Jerusalem Refused to Repent

The Lord Proclaims Judgment

¹⁸ “But even in those days, declares the Lord, ^(AI)I will not make a full end of you. ¹⁹ And when your people say, ^(AJ)‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, ^(AK)so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”

A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line

2 ^[a] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^(A)a man with a measuring line in his hand! ² Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, ^(B)“To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” ³ And behold, ^(C)the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him ⁴ and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ^(D)‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited ^(E)as villages without walls, because of ^(F)the multitude of people and livestock in it. ⁵ And I will be to her ^(G)a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

⁶ Up! Up! ^(H)Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have ^(I)spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. ^7 (J)Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. ⁸ For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me^[b] to the nations who plundered you, ^(K)for he who touches you touches ^(L)the apple of his eye: ⁹ “Behold, ^(M)I will shake my hand over them, ^(N)and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then ^(O)you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. ^10 (P)Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for ^(Q)behold, I come ^(R)and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. ^11 (S)And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. ^(T)And I will dwell in your midst, and ^(U)you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ^12 (V)And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again ^(W)choose Jerusalem.”

¹³ Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

^23 (A)And he went throughout all Galilee, ^(B)teaching in their synagogues and ^(C)proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and ^(D)healing every disease and every affliction among the people. ²⁴ So his fame spread throughout all ^(E)Syria, and ^(F)they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and ^(G)pains, ^(H)those oppressed by demons, ^(I)those having seizures, and ^(J)paralytics, and he healed them. ^25 (K)And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the ^(L)Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

The Sermon on the Mount

5 Seeing the crowds, ^(M)he went up on the mountain, and when he ^(N)sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

² And ^(O)he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

^3 (P)“Blessed are ^(Q)the poor in spirit, for ^(R)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are ^(S)those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the ^(T)meek, for they ^(U)shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and ^(V)thirst ^(W)for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are ^(X)the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are ^(Y)the pure in heart, for ^(Z)they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are ^(AA)the peacemakers, for ^(AB)they shall be called ^(AC)sons^[a] of God.

^10 (AD)“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for ^(AE)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

^11 (AF)“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely ^(AG)on my account. ^12 (AH)Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for ^(AI)so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, ^(AJ)but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

^14 (AK)“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ^15 (AL)Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so ^(AM)that^[b] they may see your good works and ^(AN)give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

^17 (AO)“Do not think that I have come to abolish ^(AP)the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but ^(AQ)to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, ^(AR)until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ^19 (AS)Therefore whoever relaxes ^(AT)one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least ^(AU)in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great ^(AV)in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds ^(AW)that of the scribes and Pharisees, you ^(AX)will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Greeting

1 Paul, an ^(A)apostle—^(B)not from men nor through man, but ^(C)through Jesus Christ and God the Father, ^(D)who raised him from the dead— ² and all ^(E)the brothers^[a] who are with me,

To ^(F)the churches of Galatia:

^3 (G)Grace to you and peace ^(H)from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ^4 (I)who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present ^(J)evil age, according to the will of ^(K)our God and Father, ⁵ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

No Other Gospel

⁶ I am astonished that you are ^(L)so quickly deserting ^(M)him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to ^(N)a different gospel— ^7 (O)not that there is another one, but ^(P)there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we or ^(Q)an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, ^(R)let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, ^(S)let him be accursed.

¹⁰ For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying ^(T)to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a ^(U)servant^[b] of Christ.

Paul Called by God

¹¹ For ^(V)I would have you know, brothers, that ^(W)the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.^{[c] 12 (X)}For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it ^(Y)through a revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹³ For you have heard of ^(Z)my former life in Judaism, how ^(AA)I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely ^(AB)zealous was I for ^(AC)the traditions of my fathers. ¹⁵ But when he ^(AD)who had set me apart ^(AE)before I was born,^[d] and who ^(AF)called me by his grace, ¹⁶ was pleased to reveal his Son to^[e] me, in order ^(AG)that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;^{[f] 17} nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

¹⁸ Then ^(AH)after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ But I saw none of the other apostles except James ^(AI)the Lord's brother. ²⁰ (In what I am writing to you, ^(AJ)before God, I do not lie!) ^21 (AK)Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² And I was still unknown in person to ^(AL)the churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³ They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they glorified God because of me.