Luke 13
English Standard Version
Repent or Perish
13 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
A Woman with a Disabling Spirit
10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
The Mustard Seed and the Leaven
18 He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”
20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”
The Narrow Door
22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where 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 you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Lament over Jerusalem
31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 33 Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
Psalm 118
English Standard Version
His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
118 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”3 Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”4 Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?7 The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.
10 All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!12 They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.15 Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous:“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,16 the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.18 The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.27 The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us.Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you.29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 122
English Standard Version
Let Us Go to the House of the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”2 Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together,4 to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.5 There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you!7 Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!”8 For my brothers and companions' sake I will say, “Peace be within you!”9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.
Jeremiah 22
English Standard Version
22 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“‘You are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon,yet surely I will make you a desert, an uninhabited city.7 I will prepare destroyers against you, each with his weapons,and they shall cut down your choicest cedars and cast them into the fire.
8 “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9 And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”
10 Weep not for him who is dead, nor grieve for him,but weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he shall return no more to see his native land.
Message to the Sons of Josiah
11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”
13 “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice,who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages,14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,’who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion.15 Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar?Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well.Is not this to know me? declares the Lord.17 But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain,for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.”
18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
“They shall not lament for him, saying, ‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’They shall not lament for him, saying, ‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’19 With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried, dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
20 “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, and lift up your voice in Bashan;cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers are destroyed.21 I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not listen.’This has been your way from your youth, that you have not obeyed my voice.22 The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity;then you will be ashamed and confounded because of all your evil.23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, nested among the cedars,how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you, pain as of a woman in labor!”
24 “As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”
28 Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot, a vessel no one cares for?Why are he and his children hurled and cast into a land that they do not know?29 O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord!30 Thus says the Lord:“Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days,for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.”