Day 439 of 730

¹Meanwhile, when a multitude of many thousands had gathered together, so much so that they trampled on each other, he began to tell his disciples first of all, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

²But there is nothing covered up, that will not be revealed, nor hidden, that will not be known.

³Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light. What you have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers will be proclaimed on the housetops.

⁴"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.

⁵But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him, who after he has killed, has power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

⁶"Are not five sparrows sold for two assaria coins? Not one of them is forgotten by God.

⁷But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.

⁸"I tell you, everyone who confesses me before men, him will the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God;

⁹but he who denies me in the presence of men will be denied in the presence of the angels of God.

¹⁰Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

¹¹When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you will answer, or what you will say;

¹²for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you must say."

¹³One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

¹⁴But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?"

¹⁵He said to them, "Beware! Keep yourselves from all covetousness, for a man's life does not consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses."

¹⁶He spoke a parable to them, saying, "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly.

¹⁷He reasoned within himself, saying, 'What will I do, because I do not have room to store my crops?'

¹⁸He said, 'This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

¹⁹I will tell my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry."'

²⁰"But God said to him, 'You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared-whose will they be?'

²¹So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

²²He said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear.

²³Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

²⁴Consider the ravens: they do not sow, they do not reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!

²⁵Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height?

²⁶If then you are not able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest?

²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow. They do not toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

²⁸But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?

²⁹Do not seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious.

³⁰For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things.

³¹But seek his Kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

³²Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

³³Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys.

³⁴For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

³⁵"Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning.

³⁶Be like people watching for their lord, when he returns from the marriage feast; that, when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him.

³⁷Blessed are those servants, whom the lord will find watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, that he will dress himself, and make them recline, and will come and serve them.

³⁸They will be blessed if he comes in the second or third watch, and finds them so.

³⁹But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

⁴⁰Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you do not expect him."

⁴¹Peter said to him, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everybody?"

⁴²The Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times?

⁴³Blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing so when he comes.

⁴⁴Truly I tell you, that he will set him over all that he has.

⁴⁵But if that servant says in his heart, 'My lord delays his coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken,

⁴⁶then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he is not expecting him, and in an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful.

⁴⁷That servant, who knew his lord's will, and did not prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes,

⁴⁸but he who did not know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.

⁴⁹"I came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already kindled.

⁵⁰But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!

⁵¹Do you think that I have come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division.

⁵²For from now on, there will be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.

⁵³They will be divided, father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against her mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

⁵⁴He said to the multitudes also, "When you see a cloud rising from the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming,' and so it happens.

⁵⁵When a south wind blows, you say, 'There will be a scorching heat,' and it happens.

⁵⁶You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you do not interpret this time?

⁵⁷Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?

⁵⁸For when you are going with your adversary before the magistrate, try diligently on the way to be released from him, lest perhaps he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.

⁵⁹I tell you, you will by no means get out of there, until you have paid the very last penny."

¹Lord, you have searched me, and you know me.

²You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.

³You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Lord, you know it altogether.

⁵You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.

⁶This knowledge is beyond me. It's lofty. I can't attain it.

⁷Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?

⁸If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!

⁹If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea;

¹⁰Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.

¹¹If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; the light around me will be night;"

¹²even the darkness doesn't hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.

¹³For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb.

¹⁴I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.

¹⁵My frame wasn't hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.

¹⁷How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!

¹⁸If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.

¹⁹If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

²⁰For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain.

²¹Lord, do I not hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you?

²²I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies.

²³Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.

²⁴See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:

²that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.

³For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,

⁴But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.

⁶She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.

⁷Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove your way far from her. Do not come near the door of her house,

⁹lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house.

¹¹You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹²and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹³neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."

¹⁵Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹A loving doe and a graceful deer- let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

²⁰For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. He examines all his paths.

²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

²³He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.