cover her who ^(J)said to me,
    “Where is the Lord your God?”
^(K)My eyes will look upon her;
    now she will be trampled down
    ^(L)like the mire of the streets.

¹¹^(M)A day for the building of your walls!
    In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
¹²In that day they^[a] will come to you,
    ^(N)from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to ^(O)the River,^[b]
    ^(P)from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
¹³But ^(Q)the earth will be desolate
    because of its inhabitants,
    for the fruit of their deeds.

¹⁴^(R)Shepherd your people ^(S)with your staff,
    the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
    ^(T)in the midst of ^(U)a garden land;^[c]
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
    as in the days of old.
¹⁵^(V)As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
    I will show them^[d] marvelous things.
¹⁶^(W)The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
^(X)they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
    their ears shall be deaf;
¹⁷^(Y)they shall lick the dust like a serpent,
    like the crawling things of the earth;
^(Z)they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;
    ^(AA)they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,
    and they shall be in fear of you.

God's Steadfast Love and Compassion

¹⁸^(AB)Who is a God like you, ^(AC)pardoning iniquity
    and passing over transgression
    ^(AD)for the remnant of his inheritance?
^(AE)He does not retain his anger forever,
    because he delights in steadfast love.
¹⁹He will ^(AF)again have compassion on us;
    ^(AG)he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
^(AH)You will cast all our^[e] sins
    into the depths of the sea.
²⁰^(AI)You will show faithfulness to Jacob
    and steadfast love to Abraham,
^(AJ)as you have sworn to our fathers
    from the days of old.

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Footnotes

Micah 7:12 Hebrew he
Micah 7:12 That is, the Euphrates
Micah 7:14 Hebrew of Carmel
Micah 7:15 Hebrew him
Micah 7:19 Hebrew their

John 11:17-44

English Standard Version

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb ^(A)four days. ¹⁸Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles^[a] off, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary ^(B)to console them concerning their brother. ²⁰^(C)So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹Martha said to ^(D)Jesus, “Lord, ^(E)if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, ^(F)God will give you.” ²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴^(G)Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in ^(H)the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵Jesus said to her, ^(I)“I am the resurrection and ^(J)the life.^[b] Whoever believes in me, ^(K)though he die, ^(L)yet shall he live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me ^(M)shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord; ^(N)I believe that ^(O)you are the Christ, the Son of God, ^(P)who is coming into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

²⁸When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, ^(Q)“The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹When the Jews ^(R)who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³²Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ^(S)“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he ^(T)was deeply moved^[c] in his spirit and ^(U)greatly troubled. ³⁴And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵^(V)Jesus wept. ³⁶So the Jews said, “See ^(W)how he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he ^(X)who opened the eyes of the blind man ^(Y)also have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

³⁸Then Jesus, ^(Z)deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was ^(AA)a cave, and ^(AB)a stone lay against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for ^(AC)he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, ^(AD)“Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see ^(AE)the glory of God?” ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus ^(AF)lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²^(AG)I knew that you always hear me, but I said this ^(AH)on account of the people standing around, ^(AI)that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴^(AJ)The man who had died came out, ^(AK)his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and ^(AL)his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”