Jeremiah 31:1-14

New International Version

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

²This is what the Lord says:

“The people who survive the sword
will find favor^(B) in the wilderness;
I will come to give rest^(C) to Israel.”

³The Lord appeared to us in the past,^[a] saying:

“I have loved^(D) you with an everlasting love;
    I have drawn^(E) you with unfailing kindness.
⁴I will build you up again,
    and you, Virgin^(F) Israel, will be rebuilt.^(G)
Again you will take up your timbrels^(H)
    and go out to dance^(I) with the joyful.^(J)
⁵Again you will plant^(K) vineyards
    on the hills of Samaria;^(L)
the farmers will plant them
    and enjoy their fruit.^(M)
⁶There will be a day when watchmen^(N) cry out
    on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.’”^(O)

⁷This is what the Lord says:

“Sing^(P) with joy for Jacob;
    shout for the foremost^(Q) of the nations.
Make your praises heard, and say,
    ‘Lord, save^(R) your people,
    the remnant^(S) of Israel.’
⁸See, I will bring them from the land of the north^(T)
    and gather^(U) them from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind^(V) and the lame,^(W)
    expectant mothers and women in labor;
    a great throng will return.
⁹They will come with weeping;^(X)
    they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead^(Y) them beside streams of water^(Z)
    on a level^(AA) path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel’s father,^(AB)
    and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

¹⁰“Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;
    proclaim it in distant coastlands:^(AC)
‘He who scattered^(AD) Israel will gather^(AE) them
    and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’^(AF)
¹¹For the Lord will deliver Jacob
    and redeem^(AG) them from the hand of those stronger^(AH) than they.
¹²They will come and shout for joy^(AI) on the heights^(AJ) of Zion;
    they will rejoice in the bounty^(AK) of the Lord—
the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,^(AL)
    the young of the flocks^(AM) and herds.
They will be like a well-watered garden,^(AN)
    and they will sorrow^(AO) no more.
¹³Then young women will dance and be glad,
    young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning^(AP) into gladness;
    I will give them comfort^(AQ) and joy^(AR) instead of sorrow.
¹⁴I will satisfy^(AS) the priests^(AT) with abundance,
    and my people will be filled with my bounty,^(AU)”
declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 31:3 Or Lord has appeared to us from afar

Acts 26:1-23

New International Version

26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”^(A)

So Paul motioned with his hand^(B) and began his defense: ²“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you^(C) today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews,^(D) ³and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs^(E) and controversies.^(F) Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child,^(G) from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. ⁵They have known me for a long time^(H) and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect^(I) of our religion, living as a Pharisee.^(J) ⁶And now it is because of my hope^(K) in what God has promised our ancestors^(L) that I am on trial today. ⁷This is the promise our twelve tribes^(M) are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night.^(N) King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me.^(O) ⁸Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?^(P)

⁹“I too was convinced^(Q) that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose^(R) the name of Jesus of Nazareth.^(S) ¹⁰And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people^(T) in prison,^(U) and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.^(V) ¹¹Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished,^(W) and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

¹²“On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. ¹⁴We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice^(X) saying to me in Aramaic,^[a]^(Y) ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ¹⁶‘Now get up and stand on your feet.^(Z) I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.^(AA) ¹⁷I will rescue you^(AB) from your own people and from the Gentiles.^(AC) I am sending you to them ¹⁸to open their eyes^(AD) and turn them from darkness to light,^(AE) and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins^(AF) and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’^(AG)

¹⁹“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient^(AH) to the vision from heaven. ²⁰First to those in Damascus,^(AI) then to those in Jerusalem^(AJ) and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles,^(AK) I preached that they should repent^(AL) and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.^(AM) ²¹That is why some Jews seized me^(AN) in the temple courts and tried to kill me.^(AO) ²²But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen^(AP)— ²³that the Messiah would suffer^(AQ) and, as the first to rise from the dead,^(AR) would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”^(AS)

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Footnotes

Acts 26:14 Or Hebrew

Micah 7:7-20

New International Version

⁷But as for me, I watch^(A) in hope^(B) for the Lord,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear^(C) me.

Israel Will Rise

⁸Do not gloat over me,^(D) my enemy!
    Though I have fallen, I will rise.^(E)
Though I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be my light.^(F)
⁹Because I have sinned against him,
    I will bear the Lord’s wrath,^(G)
until he pleads my case^(H)
    and upholds my cause.
He will bring me out into the light;^(I)
    I will see his righteousness.^(J)
¹⁰Then my enemy will see it
    and will be covered with shame,^(K)
she who said to me,
    “Where is the Lord your God?”^(L)
My eyes will see her downfall;^(M)
    even now she will be trampled^(N) underfoot
    like mire in the streets.

¹¹The day for building your walls^(O) will come,
    the day for extending your boundaries.
¹²In that day people will come to you
    from Assyria^(P) and the cities of Egypt,
even from Egypt to the Euphrates
    and from sea to sea
    and from mountain to mountain.^(Q)
¹³The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants,
    as the result of their deeds.^(R)

Prayer and Praise

¹⁴Shepherd^(S) your people with your staff,^(T)
    the flock of your inheritance,
which lives by itself in a forest,
    in fertile pasturelands.^[a]^(U)
Let them feed in Bashan^(V) and Gilead^(W)
    as in days long ago.^(X)

¹⁵“As in the days when you came out of Egypt,
I will show them my wonders.^(Y)”

¹⁶Nations will see and be ashamed,^(Z)
    deprived of all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths^(AA)
    and their ears will become deaf.
¹⁷They will lick dust^(AB) like a snake,
    like creatures that crawl on the ground.
They will come trembling^(AC) out of their dens;
    they will turn in fear^(AD) to the Lord our God
    and will be afraid of you.
¹⁸Who is a God^(AE) like you,
    who pardons sin^(AF) and forgives^(AG) the transgression
    of the remnant^(AH) of his inheritance?^(AI)
You do not stay angry^(AJ) forever
    but delight to show mercy.^(AK)
¹⁹You will again have compassion on us;
    you will tread our sins underfoot
    and hurl all our iniquities^(AL) into the depths of the sea.^(AM)
²⁰You will be faithful to Jacob,
    and show love to Abraham,^(AN)
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors^(AO)
    in days long ago.^(AP)

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Footnotes

Micah 7:14 Or in the middle of Carmel

John 11:17-44

New International Version

Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus

¹⁷On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.^(A) ¹⁸Now Bethany^(B) was less than two miles^[a] from Jerusalem, ¹⁹and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.^(C) ²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.^(D)

²¹“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.^(E) ²²But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”^(F)

²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection^(G) at the last day.”^(H)

²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am^(I) the resurrection and the life.^(J) The one who believes^(K) in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶and whoever lives by believing^(L) in me will never die.^(M) Do you believe this?”

²⁷“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah,^(N) the Son of God,^(O) who is to come into the world.”^(P)

²⁸After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher^(Q) is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” ²⁹When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.^(R) ³¹When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her,^(S) noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

³²When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”^(T)

³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved^(U) in spirit and troubled.^(V) ³⁴“Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

³⁵Jesus wept.^(W)

³⁶Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”^(X)

³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man^(Y) have kept this man from dying?”^(Z)

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

³⁸Jesus, once more deeply moved,^(AA) came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.^(AB) ³⁹“Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”^(AC)

⁴⁰Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe,^(AD) you will see the glory of God?”^(AE)

⁴¹So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up^(AF) and said, “Father,^(AG) I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here,^(AH) that they may believe that you sent me.”^(AI)

⁴³When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”^(AJ) ⁴⁴The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen,^(AK) and a cloth around his face.^(AL)

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

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