Read Through the Bible in a Year / October

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 20.
Matt. 18; 8:19–22; Mark 9:33– 50; Luke 9:46–62; John 7:2–10

Mtt 18:1–35
AT THAT time the disciples came up and asked Jesus, Who then is [really] the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2 And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].
4 Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving] is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 And whoever receives and accepts and welcomes one little child like this for My sake and in My name receives and accepts and welcomes Me.
6 But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in and acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin [that is, who entices him or hinders him in right conduct or thought], it would be better (more expedient and profitable or advantageous) for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be sunk in the depth of the sea.
7 Woe to the world for such temptations to sin and influences to do wrong! It is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the person on whose account or by whom the temptation comes!
8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better (more profitable and wholesome) for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into everlasting fire.
9 And if your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you; it is better (more profitable and wholesome) for you to enter life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the hell (Gehenna) of fire.
10 Beware that you do not despise or feel scornful toward or think little of one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always are in the presence of and look upon the face of My Father Who is in heaven.
11 For the Son of man came to save [from the penalty of eternal death] that which was lost.
12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray and gets lost, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of the one that is lost?
13 And if it should be that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost.
14 Just so it is not the will of My Father Who is in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost and perish.
15 If your brother wrongs you, go and show him his fault, between you and him privately. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.
16 But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed and upheld by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
17 If he pays no attention to them [refusing to listen and obey], tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector. [Lev. 19:17; Deut. 19:15.]
18 Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven.
19 Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and everything] they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven.
20 For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My name, there I AM in the midst of them. [Exod. 3:14.]
21 Then Peter came up to Him and said, Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? [As many as] up to seven times?
22 Jesus answered him, I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven! [Gen. 4:24.]
23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a human king who wished to settle accounts with his attendants.
24 When he began the accounting, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents [probably about $10,000,000],
25 And because he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and his children and everything that he possessed, and payment to be made.
26 So the attendant fell on his knees, begging him, Have patience with me and I will pay you everything.
27 And his master’s heart was moved with compassion, and he released him and forgave him [cancelling] the debt.
28 But that same attendant, as he went out, found one of his fellow attendants who owed him a hundred denarii [about twenty dollars]; and he caught him by the throat and said, Pay what you owe!
29 So his fellow attendant fell down and begged him earnestly, Give me time, and I will pay you all!
30 But he was unwilling, and he went out and had him put in prison till he should pay the debt.
31 When his fellow attendants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and told everything that had taken place to their master.
32 Then his master called him and said to him, You contemptible and wicked attendant! I forgave and cancelled all that [great] debt of yours because you begged me to.
33 And should you not have had pity and mercy on your fellow attendant, as I had pity and mercy on you?
34 And in wrath his master turned him over to the torturers (the jailers), till he should pay all that he owed.
35 So also My heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart his offenses.

Mtt 8:19–22
19 And a scribe came up and said to Him, Master, I will accompany You wherever You go.
20 And Jesus replied to him, Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have lodging places, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.
21 Another of the disciples said to Him, Lord, let me first go and bury [care for till death] my father.
22 But Jesus said to him, Follow Me, and leave the dead [in sin] to bury their own dead.


Mark 9:33–50
33 And they arrived at Capernaum; and when [they were] in the house, He asked them, What were you discussing and arguing about on the road?
34 But they kept still, for on the road they had discussed and disputed with one another as to who was the greatest.
35 And He sat down and called the Twelve [apostles], and He said to them, If anyone desires to be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all.
36 And He took a little child and put him in the center of their group; and taking him in [His] arms, He said to them,
37 Whoever in My name and for My sake accepts and receives and welcomes one such child also accepts and receives and welcomes Me; and whoever so receives Me receives not only Me but Him Who sent Me.
38 John said to Him, Teacher, we saw a man who does not follow along with us driving out demons in Your name, and we forbade him to do it, because he is not one of our band [of Your disciples].
39 But Jesus said, Do not restrain or hinder or forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in My name will soon afterward be able to speak evil of Me.
40 For he who is not against us is for us. [Num. 11:27-29.]
41 For I tell you truly, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to and bear the name of Christ will by no means fail to get his reward.
42 And whoever causes one of these little ones (these believers) who acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin, it would be better (more profitable and wholesome) for him if a [huge] millstone were hung about his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
43 And if your hand puts a stumbling block before you and causes you to sin, cut it off! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to go into life [that is really worthwhile] maimed than with two hands to go to hell (Gehenna), into the fire that cannot be put out.
45 And if your foot is a cause of stumbling and sin to you, cut it off! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to enter into life [that is really worthwhile] crippled than, having two feet, to be cast into hell (Gehenna).
47 And if your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out! It is more profitable and wholesome for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell (Gehenna),
48 Where their worm [which preys on the inhabitants and is a symbol of the wounds inflicted on the man himself by his sins] does not die, and the fire is not put out. [Isa. 66:24.]
49 For everyone shall be salted with fire.
50 Salt is good (beneficial), but if salt has lost its saltiness, how will you restore [the saltiness to] it? Have salt within yourselves, and be at peace and live in harmony with one another.


Luke 9:46–62
46 But a controversy arose among them as to which of them might be the greatest [surpassing the others in excellence, worth, and authority].
47 But Jesus, as He perceived the thoughts of their hearts, took a little child and put him at His side
48 And told them, Whoever receives and accepts and welcomes this child in My name and for My sake receives and accepts and welcomes Me; and whoever so receives Me so also receives Him Who sent Me. For he who is least and lowliest among you all—he is [the one who is truly] great.
49 John said, Master, we saw a man driving out demons in Your name and we commanded him to stop it, for he does not follow along with us.
50 But Jesus told him, Do not forbid [such people]; for whoever is not against you is for you.
51 Now when the time was almost come for Jesus to be received up [to heaven], He steadfastly and determinedly set His face to go to Jerusalem.
52 And He sent messengers before Him; and they reached and entered a Samaritan village to make [things] ready for Him;
53 But [the people] would not welcome or receive or accept Him, because His face was [set as if He was] going to Jerusalem.
54 And when His disciples James and John observed this, they said, Lord, do You wish us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did? [II Kings 1:9-16.]
55 But He turned and rebuked and severely censured them. He said, You do not know of what sort of spirit you are,
56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them [from the penalty of eternal death]. And they journeyed on to another village.
57 And it occurred that as they were going along the road, a man said to Him, Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.
58 And Jesus told him, Foxes have lurking holes and the birds of the air have roosts and nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.
59 And He said to another, Become My disciple, side with My party, and accompany Me! But he replied, Lord, permit me first to go and bury (await the death of) my father.
60 But Jesus said to him, Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and publish abroad throughout all regions the kingdom of God.
61 Another also said, I will follow You, Lord, and become Your disciple and side with Your party; but let me first say good-bye to those at my home.
62 Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back [to the things behind] is fit for the kingdom of God.


John 7:2–10
2 Now the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was drawing near.
3 So His brothers said to Him, Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples [there] may also see the works that You do. [This is no place for You.]
4 For no one does anything in secret when he wishes to be conspicuous and secure publicity. If You [must] do these things [if You must act like this], show Yourself openly and make Yourself known to the world!
5 For [even] His brothers did not believe in or adhere to or trust in or rely on Him either.
6 Whereupon Jesus said to them, My time (opportunity) has not come yet; but any time is suitable for you and your opportunity is ready any time [is always here].
7 The world cannot [be expected to] hate you, but it does hate Me because I denounce it for its wicked works and reveal that its doings are evil.
8 Go to the Feast yourselves. I am not [yet] going up to the Festival, because My time is not ripe. [My term is not yet completed; it is not time for Me to go.]
9 Having said these things to them, He stayed behind in Galilee.
10 But afterward, when His brothers had gone up to the Feast, He went up also, not publicly [not with a caravan], but by Himself quietly and as if He did not wish to be observed.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 21.
John 7:11–8:59

John 7:11-53
11 Therefore the Jews kept looking for Him at the Feast and asking, Where can He be? [Where is that Fellow?]
12 And there was among the mass of the people much whispered discussion and hot disputing about Him. Some were saying, He is good! [He is a good Man!] Others said, No, He misleads and deceives the people [gives them false ideas]!
13 But no one dared speak out boldly about Him for fear of [the leaders of] the Jews.
14 When the Feast was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple [court] and began to teach.
15 The Jews were astonished. They said, How is it that this Man has learning [is so versed in the sacred Scriptures and in theology] when He has never studied?
16 Jesus answered them by saying, My teaching is not My own, but His Who sent Me.
17 If any man desires to do His will (God’s pleasure), he will know (have the needed illumination to recognize, and can tell for himself) whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking from Myself and of My own accord and on My own authority.
18 He who speaks on his own authority seeks to win honor for himself. [He whose teaching originates with himself seeks his own glory.] But He Who seeks the glory and is eager for the honor of Him Who sent Him, He is true; and there is no unrighteousness or falsehood or deception in Him.
19 Did not Moses give you the Law? And yet not one of you keeps the Law. [If that is the truth] why do you seek to kill Me [for not keeping it]?
20 The crowd answered Him, You are possessed by a demon! [You are raving!] Who seeks to kill You?
21 Jesus answered them, I did one work, and you all are astounded. [John 5:1-9.]
22 Now Moses established circumcision among you—though it did not originate with Moses but with the previous patriarchs—and you circumcise a person [even] on the Sabbath day.
23 If, to avoid breaking the Law of Moses, a person undergoes circumcision on the Sabbath day, have you any cause to be angry with (indignant with, bitter against) Me for making a man’s whole body well on the Sabbath?
24 Be honest in your judgment and do not decide at a glance (superficially and by appearances); but judge fairly and righteously.
25 Then some of the Jerusalem people said, Is not this the Man they seek to kill?
26 And here He is speaking openly, and they say nothing to Him! Can it be possible that the rulers have discovered and know that this is truly the Christ?
27 No, we know where this Man comes from; when the Christ arrives, no one is to know from what place He comes.
28 Whereupon Jesus called out as He taught in the temple [porches], Do you know Me, and do you know where I am from? I have not come on My own authority and of My own accord and as self-appointed, but the One Who sent Me is true (real, genuine, steadfast); and Him you do not know!
29 I know Him [Myself] because I come from His [very] presence, and it was He [personally] Who sent Me.
30 Therefore they were eager to arrest Him, but no one laid a hand on Him, for His hour (time) had not yet come.
31 And besides, many of the multitude believed in Him [adhered to Him, trusted in Him, relied on Him]. And they kept saying, When the Christ comes, will He do [can He be expected to do] more miracles and produce more proofs and signs than what this Man has done?
32 The Pharisees learned how the people were saying these things about Him under their breath; and the chief priests and Pharisees sent attendants (guards) to arrest Him.
33 Therefore Jesus said, For a little while I am [still] with you, and then I go back to Him Who sent Me.
34 You will look for Me, but you will not [be able to] find Me; where I am, you cannot come.
35 Then the Jews said among themselves, Where does this Man intend to go that we shall not find Him? Will He go to the Jews who are scattered in the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
36 What does this statement of His mean, You will look for Me and not be able to find Me, and, Where I am, you cannot come?
37 Now on the final and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood, and He cried in a loud voice, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink!
38 He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.
39 But He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed (trusted, had faith) in Him were afterward to receive. For the [Holy] Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor).
40 Listening to those words, some of the multitude said, This is certainly and beyond doubt the Prophet! [Deut. 18:15, 18; John 1:21; 6:14; Acts 3:22.]
41 Others said, This is the Christ (the Messiah, Anointed One)! But some said, What? Does the Christ come out of Galilee?
42 Does not the Scripture tell us that the Christ will come from the offspring of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived? [Ps. 89:3, 4; Mic. 5:2.]
43 So there arose a division and dissension among the people concerning Him.
44 Some of them wanted to arrest Him, but no one [ventured and] laid hands on Him.
45 Meanwhile the attendants (guards) had gone back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, Why have you not brought Him here with you?
46 The attendants replied, Never has a man talked as this Man talks! [No mere man has ever spoken as He speaks!]
47 The Pharisees said to them, Are you also deluded and led astray? [Are you also swept off your feet?]
48 Has any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in Him?
49 As for this multitude (rabble) that does not know the Law, they are contemptible and doomed and accursed!
50 Then Nicodemus, who came to Jesus before at night and was one of them, asked,
51 Does our Law convict a man without giving him a hearing and finding out what he has done?
52 They answered him, Are you too from Galilee? Search [the Scriptures yourself], and you will see that no prophet comes (will rise to prominence) from Galilee.
53 And they went [back], each to his own house.


John Chapter 8
BUT JESUS went to the Mount of Olives.
2 Early in the morning (at dawn), He came back into the temple [court], and the people came to Him in crowds. He sat down and was teaching them,
3 When the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They made her stand in the middle of the court and put the case before Him.
4 Teacher, they said, This woman has been caught in the very act of adultery.
5 Now Moses in the Law commanded us that such [women—offenders] shall be stoned to death. But what do You say [to do with her—what is Your sentence]? [Deut. 22:22-24.]
6 This they said to try (test) Him, hoping they might find a charge on which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger.
7 However, when they persisted with their question, He raised Himself up and said, Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.
8 Then He bent down and went on writing on the ground with His finger.
9 They listened to Him, and then they began going out, conscience-stricken, one by one, from the oldest down to the last one of them, till Jesus was left alone, with the woman standing there before Him in the center of the court.
10 When Jesus raised Himself up, He said to her, Woman, where are your accusers? Has no man condemned you?
11 She answered, No one, Lord! And Jesus said, I do not condemn you either. Go on your way and from now on sin no more.
12 Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is Life.
13 Whereupon the Pharisees told Him, You are testifying on Your own behalf; Your testimony is not valid and is worthless.
14 Jesus answered, Even if I do testify on My own behalf, My testimony is true and reliable and valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.
15 You [set yourselves up to] judge according to the flesh (by what you see). [You condemn by external, human standards.] I do not [set Myself up to] judge or condemn or sentence anyone.
16 Yet even if I do judge, My judgment is true [My decision is right]; for I am not alone [in making it], but [there are two of Us] I and the Father, Who sent Me.
17 In your [own] Law it is written that the testimony (evidence) of two persons is reliable and valid. [Deut. 19:15.]
18 I am One [of the Two] bearing testimony concerning Myself; and My Father, Who sent Me, He also testifies about Me.
19 Then they said to Him, Where is this Father of Yours? Jesus answered, You know My Father as little as you know Me. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.
20 Jesus said these things in the treasury while He was teaching in the temple [court]; but no one ventured to arrest Him, because His hour had not yet come.
21 Therefore He said again to them, I am going away, and you will be looking for Me, and you will die in (under the curse of) your sin. Where I am going, it is not possible for you to come.
22 At this the Jews began to ask among themselves, Will He kill Himself? Is that why He says, Where I am going, it is not possible for you to come?
23 He said to them, You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world (of this earthly order); I am not of this world.
24 That is why I told you that you will die in (under the curse of) your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He [Whom I claim to be—if you do not adhere to, trust in, and rely on Me], you will die in your sins.
25 Then they said to Him, Who are You anyway? Jesus replied, [Why do I even speak to you!] I am exactly what I have been telling you from the first.
26 I have much to say about you and to judge and condemn. But He Who sent Me is true (reliable), and I tell the world [only] the things that I have heard from Him.
27 They did not perceive (know, understand) that He was speaking to them about the Father.
28 So Jesus added, When you have lifted up the Son of Man [on the cross], you will realize (know, understand) that I am He [for Whom you look] and that I do nothing of Myself (of My own accord or on My own authority), but I say [exactly] what My Father has taught Me.
29 And He Who sent Me is ever with Me; My Father has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.
30 As He said these things, many believed in Him [trusted, relied on, and adhered to Him].
31 So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples.
32 And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.
33 They answered Him, We are Abraham’s offspring (descendants) and have never been in bondage to anybody. What do You mean by saying, You will be set free?
34 Jesus answered them, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Whoever commits and practices sin is the slave of sin.
35 Now a slave does not remain in a household permanently (forever); the son [of the house] does remain forever.
36 So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men], then you are really and unquestionably free.
37 [Yes] I know that you are Abraham’s offspring; yet you plan to kill Me, because My word has no entrance (makes no progress, does not find any place) in you.
38 I tell the things which I have seen and learned at My Father’s side, and your actions also reflect what you have heard and learned from your father.
39 They retorted, Abraham is our father. Jesus said, If you were [truly] Abraham’s children, then you would do the works of Abraham [follow his example, do as Abraham did].
40 But now [instead] you are wanting and seeking to kill Me, a Man Who has told you the truth which I have heard from God. This is not the way Abraham acted.
41 You are doing the works of your [own] father. They said to Him, We are not illegitimate children and born out of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
42 Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love Me and respect Me and welcome Me gladly, for I proceeded (came forth) from God [out of His very presence]. I did not even come on My own authority or of My own accord (as self-appointed); but He sent Me.
43 Why do you misunderstand what I say? It is because you are unable to hear what I am saying. [You cannot bear to listen to My message; your ears are shut to My teaching.]
44 You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false.
45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me [do not trust Me, do not rely on Me, or adhere to Me].
46 Who of you convicts Me of wrongdoing or finds Me guilty of sin? Then if I speak truth, why do you not believe Me [trust Me, rely on, and adhere to Me]?
47 Whoever is of God listens to God. [Those who belong to God hear the words of God.] This is the reason that you do not listen [to those words, to Me]: because you do not belong to God and are not of God or in harmony with Him.
48 The Jews answered Him, Are we not right when we say You are a Samaritan and that You have a demon [that You are under the power of an evil spirit]?
49 Jesus answered, I am not possessed by a demon. On the contrary, I honor and reverence My Father and you dishonor (despise, vilify, and scorn) Me.
50 However, I am not in search of honor for Myself. [I do not seek and am not aiming for My own glory.] There is One Who [looks after that; He] seeks [My glory], and He is the Judge.
51 I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone observes My teaching [lives in accordance with My message, keeps My word], he will by no means ever see and experience death.
52 The Jews said to Him, Now we know that You are under the power of a demon (insane). Abraham died, and also the prophets, yet You say, If a man keeps My word, he will never taste of death into all eternity.
53 Are You greater than our father Abraham? He died, and all the prophets died! Who do You make Yourself out to be?
54 Jesus answered, If I were to glorify Myself (magnify, praise, and honor Myself), I would have no real glory, for My glory would be nothing and worthless. [My honor must come to Me from My Father.] It is My Father Who glorifies Me [Who extols Me, magnifies, and praises Me], of Whom you say that He is your God.
55 Yet you do not know Him or recognize Him and are not acquainted with Him, but I know Him. If I should say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I know Him and keep His word [obey His teachings, am faithful to His message].
56 Your forefather Abraham was extremely happy at the hope and prospect of seeing My day (My incarnation); and he did see it and was delighted. [Heb. 11:13.]
57 Then the Jews said to Him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?
58 Jesus replied, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I AM. [Exod. 3:14.]
59 So they took up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus, by mixing with the crowd, concealed Himself and went out of the temple [enclosure].

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 22.
Luke 10:1–11:36


Luke Chapter 10
NOW AFTER this the Lord chose and appointed seventy others and sent them out ahead of Him, two by two, into every town and place where He Himself was about to come (visit).
2 And He said to them, The harvest indeed is abundant [there is much ripe grain], but the farmhands are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
3 Go your way; behold, I send you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.
4 Carry no purse, no provisions bag, no [change of] sandals; refrain from [retarding your journey by] saluting and wishing anyone well along the way.
5 Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this household! [Freedom from all the distresses that result from sin be with this family].
6 And if anyone [worthy] of peace and blessedness is there, the peace and blessedness you wish shall come upon him; but if not, it shall come back to you.
7 And stay on in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. [Deut. 24:15.]
8 Whenever you go into a town and they receive and accept and welcome you, eat what is set before you;
9 And heal the sick in it and say to them, The kingdom of God has come close to you.
10 But whenever you go into a town and they do not receive and accept and welcome you, go out into its streets and say,
11 Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we are wiping off against you; yet know and understand this: the kingdom of God has come near you.
12 I tell you, it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that town. [Gen. 19:24-28.]
13 Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty miracles performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14 However, it shall be more tolerable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted unto heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades (the regions of the dead).
16 He who hears and heeds you [disciples] hears and heeds Me; and he who slights and rejects you slights and rejects Me; and he who slights and rejects Me slights and rejects Him who sent Me.
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!
18 And He said to them, I saw Satan falling like a lightning [flash] from heaven.
19 Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.
20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are enrolled in heaven. [Exod. 32:32; Ps. 69:28; Dan. 12:1.]
21 In that same hour He rejoiced and gloried in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have concealed these things [relating to salvation] from the wise and understanding and learned, and revealed them to babes (the childish, unskilled, and untaught). Yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will and choice and good pleasure.
22 All things have been given over into My power by My Father; and no one knows Who the Son is except the Father, or Who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son may choose to reveal and make Him known.
23 Then turning to His disciples, He said privately, Blessed (happy, to be envied) are those whose eyes see what you see!
24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings longed to see what you see and they did not see it, and to hear what you hear and they did not hear it.
25 And then a certain lawyer arose to try (test, tempt) Him, saying, Teacher, what am I to do to inherit everlasting life [that is, to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?
26 Jesus said to him, What is written in the Law? How do you read it?
27 And he replied, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. [Lev. 19:18; Deut. 6:5.]
28 And Jesus said to him, You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live [enjoy active, blessed, endless life in the kingdom of God].
29 And he, determined to acquit himself of reproach, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
30 Jesus, taking him up, replied, A certain man was going from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him of his clothes and belongings and beat him and went their way, [unconcernedly] leaving him half dead, as it happened.
31 Now by coincidence a certain priest was going down along that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 A Levite likewise came down to the place and saw him, and passed by on the other side [of the road].
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled along, came down to where he was; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity and sympathy [for him],
34 And went to him and dressed his wounds, pouring on [them] oil and wine. Then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 And the next day he took out two denarii [two day’s wages] and gave [them] to the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I [myself] will repay you when I return.
36 Which of these three do you think proved himself a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?
37 He answered, The one who showed pity and mercy to him. And Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise.
38 Now while they were on their way, it occurred that Jesus entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha received and welcomed Him into her house.
39 And she had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His teaching.
40 But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted with much serving; and she came up to Him and said, Lord, is it nothing to You that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me [to lend a hand and do her part along with me]!
41 But the Lord replied to her by saying, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things;
42 There is need of only one or but a few things. Mary has chosen the good portion [that which is to her advantage], which shall not be taken away from her.


Luk e11:1–36
THEN HE was praying in a certain place; and when He stopped, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, [just] as John taught his disciples.
2 And He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come. Your will be done [held holy and revered] on earth as it is in heaven.
3 Give us daily our bread [food for the morrow].
4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us [who has offended us or done us wrong]. And bring us not into temptation but rescue us from evil.
5 And He said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and will say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves [of bread],
6 For a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come, and I have nothing to put before him;
7 And he from within will answer, Do not disturb me; the door is now closed, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and supply you [with anything]?
8 I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.
11 What father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13 If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts [gifts that are to their advantage] to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!
14 Now Jesus was driving out a demon that was dumb; and it occurred that when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke. And the crowds marveled.
15 But some of them said, He drives out demons [because He is in league with and] by Beelzebub, the prince of demons,
16 While others, to try and test and tempt Him, demanded a sign of Him from heaven.
17 But He, [well] aware of their intent and purpose, said to them, Every kingdom split up against itself is doomed and brought to desolation, and so house falls upon house. [The disunited household will collapse.]
18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom last? For you say that I expel demons with the help of and by Beelzebub.
19 Now if I expel demons with the help of and by Beelzebub, with whose help and by whom do your sons drive them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
20 But if I drive out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has [already] come upon you.
21 When the strong man, fully armed, [from his courtyard] guards his own dwelling, his belongings are undisturbed [his property is at peace and is secure].
22 But when one stronger than he attacks him and conquers him, he robs him of his whole armor on which he had relied and divides up and distributes all his goods as plunder (spoil).
23 He who is not with Me [siding and believing with Me] is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me [engage in My interest], scatters.
24 When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search [of a place] of rest (release, refreshment, ease); and finding none it says, I will go back to my house from which I came.
25 And when it arrives, it finds [the place] swept and put in order and furnished and decorated.
26 And it goes and brings other spirits, seven [of them], more evil than itself, and they enter in, settle down, and dwell there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first.
27 Now it occurred that as He was saying these things, a certain woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, Blessed (happy and to be envied) is the womb that bore You and the breasts that You sucked!
28 But He said, Blessed (happy and to be envied) rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey and practice it!
29 Now as the crowds were [increasingly] thronging Him, He began to say, This present generation is a wicked one; it seeks and demands a sign (miracle), but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah [the prophet]. [Jonah 1:17; Matt. 12:40.]
30 For [just] as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will also the Son of Man be [a sign] to this age and generation. [Jonah 3:4-10.]
31 The queen of the South will arise in the judgment with the people of this age and generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the [inhabited] earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and notice, here is more than Solomon. [I Kings 10:1-13; II Chron. 9:1-12.]
32 The men of Nineveh will appear as witnesses at the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, here is more than Jonah. [Jonah 3:4-10.]
33 No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or crypt or under a bushel measure, but on a lampstand, that those who are coming in may see the light.
34 Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye (your conscience) is sound and fulfilling its office, your whole body is full of light; but when it is not sound and is not fulfilling its office, your body is full of darkness.
35 Be careful, therefore, that the light that is in you is not darkness.
36 If then your entire body is illuminated, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright [with light], as when a lamp with its bright rays gives you light.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 23.
Luke 11:37–13:21

Luke 11:37–54
37 Now while Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to take dinner with him, so He entered and reclined at table.
38 The Pharisee noticed and was astonished [to see] that Jesus did not first wash before dinner.
39 But the Lord said to him, Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside you yourselves are full of greed and robbery and extortion and malice and wickedness.
40 You senseless (foolish, stupid) ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]! Did not He Who made the outside make the inside also?
41 But [dedicate your inner self and] give as donations to the poor of those things which are within [of inward righteousness] and behold, everything is purified and clean for you.
42 But woe to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every [little] herb, but disregard and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. [Lev. 27:30; Mic. 6:8.]
43 Woe to you, Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and [you love] to be greeted and bowed down to in the [public] marketplaces.
44 Woe to you! For you are like graves which are not marked or seen, and men walk over them without being aware of it [and are ceremonially defiled].
45 One of the experts in the [Mosaic] Law answered Him, Teacher, in saying this, You reproach and outrage and affront even us!
46 But He said, Woe to you, the lawyers, also! For you load men with oppressive burdens hard to bear, and you do not personally [even gently] touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
47 Woe to you! For you are rebuilding and repairing the tombs of the prophets, whom your fathers killed (destroyed).
48 So you bear witness and give your full approval and consent to the deeds of your fathers; for they actually killed them, and you rebuild and repair monuments to them.
49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets and apostles, [some] of whom they will put to death and persecute,
50 So that the blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world may be charged against and required of this age and generation,
51 From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was slain between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against and required of this age and generation. [Gen. 4:8; II Chron. 24:20, 21; Zech. 1:1.]
52 Woe to you, lawyers (experts in the Mosaic Law)! For you have taken away the key to knowledge; you did not go in yourselves, and you hindered and prevented those who were entering.
53 As He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees [followed Him closely, and they] began to be enraged with and set themselves violently against Him and to draw Him out and provoke Him to speak of many things,
54 Secretly watching and plotting and lying in wait for Him, to seize upon something He might say [that they might accuse Him].

Luke Chapter 12
IN THE meanwhile, when so many thousands of the people had gathered that they were trampling on one another, Jesus commenced by saying primarily to His disciples, Be on your guard against the leaven (ferment) of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy [producing unrest and violent agitation].
2 Nothing is [so closely] covered up that it will not be revealed, or hidden that it will not be known.
3 Whatever you have spoken in the darkness shall be heard and listened to in the light, and what you have whispered in [people’s] ears and behind closed doors will be proclaimed upon the housetops.
4 I tell you, My friends, do not dread and be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do.
5 But I will warn you whom you should fear: fear Him Who, after killing, has power to hurl into hell (Gehenna); yes, I say to you, fear Him!
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And [yet] not one of them is forgotten or uncared for in the presence of God.
7 But [even] the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be struck with fear or seized with alarm; you are of greater worth than many [flocks] of sparrows.
8 And I tell you, Whoever declares openly [speaking out freely] and confesses that he is My worshiper and acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man also will declare and confess and acknowledge him before the angels of God.
9 But he who disowns and denies and rejects and refuses to acknowledge Me before men will be disowned and denied and rejected and refused acknowledgement in the presence of the angels of God.
10 And everyone who makes a statement or speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit [that is, whoever intentionally comes short of the reverence due the Holy Spirit], it will not be forgiven him [for him there is no forgiveness].
11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the magistrates and the authorities, do not be anxious [beforehand] how you shall reply in defense or what you are to say.
12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour and moment what [you] ought to say.
13 Someone from the crowd said to Him, Master, order my brother to divide the inheritance and share it with me.
14 But He told him, Man, who has appointed Me a judge or umpire and divider over you?
15 And He said to them, Guard yourselves and keep free from all covetousness (the immoderate desire for wealth, the greedy longing to have more); for a man’s life does not consist in and is not derived from possessing overflowing abundance or that which is over and above his needs.
16 Then He told them a parable, saying, The land of a rich man was fertile and yielded plentifully.
17 And he considered and debated within himself, What shall I do? I have no place [in which] to gather together my harvest.
18 And he said, I will do this: I will pull down my storehouses and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain or produce and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many good things laid up, [enough] for many years. Take your ease; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself merrily.
20 But God said to him, You fool! This very night they [the messengers of God] will demand your soul of you; and all the things that you have prepared, whose will they be? [Job 27:8; Jer. 17:11.]
21 So it is with the one who continues to lay up and hoard possessions for himself and is not rich [in his relation] to God [this is how he fares].
22 And [Jesus] said to His disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious and troubled [with cares] about your life, as to what you will [have to] eat; or about your body, as to what you will [have to] wear.
23 For life is more than food, and the body [more] than clothes.
24 Observe and consider the ravens; for they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn; and [yet] God feeds them. Of how much more worth are you than the birds!
25 And which of you by being overly anxious and troubled with cares can add a cubit to his stature or a moment [unit] of time to his age [the length of his life]?
26 If then you are not able to do such a little thing as that, why are you anxious and troubled with cares about the rest?
27 Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither [wearily] toil nor spin nor weave; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory (his splendor and magnificence) was not arrayed like one of these. [I Kings 10:4-7.]
28 But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today, and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O you [people] of little faith?
29 And you, do not seek [by meditating and reasoning to inquire into] what you are to eat and what you are to drink; nor be of anxious (troubled) mind [unsettled, excited, worried, and in suspense];
30 For all the pagan world is [greedily] seeking these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
31 Only aim at and strive for and seek His kingdom, and all these things shall be supplied to you also.
32 Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom!
33 Sell what you possess and give donations to the poor; provide yourselves with purses and handbags that do not grow old, an unfailing and inexhaustible treasure in the heavens, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
35 Keep your loins girded and your lamps burning,
36 And be like men who are waiting for their master to return home from the marriage feast, so that when he returns from the wedding and comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately.
37 Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are those servants whom the master finds awake and alert and watching when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will gird himself and have them recline at table and will come and serve them!
38 If he comes in the second watch (before midnight) or the third watch (after midnight), and finds them so, blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are those servants!
39 But of this be assured: if the householder had known at what time the burglar was coming, he would have been awake and alert and watching and would not have permitted his house to be dug through and broken into.
40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour and a moment when you do not anticipate it.
41 Peter said, Lord, are You telling this parable for us, or for all alike?
42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful steward, the wise man whom his master will set over those in his household service to supply them their allowance of food at the appointed time?
43 Blessed (happy and to be envied) is that servant whom his master finds so doing when he arrives.
44 Truly I tell you, he will set him in charge over all his possessions.
45 But if that servant says in his heart, My master is late in coming, and begins to strike the menservants and the maids and to eat and drink and get drunk,
46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour of which he does not know, and will punish him and cut him off and assign his lot with the unfaithful.
47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act as he would wish him to act shall be beaten with many [lashes].
48 But he who did not know and did things worthy of a beating shall be beaten with few [lashes]. For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required; and of him to whom men entrust much, they will require and demand all the more. [Num. 15:29, 30; Deut. 25:2, 3.]
49 I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled!
50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and how greatly and sorely I am urged on (impelled, constrained) until it is accomplished!
51 Do you suppose that I have come to give peace upon earth? No, I say to you, but rather division;
52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided [among themselves], three against two and two against three.
53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. [Mic. 7:6.]
54 He also said to the crowds of people, When you see a cloud rising in the west, at once you say, It is going to rain! And so it does.
55 And when [you see that] a south wind is blowing, you say, There will be severe heat! And it occurs.
56 You playactors (hypocrites)! You know how [intelligently] to discern and interpret and prove the looks of the earth and sky; but how is it that you do not know how to discern and interpret and apply the proof to this present time?
57 And why do you not judge what is just and personally decide what is right?
58 Then as you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make a diligent effort to settle and be quit (free) of him, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison.
59 I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last [fraction of a] cent.


Luke 13:1–21
JUST AT that time there [arrived] some people who informed Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
2 And He replied by saying to them, Do you think that these Galileans were greater sinners than all the other Galileans because they have suffered in this way?
3 I tell you, No; but unless you repent (change your mind for the better and heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), you will all likewise perish and be lost eternally.
4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them—do you think that they were more guilty offenders (debtors) than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, No; but unless you repent (change your mind for the better and heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), you will all likewise perish and be lost eternally.
6 And He told them this parable: A certain man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, but did not find [any].
7 So he said to the vinedresser, See here! For these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and I find none. Cut it down! Why should it continue also to use up the ground [to deplete the soil, intercept the sun, and take up room]?
8 But he replied to him, Leave it alone, sir, [just] this one more year, till I dig around it and put manure [on the soil].
9 Then perhaps it will bear fruit after this; but if not, you can cut it down and out.
10 Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
11 And there was a woman there who for eighteen years had had an infirmity caused by a spirit (a demon of sickness). She was bent completely forward and utterly unable to straighten herself up or to look upward.
12 And when Jesus saw her, He called [her to Him] and said to her, Woman, you are released from your infirmity!
13 Then He laid [His] hands on her, and instantly she was made straight, and she recognized and thanked and praised God.
14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, There are six days on which work ought to be done; so come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day. [Exod. 20:9, 10.]
15 But the Lord replied to him, saying, You playactors (hypocrites)! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it out to water it?
16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?
17 Even as He said this, all His opponents were put to shame, and all the people were rejoicing over all the glorious things that were being done by Him.
18 This led Him to say, What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?
19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the wild birds found shelter and roosted and nested in its branches.
20 And again He said, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?
21 It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of wheat flour or meal until it was all leavened (fermented).

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 24.
John 9–10

John Chapter 9
AS HE passed along, He noticed a man blind from his birth.
2 His disciples asked Him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?
3 Jesus answered, It was not that this man or his parents sinned, but he was born blind in order that the workings of God should be manifested (displayed and illustrated) in him.
4 We must work the works of Him Who sent Me and be busy with His business while it is daylight; night is coming on, when no man can work.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the world’s Light.
6 When He had said this, He spat on the ground and made clay (mud) with His saliva, and He spread it [as ointment] on the man’s eyes.
7 And He said to him, Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam—which means Sent. So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
8 When the neighbors and those who used to know him by sight as a beggar saw him, they said, Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?
9 Some said, It is he. Others said, No, but he looks very much like him. But he said, Yes, I am the man.
10 So they said to him, How were your eyes opened?
11 He replied, The Man called Jesus made mud and smeared it on my eyes and said to me, Go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and I obtained my sight!
12 They asked him, Where is He? He said, I do not know.
13 Then they conducted to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.
14 Now it was on the Sabbath day that Jesus mixed the mud and opened the man’s eyes.
15 So now again the Pharisees asked him how he received his sight. And he said to them, He smeared mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.
16 Then some of the Pharisees said, This Man [Jesus] is not from God, because He does not observe the Sabbath. But others said, How can a man who is a sinner (a bad man) do such signs and miracles? So there was a difference of opinion among them.
17 Accordingly they said to the blind man again, What do you say about Him, seeing that He opened your eyes? And he said, He is [He must be] a prophet!
18 However, the Jews did not believe that he had [really] been blind and that he had received his sight until they called (summoned) the parents of the man.
19 They asked them, Is this your son, whom you reported as having been born blind? How then does he see now?
20 His parents answered, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind.
21 But as to how he can now see, we do not know; or who has opened his eyes, we do not know. He is of age. Ask him; let him speak for himself and give his own account of it.
22 His parents said this because they feared [the leaders of] the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should acknowledge Jesus to be the Christ, he should be expelled and excluded from the synagogue.
23 On that account his parents said, He is of age; ask him.
24 So the second time they summoned the man who had been born blind, and said to him, Now give God the glory (praise). This Fellow we know is only a sinner (a wicked person).
25 Then he answered, I do not know whether He is a sinner and wicked or not. But one thing I do know, that whereas I was blind before, now I see.
26 So they said to him, What did He [actually] do to you? How did He open your eyes?
27 He answered, I already told you and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Can it be that you wish to become His disciples also?
28 And they stormed at him [they jeered, they sneered, they reviled him] and retorted, You are His disciple yourself, but we are the disciples of Moses.
29 We know for certain that God spoke with Moses, but as for this Fellow, we know nothing about where He hails from.
30 The man replied, Well, this is astonishing! Here a Man has opened my eyes, and yet you do not know where He comes from. [That is amazing!]
31 We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and a worshiper of Him and does His will, He listens to him.
32 Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.
33 If this Man were not from God, He would not be able to do anything like this.
34 They retorted, You were wholly born in sin [from head to foot]; and do you [presume to] teach us? So they cast him out [threw him clear outside the synagogue].
35 Jesus heard that they had put him out, and meeting him He said, Do you believe in and adhere to the Son of Man or the Son of God?
36 He answered, Who is He, Sir? Tell me, that I may believe in and adhere to Him.
37 Jesus said to him, You have seen Him; [in fact] He is talking to you right now.
38 He called out, Lord, I believe! [I rely on, I trust, I cleave to You!] And he worshiped Him.
39 Then Jesus said, I came into this world for judgment [as a Separator, in order that there may be separation between those who believe on Me and those who reject Me], to make the sightless see and to make those who see become blind.
40 Some Pharisees who were near, hearing this remark, said to Him, Are we also blind?
41 Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin; but because you now claim to have sight, your sin remains. [If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but because you insist, We do see clearly, you are unable to escape your guilt.]


John Chapter 10
I ASSURE you, most solemnly I tell you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way (elsewhere, from some other quarter) is a thief and a robber.
2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 The watchman opens the door for this man, and the sheep listen to his voice and heed it; and he calls his own sheep by name and brings (leads) them out.
4 When he has brought his own sheep outside, he walks on before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
5 They will never [on any account] follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not know the voice of strangers or recognize their call.
6 Jesus used this parable (illustration) with them, but they did not understand what He was talking about.
7 So Jesus said again, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that I Myself am the Door for the sheep.
8 All others who came [as such] before Me are thieves and robbers, but the [true] sheep did not listen to and obey them.
9 I am the Door; anyone who enters in through Me will be saved (will live). He will come in and he will go out [freely], and will find pasture.
10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).
11 I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep. [Ps. 23.]
12 But the hired servant (he who merely serves for wages) who is neither the shepherd nor the owner of the sheep, when he sees the wolf coming, deserts the flock and runs away. And the wolf chases and snatches them and scatters [the flock].
13 Now the hireling flees because he merely serves for wages and is not himself concerned about the sheep [cares nothing for them].
14 I am the Good Shepherd; and I know and recognize My own, and My own know and recognize Me—
15 Even as [truly as] the Father knows Me and I also know the Father—and I am giving My [very own] life and laying it down on behalf of the sheep.
16 And I have other sheep [beside these] that are not of this fold. I must bring and impel those also; and they will listen to My voice and heed My call, and so there will be [they will become] one flock under one Shepherd. [Ezek. 34:23.]
17 For this [reason] the Father loves Me, because I lay down My [own] life—to take it back again.
18 No one takes it away from Me. On the contrary, I lay it down voluntarily. [I put it from Myself.] I am authorized and have power to lay it down (to resign it) and I am authorized and have power to take it back again. These are the instructions (orders) which I have received [as My charge] from My Father.
19 Then a fresh division of opinion arose among the Jews because of His saying these things.
20 And many of them said, He has a demon and He is mad (insane—He raves, He rambles). Why do you listen to Him?
21 Others argued, These are not the thoughts and the language of one possessed. Can a demon-possessed person open blind eyes?
22 After this the Feast of Dedication [of the reconsecration of the temple] was taking place at Jerusalem. It was winter,
23 And Jesus was walking in Solomon’s Porch in the temple area.
24 So the Jews surrounded Him and began asking Him, How long are You going to keep us in doubt and suspense? If You are really the Christ (the Messiah), tell us so plainly and openly.
25 Jesus answered them, I have told you so, yet you do not believe Me [you do not trust Me and rely on Me]. The very works that I do by the power of My Father and in My Father’s name bear witness concerning Me [they are My credentials and evidence in support of Me].
26 But you do not believe and trust and rely on Me because you do not belong to My fold [you are no sheep of Mine].
27 The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.
28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages. [To all eternity they shall never by any means be destroyed.] And no one is able to snatch them out of My hand.
29 My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all [else]; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of the Father’s hand.
30 I and the Father are One.
31 Again the Jews brought up stones to stone Him.
32 Jesus said to them, My Father has enabled Me to do many good deeds. [I have shown many acts of mercy in your presence.] For which of these do you mean to stone Me?
33 The Jews replied, We are not going to stone You for a good act, but for blasphemy, because You, a mere Man, make Yourself [out to be] God.
34 Jesus answered, Is it not written in your Law, I said, You are gods? [Ps. 82:6.]
35 So men are called gods [by the Law], men to whom God’s message came—and the Scripture cannot be set aside or cancelled or broken or annulled—
36 [If that is true] do you say of the One Whom the Father consecrated and dedicated and set apart for Himself and sent into the world, You are blaspheming, because I said, I am the Son of God?
37 If I am not doing the works [performing the deeds] of My Father, then do not believe Me [do not adhere to Me and trust Me and rely on Me].
38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe Me or have faith in Me, [at least] believe the works and have faith in what I do, in order that you may know and understand [clearly] that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father [One with Him].
39 They sought again to arrest Him, but He escaped from their hands.
40 He went back again across the Jordan to the locality where John was when he first baptized, and there He remained.
41 And many came to Him, and they kept saying, John did not perform a [single] sign or miracle, but everything John said about this Man was true.
42 And many [people] there became believers in Him. [They adhered to and trusted in and relied on Him.]

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 25.
Luke 13:22–15:32


Luke 13:22–35
22 [Jesus] journeyed on through towns and villages, teaching, and making His way toward Jerusalem.
23 And someone asked Him, Lord, will only a few be saved (rescued, delivered from the penalties of the last judgment, and made partakers of the salvation by Christ)? And He said to them,
24 Strive to enter by the narrow door [force yourselves through it], for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.
25 When once the Master of the house gets up and closes the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door [again and again], saying, Lord, open to us! He will answer you, I do not know where [what household—certainly not Mine] you come from.
26 Then you will begin to say, We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.
27 But He will say, I tell you, I do not know where [what household—certainly not Mine] you come from; depart from Me, all you wrongdoers!
28 There will be weeping and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves being cast forth (banished, driven away).
29 And [people] will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit down (feast at table) in the kingdom of God.
30 And behold, there are some [now] last who will be first [then], and there are some [now] first who will be last [then].
31 At that very hour some Pharisees came up and said to Him, Go away from here, for Herod is determined to kill You.
32 And He said to them, Go and tell that fox [sly and crafty, skulking and cowardly], Behold, I drive out demons and perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish (complete) My course.
33 Nevertheless, I must continue on My way today and tomorrow and the day after that—for it will never do for a prophet to be destroyed away from Jerusalem!
34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who continue to kill the prophets and to stone those who are sent to you! How often I have desired and yearned to gather your children together [around Me], as a hen [gathers] her young under her wings, but you would not!
35 Behold, your house is forsaken (abandoned, left to you destitute of God’s help)! And I tell you, you will not see Me again until the time comes when you shall say, Blessed (to be celebrated with praises) is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! [Ps. 118:26; Jer. 22:5.]


Luke Chapter 14
IT OCCURRED one Sabbath, when [Jesus] went for a meal at the house of one of the ruling Pharisees, that they were [engaged in] watching Him [closely].
2 And behold, [just] in front of Him there was a man who had dropsy.
3 And Jesus asked the lawyers and the Pharisees, Is it lawful and right to cure on the Sabbath or not?
4 But they kept silent. Then He took hold [of the man] and cured him and sent him away.
5 And He said to them, Which of you, having a son or a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not at once pull him out on the Sabbath day?
6 And they were unable to reply to this.
7 Now He told a parable to those who were invited, [when] He noticed how they were selecting the places of honor, saying to them,
8 When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, do not recline on the chief seat [in the place of honor], lest a more distinguished person than you has been invited by him, [Prov. 25:6, 7.]
9 And he who invited both of you will come to you and say, Let this man have the place [you have taken]. Then, with humiliation and a guilty sense of impropriety, you will begin to take the lowest place.
10 But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when your host comes in, he may say to you, Friend, go up higher! Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit [at table] with you.
11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled (ranked below others who are honored or rewarded), and he who humbles himself (keeps a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly) will be exalted (elevated in rank).
12 Jesus also said to the man who had invited Him, When you give a dinner or a supper, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, lest perhaps they also invite you in return, and so you are paid back.
13 But when you give a banquet or a reception, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame, and the blind.
14 Then you will be blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied), because they have no way of repaying you, and you will be recompensed at the resurrection of the just (upright).
15 When one of those who reclined [at the table] with Him heard this, he said to Him, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!
16 But Jesus said to him, A man was once giving a great supper and invited many;
17 And at the hour for the supper he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, Come, for all is now ready.
18 But they all alike began to make excuses and to beg off. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of land, and I have to go out and see it; I beg you, have me excused.
19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine and put my approval on them; I beg you, have me excused.
20 And another said, I have married a wife, and because of this I am unable to come. [Deut. 24:5.]
21 So the servant came and reported these [answers] to his master. Then the master of the house said in wrath to his servant, Go quickly into the great streets and the small streets of the city and bring in here the poor and the disabled and the blind and the lame.
22 And the servant [returning] said, Sir, what you have commanded me to do has been done, and yet there is room.
23 Then the master said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and urge and constrain [them] to yield and come in, so that my house may be filled.
24 For I tell you, not one of those who were invited shall taste my supper.
25 Now huge crowds were going along with [Jesus], and He turned and said to them,
26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters—[yes] and even his own life also—he cannot be My disciple.
27 Whoever does not persevere and carry his own cross and come after (follow) Me cannot be My disciple.
28 For which of you, wishing to build a farm building, does not first sit down and calculate the cost [to see] whether he has sufficient means to finish it?
29 Otherwise, when he has laid the foundation and is unable to complete [the building], all who see it will begin to mock and jeer at him,
30 Saying, This man began to build and was not able (worth enough) to finish.
31 Or what king, going out to engage in conflict with another king, will not first sit down and consider and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand [men] to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 And if he cannot [do so], when the other king is still a great way off, he sends an envoy and asks the terms of peace.
33 So then, any of you who does not forsake (renounce, surrender claim to, give up, say good-bye to) all that he has cannot be My disciple.
34 Salt is good [an excellent thing], but if salt has lost its strength and has become saltless (insipid, flat), how shall its saltness be restored?
35 It is fit neither for the land nor for the manure heap; men throw it away. He who has ears to hear, let him listen and consider and comprehend by hearing!


Luke Chapter 15
NOW THE tax collectors and [notorious and especially wicked] sinners were all coming near to [Jesus] to listen to Him.
2 And the Pharisees and the scribes kept muttering and indignantly complaining, saying, This man accepts and receives and welcomes [preeminently wicked] sinners and eats with them.
3 So He told them this parable:
4 What man of you, if he has a hundred sheep and should lose one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness (desert) and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?
5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his [own] shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he gets home, he summons together [his] friends and [his] neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep which was lost.
7 Thus, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one [especially] wicked person who repents (changes his mind, abhorring his errors and misdeeds, and determines to enter upon a better course of life) than over ninety-nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance.
8 Or what woman, having ten [silver] drachmas [each one equal to a day’s wages], if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and look carefully and diligently until she finds it?
9 And when she has found it, she summons her [women] friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the silver coin which I had lost.
10 Even so, I tell you, there is joy among and in the presence of the angels of God over one [especially] wicked person who repents (changes his mind for the better, heartily amending his ways, with abhorrence of his past sins).
11 And He said, There was a certain man who had two sons;
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the part of the property that falls [to me]. And he divided the estate between them. [Deut. 21:15-17.]
13 And not many days after that, the younger son gathered up all that he had and journeyed into a distant country, and there he wasted his fortune in reckless and loose [from restraint] living.
14 And when he had spent all he had, a mighty famine came upon that country, and he began to fall behind and be in want.
15 So he went and forced (glued) himself upon one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed hogs.
16 And he would gladly have fed on and filled his belly with the carob pods that the hogs were eating, but [they could not satisfy his hunger and] nobody gave him anything [better]. [Jer. 30:14.]
17 Then when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father have enough food, and [even food] to spare, but I am perishing (dying) here of hunger!
18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; [just] make me like one of your hired servants.
20 So he got up and came to his [own] father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity and tenderness [for him]; and he ran and embraced him and kissed him [fervently].
21 And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son [I no longer deserve to be recognized as a son of yours]!
22 But the father said to his bond servants, Bring quickly the best robe (the festive robe of honor) and put it on him; and give him a ring for his hand and sandals for his feet. [Gen. 41:42; Zech. 3:4.]
23 And bring out that [wheat-]fattened calf and kill it; and let us revel and feast and be happy and make merry,
24 Because this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found! And they began to revel and feast and make merry.
25 But his older son was in the field; and as he returned and came near the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 And having called one of the servant [boys] to him, he began to ask what this meant.
27 And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed that [wheat-]fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and well.
28 But [the elder brother] was angry [with deep-seated wrath] and resolved not to go in. Then his father came out and began to plead with him,
29 But he answered his father, Look! These many years I have served you, and I have never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me [so much as] a [little] kid, that I might revel and feast and be happy and make merry with my friends;
30 But when this son of yours arrived, who has devoured your estate with immoral women, you have killed for him that [wheat-] fattened calf!
31 And the father said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
32 But it was fitting to make merry, to revel and feast and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 26.
Luke 16:1–17:10; John 11:1–54


Luke Chapter 16
ALSO [Jesus] said to the disciples, There was a certain rich man who had a manager of his estate, and accusations [against this man] were brought to him, that he was squandering his [master’s] possessions.
2 And he called him and said to him, What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management [of my affairs], for you can be [my] manager no longer.
3 And the manager of the estate said to himself, What shall I do, seeing that my master is taking the management away from me? I am not able to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
4 I have come to know what I will do, so that they [my master’s debtors] may accept and welcome me into their houses when I am put out of the management.
5 So he summoned his master’s debtors one by one, and he said to the first, How much do you owe my master?
6 He said, A hundred measures [about 900 gallons] of oil. And he said to him, Take back your written acknowledgement of obligation, and sit down quickly and write fifty [about 450 gallons].
7 After that he said to another, And how much do you owe? He said, A hundred measures [about 900 bushels] of wheat. He said to him, Take back your written acknowledgement of obligation, and write eighty [about 700 bushels].
8 And [his] master praised the dishonest (unjust) manager for acting shrewdly and prudently; for the sons of this age are shrewder and more prudent and wiser in [relation to] their own generation [to their own age and kind] than are the sons of light.
9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions), so that when it fails, they [those you have favored] may receive and welcome you into the everlasting habitations (dwellings).
10 He who is faithful in a very little [thing] is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little [thing] is dishonest and unjust also in much.
11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the [case of] unrighteous mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions), who will entrust to you the true riches?
12 And if you have not proved faithful in that which belongs to another [whether God or man], who will give you that which is your own [that is, the true riches]?
13 No servant is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (riches, or anything in which you trust and on which you rely).
14 Now the Pharisees, who were covetous and lovers of money, heard all these things [taken together], and they began to sneer at and ridicule and scoff at Him.
15 But He said to them, You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted and highly thought of among men is detestable and abhorrent (an abomination) in the sight of God. [I Sam. 16:7; Prov. 21:2.]
16 Until John came, there were the Law and the Prophets; since then the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone strives violently to go in [would force his own way rather than God’s way into it].
17 Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to fail and become void.
18 Whoever divorces (dismisses and repudiates) his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.
19 There was a certain rich man who [habitually] clothed himself in purple and fine linen and reveled and feasted and made merry in splendor every day.
20 And at his gate there was [carelessly] dropped down and left a certain utterly destitute man named Lazarus, [reduced to begging alms and] covered with [ulcerated] sores.
21 He [eagerly] desired to be satisfied with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover, the dogs even came and licked his sores.
22 And it occurred that the man [reduced to] begging died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 And in Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have pity and mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime fully received [what is due you in] comforts and delights, and Lazarus in like manner the discomforts and distresses; but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish.
26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who want to pass from this [place] to you may not be able, and no one may pass from there to us.
27 And [the man] said, Then, father, I beseech you to send him to my father’s house—
28 For I have five brothers—so that he may give [solemn] testimony and warn them, lest they too come into this place of torment.
29 But Abraham said, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear and listen to them.
30 But he answered, No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent (change their minds for the better and heartily amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins).
31 He said to him, If they do not hear and listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded and convinced and believe [even] if someone should rise from the dead.


Luke 17:1–11
AND [Jesus] said to His disciples, Temptations (snares, traps set to entice to sin) are sure to come, but woe to him by or through whom they come!
2 It would be more profitable for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were hurled into the sea than that he should cause to sin or be a snare to one of these little ones [lowly in rank or influence].
3 Pay attention and always be on your guard [looking out for one another]. If your brother sins (misses the mark), solemnly tell him so and reprove him, and if he repents (feels sorry for having sinned), forgive him.
4 And even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and turns to you seven times and says, I repent [I am sorry], you must forgive him (give up resentment and consider the offense as recalled and annulled).
5 The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith (that trust and confidence that spring from our belief in God).
6 And the Lord answered, If you had faith (trust and confidence in God) even [so small] like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, Be pulled up by the roots, and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you.
7 Will any man of you who has a servant plowing or tending sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, Come at once and take your place at the table?
8 Will he not instead tell him, Get my supper ready and gird yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; then afterward you yourself shall eat and drink?
9 Is he grateful and does he praise the servant because he did what he was ordered to do?
10 Even so on your part, when you have done everything that was assigned and commanded you, say, We are unworthy servants [possessing no merit, for we have not gone beyond our obligation]; we have [merely] done what was our duty to do.


John 11:1-54
NOW A certain man named Lazarus was ill. He was of Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived.
2 This Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was [now] sick.
3 So the sisters sent to Him, saying, Lord, he whom You love [so well] is sick.
4 When Jesus received the message, He said, This sickness is not to end in death; but [on the contrary] it is to honor God and to promote His glory, that the Son of God may be glorified through (by) it.
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. [They were His dear friends, and He held them in loving esteem.]
6 Therefore [even] when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He still stayed two days longer in the same place where He was.
7 Then after that interval He said to His disciples, Let us go back again to Judea.
8 The disciples said to Him, Rabbi, the Jews only recently were intending and trying to stone You, and are You [thinking of] going back there again?
9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? Anyone who walks about in the daytime does not stumble, because he sees [by] the light of this world.
10 But if anyone walks about in the night, he does stumble, because there is no light in him [the light is lacking to him].
11 He said these things, and then added, Our friend Lazarus is at rest and sleeping; but I am going there that I may awaken him out of his sleep.
12 The disciples answered, Lord, if he is sleeping, he will recover.
13 However, Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He referred to falling into a refreshing and natural sleep.
14 So then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus is dead,
15 And for your sake I am glad that I was not there; it will help you to believe (to trust and rely on Me). However, let us go to him.
16 Then Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, Let us go too, that we may die [be killed] along with Him.
17 So when Jesus arrived, He found that he [Lazarus] had already been in the tomb four days.
18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away,
19 And a considerable number of the Jews had gone out to see Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him, while Mary remained sitting in the house.
21 Martha then said to Jesus, Master, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 And even now I know that whatever You ask from God, He will grant it to You.
23 Jesus said to her, Your brother shall rise again.
24 Martha replied, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said to her, I am [Myself] the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on) Me, although he may die, yet he shall live;
26 And whoever continues to live and believes in (has faith in, cleaves to, and relies on) Me shall never [actually] die at all. Do you believe this?
27 She said to Him, Yes, Lord, I have believed [I do believe] that You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), the Son of God, [even He] Who was to come into the world. [It is for Your coming that the world has waited.]
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, privately whispering to her, The Teacher is close at hand and is asking for you.
29 When she heard this, she sprang up quickly and went to Him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the same spot where Martha had met Him.
31 When the Jews who were sitting with her in the house and consoling her saw how hastily Mary had arisen and gone out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to pour out her grief there.
32 When Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw Him, she dropped down at His feet, saying to Him, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
33 When Jesus saw her sobbing, and the Jews who came with her [also] sobbing, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. [He chafed in spirit and sighed and was disturbed.]
34 And He said, Where have you laid him? They said to Him, Lord, come and see.
35 Jesus wept.
36 The Jews said, See how [tenderly] He loved him!
37 But some of them said, Could not He Who opened a blind man’s eyes have prevented this man from dying?
38 Now Jesus, again sighing repeatedly and deeply disquieted, approached the tomb. It was a cave (a hole in the rock), and a boulder lay against [the entrance to close] it.
39 Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, exclaimed, But Lord, by this time he [is decaying and] throws off an offensive odor, for he has been dead four days!
40 Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you and promise you that if you would believe and rely on Me, you would see the glory of God?
41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
42 Yes, I know You always hear and listen to Me, but I have said this on account of and for the benefit of the people standing around, so that they may believe that You did send Me [that You have made Me Your Messenger].
43 When He had said this, He shouted with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out!
44 And out walked the man who had been dead, his hands and feet wrapped in burial cloths (linen strips), and with a [burial] napkin bound around his face. Jesus said to them, Free him of the burial wrappings and let him go.
45 Upon seeing what Jesus had done, many of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Him. [They trusted in Him and adhered to Him and relied on Him.]
46 But some of them went back to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
47 So the chief priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the council (the Sanhedrin) and said, What are we to do? For this Man performs many signs (evidences, miracles).
48 If we let Him alone to go on like this, everyone will believe in Him and adhere to Him, and the Romans will come and suppress and destroy and take away our [holy] place and our nation [our temple and city and our civil organization].
49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, declared, You know nothing at all!
50 Nor do you understand or reason out that it is expedient and better for your own welfare that one man should die on behalf of the people than that the whole nation should perish (be destroyed, ruined).
51 Now he did not say this simply of his own accord [he was not self-moved]; but being the high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was to die for the nation, [Isa. 53:8.]
52 And not only for the nation but also for the purpose of uniting into one body the children of God who have been scattered far and wide. [Isa. 49:6.]
53 So from that day on they took counsel and plotted together how they might put Him to death.
54 For that reason Jesus no longer appeared publicly among the Jews, but left there and retired to the district that borders on the wilderness (the desert), to a village called Ephraim, and there He stayed with the disciples.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 27.
Luke 17:11–18:17; Matt. 19:1– 15; Mark 10:1–16


Luke 17:11–18:17

11 As He went on His way to Jerusalem, it occurred that [Jesus] was passing [along the border] between Samaria and Galilee.
12 And as He was going into one village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance.
13 And they raised up their voices and called, Jesus, Master, take pity and have mercy on us!
14 And when He saw them, He said to them, Go [at once] and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cured and made clean. [Lev. 14:2-32.]
15 Then one of them, upon seeing that he was cured, turned back, recognizing and thanking and praising God with a loud voice;
16 And he fell prostrate at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him [over and over]. And he was a Samaritan.
17 Then Jesus asked, Were not [all] ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
18 Was there no one found to return and to recognize and give thanks and praise to God except this alien?
19 And He said to him, Get up and go on your way. Your faith (your trust and confidence that spring from your belief in God) has restored you to health.
20 Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied to them by saying, The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed or with visible display,
21 Nor will people say, Look! Here [it is]! or, See, [it is] there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you].
22 And He said to the disciples, The time is coming when you will long to see [even] one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see [it].
23 And they will say to you, Look! [He is] there! or, Look! [He is] here! But do not go out or follow [them].
24 For like the lightning, that flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will the Son of Man be in His [own] day.
25 But first He must suffer many things and be disapproved and repudiated and rejected by this age and generation.
26 And [just] as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the time of the Son of Man.
27 [People] ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, right up to the day when Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. [Gen. 6:5-8; 7:6-24.]
28 So also [it was the same] as it was in the days of Lot. [People] ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
29 But on the [very] day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed [them] all.
30 That is the way it will be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. [Gen. 18:20-33; 19:24, 25.]
31 On that day let him who is on the housetop, with his belongings in the house, not come down [and go inside] to carry them away; and likewise let him who is in the field not turn back.
32 Remember Lot’s wife! [Gen. 19:26.]
33 Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve and quicken it.
34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.
35 There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other will be left.
36 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.
37 Then they asked Him, Where, Lord? He said to them, Wherever the dead body is, there will the vultures or eagles be gathered together.


Luke 18:1-17

ALSO [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up).
2 He said, In a certain city there was a judge who neither reverenced and feared God nor respected or considered man.
3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, Protect and defend and give me justice against my adversary.
4 And for a time he would not; but later he said to himself, Though I have neither reverence or fear for God nor respect or consideration for man,
5 Yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will defend and protect and avenge her, lest she give me intolerable annoyance and wear me out by her continual coming or at the last she come and rail on me or assault me or strangle me.
6 Then the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says!
7 And will not [our just] God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer them and delay help on their behalf?
8 I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [persistence in] faith on the earth?
9 He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous [that they were upright and in right standing with God] and scorned and made nothing of all the rest of men:
10 Two men went up into the temple [enclosure] to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men—extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers—or even like this tax collector here.
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I gain.
13 But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am!
14 I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.
15 Now they were also bringing [even] babies to Him that He might touch them, and when the disciples noticed it, they reproved them.
16 But Jesus called them [the parents] to Him, saying, Allow the little children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for to such [as these] belongs the kingdom of God.
17 Truly I say to you, whoever does not accept and receive and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child [does] shall not in any way enter it [at all].


Matthew 19:1–15
NOW WHEN Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the part of Judea that is beyond the Jordan;
2 And great throngs accompanied Him, and He cured them there.
3 And Pharisees came to Him and put Him to the test by asking, Is it lawful and right to dismiss and repudiate and divorce one’s wife for any and every cause?
4 He replied, Have you never read that He Who made them from the beginning made them male and female,
5 And said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be united firmly (joined inseparably) to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? [Gen. 1:27; 2:24.]
6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder (separate).
7 They said to Him, Why then did Moses command [us] to give a certificate of divorce and thus to dismiss and repudiate a wife? [Deut. 24:1-4.]
8 He said to them, Because of the hardness (stubbornness and perversity) of your hearts Moses permitted you to dismiss and repudiate and divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been so [ordained].
9 I say to you: whoever dismisses (repudiates, divorces) his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
10 The disciples said to Him, If the case of a man with his wife is like this, it is neither profitable nor advisable to marry.
11 But He said to them, Not all men can accept this saying, but it is for those to whom [the capacity to receive] it has been given.
12 For there are eunuchs who have been born incapable of marriage; and there are eunuchs who have been made so by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves incapable of marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him who is able to accept this accept it.
13 Then little children were brought to Jesus, that He might put His hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14 But He said, Leave the children alone! Allow the little ones to come to Me, and do not forbid or restrain or hinder them, for of such [as these] is the kingdom of heaven composed.
15 And He put His hands upon them, and then went on His way.


Mark 10:1–16
AND [Jesus] left there [Capernaum] and went to the region of Judea and beyond [east of] the Jordan; and crowds [constantly] gathered around Him again, and as was His custom, He began to teach them again.
2 And some Pharisees came up, and, in order to test Him and try to find a weakness in Him, asked, Is it lawful for a man to dismiss and repudiate and divorce his wife?
3 He answered them, What did Moses command you?
4 They replied, Moses allowed a man to write a bill of divorce and to put her away. [Deut. 24:1-4.]
5 But Jesus said to them, Because of your hardness of heart [your condition of insensibility to the call of God] he wrote you this precept in your Law.
6 But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. [Gen. 1:27; 5:2.]
7 For this reason a man shall leave [behind] his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and cleave closely to her permanently,
8 And the two shall become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. [Gen. 2:24.]
9 What therefore God has united (joined together), let not man separate or divide.
10 And indoors the disciples questioned Him again about this subject.
11 And He said to them, Whoever dismisses (repudiates and divorces) his wife and marries another commits adultery against her;
12 And if a woman dismisses (repudiates and divorces) her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.
13 And they kept bringing young children to Him that He might touch them, and the disciples were reproving them [for it].
14 But when Jesus saw [it], He was indignant and pained and said to them, Allow the children to come to Me—do not forbid or prevent or hinder them—for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive and accept and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child [does] positively shall not enter it at all.
16 And He took them [the children up one by one] in His arms and [fervently invoked a] blessing, placing His hands upon them.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 28.
Matt. 19:16–20:28; Mark 10:17–45; Luke 18:18–34


Matthew 19:16–20:28
16 And behold, there came a man up to Him, saying, Teacher, what excellent and perfectly and essentially good deed must I do to possess eternal life? [Lev. 18:5.]
17 And He said to him, Why do you ask Me about the perfectly and essentially good? There is only One Who is good [perfectly and essentially]—God. If you would enter into the Life, you must continually keep the commandments.
18 He said to Him, What sort of commandments? [Or, which ones?] And Jesus answered, You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, [Exod. 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20.]
19 Honor your father and your mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. [Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39.]
20 The young man said, I have observed all these from my youth; what still do I lack?
21 Jesus answered him, If you would be perfect [that is, have that spiritual maturity which accompanies self-sacrificing character], go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; and come, be My disciple [side with My party and follow Me].
22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad (grieved and in much distress), for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus said to His disciples, Truly I say to you, it will be difficult for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven.
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of heaven.
25 When the disciples heard this, they were utterly puzzled (astonished, bewildered), saying, Who then can be saved [from eternal death]?
26 But Jesus looked at them and said, With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God. [Gen. 18:14; Job 42:2.]
27 Then Peter answered Him, saying, Behold, we have left [our] all and have become Your disciples [sided with Your party and followed You]. What then shall we receive?
28 Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, in the new age [the Messianic rebirth of the world], when the Son of Man shall sit down on the throne of His glory, you who have [become My disciples, sided with My party and] followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And anyone and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for My name’s sake will receive many [even a hundred] times more and will inherit eternal life.
30 But many who [now] are first will be last [then], and many who [now] are last will be first [then].


Matthew 20:1–28
FOR THE kingdom of heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out in the morning along with the dawn to hire workmen for his vineyard.
2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
3 And going out about the third hour (nine o’clock), he saw others standing idle in the marketplace;
4 And he said to them, You go also into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will pay you. And they went.
5 He went out again about the sixth hour (noon), and the ninth hour (three o’clock) he did the same.
6 And about the eleventh hour (five o’clock) he went out and found still others standing around, and said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day?
7 They answered him, Because nobody has hired us. He told them, You go out into the vineyard also and you will get whatever is just and fair.
8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, Call the workmen and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with the first. [Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:15.]
9 And those who had been hired at the eleventh hour (five o’clock) came and received a denarius each.
10 Now when the first came, they supposed they would get more, but each of them also received a denarius.
11 And when they received it, they grumbled at the owner of the estate,
12 Saying, These [men] who came last worked no more than an hour, and yet you have made them rank with us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.
13 But he answered one of them, Friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?
14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this man hired last the same as I give to you.
15 Am I not permitted to do what I choose with what is mine? [Or do you begrudge my being generous?] Is your eye evil because I am good?
16 So those who [now] are last will be first [then], and those who [now] are first will be last [then]. For many are called, but few chosen.
17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside along the way and said to them,
18 Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes; and they will sentence Him to death
19 And deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and whipped and crucified, and He will be raised [to life] on the third day.
20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s children came up to Him with her sons and, kneeling, worshiped Him and asked a favor of Him.
21 And He asked her, What do you wish? She answered Him, Give orders that these two sons of mine may sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left in Your kingdom.
22 But Jesus replied, You do not realize what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? They answered, We are able.
23 He said to them, You will drink My cup, but seats at My right hand and at My left are not Mine to give, but they are for those for whom they have been ordained and prepared by My Father.
24 But when the ten [other disciples] heard this, they were indignant at the two brothers.
25 And Jesus called them to Him and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men hold them in subjection [tyrannizing over them].
26 Not so shall it be among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant,
27 And whoever desires to be first among you must be your slave—
28 Just as the Son of Man came not to be waited on but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many [the price paid to set them free].


Mark 10:17–45
17 And as He was setting out on His journey, a man ran up and knelt before Him and asked Him, Teacher, [You are essentially and perfectly morally] good, what must I do to inherit eternal life [that is, to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?
18 And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me [essentially and perfectly morally] good? There is no one [essentially and perfectly morally] good—except God alone.
19 You know the commandments: Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother. [Exod. 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20.]
20 And he replied to Him, Teacher, I have carefully guarded and observed all these and taken care not to violate them from my boyhood.
21 And Jesus, looking upon him, loved him, and He said to him, You lack one thing; go and sell all you have and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come [and] accompany Me [walking the same road that I walk].
22 At that saying the man’s countenance fell and was gloomy, and he went away grieved and sorrowing, for he was holding great possessions.
23 And Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, With what difficulty will those who possess wealth and keep on holding it enter the kingdom of God!
24 And the disciples were amazed and bewildered and perplexed at His words. But Jesus said to them again, Children, how hard it is for those who trust (place their confidence, their sense of safety) in riches to enter the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
26 And they were shocked and exceedingly astonished, and said to Him and to one another, Then who can be saved?
27 Jesus glanced around at them and said, With men [it is] impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.
28 Peter started to say to Him, Behold, we have yielded up and abandoned everything [once and for all and joined You as Your disciples, siding with Your party] and accompanied You [walking the same road that You walk].
29 Jesus said, Truly I tell you, there is no one who has given up and left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for My sake and for the Gospel’s
30 Who will not receive a hundred times as much now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.
31 But many [who are now] first will be last [then], and many [who are now] last will be first [then].
32 They were on the way going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on in front of them; and they were bewildered and perplexed and greatly astonished, and those [who were still] following were seized with alarm and were afraid. And He took the Twelve [apostles] again and began to tell them what was about to happen to Him,
33 [Saying], Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be turned over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn and sentence Him to death and turn Him over to the Gentiles.
34 And they will mock Him and spit on Him, and whip Him and put Him to death; but after three days He will rise again [from death].
35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Him and said to Him, Teacher, we desire You to do for us whatever we ask of You.
36 And He replied to them, What do you desire Me to do for you?
37 And they said to Him, Grant that we may sit, one at Your right hand and one at [Your] left hand, in Your glory (Your majesty and splendor).
38 But Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism [of affliction] with which I am baptized?
39 And they replied to Him, We are able. And Jesus told them, The cup that I drink you will drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized,
40 But to sit at My right hand or at My left hand is not Mine to give; but [it will be given to those] for whom it is ordained and prepared.
41 And when the other ten [apostles] heard it, they began to be indignant with James and John.
42 But Jesus called them to [Him] and said to them, You know that those who are recognized as governing and are supposed to rule the Gentiles (the nations) lord it over them [ruling with absolute power, holding them in subjection], and their great men exercise authority and dominion over them.
43 But this is not to be so among you; instead, whoever desires to be great among you must be your servant,
44 And whoever wishes to be most important and first in rank among you must be slave of all.
45 For even the Son of Man came not to have service rendered to Him, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for (instead of) many.


Luke 18:18–34
18 And a certain ruler asked Him, Good Teacher [You who are essentially and perfectly morally good], what shall I do to inherit eternal life [to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?
19 Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me [essentially and perfectly morally] good? No one is [essentially and perfectly morally] good—except God only.
20 You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not witness falsely, honor your father and your mother. [Exod. 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20.]
21 And he replied, All these I have kept from my youth.
22 And when Jesus heard it, He said to him, One thing you still lack. Sell everything that you have and divide [the money] among the poor, and you will have [rich] treasure in heaven; and come back [and] follow Me [become My disciple, join My party, and accompany Me].
23 But when he heard this, he became distressed and very sorrowful, for he was rich—exceedingly so.
24 Jesus, observing him, said, How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to enter through a needle’s eye than [for] a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
26 And those who heard it said, Then who can be saved?
27 But He said, What is impossible with men is possible with God. [Gen. 18:14; Jer. 32:17.]
28 And Peter said, See, we have left our own [things—home, family, and business] and have followed You.
29 And He said to them, I say to you truly, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God
30 Who will not receive in return many times more in this world and, in the coming age, eternal life.
31 Then taking the Twelve [apostles] aside, He said to them, Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written about the Son of Man through and by the prophets will be fulfilled. [Isa. 53:1-12.]
32 For He will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be made sport of and scoffed and jeered at and insulted and spit upon. [Isa. 50:6.]
33 They will flog Him and kill Him; and on the third day He will rise again. [Ps. 16:10.]
34 But they understood nothing of these things; His words were a mystery and hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was telling them.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 29.
Matt. 20:29–34; 26:6–13; Mark 10:46–52; 14:3–9; Luke 18:35–19:28; John 11:55–12:11

Matthew 20:29–34
29 And as they were going out of Jericho, a great throng accompanied Him.
30 And behold, two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, Lord, have pity and mercy on us, [You] Son of David!
31 The crowds reproved them and told them to keep still; but they cried out all the more, Lord, have pity and mercy on us, [You] Son of David!
32 And Jesus stopped and called them, and asked, What do you want Me to do for you?
33 They answered Him, Lord, we want our eyes to be opened!
34 And Jesus, in pity, touched their eyes; and instantly they received their sight and followed Him.


Matthew 26:6–13
6 Now when Jesus came back to Bethany and was in the house of Simon the leper,
7 A woman came up to Him with an alabaster flask of very precious perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at table.
8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, For what purpose is all this waste?
9 For this perfume might have been sold for a large sum and the money given to the poor.
10 But Jesus, fully aware of this, said to them, Why do you bother the woman? She has done a noble (praiseworthy and beautiful) thing to Me.
11 For you always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me. [Deut. 15:11.]
12 In pouring this perfume on My body she has done something to prepare Me for My burial.
13 Truly I tell you, wherever this good news (the Gospel) is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will be told also, in memory of her.


Mark 10:46–52
46 Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, a son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, saying, Jesus, Son of David, have pity and mercy on me [now]!
48 And many severely censured and reproved him, telling him to keep still, but he kept on shouting out all the more, You Son of David, have pity and mercy on me [now]!
49 And Jesus stopped and said, Call him. And they called the blind man, telling him, Take courage! Get up! He is calling you.
50 And throwing off his outer garment, he leaped up and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus said to him, What do you want Me to do for you? And the blind man said to Him, Master, let me receive my sight.
52 And Jesus said to him, Go your way; your faith has healed you. And at once he received his sight and accompanied Jesus on the road. [Isa. 42:6, 7.]


Mark 14:3–9
3 And while He was in Bethany, [a guest] in the house of Simon the leper, as He was reclining [at table], a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment (perfume) of pure nard, very costly and precious; and she broke the jar and poured [the perfume] over His head.
4 But there were some who were moved with indignation and said to themselves, To what purpose was the ointment (perfume) thus wasted?
5 For it was possible to have sold this [perfume] for more than 300 denarii [a laboring man’s wages for a year] and to have given [the money] to the poor. And they censured and reproved her.
6 But Jesus said, Let her alone; why are you troubling her? She has done a good and beautiful thing to Me [praiseworthy and noble].
7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you will not always have Me. [Deut. 15:11.]
8 She has done what she could; she came beforehand to anoint My body for the burial.
9 And surely I tell you, wherever the good news (the Gospel) is proclaimed in the entire world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.


Luke 18:35–19:28
35 As He came near to Jericho, it occurred that a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.
36 And hearing a crowd going by, he asked what it meant.
37 They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.
38 And he shouted, saying, Jesus, Son of David, take pity and have mercy on me!
39 But those who were in front reproved him, telling him to keep quiet; yet he screamed and shrieked so much the more, Son of David, take pity and have mercy on me!
40 Then Jesus stood still and ordered that he be led to Him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him,
41 What do you want Me to do for you? He said, Lord, let me receive my sight!
42 And Jesus said to him, Receive your sight! Your faith (your trust and confidence that spring from your faith in God) has healed you.
43 And instantly he received his sight and began to follow Jesus, recognizing, praising, and honoring God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.


Luke 19:1–28
AND [Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through it.
2 And there was a man called Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, and [he was] rich.
3 And he was trying to see Jesus, which One He was, but he could not on account of the crowd, because he was small in stature.
4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass that way.
5 And when Jesus reached the place, He looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.
6 So he hurried and came down, and he received and welcomed Him joyfully.
7 And when the people saw it, they all muttered among themselves and indignantly complained, He has gone in to be the guest of and lodge with a man who is devoted to sin and preeminently a sinner.
8 So then Zacchaeus stood up and solemnly declared to the Lord, See, Lord, the half of my goods I [now] give [by way of restoration] to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I [now] restore four times as much. [Exod. 22:1; Lev. 6:5; Num. 5:6, 7.]
9 And Jesus said to him, Today is [Messianic and spiritual] salvation come to [all the members of] this household, since Zacchaeus too is a [real spiritual] son of Abraham;
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
11 Now as they were listening to these things, He proceeded to tell a parable, because He was approaching Jerusalem and because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to be brought to light and shown forth immediately.
12 He therefore said, A certain nobleman went into a distant country to obtain for himself a kingdom and then to return.
13 Calling ten of his [own] bond servants, he gave them ten minas [each equal to about one hundred days’ wages or nearly twenty dollars] and said to them, Buy and sell with these while I go and then return.
14 But his citizens detested him and sent an embassy after him to say, We do not want this man to become ruler over us.
15 When he returned after having received the kingdom, he ordered these bond servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know how much each one had made by buying and selling.
16 The first one came before him, and he said, Lord, your mina has made ten [additional] minas.
17 And he said to him, Well done, excellent bond servant! Because you have been faithful and trustworthy in a very little [thing], you shall have authority over ten cities.
18 The second one also came and said, Lord, your mina has made five more minas.
19 And he said also to him, And you will take charge over five cities.
20 Then another came and said, Lord, here is your mina, which I have kept laid up in a handkerchief.
21 For I was [constantly] afraid of you, because you are a stern (hard, severe) man; you pick up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.
22 He said to the servant, I will judge and condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked slave! You knew [did you] that I was a stern (hard, severe) man, picking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow?
23 Then why did you not put my money in a bank, so that on my return, I might have collected it with interest?
24 And he said to the bystanders, Take the mina away from him and give it to him who has the ten minas.
25 And they said to him, Lord, he has ten minas [already]!
26 And [said Jesus,] I tell you that to everyone who gets and has will more be given, but from the man who does not get and does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
27 [The indignant king ended by saying] But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence!
28 And after saying these things, Jesus went on ahead of them, going up to Jerusalem.


John 11:55–12:11
55 Now the Jewish Passover was at hand, and many from the country went up to Jerusalem in order that they might purify and consecrate themselves before the Passover.
56 So they kept looking for Jesus and questioned among themselves as they were standing about in the temple [area], What do you think? Will He not come to the Feast at all?
57 Now the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it to them, so that they might arrest Him.

John 12:1–11
SO SIX days before the Passover Feast, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had died and whom He had raised from the dead.
2 So they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those at the table with Him.
3 Mary took a pound of ointment of pure liquid nard [a rare perfume] that was very expensive, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4 But Judas Iscariot, the one of His disciples who was about to betray Him, said,
5 Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii [a year’s wages for an ordinary workman] and that [money] given to the poor (the destitute)?
6 Now he did not say this because he cared for the poor but because he was a thief; and having the bag (the money box, the purse of the Twelve), he took for himself what was put into it [pilfering the collections].
7 But Jesus said, Let her alone. It was [intended] that she should keep it for the time of My preparation for burial. [She has kept it that she might have it for the time of My embalming.]
8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.
9 Now a great crowd of the Jews heard that He was at Bethany, and they came there, not only because of Jesus but that they also might see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.
10 So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also,
11 Because on account of him many of the Jews were going away [were withdrawing from and leaving the Judeans] and believing in and adhering to Jesus.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 30.
Matt. 21:1–22; Mark 11:1–26; Luke 19:29–48; John 12:12–50


Matthew 21:1–22
AND WHEN they came near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples on ahead,
2 Saying to them, Go into the village that is opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie [them] and bring [them] to Me.
3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall reply, The Lord needs them, and he will let them go without delay.
4 This happened that what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,
5 Say to the Daughter of Zion [inhabitants of Jerusalem], Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey [a beast of burden]. [Isa. 62:11; Zech. 9:9.]
6 Then the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
7 They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their coats upon them, and He seated Himself on them [the clothing].
8 And most of the crowd kept spreading their garments on the road, and others kept cutting branches from the trees and scattering them on the road.
9 And the crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed Him kept shouting, Hosanna (O be propitious, graciously inclined) to the Son of David, [the Messiah]! Blessed (praised, glorified) is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna (O be favorably disposed) in the highest [heaven]! [Ps. 118:26.]
10 And when He entered Jerusalem, all the city became agitated and [trembling with excitement] said, Who is This?
11 And the crowds replied, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.
12 And Jesus went into the temple (whole temple enclosure) and drove out all who bought and sold in the sacred place, and He turned over the four-footed tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who sold doves.
13 He said to them, The Scripture says, My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers. [Isa. 56:7; Jer. 7:11.]
14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the porches and courts of the temple, and He cured them.
15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He did and the boys and the girls and the youths and the maidens crying out in the porches and courts of the temple, Hosanna (O be propitious, graciously inclined) to the Son of David! they were indignant.
16 And they said to Him, Do You hear what these are saying? And Jesus replied to them, Yes; have you never read, Out of the mouths of babes and unweaned infants You have made (provided) perfect praise? [Ps. 8:2.]
17 And leaving them, He departed from the city and went out to Bethany and lodged there.
18 In the early dawn the next morning, as He was coming back to the city, He was hungry.
19 And as He saw one single leafy fig tree above the roadside, He went to it but He found nothing but leaves on it [seeing that in the fig tree the fruit appears at the same time as the leaves]. And He said to it, Never again shall fruit grow on you! And the fig tree withered up at once.
20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled greatly and asked, How is it that the fig tree has withered away all at once?
21 And Jesus answered them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith (a firm relying trust) and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, it will be done.
22 And whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really] believing, you will receive.


Mark 11:1–26
WHEN THEY were getting near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, He sent ahead two of His disciples
2 And instructed them, Go into the village in front of you, and as soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied, which has never been ridden by anyone; unfasten it and bring it [here].
3 If anyone asks you, Why are you doing this? answer, The Lord needs it, and He will send it back here presently.
4 So they went away and found a colt tied at the door out in the [winding] open street, and they loosed it.
5 And some who were standing there said to them, What are you doing, untying the colt?
6 And they replied as Jesus had directed them, and they allowed them to go.
7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their outer garments upon it, and He sat on it.
8 And many [of the people] spread their garments on the road, and others [scattered a layer of] leafy branches which they had cut from the fields.
9 And those who went before and those who followed cried out [with a cry of happiness], Hosanna! [Be graciously inclined and propitious to Him!] Praised and blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! [Ps. 118:26.]
10 Praised and blessed in the name of the Lord is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna (O save us) in the highest [heaven]!
11 And Jesus went into Jerusalem and entered the temple [enclosure]; and when He had looked around, surveying and observing everything, as it was already late, He went out to Bethany together with the Twelve [apostles].
12 On the day following, when they had come away from Bethany, He was hungry.
13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree [covered] with leaves, He went to see if He could find any [fruit] on it [for in the fig tree the fruit appears at the same time as the leaves]. But when He came up to it, He found nothing but leaves, for the fig season had not yet come.
14 And He said to it, No one ever again shall eat fruit from you. And His disciples were listening [to what He said].
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And He went into the temple [area, the porches and courts] and began to drive out those who sold and bought in the temple area, and He overturned the [four-footed] tables of the money changers and the seats of those who dealt in doves;
16 And He would not permit anyone to carry any household equipment through the temple enclosure [thus making the temple area a short-cut traffic lane].
17 And He taught and said to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have turned it into a den of robbers. [Isa. 56:7; Jer. 7:11.]
18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard [of this] and kept seeking some way to destroy Him, for they feared Him, because the entire multitude was struck with astonishment at His teaching.
19 And when evening came on, He and His disciples, as accustomed, went out of the city.
20 In the morning, when they were passing along, they noticed that the fig tree was withered [completely] away to its roots.
21 And Peter remembered and said to Him, Master, look! The fig tree which You doomed has withered away!
22 And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly].
23 Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him.
24 For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it].
25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop.
26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your failings and shortcomings.


Luke 19:29–48
29 When He came near Bethphage and Bethany at the mount called [the Mount of] Olives, He sent two of His disciples,
30 Telling [them], Go into the village yonder; there, as you go in, you will find a donkey’s colt tied, on which no man has ever yet sat. Loose it and bring [it here].
31 If anybody asks you, Why are you untying [it]? you shall say this: Because the Lord has need of it.
32 So those who were sent went away and found it [just] as He had told them.
33 And as they were loosening the colt, its owners said to them, Why are you untying the colt?
34 And they said, The Lord has need of it.
35 And they brought it to Jesus; then they threw their garments over the colt and set Jesus upon it. [Zech. 9:9.]
36 And as He rode along, the people kept spreading their garments on the road. [II Kings 9:13.]
37 As He was approaching [the city], at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to rejoice and to praise God [extolling Him exultantly and] loudly for all the mighty miracles and works of power that they had witnessed,
38 Crying, Blessed (celebrated with praises) is the King Who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven [freedom there from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin] and glory (majesty and splendor) in the highest [heaven]! [Ps. 118:26.]
39 And some of the Pharisees from the throng said to Jesus, Teacher, reprove Your disciples!
40 He replied, I tell you that if these keep silent, the very stones will cry out. [Hab. 2:11.]
41 And as He approached, He saw the city, and He wept [audibly] over it,
42 Exclaiming, Would that you had known personally, even at least in this your day, the things that make for peace (for freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin and upon which your peace—your security, safety, prosperity, and happiness—depends)! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
43 For a time is coming upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank [with pointed stakes] about you and surround you and shut you in on every side. [Isa. 29:3; Jer. 6:6; Ezek. 4:2.]
44 And they will dash you down to the ground, you [Jerusalem] and your children within you; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, [all] because you did not come progressively to recognize and know and understand [from observation and experience] the time of your visitation [that is, when God was visiting you, the time in which God showed Himself gracious toward you and offered you salvation through Christ].
45 Then He went into the temple [enclosure] and began to drive out those who were selling,
46 Telling them, It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer; but you have made it a cave of robbers. [Isa. 56:7; Jer. 7:11.]
47 And He continued to teach day after day in the temple [porches and courts]. The chief priests and scribes and the leading men of the people were seeking to put Him to death,
48 But they did not discover anything they could do, for all the people hung upon His words and stuck by Him.


John 12:12–50
12 The next day a vast crowd of those who had come to the Passover Feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him. And as they went, they kept shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is He and praise to Him Who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel! [Ps. 118:26.]
14 And Jesus, having found a young donkey, rode upon it, [just] as it is written in the Scriptures,
15 Do not fear, O Daughter of Zion! Look! Your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt! [Zech. 9:9.]
16 His disciples did not understand and could not comprehend the meaning of these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified and exalted, they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him.
17 The group that had been with Jesus when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from among the dead kept telling it [bearing witness] to others.
18 It was for this reason that the crowd went out to meet Him, because they had heard that He had performed this sign (proof, miracle).
19 Then the Pharisees said among themselves, You see how futile your efforts are and how you accomplish nothing. See! The whole world is running after Him!
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the Feast were some Greeks.
21 These came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and they made this request, Sir, we desire to see Jesus.
22 Philip came and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip together [went] and told Jesus.
23 And Jesus answered them, The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified and exalted.
24 I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains [just one grain; it never becomes more but lives] by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest.
25 Anyone who loves his life loses it, but anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. [Whoever has no love for, no concern for, no regard for his life here on earth, but despises it, preserves his life forever and ever.]
26 If anyone serves Me, he must continue to follow Me [to cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying] and wherever I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
27 Now My soul is troubled and distressed, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour [of trial and agony]? But it was for this very purpose that I have come to this hour [that I might undergo it].
28 [Rather, I will say,] Father, glorify (honor and extol) Your [own] name! Then there came a voice out of heaven saying, I have already glorified it, and I will glorify it again.
29 The crowd of bystanders heard the sound and said that it had thundered; others said, An angel has spoken to Him!
30 Jesus answered, This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sake.
31 Now the judgment (crisis) of this world is coming on [sentence is now being passed on this world]. Now the ruler (evil genius, prince) of this world shall be cast out (expelled).
32 And I, if and when I am lifted up from the earth [on the cross], will draw and attract all men [Gentiles as well as Jews] to Myself.
33 He said this to signify in what manner He would die.
34 At this the people answered Him, We have learned from the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; how then can You say, The Son of Man must be lifted up [on the cross]? Who is this Son of Man? [Ps. 110:4.]
35 So Jesus said to them, You will have the Light only a little while longer. Walk while you have the Light [keep on living by it], so that darkness may not overtake and overcome you. He who walks about in the dark does not know where he goes [he is drifting].
36 While you have the Light, believe in the Light [have faith in it, hold to it, rely on it], that you may become sons of the Light and be filled with Light. Jesus said these things, and then He went away and hid Himself from them [was lost to their view].
37 Even though He had done so many miracles before them (right before their eyes), yet they still did not trust in Him and failed to believe in Him—
38 So that what Isaiah the prophet said was fulfilled: Lord, who has believed our report and our message? And to whom has the arm (the power) of the Lord been shown (unveiled and revealed)? [Isa. 53:1.]
39 Therefore they could not believe [they were unable to believe]. For Isaiah has also said,
40 He has blinded their eyes and hardened and benumbed their [callous, degenerated] hearts [He has made their minds dull], to keep them from seeing with their eyes and understanding with their hearts and minds and repenting and turning to Me to heal them.
41 Isaiah said this because he saw His glory and spoke of Him. [Isa. 6:9, 10.]
42 And yet [in spite of all this] many even of the leading men (the authorities and the nobles) believed and trusted in Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that [if they should acknowledge Him] they would be expelled from the synagogue;
43 For they loved the approval and the praise and the glory that come from men [instead of and] more than the glory that comes from God. [They valued their credit with men more than their credit with God.]
44 But Jesus loudly declared, The one who believes in Me does not [only] believe in and trust in and rely on Me, but [in believing in Me he believes] in Him Who sent Me.
45 And whoever sees Me sees Him Who sent Me.
46 I have come as a Light into the world, so that whoever believes in Me [whoever cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] may not continue to live in darkness.
47 If anyone hears My teachings and fails to observe them [does not keep them, but disregards them], it is not I who judges him. For I have not come to judge and to condemn and to pass sentence and to inflict penalty on the world, but to save the world.
48 Anyone who rejects Me and persistently sets Me at naught, refusing to accept My teachings, has his judge [however]; for the [very] message that I have spoken will itself judge and convict him at the last day.
49 This is because I have never spoken on My own authority or of My own accord or as self-appointed, but the Father Who sent Me has Himself given Me orders [concerning] what to say and what to tell. [Deut. 18:18, 19.]
50 And I know that His commandment is (means) eternal life. So whatever I speak, I am saying [exactly] what My Father has told Me to say and in accordance with His instructions.

 

[Administrator]

Read Through the Bible in a Year / October​

October 31.
Matt. 21:23–22:14; Mark 11:27–12:12; Luke 20:1–19


Matthew 21:23–22:14
23 And when He entered the sacred enclosure of the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching and said, By what power of authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this power of authority?
24 Jesus answered them, I also will ask you a question, and if you give Me the answer, then I also will tell you by what power of authority I do these things.
25 The baptism of John—from where was it? From heaven or from men? And they reasoned and argued with one another, If we say, From heaven, He will ask us, Why then did you not believe him?
26 But if we say, From men—we are afraid of and must reckon with the multitude, for they all regard John as a prophet.
27 So they answered Jesus, We do not know. And He said to them, Neither will I tell you by what power of authority I do these things.
28 What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He came to the first and said, Son, go and work today in the vineyard.
29 And he answered, I will not; but afterward he changed his mind and went.
30 Then the man came to the second and said the same [thing]. And he replied, I will [go], sir; but he did not go.
31 Which of the two did the will of the father? They replied, The first one. Jesus said to them, Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the harlots will get into the kingdom of heaven before you.
32 For John came to you walking in the way of an upright man in right standing with God, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots did believe him; and you, even when you saw that, did not afterward change your minds and believe him [adhere to, trust in, and rely on what he told you].
33 Listen to another parable: There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it and dug a wine vat in it and built a watchtower. Then he let it out [for rent] to tenants and went into another country.
34 When the fruit season drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his [share of the] fruit.
35 But the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first time, and they treated them the same way.
37 Finally he sent his own son to them, saying, They will respect and give heed to my son.
38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, This is the heir; come on, let us kill him and have his inheritance.
39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those tenants?
41 They said to Him, He will put those wretches to a miserable death and rent the vineyard to other tenants of such a character that they will give him the fruits promptly in their season. [Isa. 5:1-7.]
42 Jesus asked them, Have you never read in the Scriptures: The very Stone which the builders rejected and threw away has become the Cornerstone; this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? [Ps. 118:22, 23.]
43 I tell you, for this reason the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the fruits of it.
44 And whoever falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom It falls will be crushed to powder [and It will winnow him, scattering him like dust]. [Isa. 8:14; Dan. 2:34, 35.]
45 And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables (comparisons, stories used to illustrate and explain), they perceived that He was talking about them.
46 And although they were trying to arrest Him, they feared the throngs because they regarded Him as a prophet.

CHAPTER 22

AND AGAIN Jesus spoke to them in parables (comparisons, stories used to illustrate and explain), saying,
2 The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son
3 And sent his servants to summon those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they refused to come.
4 Again he sent other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my banquet; my bullocks and my fat calves are killed, and everything is prepared; come to the wedding feast.
5 But they were not concerned and paid no attention [they ignored and made light of the summons, treating it with contempt] and they went away—one to his farm, another to his business,
6 While the others seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and put them to death.
7 [Hearing this] the king was infuriated; and he sent his soldiers and put those murderers to death and burned their city.
8 Then he said to his servants, The wedding [feast] is prepared, but those invited were not worthy.
9 So go to the thoroughfares where they leave the city [where the main roads and those from the country end] and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.
10 And those servants went out on the crossroads and got together as many as they found, both bad and good, so [the room in which] the wedding feast [was held] was filled with guests.
11 But when the king came in to view the guests, he looked intently at a man there who had on no wedding garment.
12 And he said, Friend, how did you come in here without putting on the [appropriate] wedding garment? And he was speechless (muzzled, gagged).
13 Then the king said to the attendants, Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the darkness outside; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
14 For many are called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen.


Mark 11:27–12:12
27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And when Jesus was walking about in the [courts and porches of the] temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him,
28 And they kept saying to Him, By what [sort of] authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do them?
29 Jesus told them, I will ask you a question. Answer Me, and then I will tell you by what [sort of] authority I do these things.
30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Answer Me.
31 And they reasoned and argued with one another, If we say, From heaven, He will say, Why then did you not believe him?
32 But [on the other hand] can we say, From men? For they were afraid of the people, because everybody considered and held John actually to be a prophet.
33 So they replied to Jesus, We do not know. And Jesus said to them, Neither am I going to tell you what [sort of] authority I have for doing these things.

CHAPTER 12

AND [Jesus] started to speak to them in parables [with comparisons and illustrations]. A man planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower and let it out [for rent] to vinedressers and went into another country.
2 When the season came, he sent a bond servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
3 But they took him and beat him and sent him away without anything.
4 Again he sent to them another bond servant, and they stoned him and wounded him in the head and treated him shamefully [sending him away with insults].
5 And he sent another, and that one they killed; then many others—some they beat, and some they put to death.
6 He had still one left [to send], a beloved son; last of all he sent him to them, saying, They will respect my son.
7 But those tenants said to one another, Here is the heir; come on, let us put him to death, and [then] the inheritance will be ours.
8 And they took him and killed him, and threw [his body] outside the vineyard.
9 Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others.
10 Have you not even read this [passage of] Scripture: The very Stone which [after putting It to the test] the builders rejected has become the Head of the corner [Cornerstone];
11 This is from the Lord and is His doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? [Ps. 118:22, 23.]
12 And they were trying to get hold of Him, but they were afraid of the people, for they knew that He spoke this parable with reference to and against them. So they left Him and departed. [Isa. 5:1-7.]


Luke 20:1–19
ONE DAY as Jesus was instructing the people in the temple [porches] and preaching the good news (the Gospel), the chief priests and the scribes came up with the elders (members of the Sanhedrin)
2 And said to Him, Tell us by what [sort of] authority You are doing these things? Or who is it who gave You this authority?
3 He replied to them, I will also ask you a question. Now answer Me:
4 Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men?
5 And they argued and discussed [it] and reasoned together with themselves, saying, If we reply, From heaven, He will say, Why then did you not believe him?
6 But if we answer, From men, all the people will stone us to death, for they are long since firmly convinced that John was a prophet.
7 So they replied that they did not know from where it came.
8 Then Jesus said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
9 Then He began to relate to the people this parable (this story to figuratively portray what He had to say): A man planted a vineyard and leased it to some vinedressers and went into another country for a long stay. [Isa. 5:1-7.]
10 When the

season came, he sent a bond servant to the tenants, that they might give him [his part] of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat (thrashed) him and sent him away empty-handed.
11 And he sent still another servant; him they also beat (thrashed) and dishonored and insulted him disgracefully and sent him away empty-handed.
12 And he sent yet a third; this one they wounded and threw out [of the vineyard].
13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; it is probable that they will respect him.
14 But when the tenants saw him, they argued among themselves, saying, This is the heir; let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.
15 So they drove him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
16 He will come and [utterly] put an end to those tenants and will give the vineyard to others. When they [the chief priests and the scribes and the elders] heard this, they said, May it never be!
17 But [Jesus] looked at them and said, What then is [the meaning of] this that is written: The [very] Stone which the builders rejected has become the chief Stone of the corner [Cornerstone]? [Ps. 118:22, 23.]
18 Everyone who falls on that Stone will be broken [in pieces]; but upon whomever It falls, It will crush him [winnow him and scatter him as dust]. [Isa. 8:14, 15; Dan. 2:34, 35.]
19 The scribes and the chief priests desired and tried to find a way to arrest Him at that very hour, but they were afraid of the people; for they discerned that He had related this parable against them.​