Joel 2:1-14
New King James Version
The Day of the Lord
2 Blow (A)the [a]trumpet in Zion,
And (B)sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For (C)the day of the Lord is coming,
For it is at hand:
2 (D)A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
(E)A people come, great and strong,
(F)The like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations.
3 A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like (G)the Garden of Eden before them,
(H)And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them.
4 (I)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like [b]swift steeds, so they run.
5 (J)With a noise like chariots
Over mountaintops they leap,
Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble,
Like a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before them the people writhe in pain;
(K)All faces [c]are drained of color.
7 They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like men of war;
Every one marches in formation,
And they do not break (L)ranks.
8 They do not push one another;
Every one marches in his own [d]column.
Though they lunge between the weapons,
They are not [e]cut down.
9 They run to and fro in the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They (M)enter at the windows (N)like a thief.
10 (O)The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
(P)The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.
11 (Q)The Lord gives voice before His army,
For His camp is very great;
(R)For strong is the One who executes His word.
For the (S)day of the Lord is great and very terrible;
(T)Who can endure it?
A Call to Repentance
12 “Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
(U)“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
13 So (V)rend your heart, and not (W)your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is (X)gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
14 (Y)Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave (Z)a blessing behind Him—
(AA)A grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God?
Jeremiah 31:27-34
New King James Version
27 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that (A)I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass, that as I have (B)watched over them (C)to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them (D)to build and to plant, says the Lord. 29 (E)In those days they shall say no more:
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 (F)But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
A New Covenant
31 “Behold, the (G)days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that (H)I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, [a]though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 (I)But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: (J)I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their [b]hearts; (K)and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for (L)they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For (M)I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Jeremiah 31:32 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. and I turned away from them
- Jeremiah 31:33 Lit. inward parts
Romans 14:1-15:3
New King James Version
The Law of Liberty
14 Receive(A) one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he (B)may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and (C)let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4 (D)Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
5 (E)One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who (F)observes the day, observes it to the Lord; [a]and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for (G)he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For (H)none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we (I)live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For (J)to this end Christ died [b]and rose and lived again, that He might be (K)Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For (L)we shall all stand before the judgment seat of [c]Christ. 11 For it is written:
(M)“As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then (N)each of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not judge one another [d]anymore, but rather resolve this, (O)not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
The Law of Love
14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus (P)that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. (Q)Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. 16 (R)Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; 17 (S)for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and (T)peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who serves Christ in [e]these things (U)is acceptable to God and approved by men.
19 (V)Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which (W)one may [f]edify another. 20 (X)Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. (Y)All things indeed are pure, (Z)but it is evil for the man who eats with [g]offense. 21 It is good neither to eat (AA)meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles [h]or is offended or is made weak. 22 [i]Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. (AB)Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for (AC)whatever is not from faith is [j]sin.
Bearing Others’ Burdens
15 We (AD)then who are strong ought to bear with the [k]scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 (AE)Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to [l]edification. 3 (AF)For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, (AG)“The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”
Footnotes
- Romans 14:6 NU omits the rest of this sentence.
- Romans 14:9 NU omits and rose
- Romans 14:10 NU God
- Romans 14:13 any longer
- Romans 14:18 NU this thing
- Romans 14:19 build up
- Romans 14:20 A feeling of giving offense
- Romans 14:21 NU omits the rest of v. 21.
- Romans 14:22 NU The faith which you have—have
- Romans 14:23 M puts Rom. 16:25–27 here.
- Romans 15:1 weaknesses
- Romans 15:2 building up
Luke 6:39-49
New King James Version
39 And He spoke a parable to them: (A)“Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? 40 (B)A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. 41 (C)And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit(D)
43 (E)“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For (F)every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 (G)A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil [a]treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out (H)of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Build on the Rock(I)
46 (J)“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 (K)Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was [b]founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it [c]fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
Read full chapterScripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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