One Year Bible.

You Are My Refuge and My Fortress

¹He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

²I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

³Surely He will deliver you

from the snare of the fowler,

and from the deadly plague.

⁴He will cover you with His feathers;

under His wings you will find refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.

⁵You will not fear the terror of the night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

⁶nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the calamity that destroys at noon.

⁷Though a thousand may fall at your side,

and ten thousand at your right hand,

no harm will come near you.

⁸You will only see it with your eyes

and witness the punishment of the wicked.

⁹Because you have made the LORD your dwelling—

my refuge, the Most High—

¹⁰no evil will befall you,

no plague will approach your tent.

¹¹For He will command His angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways.

¹²They will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

¹³You will tread on the lion and cobra;

you will trample the young lion and serpent.

¹⁴“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him;

because he knows My name, I will protect him.

¹⁵When he calls out to Me,

I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble.

I will deliver him and honor him.

¹⁶With long life I will satisfy him

and show him My salvation.”

The Day of the Lord

¹Now about the times and seasons, brothers, we do not need to write to you. ²For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁴But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief. ⁵For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ⁶So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober. ⁷For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation.

⁹For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁰He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. ¹¹Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.

Christian Living

¹²But we ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who work diligently among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. ¹³In love, hold them in highest regard because of their work. Live in peace with one another.

¹⁴And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.

¹⁵Make sure that no one repays evil for evil. Always pursue what is good for one another and for all people.

¹⁶Rejoice at all times. ¹⁷Pray without ceasing. ¹⁸Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

¹⁹Do not extinguish the Spirit. ²⁰Do not treat prophecies with contempt, ²¹but test all things. Hold fast to what is good. ²²Abstain from every form of evil.

Final Blessings and Instructions

²³Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

²⁵Brothers, pray for us as well.

²⁶Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

²⁷I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

²⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

The Demand for a Sign

¹Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven.

²But He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘The weather will be fair, for the sky is red,’ ³and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times. ⁴A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵When they crossed to the other side, the disciples forgot to take bread. ⁶“Watch out!” Jesus told them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷They discussed this among themselves and concluded, “It is because we did not bring any bread.”

⁸Aware of their conversation, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you debating among yourselves about having no bread? ⁹Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹¹How do you not understand that I was not telling you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

¹²Then they understood that He was not telling them to beware of the leaven used in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

²⁰Then He admonished the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.

Christ’s Passion Foretold

²¹From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

²²Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!”

²³But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Take Up Your Cross

²⁴Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

²⁸Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”