Zephaniah 3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Wickedness of Jerusalem
3 Woe, soiled, defiled,
oppressing city!(A)
2 It has listened to no voice;
it has accepted no correction.
It has not trusted in the Lord;
it has not drawn near to its God.(B)
3 The officials within it
are roaring lions;
its judges are evening wolves
that leave nothing until the morning.(C)
4 Its prophets are reckless,
faithless persons;
its priests have profaned what is sacred;
they have done violence to the law.(D)
5 The Lord within it is righteous;
he does no wrong.
Every morning he renders his judgment,
each dawn without fail,
but the unjust knows no shame.(E)
6 I have cut off nations;
their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
without people, without inhabitants.(F)
7 I said, “Surely the city[a] will fear me;
it will accept correction;
it will not lose sight[b]
of all that I have brought upon it.”
But they were the more eager
to make all their deeds corrupt.(G)
Punishment and Conversion of the Nations
8 Therefore wait for me, says the Lord,
for the day when I arise as a witness.
For my decision is to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
all the heat of my anger,
for in the fire of my passion
all the earth shall be consumed.(H)
9 At that time I will change the speech of the peoples
to a pure speech,
that all of them may call on the name of the Lord
and serve him with one accord.(I)
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush
my suppliants, my scattered ones,
shall bring my offering.(J)
11 On that day you shall not be put to shame
because of all the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then I will remove from your midst
your proudly exultant ones,
and you shall no longer be haughty
in my holy mountain.(K)
12 For I will leave in the midst of you
a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord—(L)
13 the remnant of Israel;
they shall do no wrong
and utter no lies,
nor shall a deceitful tongue
be found in their mouths.
Then they will pasture and lie down,
and no one shall make them afraid.(M)
A Song of Joy
14 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!(N)
15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.(O)
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.(P)
17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will renew you[c] in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing(Q)
18 as on a day of festival.”[d]
I will remove disaster from you,[e]
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
19 I will deal with all your oppressors
at that time.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.(R)
20 At that time I will bring you home,
at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes, says the Lord.(S)
Matthew 13:44-58
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Three Parables
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.(A)
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind;(B) 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous(C) 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(D)
Treasures New and Old
51 “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” 53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.(E)
The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth
54 He came to his hometown and began to teach the people[a] in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power?(F) 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?(G) 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own hometown and in their own house.”(H) 58 And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.
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Nahum 1
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)
14 The Lord has commanded concerning you:
Your name shall be perpetuated no longer;
from the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the cast image.
I will prepare your grave, for you are worthless.(L)
1 Corinthians 4:1-17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Ministry of the Apostles
4 Think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.(A) 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. 4 I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.(B)
6 I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and sisters, so that you may learn through us what “Not beyond what is written” means, so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you?[a] What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive?(C)
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! If only you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to humans.(D) 10 We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are sensible people in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored.(E) 11 To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are naked and beaten and homeless,(F) 12 and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;(G) 13 when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.
Fatherly Admonition
14 I am not writing this to make you ashamed but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I fathered you through the gospel.(H) 16 I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me.(I) 17 For this reason I sent[b] you Timothy, who is my beloved and trustworthy child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I teach them everywhere in every church.
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.