Nahum 1:1-13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.(A)
The Consuming Wrath of God
2 A jealous and avenging God is the Lord;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and prolongs it against his enemies.(B)
3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.(C)
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
and he dries up all the rivers;
Bashan and Carmel wither,
and the bloom of Lebanon fades.
5 The mountains quake before him,
and the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
the world and all who live in it.(D)
6 Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.(E)
7 The Lord is good,
a stronghold in a day of trouble;
he protects those who take refuge in him,
8 even in a rushing flood.
He will make a full end of his adversaries[a]
and will pursue his enemies into darkness.(F)
9 Why do you plot against the Lord?
He will make an end;
no adversary will rise up twice.(G)
10 Like thorns they are entangled;
like drunkards they are drunk;
they are consumed like dry straw.(H)
11 From you one has gone out
who plots evil against the Lord,
one who counsels wickedness.(I)
Good News for Judah
12 Thus says the Lord:
Though they are at full strength and many,[b]
they will be cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.(J)
13 And now I will break off his yoke from you
and snap the bonds that bind you.(K)
1 Peter 1:13-25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
A Call to Holy Living
13 Therefore prepare your minds for action;[a] discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed.(A) 14 Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. 15 Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct,(B) 16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”(C)
17 If you invoke as Father the one who judges impartially according to each person’s work, live in fear during the time of your exile.(D) 18 You know that you were ransomed from the futile conduct inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.(E) 20 He was destined before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake.(F) 21 Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your trust and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified your souls[b] by your obedience to the truth[c] so that you have genuine mutual affection, love one another deeply from the heart.[d](G) 23 You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.[e](H) 24 For
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,(I)
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
That word is the good news that was announced to you.(J)
Read full chapter
Matthew 19:13-22
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus Blesses Little Children
13 Then children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”(A) 15 And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.
The Rich Young Man
16 Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”(B) 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness.(C) 19 Honor your father and mother. Also, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”(D) 20 The young man said to him, “I have kept all these;[a] what do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money[b] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”(E) 22 When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Read full chapterNew 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.