Jeremiah 5:1-19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Utter Corruption of God’s People
5 Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
look around and take note!
Search its squares and see
if you can find one person
who acts justly
and seeks truth—
so that I may pardon Jerusalem.[a](A)
2 Although they say, “As the Lord lives,”
yet they swear falsely.(B)
3 O Lord, do your eyes not look for truth?
You have struck them,
but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
but they refused to take correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
they have refused to turn back.(C)
4 Then I said, “These are only the poor;
they have no sense,
for they do not know the way of the Lord,
the law of their God.(D)
5 Let me go to the rich[b]
and speak to them;
surely they know the way of the Lord,
the law of their God.”
But they all alike had broken the yoke;
they had burst the bonds.(E)
6 Therefore a lion from the forest shall kill them;
a wolf from the desert shall destroy them.
A leopard is watching against their cities;
everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many;
their faithlessness is great.(F)
7 How can I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken me
and have sworn by those who are no gods.
When I fed them to the full,
they committed adultery
and trooped to the houses of prostitutes.(G)
8 They were well-fed lusty stallions,
each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.(H)
9 Shall I not punish them for these things?
says the Lord,
and shall I not bring retribution
on a nation such as this?(I)
10 Go up through her vine rows and destroy,
but do not make a full end;
strip away her branches,
for they are not the Lord’s.(J)
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly faithless to me,
says the Lord.(K)
12 They have spoken falsely of the Lord
and have said, “He will do nothing.
No evil will come upon us,
and we shall not see sword or famine.”(L)
13 The prophets are nothing but wind,
for the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them!(M)
14 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:
Because you have spoken this word,
I am now making my words in your mouth a fire
and this people wood, and the fire shall devour them.(N)
15 I am going to bring upon you
a nation from far away, O house of Israel,
says the Lord.
It is an enduring nation;
it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know,
nor can you understand what they say.(O)
16 Their quiver is like an open tomb;
all of them are mighty warriors.(P)
17 They shall eat up your harvest and your food;
they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
they shall destroy with the sword
your fortified cities in which you trust.(Q)
18 But even in those days, says the Lord, I will not make a full end of you.(R) 19 And when your people say, “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, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.”(S)
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Zechariah 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Third Vision: The Man with a Measuring Line
2 [a]I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.(A) 2 Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide and how long it is.”(B) 3 Then the angel who spoke with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4 and said to him, “Run, say to that young man: Jerusalem shall be inhabited like unwalled villages because of the multitude of people and animals in it.(C) 5 For I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within it.”(D)
Interlude: An Appeal to the Exiles
6 Up, up! Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord, for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven, says the Lord.(E) 7 Up! Escape to Zion, you who live with daughter Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you: Truly, one who touches you touches the apple of my eye.[b](F) 9 For I am going to raise[c] my hand against them, and they shall become plunder for their own slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me.(G) 10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord.(H) 11 Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day and shall be my people, and I will dwell in your midst. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.(I)
13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.(J)
Matthew 4:23-5:20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus Ministers to Crowds of People
23 Jesus[a] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news[b] of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.(A) 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, people possessed by demons or having epilepsy or afflicted with paralysis, and he cured them.(B) 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.(C)
The Beatitudes
5 When Jesus[c] saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.(D) 2 And he began to speak and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(E)
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.(F)
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.(G)
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.(H)
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.(I)
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(J)
11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely[d] on my account.(K) 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.(L)
Salt and Light
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.(M)
14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.(N) 15 People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.(O) 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.(P)
The Law and the Prophets
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.(Q) 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter,[e] not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.(R) 19 Therefore, whoever breaks[f] one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.(S) 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Galatians 1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Salutation
1 Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers and sisters with me,
To the churches of Galatia:(A)
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,(B) 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
There Is No Other Gospel
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.(C) 8 But even if we or an angel[a] from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!(D) 9 As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!
10 Am I now seeking human approval or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.(E)
Paul’s Vindication of His Apostleship
11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin,(F) 12 for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it.(G) 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.(H) 15 But when the one[b] who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace was pleased(I) 16 to reveal his Son to me,[c] so that I might proclaim him among the gentiles, I did not confer with any human,(J) 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterward I returned to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days,(K) 19 but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother.(L) 20 In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia,(M) 22 and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ;(N) 23 they only heard it said, “The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.