Matthew 17; Genesis 8; 2 Corinthians 7; Revelation 22; Job 9; Psalms 45; Proverbs 9; 2 Chronicles 15; Hosea 12; Acts 27

Matthew 17

1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.

3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.

7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”

8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”

11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.

12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him.

15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.

16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.”

18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.

23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.

24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

25 “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”

26 “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him.

27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

Genesis 8

1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.

2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky.

3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down,

4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

6 After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark

7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.

8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground.

9 But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.

10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.

11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.

12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

13 By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.

14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

15 Then God said to Noah,

16 “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.

17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”

18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives.

19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.

21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

2 Corinthians 7

1 Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

2 Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.

3 I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you.

4 I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.

5 For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within.

6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,

7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.

8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—

9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us.

10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

12 So even though I wrote to you, it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are.

13 By all this we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you.

14 I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well.

15 And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling.

16 I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.

Revelation 22

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.

4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

6 The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”

7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me.

9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”

10 Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near.

11 Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”

12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.

13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.

15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.

19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

Job 9

1 Then Job replied:

2 “Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?

3 Though they wished to dispute with him, they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.

4 His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?

5 He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger.

6 He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.

7 He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars.

8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.

9 He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

10 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.

11 When he passes me, I cannot see him; when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

12 If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

13 God does not restrain his anger; even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.

14 “How then can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?

15 Though I were innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.

16 Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

17 He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason.

18 He would not let me catch my breath but would overwhelm me with misery.

19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty! And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him ?

20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.

21 “Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.

22 It is all the same; that is why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

23 When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.

24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who is it?

25 “My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy.

26 They skim past like boats of papyrus, like eagles swooping down on their prey.

27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile,’

28 I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent.

29 Since I am already found guilty, why should I struggle in vain?

30 Even if I washed myself with soap and my hands with cleansing powder,

31 you would plunge me into a slime pit so that even my clothes would detest me.

32 “He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court.

33 If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together,

34 someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.

35 Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

Psalms 45

1 My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

2 You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever.

3 Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.

4 In your majesty ride forth victoriously in the cause of truth, humility and justice; let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.

5 Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet.

6 Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.

8 All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad.

9 Daughters of kings are among your honored women; at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

10 Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention: Forget your people and your father’s house.

11 Let the king be enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.

12 The city of Tyre will come with a gift,people of wealth will seek your favor.

13 All glorious is the princess within her chamber; her gown is interwoven with gold.

14 In embroidered garments she is led to the king; her virgin companions follow her— those brought to be with her.

15 Led in with joy and gladness, they enter the palace of the king.

16 Your sons will take the place of your fathers; you will make them princes throughout the land.

17 I will perpetuate your memory through all generations; therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.

Proverbs 9

1 Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars.

2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.

3 She has sent out her servants, and she calls from the highest point of the city,

4 “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says,

5 “Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.

6 Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight.”

7 Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.

8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.

9 Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

11 For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.

12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

13 Folly is an unruly woman; she is simple and knows nothing.

14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city,

15 calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way,

16 “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says,

17 “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!”

18 But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.

2 Chronicles 15

1 The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded.

2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law.

4 But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them.

5 In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil.

6 One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress.

7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.

9 Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

10 They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.

11 At that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back.

12 They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.

13 All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.

14 They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns.

15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.

16 King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

17 Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life.

18 He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.

19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Hosea 12

1 Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.

2 The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.

3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God.

4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there—

5 the LORD God Almighty, the LORD is his name!

6 But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.

7 The merchant uses dishonest scales and loves to defraud.

8 Ephraim boasts, “I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin.”

9 “I have been the LORD your God ever since you came out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of your appointed festivals.

10 I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables through them.”

11 Is Gilead wicked? Its people are worthless! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Their altars will be like piles of stones on a plowed field.

12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram ; Israel served to get a wife, and to pay for her he tended sheep.

13 The LORD used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, by a prophet he cared for him.

14 But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger; his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed and will repay him for his contempt.

Acts 27

1 When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment.

2 We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.

3 The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs.

4 From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.

5 When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia.

6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board.

7 We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.

8 We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them,

10 “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”

11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.

12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.

14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island.

15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.

16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure,

17 so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along.

18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.

19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.

22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.

23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me

24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’

25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.

26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.

28 They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep.

29 Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight.

30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow.

31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.”

32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.

33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything.

34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”

35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat.

36 They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves.

37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board.

38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

39 When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.

40 Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach.

41 But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.

42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.

43 But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.

44 The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.