Jeremiah 31:1-14

New King James Version

The Remnant of Israel Saved

31 “At ^(A)the same time,” says the Lord, ^(B)“I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

²Thus says the Lord:

“The people who survived the sword
Found grace in the wilderness—
Israel, when ^(C)I went to give him rest.”

³The Lord has appeared ^[a]of old to me, saying:
“Yes, ^(D)I have loved you with ^(E)an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have ^(F)drawn you.
⁴Again ^(G)I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
You shall again be adorned with your ^(H)tambourines,
And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.
⁵^(I)You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria;
The planters shall plant and ^[b]eat them as ordinary food.
⁶For there shall be a day
When the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim,
^(J)‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’ ”

⁷For thus says the Lord:

^(K)“Sing with gladness for Jacob,
And shout among the chief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘O Lord, save Your people,
The remnant of Israel!’
⁸Behold, I will bring them ^(L)from the north country,
And ^(M)gather them from the ends of the earth,
Among them the blind and the lame,
The woman with child
And the one who labors with child, together;
A great throng shall return there.
⁹^(N)They shall come with weeping,
And with supplications I will lead them.
I will cause them to walk ^(O)by the rivers of waters,
In a straight way in which they shall not stumble;
For I am a Father to Israel,
And Ephraim is My ^(P)firstborn.

¹⁰“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
And declare it in the ^[c]isles afar off, and say,
‘He who scattered Israel ^(Q)will gather him,
And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’
¹¹For ^(R)the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And ransomed him ^(S)from the hand of one stronger than he.
¹²Therefore they shall come and sing in ^(T)the height of Zion,
Streaming to ^(U)the goodness of the Lord—
For wheat and new wine and oil,
For the young of the flock and the herd;
Their souls shall be like a ^(V)well-watered garden,
^(W)And they shall sorrow no more at all.

¹³“Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and the old, together;
For I will turn their mourning to joy,
Will comfort them,
And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.
¹⁴I will ^[d]satiate the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 31:3 Lit. from afar
Jeremiah 31:5 Lit. treat them as common
Jeremiah 31:10 Or coastlands
Jeremiah 31:14 Fill to the full

Acts 26:1-23

New King James Version

Paul’s Early Life

26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.”

So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: ²“I think myself ^(A)happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer ^(B)for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am ^(C)accused by the Jews, ³especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

⁴“My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. ⁵They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to ^(D)the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. ⁶^(E)And now I stand and am judged for the hope of ^(F)the promise made by God to our fathers. ⁷To this promise ^(G)our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God ^(H)night and day, ^(I)hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. ⁸Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?

⁹^(J)“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things ^[a]contrary to the name of ^(K)Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰^(L)This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority ^(M)from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹^(N)And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Recounts His Conversion^(O)

¹²^(P)“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, ¹³at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^(Q)to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. ¹⁷I will ^[b]deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, ^(R)to whom I ^[c]now send you, ¹⁸^(S)to open their eyes, in order ^(T)to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, ^(U)that they may receive forgiveness of sins and ^(V)an inheritance among those who are ^(W)sanctified^[d] by faith in Me.’

Paul’s Post-Conversion Life

¹⁹“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰but ^(X)declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do ^(Y)works befitting repentance. ²¹For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²²Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those ^(Z)which the prophets and ^(AA)Moses said would come— ²³^(AB)that the Christ would suffer, ^(AC)that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and ^(AD)would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

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Footnotes

Acts 26:9 against
Acts 26:17 rescue
Acts 26:17 NU, M omit now
Acts 26:18 set apart

Micah 7:7-20

New King James Version

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

Israel’s Confession and Comfort

⁸^(B)Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;
^(C)When I fall, I will arise;
When I sit in darkness,
The Lord will be a light to me.
⁹^(D)I will bear the indignation of the Lord,
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my ^(E)case
And executes justice for me.
He will bring me forth to the light;
I will see His righteousness.
¹⁰Then she who is my enemy will see,
And ^(F)shame will cover her who said to me,
^(G)“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will see her;
Now she will be trampled down
Like mud in the streets.

¹¹In the day when your ^(H)walls are to be built,
In that day ^[a]the decree shall go far and wide.
¹²In that day ^(I)they^[b] shall come to you
From Assyria and the ^[c]fortified cities,
From the ^[d]fortress to ^[e]the River,
From sea to sea,
And mountain to mountain.
¹³Yet the land shall be desolate
Because of those who dwell in it,
And ^(J)for the fruit of their deeds.

God Will Forgive Israel

¹⁴Shepherd Your people with Your staff,
The flock of Your heritage,
Who dwell ^[f]solitarily in a ^(K)woodland,
In the midst of Carmel;
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
As in days of old.

¹⁵“As^(L) in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
I will show ^[g]them ^(M)wonders.”

¹⁶The nations ^(N)shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
^(O)They shall put their hand over their mouth;
Their ears shall be deaf.
¹⁷They shall lick the ^(P)dust like a serpent;
^(Q)They shall crawl from their holes like ^[h]snakes of the earth.
^(R)They shall be afraid of the Lord our God,
And shall fear because of You.
¹⁸^(S)Who is a God like You,
^(T)Pardoning iniquity
And passing over the transgression of ^(U)the remnant of His heritage?

^(V)He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in ^(W)mercy.^[i]
¹⁹He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.

You will cast all ^[j]our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
²⁰^(X)You will give truth to Jacob
And ^[k]mercy to Abraham,
^(Y)Which You have sworn to our fathers
From days of old.

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Footnotes

Micah 7:11 Or the boundary shall be extended
Micah 7:12 Lit. he, collective of the captives
Micah 7:12 Heb. arey mazor, possibly cities of Egypt
Micah 7:12 Heb. mazor, possibly Egypt
Micah 7:12 The Euphrates
Micah 7:14 Alone
Micah 7:15 Lit. him, collective for the captives
Micah 7:17 Lit. crawlers
Micah 7:18 Or lovingkindness
Micah 7:19 Lit. their
Micah 7:20 Or lovingkindness

John 11:17-44

New King James Version

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about ^[a]two miles away. ¹⁹And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

²⁰Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ²¹Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that ^(A)whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

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

²⁴Martha said to Him, ^(B)“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am ^(C)the resurrection and the life. ^(D)He who believes in Me, though he may ^(E)die, he shall live. ²⁶And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, ^(F)I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy

²⁸And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” ²⁹As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but ^[b]was in the place where Martha met Him. ³¹^(G)Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, ^[c]saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”

³²Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she ^(H)fell down at His feet, saying to Him, ^(I)“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴And He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵^(J)Jesus wept. ³⁶Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

³⁷And some of them said, “Could not this Man, ^(K)who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”

Lazarus Raised from the Dead

³⁸Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a ^(L)stone lay against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would ^(M)see the glory of God?” ⁴¹Then they took away the stone ^[d]from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴²And I know that You always hear Me, but ^(N)because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” ⁴³Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” ⁴⁴And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with ^(O)graveclothes, and ^(P)his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”