Podcasts about epistles

A new MP3 sermon from Calvary Tabernacle of Orlando is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The Truth About Jesus Christ Subtitle: The Epistles of John Speaker: Mark A. Acevedo Broadcaster: Calvary Tabernacle of Orlando Event: Sunday Service Date: 6/26/2022 Bible: 1 John 2:22-25 Length: 52 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Calvary Tabernacle of Orlando is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The Truth About Jesus Christ Subtitle: The Epistles of John Speaker: Mark A. Acevedo Broadcaster: Calvary Tabernacle of Orlando Event: Sunday Service Date: 6/26/2022 Bible: 1 John 2:22-25 Length: 52 min.

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.James 1:19 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  Introduction to the Letter Writer Style Reader Contents Just do it! 

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Fellowship Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The True Children of God - Part 2 Subtitle: Epistles of John Speaker: Mark Gervais Broadcaster: Grace Fellowship Baptist Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 6/26/2022 Bible: 1 John 3:1-10 Length: 48 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Calvary Tabernacle of Orlando is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The Difference Between False Teachers and Believers Subtitle: The Epistles of John Speaker: Mark A. Acevedo Broadcaster: Calvary Tabernacle of Orlando Event: Sunday Service Date: 6/19/2022 Bible: 1 John 2:18-21 Length: 47 min.

Adam Ritchard | 1 Thes 5:16-18; Phil 2:14-16 — In his Epistles, the Apostle Paul repeatedly instructs his readers to give thanks in all circumstances. Far easier said than done, this instruction could not be more relevant to us today: like the world around us, discontentment can easily become our default setting. But as believers, we ought to to be marked by a gratitude unaffected by circumstance, that we might ‘shine as lights in the world' for Christ.

This special Father's Day episode is from Jim Ramos at Yamhill Christian Church. What is that ONE WORD? It is mind-boggling how many men are caught off guard by that ONE WORD. That ONE WORD  has stopped men in their tracks.  That ONE WORD has caused some of the most successful leaders I know to scratch their heads in dismay. That one word has paralyzed some of the most action-oriented leaders I know.  When we hear that WORD “Leader” we lose our minds! What does it mean to be a leader of my family? So far, we have spent every week on one dude…YOU. Now we are turning up the heat because it isn't about you. It is also about those GOD HAS COMMISSIONED YOU TO CARE FOR.  That ONE WORD—LEADER— has led to much confusion and it's been that way for two millennia. Look at the pastoral Epistles for example. Paul spent more time in the Pastorals describing THAT ONE WORD than any of the other nineteen qualities, most of which being one-word descriptions. Get Your Copy Now! of Tell Them, What Great Fathers Tell Their Sons and Daughters www.meninthearena.org Men in the Arena Books and Swag Support the Podcast

Many New Testament scholars regard the Apostle Paul's epistles to the Corinthians to be among most difficult New Testament books to understand. If you want to dig a little deeper into your Bible of First and Second Corinthians, come with me on this journey of exposition through Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians.

www.cafeteriacatholicscomehome.comhttps://www.youtube.com/user/cathedraltyler/videos

www.cafeteriacatholicscomehome.comhttps://www.youtube.com/user/cathedraltyler/videos

www.cafeteriacatholicscomehome.comhttps://www.youtube.com/user/cathedraltyler/videos

Last week, the church leaders came to an understanding on how the Christian way of life was applicable for both Jews and Gentiles. The timing was perfect because the church was rapidly expanding into different nations and regions. What the early church leaders quickly realized was the universal nature of Jesus's message of grace and redemption. Paul began to plant church communities in different cities, appealing to the culture and language of that group. (e.g. When Paul was writing to a culture that venerated military service, he used military analogy and language.) This same universality of the Church continues to exist today. The church is rapidly expanding in different countries such as those in Africa and Asia. Yet it is also growing in areas around the US. Every time we engage with other stories, backgrounds, and cultures, we have the opportunity to see God in a deeper and more meaningful way. Paul discusses God from several different perspectives in his Epistles, and as a result, the language used around God reflects the people he was writing to. None of this contradicts itself, and in every letter, we see a fuller picture of God.

Last week, the church leaders came to an understanding on how the Christian way of life was applicable for both Jews and Gentiles. The timing was perfect because the church was rapidly expanding into different nations and regions. What the early church leaders quickly realized was the universal nature of Jesus's message of grace and redemption. Paul began to plant church communities in different cities, appealing to the culture and language of that group. (e.g. When Paul was writing to a culture that venerated military service, he used military analogy and language.) This same universality of the Church continues to exist today. The church is rapidly expanding in different countries such as those in Africa and Asia. Yet it is also growing in areas around the US. Every time we engage with other stories, backgrounds, and cultures, we have the opportunity to see God in a deeper and more meaningful way. Paul discusses God from several different perspectives in his Epistles, and as a result, the language used around God reflects the people he was writing to. None of this contradicts itself, and in every letter, we see a fuller picture of God.

Introduction to the Epistles

Here is a brief summary of the purpose and content of the books of the New Testament. The Gospel books... The historical, prophetic and spiritual record of Jesus, the son of God... his words, his deeds and promises... death and resurrection. The book of Acts... The only detailed accounts of the founding of the church and of full scriptural salvation. The first history and missionary journeys of those who preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, how the spirit was recognised by miracles signs and wonders, and the opposition they faced. The Epistles... Letters and some prophecies to the churches/leaders in various stages of development. They deal with all life issues and how to maintain faith and sound doctrine through the power of God... for everyone.

A devotional study about the letters to the seven churches, focusing on the sixth church: Philadelphia.Revelation 3:7 KJVAnd to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; "These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;"---During many of our podcasts, you will hear us make reference to “The Key Principles of Effective Bible Study,”  a document which outlines core concepts shown in the scriptures that will help you better understand many Biblical themes and doctrines.  We have done a whole podcast series on these principles which  can be found here.Lastly, we recommend that you check out https://TrueWisdom.buzzsprout.com for additional Bible Study podcasts, covering many different Bible topics, and done in a slightly different format from the podcasts on this channel.We pray that all of these resources will be very helpful to you in your Bible Studies.If you have any questions or comments, please send them to: BibleQuestions@ASBzone.comRelated Documents:Understand the Messages to the Seven ChurchesRelated Podcasts:Judging vs CondemnationThe Hour of His Judgment is ComeThree Crucial MessagesAnother Angel — Warning RepeatedUnto the Church in EphesusUnto the Church in SmyrnaUnto the Church in PergamumUnto the Church in ThyatiraUnto the Church in SardisUnto the Church in PhiladelphiaUnto the Church in LaodiceaSupport the show

Speaker: Tom Goetz. Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 1:2b, 10, 13; 2:19-20; 3:7; 4:10; 5:5, 10, 12; 2 Pet. 1:2; 3:18 Subject: The Grace of God in the Economy of God Source: London

Also getting into Peter's Epistles

The Book Romans (Sermon #8) Romans 1:17 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one […]

Psalms and Wisdom: Proverbs 3:1–12 Proverbs 3:1–12 (Listen) Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart 3   My son, do not forget my teaching,    but let your heart keep my commandments,2   for length of days and years of life    and peace they will add to you. 3   Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;    bind them around your neck;    write them on the tablet of your heart.4   So you will find favor and good success1    in the sight of God and man. 5   Trust in the LORD with all your heart,    and do not lean on your own understanding.6   In all your ways acknowledge him,    and he will make straight your paths.7   Be not wise in your own eyes;    fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.8   It will be healing to your flesh2    and refreshment3 to your bones. 9   Honor the LORD with your wealth    and with the firstfruits of all your produce;10   then your barns will be filled with plenty,    and your vats will be bursting with wine. 11   My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline    or be weary of his reproof,12   for the LORD reproves him whom he loves,    as a father the son in whom he delights. Footnotes [1] 3:4 Or repute [2] 3:8 Hebrew navel [3] 3:8 Or medicine (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Deuteronomy 6 Deuteronomy 6 (Listen) The Greatest Commandment 6 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules1—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.2 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 10 “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—15 for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. 16 “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18 And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers 19 by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has promised. 20 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?' 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25 And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.' Footnotes [1] 6:1 Or just decrees; also verse 20 [2] 6:4 Or The Lord our God is one Lord; or The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; or The Lord is our God, the Lord alone (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Hosea 2:2–23 Hosea 2:2–23 (Listen) 2   “Plead with your mother, plead—    for she is not my wife,    and I am not her husband—  that she put away her whoring from her face,    and her adultery from between her breasts;3   lest I strip her naked    and make her as in the day she was born,  and make her like a wilderness,    and make her like a parched land,    and kill her with thirst.4   Upon her children also I will have no mercy,    because they are children of whoredom.5   For their mother has played the whore;    she who conceived them has acted shamefully.  For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,    who give me my bread and my water,    my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.'6   Therefore I will hedge up her1 way with thorns,    and I will build a wall against her,    so that she cannot find her paths.7   She shall pursue her lovers    but not overtake them,  and she shall seek them    but shall not find them.  Then she shall say,    ‘I will go and return to my first husband,    for it was better for me then than now.'8   And she did not know    that it was I who gave her    the grain, the wine, and the oil,  and who lavished on her silver and gold,    which they used for Baal.9   Therefore I will take back    my grain in its time,    and my wine in its season,  and I will take away my wool and my flax,    which were to cover her nakedness.10   Now I will uncover her lewdness    in the sight of her lovers,    and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.11   And I will put an end to all her mirth,    her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths,    and all her appointed feasts.12   And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,    of which she said,  ‘These are my wages,    which my lovers have given me.'  I will make them a forest,    and the beasts of the field shall devour them.13   And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals    when she burned offerings to them  and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry,    and went after her lovers    and forgot me, declares the LORD. The Lord's Mercy on Israel 14   “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,    and bring her into the wilderness,    and speak tenderly to her.15   And there I will give her her vineyards    and make the Valley of Achor2 a door of hope.  And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,    as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. 16 “And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,' and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.' 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish3 the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD. 21   “And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD,    I will answer the heavens,    and they shall answer the earth,22   and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,    and they shall answer Jezreel,423     and I will sow her for myself in the land.  And I will have mercy on No Mercy,5    and I will say to Not My People,6 ‘You are my people';    and he shall say, ‘You are my God.'” Footnotes [1] 2:6 Hebrew your [2] 2:15 Achor means trouble; compare Joshua 7:26 [3] 2:18 Hebrew break [4] 2:22 Jezreel means God will sow [5] 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ruhama [6] 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ammi (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: 2 Timothy 4:9–22 2 Timothy 4:9–22 (Listen) Personal Instructions 9 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,1 Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Final Greetings 19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.2 22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.3 Footnotes [1] 4:10 Some manuscripts Gaul [2] 4:21 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters [3] 4:22 The Greek for you is plural (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Proverbs 2 Proverbs 2 (Listen) The Value of Wisdom 2   My son, if you receive my words    and treasure up my commandments with you,2   making your ear attentive to wisdom    and inclining your heart to understanding;3   yes, if you call out for insight    and raise your voice for understanding,4   if you seek it like silver    and search for it as for hidden treasures,5   then you will understand the fear of the LORD    and find the knowledge of God.6   For the LORD gives wisdom;    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;7   he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;    he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,8   guarding the paths of justice    and watching over the way of his saints.9   Then you will understand righteousness and justice    and equity, every good path;10   for wisdom will come into your heart,    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;11   discretion will watch over you,    understanding will guard you,12   delivering you from the way of evil,    from men of perverted speech,13   who forsake the paths of uprightness    to walk in the ways of darkness,14   who rejoice in doing evil    and delight in the perverseness of evil,15   men whose paths are crooked,    and who are devious in their ways. 16   So you will be delivered from the forbidden1 woman,    from the adulteress2 with her smooth words,17   who forsakes the companion of her youth    and forgets the covenant of her God;18   for her house sinks down to death,    and her paths to the departed;319   none who go to her come back,    nor do they regain the paths of life. 20   So you will walk in the way of the good    and keep to the paths of the righteous.21   For the upright will inhabit the land,    and those with integrity will remain in it,22   but the wicked will be cut off from the land,    and the treacherous will be rooted out of it. Footnotes [1] 2:16 Hebrew strange [2] 2:16 Hebrew foreign woman [3] 2:18 Hebrew to the Rephaim (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Deuteronomy 5 Deuteronomy 5 (Listen) The Ten Commandments 5 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5 while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said: 6 “‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 7 “‘You shall have no other gods before1 me. 8 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands2 of those who love me and keep my commandments. 11 “‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave3 in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. 16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 17 “‘You shall not murder.4 18 “‘And you shall not commit adultery. 19 “‘And you shall not steal. 20 “‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.' 22 “These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. 24 And you said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. 25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.' 28 “And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants5 forever! 30 Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.' 32 You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess. Footnotes [1] 5:7 Or besides [2] 5:10 Or to the thousandth generation [3] 5:15 Or servant [4] 5:17 The Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence [5] 5:29 Or sons (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Hosea 1–2:1 Hosea 1–2:1 (Listen) 1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. Hosea's Wife and Children 2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” 6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy,1 for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.” 8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People,2 for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”3 10 4 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children5 of the living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel. Israel's Unfaithfulness Punished 2 6 Say to your brothers, “You are my people,”7 and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”8 Footnotes [1] 1:6 Hebrew Lo-ruhama, which means she has not received mercy [2] 1:9 Hebrew Lo-ammi, which means not my people [3] 1:9 Hebrew I am not yours [4] 1:10 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew [5] 1:10 Or Sons [6] 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Hebrew [7] 2:1 Hebrew ammi, which means my people [8] 2:1 Hebrew ruhama, which means she has received mercy (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: 2 Timothy 3:10–4:8 2 Timothy 3:10–4:8 (Listen) All Scripture Is Breathed Out by God 10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom1 you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God2 may be complete, equipped for every good work. Preach the Word 4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound3 teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. Footnotes [1] 3:14 The Greek for whom is plural [2] 3:17 That is, a messenger of God (the phrase echoes a common Old Testament expression) [3] 4:3 Or healthy (ESV)

Ask ten Christians which book of the Bible is their favourite, which book has been the most impactful in their lives, and which book has provided the most clarity as to their position in Christ and the power they have with which to follow him and it's likely that more than one will answer, “Ephesians.” “By common consent, the Letter to the Ephesians ranks very high in the devotional and theological literature of the Christian Church. It has been called ‘the Queen of the Epistles'—and rightly so. Many would hold that it is indeed the highest reach of New Testament thought. When the great Scottish Protestant reformer John Knox was very near to death, the book that was most often read to him was John Calvin's Sermons on the Letter to the Ephesians. The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge said of Ephesians that it was ‘the divinest composition'. He went on: ‘It embraces first, those doctrines peculiar to Christianity, and, then, those precepts common with it in natural religion.' Ephesians clearly has a unique place in the Pauline correspondence” (Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians, 71). To help us explore this phenomenal section of holy writ we welcome back to the podcast Dr. Daniel Goepfrich. Dr. Goepfrich is the teaching pastor at Oak Tree Community Church in South Bend, Indiana. He also teaches Bible, theology, and biblical languages at Calvary University, Tyndale Theological Seminary, and the Word of Life Bible Institute. In addition to this he is the author of several books and the founder of Theology is for Everyone Ministries.

Psalms and Wisdom: Proverbs 1:20–33 Proverbs 1:20–33 (Listen) The Call of Wisdom 20   Wisdom cries aloud in the street,    in the markets she raises her voice;21   at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;    at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:22   “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?  How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing    and fools hate knowledge?23   If you turn at my reproof,1  behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;    I will make my words known to you.24   Because I have called and you refused to listen,    have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,25   because you have ignored all my counsel    and would have none of my reproof,26   I also will laugh at your calamity;    I will mock when terror strikes you,27   when terror strikes you like a storm    and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,    when distress and anguish come upon you.28   Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;    they will seek me diligently but will not find me.29   Because they hated knowledge    and did not choose the fear of the LORD,30   would have none of my counsel    and despised all my reproof,31   therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,    and have their fill of their own devices.32   For the simple are killed by their turning away,    and the complacency of fools destroys them;33   but whoever listens to me will dwell secure    and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” Footnotes [1] 1:23 Or Will you turn away at my reproof? (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Deuteronomy 4 Deuteronomy 4 (Listen) Moses Commands Obedience 4 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules1 that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today. 5 See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' 7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? 9 “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children—10 how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.' 11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. 12 Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13 And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments,2 and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess. Idolatry Forbidden 15 “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. 21 Furthermore, the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. 22 For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land. 23 Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. 24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 25 “When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. 28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them. The Lord Alone Is God 32 “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. 33 Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? 34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. 36 Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them3 and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, 38 driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, 39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 40 Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.” Cities of Refuge 41 Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan, 42 that the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life: 43 Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. Introduction to the Law 44 This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel. 45 These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt, 46 beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt. 47 And they took possession of his land and the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan; 48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion4 (that is, Hermon), 49 together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah. Footnotes [1] 4:1 Or just decrees; also verses 5, 8, 14, 45 [2] 4:13 Hebrew the ten words [3] 4:37 Hebrew his offspring after him [4] 4:48 Syriac; Hebrew Sion (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jonah 4 Jonah 4 (Listen) Jonah's Anger and the Lord's Compassion 4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,1 and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?” 5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the LORD God appointed a plant2 and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.3 So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” Footnotes [1] 4:1 Hebrew it was exceedingly evil to Jonah [2] 4:6 Hebrew qiqayon, probably the castor oil plant; also verses 7, 9, 10 [3] 4:6 Or his evil (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: 2 Timothy 3:1–9 2 Timothy 3:1–9 (Listen) Godlessness in the Last Days 3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Proverbs 1:8–19 Proverbs 1:8–19 (Listen) The Enticement of Sinners 8   Hear, my son, your father's instruction,    and forsake not your mother's teaching,9   for they are a graceful garland for your head    and pendants for your neck.10   My son, if sinners entice you,    do not consent.11   If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;    let us ambush the innocent without reason;12   like Sheol let us swallow them alive,    and whole, like those who go down to the pit;13   we shall find all precious goods,    we shall fill our houses with plunder;14   throw in your lot among us;    we will all have one purse”—15   my son, do not walk in the way with them;    hold back your foot from their paths,16   for their feet run to evil,    and they make haste to shed blood.17   For in vain is a net spread    in the sight of any bird,18   but these men lie in wait for their own blood;    they set an ambush for their own lives.19   Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;    it takes away the life of its possessors. (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Deuteronomy 3 Deuteronomy 3 (Listen) The Defeat of King Og 3 “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 2 But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.' 3 So the LORD our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. 4 And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. 6 And we devoted them to destruction,1 as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every city, men, women, and children. 7 But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. 8 So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir), 10 all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 (For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits2 was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.3) 12 “When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning at Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities. 13 The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of Rephaim. 14 Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) 15 To Machir I gave Gilead, 16 and to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, the border of the Ammonites; 17 the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east. 18 “And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel. 19 Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, 20 until the LORD gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the LORD your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.' 21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So will the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. 22 You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you.' Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land 23 “And I pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying, 24 ‘O Lord GOD, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? 25 Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.' 26 But the LORD was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. 28 But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.' 29 So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor. Footnotes [1] 3:6 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); twice in this verse [2] 3:11 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [3] 3:11 Hebrew cubit of a man (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jonah 3 Jonah 3 (Listen) Jonah Goes to Nineveh 3 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,1 three days' journey in breadth.2 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The People of Nineveh Repent 6 The word reached3 the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. Footnotes [1] 3:3 Hebrew a great city to God [2] 3:3 Or a visit was a three days' journey [3] 3:6 Or had reached (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: 2 Timothy 2 2 Timothy 2 (Listen) A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus 2 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men,1 who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for:   If we have died with him, we will also live with him;12   if we endure, we will also reign with him;  if we deny him, he also will deny us;13   if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. A Worker Approved by God 14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God2 not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,3 a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” 20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,4 he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord's servant5 must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. Footnotes [1] 2:2 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women, depending on the context [2] 2:14 Some manuscripts the Lord [3] 2:15 That is, one approved after being tested [4] 2:21 Greek from these things [5] 2:24 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Proverbs 1:1–7 Proverbs 1:1–7 (Listen) The Beginning of Knowledge 1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: 2   To know wisdom and instruction,    to understand words of insight,3   to receive instruction in wise dealing,    in righteousness, justice, and equity;4   to give prudence to the simple,    knowledge and discretion to the youth—5   Let the wise hear and increase in learning,    and the one who understands obtain guidance,6   to understand a proverb and a saying,    the words of the wise and their riddles. 7   The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;    fools despise wisdom and instruction. (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Deuteronomy 2 Deuteronomy 2 (Listen) The Wilderness Years 2 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the LORD told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. 2 Then the LORD said to me, 3 ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward 4 and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. 7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”' 8 So we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber. “And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And the LORD said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.' 10 (The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the LORD gave to them.) 13 ‘Now rise up and go over the brook Zered.' So we went over the brook Zered. 14 And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished. 16 “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, 17 the LORD said to me, 18 ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. 19 And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.' 20 (It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim—21 a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites,1 and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, 22 as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. 23 As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) 24 ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.' The Defeat of King Sihon 26 “So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon the king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, 27 ‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. 28 You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot, 29 as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving to us.' 30 But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day. 31 And the LORD said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.' 32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. 33 And the LORD our God gave him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and all his people. 34 And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction2 every city, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. 35 Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. 36 From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The LORD our God gave all into our hands. 37 Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the LORD our God had forbidden us. Footnotes [1] 2:21 Hebrew them [2] 2:34 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jonah 2 Jonah 2 (Listen) Jonah's Prayer 2 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,   “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress,    and he answered me;  out of the belly of Sheol I cried,    and you heard my voice.3   For you cast me into the deep,    into the heart of the seas,    and the flood surrounded me;  all your waves and your billows    passed over me.4   Then I said, ‘I am driven away    from your sight;  yet I shall again look    upon your holy temple.'5   The waters closed in over me to take my life;    the deep surrounded me;  weeds were wrapped about my head6     at the roots of the mountains.  I went down to the land    whose bars closed upon me forever;  yet you brought up my life from the pit,    O LORD my God.7   When my life was fainting away,    I remembered the LORD,  and my prayer came to you,    into your holy temple.8   Those who pay regard to vain idols    forsake their hope of steadfast love.9   But I with the voice of thanksgiving    will sacrifice to you;  what I have vowed I will pay.    Salvation belongs to the LORD!” 10 And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: 2 Timothy 1:8–18 2 Timothy 1:8–18 (Listen) 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to1 a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,2 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.3 13 Follow the pattern of the sound4 words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 15 You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, 17 but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me—18 may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus. Footnotes [1] 1:9 Or with [2] 1:9 Greek before times eternal [3] 1:12 Or what I have entrusted to him; Greek my deposit [4] 1:13 Or healthy (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 150 Psalm 150 (Listen) Let Everything Praise the Lord 150   Praise the LORD!  Praise God in his sanctuary;    praise him in his mighty heavens!12   Praise him for his mighty deeds;    praise him according to his excellent greatness! 3   Praise him with trumpet sound;    praise him with lute and harp!4   Praise him with tambourine and dance;    praise him with strings and pipe!5   Praise him with sounding cymbals;    praise him with loud clashing cymbals!6   Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD! Footnotes [1] 150:1 Hebrew expanse (compare Genesis 1:6–8) (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Deuteronomy 1 Deuteronomy 1 (Listen) The Command to Leave Horeb 1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them, 4 after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.' Leaders Appointed 9 “At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. 10 The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! 12 How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? 13 Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.' 14 And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.' 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. 17 You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.' 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do. Israel's Refusal to Enter the Land 19 “Then we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. 21 See, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.' 22 Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.' 23 The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. 24 And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.' 26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. 27 And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”' 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.' 32 Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God, 33 who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go. The Penalty for Israel's Rebellion 34 “And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!' 37 Even with me the LORD was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.' 41 “Then you answered me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.' And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.' 43 So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there. (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jonah 1 Jonah 1 (Listen) Jonah Flees the Presence of the Lord 1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil1 has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. 4 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea 7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard2 to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. A Great Fish Swallows Jonah 17 3 And the LORD appointed4 a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Footnotes [1] 1:2 The same Hebrew word can mean evil or disaster, depending on the context; so throughout Jonah [2] 1:13 Hebrew the men dug in [their oars] [3] 1:17 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew [4] 1:17 Or had appointed (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: 2 Timothy 1:1–7 2 Timothy 1:1–7 (Listen) Greeting 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You 3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (ESV)

He is mentioned in the Epistles of St Paul (Romans 16:14). He served as a bishop in the first-century Church, and died a martyr. His book, The Shepherd, is one of the earliest Christian writings outside of the New Testament, and was held in such esteem by the early Church that it is sometimes found in ancient collections of the Holy Scriptures.   Hermas had been a wealthy man, but had fallen into poverty through his sins. A man, clad all in white and holding a staff, appeared to St Hermas and, telling him that he was an angel of repentance, gave St Hermas twelve commandments: To believe in God To live in simplicity and innocence To love truth and flee from falsehood To guard his thoughts in chastity To learn patience and magnanimity of soul To know that a good and an evil spirit attend every man To fear God, but not the devil To perform every good deed and to restrain himself from every evil one To pray to God in faith from the depths of his heart, so that his prayer might be heard To preserve himself from melancholy, the daughter of doubt, and from anger To try true and false prophecies To preserve himself from every evil desire.

These are times that try men's souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.Thomas Paine, The American Crisis. December 19, 1776It is amazing how the same principles emerge again and again in all walks of life. This paragraph reminded me of the speech by Henry V, in Shakespeare's play, on the eve of the battle of Agincourt. I guess it is true that human nature doesn't change. Neither does the divine nature.Washington read this to his troops not long before crossing the Delaware on the famous night of December 25, 1776. Washington's army had collapsed from 30,000 to 2,500. One third of these did not have boots; they wrapped their feet in burlap and left a trail in blood as the marched the nine miles to Trenton to cross the river—at night, in a snowstorm. The password that night? Victory or death. And I have no doubt that those with feet wrapped in burlap knew the truth well enough: Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.It is an odd thing to consider that tyranny does not arise in a night from nowhere, and a sobering thing to consider that we are in danger of surrendering to the new Tyranny. When I heard a speech outlining what happened on that occasion, I thought of Christians now in 21st-century America. Many people today seem to think that the Christian Church is facing a crisis.I think it is indeed; but I need to open your mind a little to the nature of that Crisis, how we should think about it, and what we should do about it. First, don't assume that your church is the only church with a problem. If there are people in your church, you have a problem; because churches are composed of people, and people are always a problem. And, as unlikely as it seems, you are likely part of the problem yourself.Where would I go in the Bible to evaluate my church, your church, our churches, our Christianity? The Epistles of Paul? Oh yes, and John and Peter. But there is a temptation when you read this to say, Oh, that was them. We don't have that problem. That said, there are some letters in the New Testament that seem to be directed more broadly in time and place. There are seven of them, and they are found in chapters two and three of Revelation...

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 149 Psalm 149 (Listen) Sing to the Lord a New Song 149   Praise the LORD!  Sing to the LORD a new song,    his praise in the assembly of the godly!2   Let Israel be glad in his Maker;    let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!3   Let them praise his name with dancing,    making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!4   For the LORD takes pleasure in his people;    he adorns the humble with salvation.5   Let the godly exult in glory;    let them sing for joy on their beds.6   Let the high praises of God be in their throats    and two-edged swords in their hands,7   to execute vengeance on the nations    and punishments on the peoples,8   to bind their kings with chains    and their nobles with fetters of iron,9   to execute on them the judgment written!    This is honor for all his godly ones.  Praise the LORD! (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Numbers 35–36 Numbers 35–36 (Listen) Cities for the Levites 35 The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. 3 The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. 4 The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits1 all around. 5 And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities. 6 “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. 7 All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands. 8 And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.” Cities of Refuge 9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. 14 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there. 16 “But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 17 And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21 or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. 22 “But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait 23 or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, 24 then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. 25 And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. 28 For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. 29 And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 30 “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. 33 You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.” Marriage of Female Heirs 36 The heads of the fathers' houses of the clan of the people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel. 2 They said, “The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.” 5 And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph is right. 6 This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7 The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.'” 10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD commanded Moses, 11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father's brothers. 12 They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's clan. 13 These are the commandments and the rules that the LORD commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. Footnotes [1] 35:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Joel 2:28–3:21 Joel 2:28–3:21 (Listen) The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit 28   1 “And it shall come to pass afterward,    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;  your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,    your old men shall dream dreams,    and your young men shall see visions.29   Even on the male and female servants    in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. 2 The Lord Judges the Nations 3 “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it. 4 “What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.3 6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the LORD has spoken.” 9   Proclaim this among the nations:  Consecrate for war;4    stir up the mighty men.  Let all the men of war draw near;    let them come up.10   Beat your plowshares into swords,    and your pruning hooks into spears;    let the weak say, “I am a warrior.” 11   Hasten and come,    all you surrounding nations,    and gather yourselves there.  Bring down your warriors, O LORD.12   Let the nations stir themselves up    and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;  for there I will sit to judge    all the surrounding nations. 13   Put in the sickle,    for the harvest is ripe.  Go in, tread,    for the winepress is full.  The vats overflow,    for their evil is great. 14   Multitudes, multitudes,    in the valley of decision!  For the day of the LORD is near    in the valley of decision.15   The sun and the moon are darkened,    and the stars withdraw their shining. 16   The LORD roars from Zion,    and utters his voice from Jerusalem,    and the heavens and the earth quake.  But the LORD is a refuge to his people,    a stronghold to the people of Israel. The Glorious Future of Judah 17   “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God,    who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain.  And Jerusalem shall be holy,    and strangers shall never again pass through it. 18   “And in that day  the mountains shall drip sweet wine,    and the hills shall flow with milk,  and all the streambeds of Judah    shall flow with water;  and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD    and water the Valley of Shittim. 19   “Egypt shall become a desolation    and Edom a desolate wilderness,  for the violence done to the people of Judah,    because they have shed innocent blood in their land.20   But Judah shall be inhabited forever,    and Jerusalem to all generations.21   I will avenge their blood,    blood I have not avenged,5    for the LORD dwells in Zion.” Footnotes [1] 2:28 Ch 3:1 in Hebrew [2] 2:32 Ch 4:1 in Hebrew [3] 3:5 Or palaces [4] 3:9 Or Consecrate a war [5] 3:21 Or I will acquit their bloodguilt that I have not acquitted (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: 1 Timothy 6:3–21 1 Timothy 6:3–21 (Listen) 3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound1 words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and2 we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Fight the Good Fight of Faith 11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before3 Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. 17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. 20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.4 Footnotes [1] 6:3 Or healthy [2] 6:7 Greek for; some manuscripts insert [it is] certain [that] [3] 6:13 Or in the time of [4] 6:21 The Greek for you is plural (ESV)

Message from Bukunmi Oyebola on May 29, 2022

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 148 Psalm 148 (Listen) Praise the Name of the Lord 148   Praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD from the heavens;    praise him in the heights!2   Praise him, all his angels;    praise him, all his hosts! 3   Praise him, sun and moon,    praise him, all you shining stars!4   Praise him, you highest heavens,    and you waters above the heavens! 5   Let them praise the name of the LORD!    For he commanded and they were created.6   And he established them forever and ever;    he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.1 7   Praise the LORD from the earth,    you great sea creatures and all deeps,8   fire and hail, snow and mist,    stormy wind fulfilling his word! 9   Mountains and all hills,    fruit trees and all cedars!10   Beasts and all livestock,    creeping things and flying birds! 11   Kings of the earth and all peoples,    princes and all rulers of the earth!12   Young men and maidens together,    old men and children! 13   Let them praise the name of the LORD,    for his name alone is exalted;    his majesty is above earth and heaven.14   He has raised up a horn for his people,    praise for all his saints,    for the people of Israel who are near to him.  Praise the LORD! Footnotes [1] 148:6 Or it shall not be transgressed (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Numbers 33:50–34:29 Numbers 33:50–34:29 (Listen) Drive Out the Inhabitants 50 And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. 53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. 56 And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.” Boundaries of the Land 34 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), 3 your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of the Salt Sea on the east. 4 And your border shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. 5 And the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea. 6 “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its1 coast. This shall be your western border. 7 “This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to Mount Hor. 8 From Mount Hor you shall draw a line to Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad. 9 Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border. 10 “You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. 11 And the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of the Sea of Chinnereth on the east. 12 And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.” 13 Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. 14 For the tribe of the people of Reuben by fathers' houses and the tribe of the people of Gad by their fathers' houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.” List of Tribal Chiefs 16 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 You shall take one chief from every tribe to divide the land for inheritance. 19 These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20 Of the tribe of the people of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. 21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22 Of the tribe of the people of Dan a chief, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23 Of the people of Joseph: of the tribe of the people of Manasseh a chief, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24 And of the tribe of the people of Ephraim a chief, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25 Of the tribe of the people of Zebulun a chief, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26 Of the tribe of the people of Issachar a chief, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27 And of the tribe of the people of Asher a chief, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28 Of the tribe of the people of Naphtali a chief, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29 These are the men whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan. Footnotes [1] 34:6 Syriac; Hebrew lacks its (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Joel 2:18–27 Joel 2:18–27 (Listen) The Lord Had Pity 18   Then the LORD became jealous for his land    and had pity on his people.19   The LORD answered and said to his people,  “Behold, I am sending to you    grain, wine, and oil,    and you will be satisfied;  and I will no more make you    a reproach among the nations. 20   “I will remove the northerner far from you,    and drive him into a parched and desolate land,  his vanguard1 into the eastern sea,    and his rear guard2 into the western sea;  the stench and foul smell of him will rise,    for he has done great things. 21   “Fear not, O land;    be glad and rejoice,    for the LORD has done great things!22   Fear not, you beasts of the field,    for the pastures of the wilderness are green;  the tree bears its fruit;    the fig tree and vine give their full yield. 23   “Be glad, O children of Zion,    and rejoice in the LORD your God,  for he has given the early rain for your vindication;    he has poured down for you abundant rain,    the early and the latter rain, as before. 24   “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.25   I will restore3 to you the years    that the swarming locust has eaten,  the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,    my great army, which I sent among you. 26   “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,    and praise the name of the LORD your God,    who has dealt wondrously with you.  And my people shall never again be put to shame.27   You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,    and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else.  And my people shall never again be put to shame. Footnotes [1] 2:20 Hebrew face [2] 2:20 Hebrew his end [3] 2:25 Or pay back (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: 1 Timothy 5–6:2 1 Timothy 5–6:2 (Listen) Instructions for the Church 5 Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity. 3 Honor widows who are truly widows. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. 5 She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, 6 but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. 7 Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. 8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 9 Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband,1 10 and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. 11 But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry 12 and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. 13 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. 14 So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. 15 For some have already strayed after Satan. 16 If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows. 17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” 19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. 21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. 22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. 23 (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) 24 The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. 25 So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden. 6 Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants2 regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. 2 Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. False Teachers and True Contentment Teach and urge these things. Footnotes [1] 5:9 Or a woman of one man [2] 6:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 147 Psalm 147 (Listen) He Heals the Brokenhearted 147   Praise the LORD!  For it is good to sing praises to our God;    for it is pleasant,1 and a song of praise is fitting.2   The LORD builds up Jerusalem;    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.3   He heals the brokenhearted    and binds up their wounds.4   He determines the number of the stars;    he gives to all of them their names.5   Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;    his understanding is beyond measure.6   The LORD lifts up the humble;2    he casts the wicked to the ground. 7   Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;    make melody to our God on the lyre!8   He covers the heavens with clouds;    he prepares rain for the earth;    he makes grass grow on the hills.9   He gives to the beasts their food,    and to the young ravens that cry.10   His delight is not in the strength of the horse,    nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,11   but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,    in those who hope in his steadfast love. 12   Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!    Praise your God, O Zion!13   For he strengthens the bars of your gates;    he blesses your children within you.14   He makes peace in your borders;    he fills you with the finest of the wheat.15   He sends out his command to the earth;    his word runs swiftly.16   He gives snow like wool;    he scatters frost like ashes.17   He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;    who can stand before his cold?18   He sends out his word, and melts them;    he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.19   He declares his word to Jacob,    his statutes and rules3 to Israel.20   He has not dealt thus with any other nation;    they do not know his rules.4  Praise the LORD! Footnotes [1] 147:1 Or for he is beautiful [2] 147:6 Or afflicted [3] 147:19 Or and just decrees [4] 147:20 Or his just decrees (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Numbers 33:1–49 Numbers 33:1–49 (Listen) Recounting Israel's Journey 33 These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the LORD, and these are their stages according to their starting places. 3 They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them. On their gods also the LORD executed judgments. 5 So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth. 6 And they set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. 7 And they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. 8 And they set out from before Hahiroth1 and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they went a three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. 9 And they set out from Marah and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 10 And they set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea. 11 And they set out from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of Sin. 12 And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. 13 And they set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14 And they set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15 And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai. 16 And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah. 17 And they set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. 18 And they set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. 19 And they set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. 20 And they set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. 21 And they set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22 And they set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23 And they set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 And they set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25 And they set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. 26 And they set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27 And they set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28 And they set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29 And they set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30 And they set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. 31 And they set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. 32 And they set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad. 33 And they set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. 34 And they set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35 And they set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber. 36 And they set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh). 37 And they set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom. 38 And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the LORD and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. 39 And Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor. 40 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel. 41 And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. 42 And they set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. 43 And they set out from Punon and camped at Oboth. 44 And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab. 45 And they set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad. 46 And they set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. 47 And they set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48 And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; 49 they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab. Footnotes [1] 33:8 Some manuscripts and versions Pi-hahiroth (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Joel 2:1–17 Joel 2:1–17 (Listen) The Day of the Lord 2   Blow a trumpet in Zion;    sound an alarm on my holy mountain!  Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,    for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near,2   a day of darkness and gloom,    a day of clouds and thick darkness!  Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains    a great and powerful people;  their like has never been before,    nor will be again after them    through the years of all generations. 3   Fire devours before them,    and behind them a flame burns.  The land is like the garden of Eden before them,    but behind them a desolate wilderness,    and nothing escapes them. 4   Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,    and like war horses they run.5   As with the rumbling of chariots,    they leap on the tops of the mountains,  like the crackling of a flame of fire    devouring the stubble,  like a powerful army    drawn up for battle. 6   Before them peoples are in anguish;    all faces grow pale.7   Like warriors they charge;    like soldiers they scale the wall.  They march each on his way;    they do not swerve from their paths.8   They do not jostle one another;    each marches in his path;  they burst through the weapons    and are not halted.9   They leap upon the city,    they run upon the walls,  they climb up into the houses,    they enter through the windows like a thief. 10   The earth quakes before them;    the heavens tremble.  The sun and the moon are darkened,    and the stars withdraw their shining.11   The LORD utters his voice    before his army,  for his camp is exceedingly great;    he who executes his word is powerful.  For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome;    who can endure it? Return to the Lord 12   “Yet even now,” declares the LORD,    “return to me with all your heart,  with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;13     and rend your hearts and not your garments.”  Return to the LORD your God,    for he is gracious and merciful,  slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;    and he relents over disaster.14   Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,    and leave a blessing behind him,  a grain offering and a drink offering    for the LORD your God? 15   Blow the trumpet in Zion;    consecrate a fast;  call a solemn assembly;16     gather the people.  Consecrate the congregation;    assemble the elders;  gather the children,    even nursing infants.  Let the bridegroom leave his room,    and the bride her chamber. 17   Between the vestibule and the altar    let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep  and say, “Spare your people, O LORD,    and make not your heritage a reproach,    a byword among the nations.1  Why should they say among the peoples,    ‘Where is their God?'” Footnotes [1] 2:17 Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: 1 Timothy 4 1 Timothy 4 (Listen) Some Will Depart from the Faith 4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. A Good Servant of Christ Jesus 6 If you put these things before the brothers,1 you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive,2 because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. 11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,3 so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. Footnotes [1] 4:6 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters [2] 4:10 Some manuscripts and suffer reproach [3] 4:15 Greek be in them (ESV)