One Year Bible.

Loving Discipline and Knowledge

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,

but he who hates correction is stupid.

²The good man obtains favor from the LORD,

but the LORD condemns a man who devises evil.

³A man cannot be established through wickedness,

but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

⁴A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown,

but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.

⁵The plans of the righteous are just,

but the counsel of the wicked leads to deceit.

⁶The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,

but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown and perish,

but the house of the righteous will stand.

⁸A man is praised according to his wisdom,

but a twisted mind is despised.

⁹Better to be lightly esteemed yet have a servant,

than to be self-important but lack food.

¹⁰A righteous man regards the life of his animal,

but the tender mercies of the wicked are only cruelty.

¹¹The one who works his land will have plenty of food,

but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.

¹²The wicked desire the plunder of evil men,

but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech,

but a righteous man escapes from trouble.

¹⁴By fruitful speech a man is filled with good things,

and the work of his hands returns to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

but a wise man listens to counsel.

¹⁶A fool’s anger is known at once,

but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

¹⁷He who speaks the truth declares what is right,

but a false witness speaks deceit.

¹⁸Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword,

but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips endure forever,

but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

²⁰Deceit is in the hearts of those who devise evil,

but the counselors of peace have joy.

²¹No harm befalls the righteous,

but the wicked are filled with trouble.

²²Lying lips are detestable to the LORD,

but those who deal faithfully are His delight.

²³A shrewd man keeps his knowledge to himself,

but a foolish heart proclaims its folly.

²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule,

but laziness ends in forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety weighs down the heart of a man,

but a good word cheers it up.

²⁶A righteous man is cautious in friendship,

but the ways of the wicked lead them astray.

²⁷A lazy man does not roast his game,

but a diligent man prizes his possession.

²⁸There is life in the path of righteousness,

but another path leads to death.

The Word Brings Salvation

¹Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation. ²For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge. ³Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ⁴For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.

⁵For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.” ⁶But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷or, ‘Who will descend into the Abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”

⁸But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: ⁹that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.

¹¹It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” ¹²For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him, ¹³for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? ¹⁵And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

¹⁶But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” ¹⁷Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

¹⁸But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.”

¹⁹I ask instead, did Israel not understand? First, Moses says:

“I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation;

I will make you angry by a nation without understanding.”

²⁰And Isaiah boldly says:

“I was found by those who did not seek Me;

I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me.”

²¹But as for Israel he says:

“All day long I have held out My hands

to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

Greetings from Paul and Timothy

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

²To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints — ⁵the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel ⁶that has come to you.

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood the grace of God. ⁷You learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, ⁸and who also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

⁹For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

¹³He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of the Son

¹⁵The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.

¹⁷He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. ¹⁸And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, ²⁰and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.

²¹Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds. ²²But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence — ²³if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Paul’s Suffering for the Church

²⁴Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church. ²⁵I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God, ²⁶the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints. ²⁷To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²⁸We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. ²⁹To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

Absent in Body, Present in Spirit

¹For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face, ²that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁴I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric. ⁵For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ.

Alive with Christ

⁶Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him, ⁷rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ. ⁹For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form. ¹⁰And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

¹¹In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands. ¹²And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.

¹³When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, ¹⁴having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! ¹⁵And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

¹⁶Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath. ¹⁷These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ. ¹⁸Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind. ¹⁹He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.

²⁰If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations: ²¹“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”? ²²These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. ²³Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.