One Year Bible.

The Triumphant Messiah

¹Why do the nations rage

and the peoples plot in vain?

²The kings of the earth take their stand

and the rulers gather together,

against the LORD

and against His Anointed One:

³“Let us break Their chains

and cast away Their cords.”

⁴The One enthroned in heaven laughs;

the Lord taunts them.

⁵Then He rebukes them in His anger,

and terrifies them in His fury:

⁶“I have installed My King on Zion,

upon My holy mountain.”

⁷I will proclaim the decree

spoken to Me by the LORD:

“You are My Son;

today I have become Your Father.

⁸Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance,

the ends of the earth Your possession.

⁹You will break them with an iron scepter;

You will shatter them like pottery.”

¹⁰Therefore be wise, O kings;

be admonished, O judges of the earth.

¹¹Serve the LORD with fear,

and rejoice with trembling.

¹²Kiss the Son, lest He be angry

and you perish in your rebellion,

when His wrath ignites in an instant.

Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

The Parable of the Workers

¹“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ²He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he said, ‘and I will pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵So they went.

He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.

⁶About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked.

⁷‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

So he told them, ‘You also go into my vineyard.’

⁸When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and moving on to the first.’

⁹The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰So when the original workers came, they assumed they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarius.

¹¹On receiving their pay, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹²‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’

¹³But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Did you not agree with me on one denarius? ¹⁴Take your pay and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. ¹⁵Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

The Third Prediction of the Passion

¹⁷As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside and said, ¹⁸“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death ¹⁹and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. And on the third day He will be raised to life.”

A Mother’s Request

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and knelt down to make a request of Him.

²¹“What do you want?” He inquired.

She answered, “Declare that in Your kingdom one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right hand, and the other at Your left.”

²²“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

“We can,” the brothers answered.

²³“You will indeed drink My cup,” Jesus said. “But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom My Father has prepared them.”

²⁴When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. ²⁶It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave — ²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

The Blind Men by the Road

²⁹As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. ³⁰And there were two blind men sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³¹The crowd admonished them to be silent, but they cried out all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³²Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want Me to do for you?” He asked.

³³“Lord,” they answered, “let our eyes be opened.”

³⁴Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and at once they received their sight and followed Him.

Principles of Marriage

¹Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good to abstain from sexual relations. ²But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.

³The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.

⁵Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control. ⁶I say this as a concession, not as a command. ⁷I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

⁸Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am. ⁹But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

¹⁰To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. ¹¹But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

¹²To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. ¹³And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. ¹⁴For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

¹⁵But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace. ¹⁶How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Live Your Calling

¹⁷Regardless, each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is what I prescribe in all the churches. ¹⁸Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised. ¹⁹Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts.

²⁰Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called. ²¹Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you— but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity. ²²For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.

²³You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. ²⁴Brothers, each one should remain in the situation he was in when God called him.

The Unmarried and Widowed

²⁵Now about virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. ²⁶Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is. ²⁷Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife. ²⁸But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

²⁹What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; ³⁰those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing; ³¹and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

³²I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord. ³³But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife, ³⁴and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the work of the Lord, how she can be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how she can please her husband.

³⁵I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but in order to promote proper decorum and undivided devotion to the Lord.

³⁶However, if someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his betrothed, and if she is beyond her youth and they ought to marry, let him do as he wishes; he is not sinning; they should get married. ³⁷But the man who is firmly established in his heart and under no constraint, with control over his will and resolve in his heart not to marry the virgin, he will do well.

³⁸So then, he who marries the virgin does well, but he who does not marry her does even better.

³⁹A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord. ⁴⁰In my judgment, however, she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

Food Sacrificed to Idols

¹Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ²The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. ³But the one who loves God is known by God.

⁴So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one. ⁵For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many so-called gods and lords), ⁶yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.

⁷But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that they eat such food as if it were sacrificed to an idol. And since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. ⁸But food does not bring us closer to God: We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

⁹Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰For if someone with a weak conscience sees you who are well informed eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols? ¹¹So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. ¹²By sinning against your brothers in this way and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

¹³Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to stumble.