The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

1 David¹ built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and ^dpitched a tent for it. 2 Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry ^ethe ark of God, for the Lord had chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to him forever. 3 ^fAnd David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord ^gto its place, which he had prepared for it. 4 And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and ^hthe Levites: 5 of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 of his brothers; 6 of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with 220 of his brothers; 7 of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with 130 of his brothers; 8 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with 200 of his brothers; 9 of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with 80 of his brothers; 10 of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with 112 of his brothers. 11 Then David summoned the priests ⁱZadok and ^jAbiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, 12 and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites. ^kConsecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, ^lto the place that I have prepared for it. 13 ^mBecause you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.” 14 So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders ⁿwith the poles, ^oas Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

16 David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on ^pmusical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. 17 So the Levites appointed ^qHeman the son of Joel; and of his brothers ^rAsaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, ^sEthan the son of Kushaiah; 18 and with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. 19 The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze cymbals; 20 Zechariah, ^tAziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to ^uAlamoth; 21 but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, ^vObed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to ^wthe Sheminith. 22 Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, should ^xblow the trumpets before the ark of God. ^vObed-edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the ark.

25 ^ySo David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of ^vObed-edom with rejoicing. 26 And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed ^zseven bulls and seven rams. 27 David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod. 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, to the sound of the horn, ^atrumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on ^bharps and lyres.

29 And as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

The Sin of Partiality

1 My brothers,^{1 w}show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, ^xthe Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” ^ywhile you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become ^zjudges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, ^ahas not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be ^brich in faith and heirs of ^cthe kingdom, ^dwhich he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you ^ehave dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who ^fdrag you ^ginto court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable ^hname by which you were called?

8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ⁱ“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you ^jshow partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point ^khas become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, ^l“Do not commit adultery,” also said, ^l“Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under ^mthe law of liberty. 13 For ⁿjudgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith Without Works Is Dead

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith ^obut does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 ^pIf a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 ^qand one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good² is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith ^rapart from your works, and I will show you my faith ^sby my works. 19 ^tYou believe that God is one; you do well. Even ^uthe demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 ^vWas not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that ^wfaith was active along with his works, and faith was completed ^xby his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ^y“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a ^zfriend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also ^aRahab the prostitute justified by works ^bwhen she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

The Destruction of Israel

1 I saw the Lord standing beside¹ the altar, and he said:

The Restoration of Israel

The Temptation of Jesus

1 ^sAnd Jesus, ^tfull of the Holy Spirit, ^ureturned from the Jordan and was led ^vby the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for ^wforty days, ^xbeing tempted by the devil. ^wAnd he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, ^yhe was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are ^zthe Son of God, command ^athis stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, ^b“It is written, ^c‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 5 ^dAnd the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you ^eI will give all this authority and their glory, ^efor it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, ^f“It is written,

9 ⁱAnd he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are ^jthe Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,

11 and

12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ^l‘You shall not ^mput the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him ⁿuntil an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

14 ^oAnd Jesus returned ^pin the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and ^qa report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And ^rhe taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

16 ^sAnd he came to ^tNazareth, where he had been brought up. And ^uas was his custom, ^vhe went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up ^wto read. 17 And ^xthe scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and ^fsat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were ^gfixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today ^hthis Scripture ⁱhas been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at ^jthe gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ^k“Is not this ^lJoseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ^m‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did ⁿat Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, ^ono prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when ^pthe heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them ^qbut only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And ^rthere were many lepers¹ in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, ^sbut only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and ^tdrove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But ^upassing through their midst, he went away.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon

31 ^vAnd he ^wwent down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And ^xhe was teaching them ^yon the Sabbath, 32 and ^zthey were astonished at his teaching, ^zfor his word possessed authority. 33 And ^xin the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha!^{2 a}What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? ^bI know who you are—^cthe Holy One of God.” 35 But Jesus ^drebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And ^ethey were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? ^eFor with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And ^freports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus Heals Many

38 ^gAnd he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now ^hSimon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and ⁱrebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.

40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and ^jhe laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 ^kAnd demons also came out of many, ^lcrying, “You are ^mthe Son of God!” But he rebuked them and ^kwould not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was ⁿthe Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Synagogues

42 ^oAnd when it was day, he departed and went ^pinto a desolate place. And ^qthe people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, ^r“I must ^spreach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching ^tin the synagogues of Judea.³