One Year Bible.

Abraham to Father Many Nations

¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless. ²I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”

³Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ⁴“As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. ⁵No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.

⁷I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

⁸And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing— all the land of Canaan— as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”

The Covenant of Circumcision

⁹God also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant— you and your descendants in the generations after you. ¹⁰This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. ¹¹You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

¹²Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner — even those who are not your offspring. ¹³Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant.

¹⁴But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah. ¹⁶And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”

¹⁷Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?” ¹⁸And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”

¹⁹But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. ²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. ²¹But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”

²²When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

²³On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money— every male among the members of Abraham’s household— and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.

²⁴So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, ²⁵and his son Ishmael was thirteen; ²⁶Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. ²⁷And all the men of Abraham’s household— both servants born in his household and those purchased from foreigners— were circumcised with him.

The Lord of the Sabbath

¹One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them. ²But some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

³Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴He entered the house of God, took the consecrated bread and gave it to his companions, and ate what is lawful only for the priests to eat.”

⁵Then Jesus declared, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

⁶On another Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.

⁸But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand among us.” So he got up and stood there.

⁹Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰And after looking around at all of them, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and it was restored.

¹¹But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles

¹²In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God. ¹³When daylight came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated as apostles: ¹⁴Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alphaeus and Simon called the Zealot; ¹⁶Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus Heals the Multitudes

¹⁷Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples was there, along with a great number of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. ¹⁸They had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases, and those troubled by unclean spirits were healed. ¹⁹The entire crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all.

The Beatitudes

²⁰Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹Blessed are you who hunger now,

for you will be filled.

Blessed are you who weep now,

for you will laugh.

²²Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. ²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.

Woes to the Satisfied

²⁴But woe to you who are rich,

for you have already received your comfort.

²⁵Woe to you who are well fed now,

for you will hunger.

Woe to you who laugh now,

for you will mourn and weep.

²⁶Woe to you when all men speak well of you,

for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.

Love Your Enemies

²⁷But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well. ³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

³²If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. ³⁴And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.

³⁵But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Judging Others

³⁷Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

³⁹Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

⁴¹Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? ⁴²How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor grapes from brambles. ⁴⁵The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

The House on the Rock

⁴⁶Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say? ⁴⁷I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them: ⁴⁸He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

⁴⁹But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell — and great was its destruction!”

A Ruler from Bethlehem

¹Now, O daughter of troops,

mobilize your troops;

for a siege is laid against us!

With a rod they will strike the cheek

of the judge of Israel.

²But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

who are small among the clans of Judah,

out of you will come forth for Me

One to be ruler over Israel—

One whose origins are of old,

from the days of eternity.

³Therefore Israel will be abandoned

until she who is in labor has given birth;

then the rest of His brothers will return

to the children of Israel.

⁴He will stand and shepherd His flock

in the strength of the LORD,

in the majestic name of the LORD His God.

And they will dwell securely,

for then His greatness will extend

to the ends of the earth.

⁵And He will be our peace

when Assyria invades our land

and tramples our citadels.

We will raise against it seven shepherds,

even eight leaders of men.

⁶And they will rule the land of Assyria with the sword,

and the land of Nimrod with the blade drawn.

So He will deliver us

when Assyria invades our land

and marches into our borders.

The Remnant of Jacob

⁷Then the remnant of Jacob will be

in the midst of many peoples

like dew from the LORD,

like showers on the grass,

which do not wait for man

or linger for mankind.

⁸Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,

in the midst of many peoples,

like a lion among the beasts of the forest,

like a young lion among flocks of sheep,

which tramples and tears as it passes through,

with no one to rescue them.

⁹Your hand will be lifted over your foes,

and all your enemies will be cut off.

¹⁰“In that day,”

declares the LORD,

“I will remove your horses from among you

and wreck your chariots.

¹¹I will remove the cities of your land

and tear down all your strongholds.

¹²I will cut the sorceries from your hand,

and you will have no fortune-tellers.

¹³I will also cut off the carved images

and sacred pillars from among you,

so that you will no longer bow down

to the work of your own hands.

¹⁴I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst

and demolish your cities.

¹⁵I will take vengeance in anger and wrath

upon the nations that have not obeyed Me.”

The Case against Israel

¹Hear now what the LORD says:

“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

and let the hills hear your voice.

²Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment,

you enduring foundations of the earth.

For the LORD has a case against His people,

and He will argue it against Israel:

³‘My people, what have I done to you?

Testify against Me how I have wearied you!

⁴For I brought you up from the land of Egypt

and redeemed you from the house of slavery.

I sent Moses before you,

as well as Aaron and Miriam.

⁵My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled

and what Balaam son of Beor answered.

Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,

so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”

⁶With what shall I come before the LORD

when I bow before the God on high?

Should I come to Him with burnt offerings,

with year-old calves?

⁷Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸He has shown you, O man, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you

but to act justly, to love mercy,

and to walk humbly with your God?

The Punishment of Israel

⁹The voice of the LORD calls out to the city

(and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name):

“Heed the rod

and the One who ordained it.

¹⁰Can I forget any longer,

O house of the wicked,

the treasures of wickedness

and the short ephah, which is accursed?

¹¹Can I excuse dishonest scales

or bags of false weights?

¹²For the wealthy of the city

are full of violence,

and its residents speak lies;

their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.

¹³Therefore I am striking you severely,

to ruin you because of your sins.

¹⁴You will eat but not be satisfied,

and your hunger will remain with you.

What you acquire, you will not preserve;

and what you save, I will give to the sword.

¹⁵You will sow but not reap;

you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil;

you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.

¹⁶You have kept the statutes of Omri

and all the practices of Ahab’s house;

you have followed their counsel.

Therefore I will make you a desolation,

and your inhabitants an object of contempt;

you will bear the scorn of the nations.”