Obadiah 15-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
15 For the day of the Lord is near against all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
your deeds shall return on your own head.(A)
16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,
all the nations shall drink continually;
they shall drink and gulp down[a]
and shall be as though they had never been.(B)
Israel’s Final Triumph
17 But on Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,
and it shall be holy,
and the house of Jacob shall take possession of those who dispossessed them.(C)
18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau stubble;
they shall burn them and consume them,
and there shall be no survivor of the house of Esau,
for the Lord has spoken.(D)
19 Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,
and those of the Shephelah the land of the Philistines;
they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria,
and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.(E)
20 The exiles of the Israelites who are in Halah[b]
shall possess[c] Phoenicia as far as Zarephath,
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
shall possess the towns of the Negeb.(F)
21 Those who have been saved[d] shall go up to Mount Zion
to rule Mount Esau,
and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.(G)
1 Peter 2:1-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Living Stone and a Chosen People
2 Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander.(A) 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation(B)— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.[a](C)
4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones let yourselves be built[b] into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.(D) 6 For it stands in scripture:
“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”(E)
7 This honor, then, is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,[c]
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner,”(F)
8 and
“A stone that makes them stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.(G)
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,[d] in order that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.(H)
10 Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.(I)
Matthew 19:23-30
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.(A) 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”(B)
27 Then Peter said in reply, “Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?”(C) 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.(D) 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or[a] children or fields for my name’s sake will receive a hundredfold[b] and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.(E)
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