I Love the Lord

The Lord's Faithfulness Endures Forever

I Will Put My Spirit Within You

²² “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^(A)It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, ^(B)which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. ^23 (C)And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. ^(D)And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. ^24 (E)I will take you ^(F)from the nations and gather you from all the countries and ^(G)bring you into your own land. ^25 (H)I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from ^(I)all your uncleannesses, and ^(J)from all your idols ^(K)I will cleanse you. ²⁶ And I will give you ^(L)a new heart, and ^(M)a new spirit I will put within you. ^(N)And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ^27 (O)And I will put my Spirit within you, ^(P)and cause you to walk in my statutes and ^(Q)be careful to obey my rules.^{[a] 28 (R)}You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ^(S)you shall be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ And ^(T)I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And ^(U)I will summon the grain and make it abundant and ^(V)lay no famine upon you. ^30 (W)I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, ^(X)that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. ³¹ Then ^(Y)you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. ^32 (Z)It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

³³ “Thus says the Lord God: On the day that ^(AA)I cleanse you from all your iniquities, ^(AB)I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. ³⁴ And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. ³⁵ And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like ^(AC)the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ Then ^(AD)the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and ^(AE)replanted that which was desolate. ^(AF)I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.

³⁷ “Thus says the Lord God: This also ^(AG)I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: ^(AH)to increase their people like ^(AI)a flock. ³⁸ Like the flock for sacrifices,^{[b] (AJ)}like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so ^(AK)shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. ^(AL)Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 ^(AM)The hand of the Lord was upon me, and ^(AN)he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;^[c] it was full of bones. ² And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. ³ And he said to me, ^(AO)“Son of man, ^(AP)can these bones live?” And ^(AQ)I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” ⁴ Then he said to me, ^(AR)“Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, ^(AS)O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause ^(AT)breath^[d] to enter you, and you shall live. ^6 (AU)And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and ^(AV)cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, ^(AW)and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

⁷ So I prophesied ^(AX)as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, ^(AY)a rattling,^[e] and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But ^(AZ)there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then he said to me, ^(BA)“Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, ^(BB)son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from ^(BC)the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ¹⁰ So I prophesied ^(BD)as he commanded me, and ^(BE)the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

¹¹ Then he said to me, ^(BF)“Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and ^(BG)our hope is lost; ^(BH)we are indeed cut off.’ ¹² Therefore ^(BI)prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^(BJ)I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And ^(BK)I will bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ And ^(BL)you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴ And ^(BM)I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; ^(BN)I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(A)Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^(B)to be tempted by the devil. ² And after fasting ^(C)forty days and forty nights, he ^(D)was hungry. ³ And ^(E)the tempter came and said to him, “If you are ^(F)the Son of God, command ^(G)these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But he answered, ^(H)“It is written,

^5 (J)Then the devil took him to ^(K)the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple ⁶ and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

and

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again ^(M)it is written, ^(N)‘You shall not ^(O)put the Lord your God to the test.’” ^8 (P)Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, ^(Q)Satan! For ^(R)it is written,

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and behold, ^(U)angels came and were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹² Now when he heard that ^(V)John had been arrested, ^(W)he withdrew into Galilee. ¹³ And leaving ^(X)Nazareth he went and lived in ^(Y)Capernaum by ^(Z)the sea, in the territory of ^(AA)Zebulun and Naphtali, ^14 (AB)so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

^17 (AF)From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ^(AG)“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”^[a]