Day 26 of 365

¹It happened, that when he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples."

²He said to them, "When you pray, say, 'Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come.

³Give us day by day our daily bread.

⁴Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.'"

⁵He said to them, "Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

⁶for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,'

⁷and he from within will answer and say, 'Do not bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give it to you'?

⁸I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs.

⁹"I tell you, ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you.

¹⁰For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.

¹¹"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, he won't give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?

¹²Or if he asks for an egg, he won't give him a scorpion, will he?

¹³If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

¹⁴He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. It happened, when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the multitudes marveled.

¹⁵But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons."

¹⁶Others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven.

¹⁷But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls.

¹⁸If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.

¹⁹But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore will they be your judges.

²⁰But if I by the finger of God cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come to you.

²¹"When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe.

²²But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes from him his whole armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.

²³"He that is not with me is against me. He who does not gather with me scatters.

²⁴The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, 'I will turn back to my house from which I came out.'

²⁵When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order.

²⁶Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first."

²⁷It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!"

²⁸But he said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it."

²⁹When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah.

³⁰For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation.

³¹The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here.

³²The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the proclaiming of Jonah, and behold, one greater than Jonah is here.

³³"No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light.

³⁴The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness.

³⁵Therefore see whether the light that is in you is not darkness.

³⁶If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light."

³⁷Now as he spoke, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. He went in, and sat at the table.

³⁸When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.

³⁹The Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness.

⁴⁰You foolish ones, did not he who made the outside make the inside also?

⁴¹But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.

⁴²But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and the love of God. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.

⁴³Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces.

⁴⁴Woe to you! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them do not know it."

⁴⁵One of the Law scholars answered him, "Teacher, in saying this you insult us also."

⁴⁶He said, "Woe to you Law scholars also! For you load people with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won't even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.

⁴⁷Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

⁴⁸So you are witnesses and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs.

⁴⁹Therefore also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute,

⁵⁰that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.' Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.

⁵²Woe to you Law scholars! For you took away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered."

⁵³And when he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him;

⁵⁴lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

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."

¹Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

²Jesus answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered these things?

³I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.

⁴Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?

⁵I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way."

⁶He spoke this parable. "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none.

⁷He said to the vine dresser, 'Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down. Why does it waste the soil?'

⁸He answered, 'Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it, and fertilize it.

⁹If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.'"

¹⁰He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day.

¹¹Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bent over, and could in no way straighten herself up.

¹²When Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity."

¹³He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight, and glorified God.

¹⁴The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, "There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!"

¹⁵Therefore the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Does not each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him away to water?

¹⁶Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?"

¹⁷As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed, and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.

¹⁸He said, "What is the Kingdom of God like? To what shall I compare it?

¹⁹It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and put in his own garden. It grew, and became a tree, and the birds of the sky lodged in its branches."

²⁰Again he said, "To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?

²¹It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened."

²²He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem.

²³One said to him, "Lord, are they few who are saved?" He said to them,

²⁴"Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able.

²⁵When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, open to us!' then he will answer and tell you, 'I do not know you or where you come from.'

²⁶Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.'

²⁷He will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.'

²⁸There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets, in the Kingdom of God, and yourselves being thrown outside.

²⁹They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in the Kingdom of God.

³⁰Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last."

³¹In that same hour some Pharisees came, saying to him, "Get out of here, and go away, for Herod wants to kill you."

³²He said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission.

³³Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it cannot be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem.'

³⁴"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused!

³⁵Behold, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'"

¹Judge me, Lord, for I have walked in my integrity. I have trusted also in Lord without wavering.

²Examine me, Lord, and prove me. Try my heart and my mind.

³For your loving kindness is before my eyes. I have walked in your truth.

⁴I have not sat with deceitful men, neither will I go in with hypocrites.

⁵I hate the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked.

⁶I will wash my hands in innocence, so I will go about your altar, Lord;

⁷that I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard, and tell of all your wondrous works.

⁸Lord, I love the habitation of your house, the place where your glory dwells.

⁹Do not gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men;

¹⁰in whose hands is wickedness, their right hand is full of bribes.

¹¹But as for me, I will walk in my integrity. Redeem me, and be merciful to me.

¹²My foot stands in an even place. In the congregations I will bless the Lord.

¹Like snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.

²Like a fluttering sparrow, like a darting swallow, so the undeserved curse doesn't come to rest.

³A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools!

⁴Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him.

⁵Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

⁶One who sends a message by the hand of a fool is cutting off feet and drinking violence.

⁷Like the legs of the lame that hang loose: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

⁸As one who binds a stone in a sling, so is he who gives honor to a fool.

⁹Like a thornbush that goes into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

¹⁰As an archer who wounds all, so is he who hires a fool or he who hires those who pass by.

¹¹As a dog that returns to his vomit, so is a fool who repeats his folly.

¹²Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

¹³The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion roams the streets!"

¹⁴As the door turns on its hinges, so does the sluggard on his bed.

¹⁵The sluggard buries his hand in the dish. He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.

¹⁶The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer with discretion.

¹⁷Like one who grabs a dog's ears is one who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own.

¹⁸Like a madman who shoots firebrands, arrows, and death,

¹⁹is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, "Am I not joking?"

²⁰For lack of wood a fire goes out. Without gossip, a quarrel dies down.

²¹As coals are to hot embers, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindling strife.

²²The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, they go down into the innermost parts.

²³Like silver dross on an earthen vessel are the lips of a fervent one with an evil heart.

²⁴A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but he harbors evil in his heart.

²⁵When his speech is charming, do not believe him; for there are seven abominations in his heart.

²⁶His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

²⁷Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it. Whoever rolls a stone, it will come back on him.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it hurts; and a flattering mouth works ruin.