The Lord Had Pity

Israel's New Heart and Spirit

¹⁴ And the word of the Lord came to me: ^15 (A)“Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen,^[a] the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ^(B)‘Go far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.’ ¹⁶ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet ^(C)I have been a sanctuary to them for a while^[b] in the countries where they have gone.’ ¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ^(D)I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, ^(E)and I will give you the land of Israel.’ ¹⁸ And when they come there, ^(F)they will remove from it all its ^(G)detestable things and all its abominations. ^19 (H)And I will give them one heart, and ^(I)a new spirit I will put within them. ^(J)I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh ^(K)and give them a heart of flesh, ^20 (L)that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. ^(M)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Called to Be Holy

¹³ Therefore, ^(A)preparing your minds for action,^[a] and ^(B)being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ As obedient children, ^(C)do not be conformed to the passions ^(D)of your former ignorance, ¹⁵ but ^(E)as he who called you is holy, you also be holy ^(F)in all your conduct, ¹⁶ since it is written, ^(G)“You shall be holy, for I am holy.” ¹⁷ And if you ^(H)call on him as Father who ^(I)judges ^(J)impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves ^(K)with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸ knowing that you ^(L)were ransomed from ^(M)the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but ^(N)with the precious blood of Christ, like that of ^(O)a lamb ^(P)without blemish or spot. ²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but ^(Q)was made manifest ^(R)in the last times for the sake of you ^21 (S)who through him are believers in God, ^(T)who raised him from the dead and ^(U)gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²² Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for ^(V)a sincere brotherly love, ^(W)love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ^23 (X)since you have been born again, ^(Y)not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through ^(Z)the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴ for

And this word ^(AC)is the good news that was preached to you.

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

^36 (A)One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. ^37 (B)And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, ³⁸ and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and ^(C)wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If ^(D)this man were ^(E)a prophet, he ^(F)would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰ And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

⁴¹ “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred ^(G)denarii, and the other fifty. ^42 (H)When they could not pay, he ^(I)cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” ⁴⁴ Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; ^(J)you gave me no water for my feet, but ^(K)she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ^45 (L)You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to ^(M)kiss my feet. ^46 (N)You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷ Therefore I tell you, her sins, ^(O)which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸ And he said to her, ^(P)“Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ Then those who were at table with him began to say among^[a] themselves, ^(Q)“Who is this, who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ And he said to the woman, ^(R)“Your faith has saved you; ^(S)go in peace.”

Women Accompanying Jesus

8 Soon afterward he went on ^(T)through cities and villages, proclaiming and ^(U)bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, ² and also ^(V)some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: ^(W)Mary, called Magdalene, ^(X)from whom seven demons had gone out, ³ and ^(Y)Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them^[b] out of their means.