The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; He delivers them from all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.
He protects all his bones; not one of them will be broken.
‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”
A joyful heart makes a cheerful countenance, but sorrow of the heart crushes the spirit.
A discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.
. . .
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.
Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.
But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
At this time a man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
(Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was to anoint the Lord with perfume and wipe His feet with her hair.)
So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.”
When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
. . .
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.
So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”
. . .
But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these:
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,
But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.
It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,
for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to Him.
Someone told Him, “Look, Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to You.”
But Jesus replied, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?”
Pointing to His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers.
For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This is the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”
Alas, O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children of depravity! They have forsaken the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him.
Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
. . .
Eight days later, His disciples were once again inside with the doors locked, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in radiant apparel stood beside them.
As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?
. . .
That same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.
And as they talked and deliberated, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them.
But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?” They stood still, with sadness on their faces.
. . .
Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see—for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet.
While they were still in disbelief because of their joy and amazement, He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
So they gave Him a piece of broiled fish,
and He took it and ate it in front of them.
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
. . .
and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength,
which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.