John 1:29-34
New King James Version
The Lamb of God(A)
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! (B)The Lamb of God (C)who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who [a]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ 31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, (D)therefore I came baptizing with water.”
32 (E)And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, (F)this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and testified that this is the (G)Son of God.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- John 1:30 ranks higher than I
James 1:19-27
New King James Version
Qualities Needed in Trials
19 [a]So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, (A)slow to speak, (B)slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Doers—Not Hearers Only
21 Therefore (C)lay aside all filthiness and [b]overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, (D)which is able to save your souls.
22 But (E)be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For (F)if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But (G)he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, (H)this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone [c]among you thinks he is religious, and (I)does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 (J)Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: (K)to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, (L)and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- James 1:19 NU Know this or This you know
- James 1:21 abundance
- James 1:26 NU omits among you
Ecclesiastes 2:17-26
New King James Version
17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because (A)I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. 21 For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his [a]heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 (B)For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? 23 For all his days are (C)sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
24 (D)Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, [b]more than I? 26 For God gives (E)wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that (F)he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 2:21 Lit. portion
- Ecclesiastes 2:25 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; some Heb. mss., LXX, Syr. without Him
Jeremiah 5-6
New King James Version
The Justice of God’s Judgment
5 “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem;
See now and know;
And seek in her open places
(A)If you can find a man,
(B)If there is anyone who executes [a]judgment,
Who seeks the truth,
(C)And I will pardon her.
2 (D)Though they say, ‘As (E)the Lord lives,’
Surely they (F)swear falsely.”
3 O Lord, are not (G)Your eyes on the truth?
You have (H)stricken them,
But they have not grieved;
You have consumed them,
But (I)they have refused to receive correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
They have refused to return.
4 Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor.
They are foolish;
For (J)they do not know the way of the Lord,
The judgment of their God.
5 I will go to the great men and speak to them,
For (K)they have known the way of the Lord,
The judgment of their God.”
But these have altogether (L)broken the yoke
And burst the bonds.
6 Therefore (M)a lion from the forest shall slay them,
(N)A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them;
(O)A leopard will watch over their cities.
Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces,
Because their transgressions are many;
Their backslidings have increased.
7 “How shall I pardon you for this?
Your children have forsaken Me
And (P)sworn by those (Q)that are not gods.
(R)When I had fed them to the full,
Then they committed adultery
And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
8 (S)They were like well-fed lusty stallions;
Every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife.
9 Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord.
“And shall I not (T)avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
10 “Go up on her walls and destroy,
But do not [b]make a (U)complete end.
Take away her branches,
For they are not the Lord’s.
11 For (V)the house of Israel and the house of Judah
Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” says the Lord.
12 (W)They have lied about the Lord,
And said, (X)“It is not He.
(Y)Neither will [c]evil come upon us,
Nor shall we see sword or famine.
13 And the prophets become wind,
For the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them.”
14 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts:
“Because you speak this word,
(Z)Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire,
And this people wood,
And it shall devour them.
15 Behold, I will bring a (AA)nation against you (AB)from afar,
O house of Israel,” says the Lord.
“It is a mighty nation,
It is an ancient nation,
A nation whose language you do not know,
Nor can you understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is like an open tomb;
They are all mighty men.
17 And they shall eat up your (AC)harvest and your bread,
Which your sons and daughters should eat.
They shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
They shall destroy your fortified cities,
In which you trust, with the sword.
18 “Nevertheless in those days,” says the Lord, “I (AD)will not [d]make a complete end of you. 19 And it will be when you say, (AE)‘Why does the Lord our God do all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you have (AF)forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so (AG)you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.’
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob
And proclaim it in Judah, saying,
21 ‘Hear this now, O (AH)foolish people,
Without [e]understanding,
Who have eyes and see not,
And who have ears and hear not:
22 (AI)Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord.
‘Will you not tremble at My presence,
Who have placed the sand as the (AJ)bound of the sea,
By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?
And though its waves toss to and fro,
Yet they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart;
They have revolted and departed.
24 They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear the Lord our God,
(AK)Who gives rain, both the (AL)former and the latter, in its season.
(AM)He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”
25 (AN)Your iniquities have turned these things away,
And your sins have withheld good from you.
26 ‘For among My people are found wicked men;
They (AO)lie in wait as one who sets snares;
They set a trap;
They catch men.
27 As a cage is full of birds,
So their houses are full of deceit.
Therefore they have become great and grown rich.
28 They have grown (AP)fat, they are sleek;
Yes, they [f]surpass the deeds of the wicked;
They do not plead (AQ)the cause,
The cause of the fatherless;
(AR)Yet they prosper,
And the right of the needy they do not defend.
29 (AS)Shall I not punish them for these things?’ says the Lord.
‘Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?’
30 “An astonishing and (AT)horrible thing
Has been committed in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy (AU)falsely,
And the priests rule by their own power;
And My people (AV)love to have it so.
But what will you do in the end?
Impending Destruction from the North
6 “O you children of Benjamin,
Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,
And set up a signal-fire in (AW)Beth Haccerem;
(AX)For disaster appears out of the north,
And great destruction.
2 I have likened the daughter of Zion
To a lovely and delicate woman.
3 The (AY)shepherds with their flocks shall come to her.
They shall pitch their tents against her all around.
Each one shall pasture in his own place.”
4 “Prepare(AZ) war against her;
Arise, and let us go up (BA)at noon.
Woe to us, for the day goes away,
For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.
5 Arise, and let us go by night,
And let us destroy her palaces.”
6 For thus has the Lord of hosts said:
“Cut down trees,
And build a mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city to be punished.
She is full of oppression in her midst.
7 (BB)As a fountain [g]wells up with water,
So she wells up with her wickedness.
(BC)Violence and plundering are heard in her.
Before Me continually are [h]grief and wounds.
8 Be instructed, O Jerusalem,
Lest (BD)My soul depart from you;
Lest I make you desolate,
A land not inhabited.”
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel;
As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.”
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning,
That they may hear?
Indeed their (BE)ear is uncircumcised,
And they cannot give heed.
Behold, (BF)the word of the Lord is a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord.
(BG)I am weary of holding it in.
“I will pour it out (BH)on the children outside,
And on the assembly of young men together;
For even the husband shall be taken with the wife,
The aged with him who is full of days.
12 And (BI)their houses shall be turned over to others,
Fields and wives together;
For I will stretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.
13 “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is given to (BJ)covetousness;
And from the prophet even to the (BK)priest,
Everyone deals falsely.
14 They have also (BL)healed the [i]hurt of My people [j]slightly,
(BM)Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
15 Were they (BN)ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed;
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
16 Thus says the Lord:
“Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the (BO)old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find (BP)rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 Also, I set (BQ)watchmen over you, saying,
(BR)‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 Therefore hear, you nations,
And know, O congregation, what is among them.
19 (BS)Hear, O earth!
Behold, I will certainly bring (BT)calamity on this people—
(BU)The fruit of their thoughts,
Because they have not heeded My words
Nor My law, but rejected it.
20 (BV)For what purpose to Me
Comes frankincense (BW)from Sheba,
And (BX)sweet cane from a far country?
(BY)Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”
21 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people,
And the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them.
The neighbor and his friend shall perish.”
22 Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, a people comes from the (BZ)north country,
And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.
23 They will lay hold on bow and spear;
They are cruel and have no mercy;
Their voice (CA)roars like the sea;
And they ride on horses,
As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion.”
24 We have heard the report of it;
Our hands grow feeble.
(CB)Anguish has taken hold of us,
Pain as of a woman in [k]labor.
25 Do not go out into the field,
Nor walk by the way.
Because of the sword of the enemy,
Fear is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people,
(CC)Dress in sackcloth
(CD)And roll about in ashes!
(CE)Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation;
For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.
27 “I have set you as an assayer and (CF)a fortress among My people,
That you may know and test their way.
28 (CG)They are all stubborn rebels, (CH)walking as slanderers.
They are (CI)bronze and iron,
They are all corrupters;
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
The smelter refines in vain,
For the wicked are not drawn off.
30 People will call them (CJ)rejected silver,
Because the Lord has rejected them.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 5:1 justice
- Jeremiah 5:10 completely destroy
- Jeremiah 5:12 disaster
- Jeremiah 5:18 completely destroy
- Jeremiah 5:21 Lit. heart
- Jeremiah 5:28 Or pass over or overlook
- Jeremiah 6:7 gushes
- Jeremiah 6:7 sickness
- Jeremiah 6:14 Lit. crushing
- Jeremiah 6:14 Superficially
- Jeremiah 6:24 childbirth
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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