One Year Bible.

The Perils of the Pilgrim

¹Why, O LORD, do You stand far off?

Why do You hide in times of trouble?

²In pride the wicked pursue the needy;

let them be caught in the schemes they devise.

³For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart;

he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.

⁴In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him;

in all his schemes there is no God.

⁵He is secure in his ways at all times;

Your lofty judgments are far from him;

he sneers at all his foes.

⁶He says to himself, “I will not be moved;

from age to age I am free of distress.”

⁷His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence;

trouble and malice are under his tongue.

⁸He lies in wait near the villages;

in ambush he slays the innocent;

his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.

⁹He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket;

he lurks to seize the oppressed;

he catches the lowly in his net.

¹⁰They are crushed and beaten down;

the helpless fall prey to his strength.

¹¹He says to himself, “God has forgotten;

He hides His face and never sees.”

¹²Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God!

Do not forget the helpless.

¹³Why has the wicked man renounced God?

He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.”

¹⁴But You have regarded trouble and grief;

You see to repay it by Your hand.

The victim entrusts himself to You;

You are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;

call him to account for his wickedness

until none is left to be found.

¹⁶The LORD is King forever and ever;

the nations perish from His land.

¹⁷You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble;

You will strengthen their hearts.

You will incline Your ear,

¹⁸to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed,

that the men of the earth

may strike terror no more.

Jesus and Zacchaeus

¹Then Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ²And there was a man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, who was very wealthy. ³He was trying to see who Jesus was, but could not see over the crowd because he was small in stature. ⁴So he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him, since Jesus was about to pass that way.

⁵When Jesus came to that place, He looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down, for I must stay at your house today.”

⁶So Zacchaeus hurried down and welcomed Him joyfully. ⁷And all who saw this began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinful man!”

⁸But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold.”

⁹Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The Parable of the Ten Minas

¹¹While the people were listening to this, Jesus proceeded to tell them a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they thought the kingdom of God would appear imminently. ¹²So He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to lay claim to his kingship and then return. ¹³Beforehand, he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Conduct business with this until I return,’ he said.

¹⁴But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’

¹⁵When he returned from procuring his kingship, he summoned the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what each one had earned.

¹⁶The first servant came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has produced ten more minas.’

¹⁷His master replied, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you shall have authority over ten cities.’

¹⁸The second servant came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’

¹⁹And to this one he said, ‘You shall have authority over five cities.’

²⁰Then another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have laid away in a piece of cloth. ²¹For I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’

²²His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? ²³Why then did you not deposit my money in the bank, and upon my return I could have collected it with interest?’

²⁴Then he told those standing by, ‘Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

²⁵‘Master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’

²⁶He replied, ‘ I tell you that everyone who has will be given more; but the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ²⁷And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’”

The Triumphal Entry

²⁸After Jesus had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹As He approached Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, He sent out two of His disciples, ³⁰saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

³²So those who were sent went out and found it just as Jesus had told them. ³³As they were untying the colt, its owners asked, “Why are you untying the colt?”

³⁴“The Lord needs it,” they answered. ³⁵Then they led the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks over it, and put Jesus on it.

³⁶As He rode along, the people spread their cloaks on the road. ³⁷And as He approached the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began to praise God joyfully in a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

³⁸“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

³⁹But some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!”

⁴⁰“I tell you,” He answered, “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

⁴¹As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it ⁴²and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴They will level you to the ground — you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

⁴⁵Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling there. ⁴⁶He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be a house of prayer.’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

⁴⁷Jesus was teaching at the temple every day, but the chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people were intent on killing Him. ⁴⁸Yet they could not find a way to do so, because all the people hung on His words.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

¹In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”

²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, ³“Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ⁵“Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will surely heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the house of the LORD. ⁶I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for My sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”

⁷Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” So they brought it and applied it to the boil, and Hezekiah recovered.

⁸Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?”

⁹And Isaiah had replied, “This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: Would you like the shadow to go forward ten steps, or back ten steps?”

¹⁰“It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps,” answered Hezekiah, “but not for it to go back ten steps.”

¹¹So Isaiah the prophet called out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow back the ten steps it had descended on the stairway of Ahaz.

Hezekiah Shows His Treasures

¹²At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness. ¹³And Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his treasure house — the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his armory— all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁴Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?”

“They came from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”

¹⁵“What have they seen in your palace?” Isaiah asked.

“They have seen everything in my palace,” answered Hezekiah. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

¹⁶Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: ¹⁷The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. ¹⁸And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁹But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Will there not at least be peace and security in my lifetime?”

Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah

²⁰As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, along with all his might and how he constructed the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

²¹And Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and his son Manasseh reigned in his place.