One Year Bible.

How Majestic Is Your Name!

¹For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of David.

O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

You have set Your glory

above the heavens.

²From the mouths of children and infants

You have ordained praise

on account of Your adversaries,

to silence the enemy and avenger.

³When I behold Your heavens,

the work of Your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which You have set in place —

⁴what is man that You are mindful of him,

or the son of man that You care for him?

⁵You made him a little lower than the angels;

You crowned him with glory and honor.

⁶You made him ruler of the works of Your hands;

You have placed everything under his feet:

⁷all sheep and oxen,

and even the beasts of the field,

⁸the birds of the air and the fish of the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas.

⁹O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Jesus’ Authority Challenged

¹One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and scribes, together with the elders, came up to Him. ²“Tell us,” they said, “by what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”

³“I will also ask you a question,” Jesus replied. “Tell Me: ⁴John’s baptism — was it from heaven, or from men?”

⁵They deliberated among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

⁷So they answered that they did not know where it was from.

⁸And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

⁹Then He proceeded to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time. ¹⁰At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed.

¹¹So he sent another servant, but they beat him and treated him shamefully, sending him away empty-handed.

¹²Then he sent a third, but they wounded him and threw him out.

¹³‘What shall I do?’ asked the owner of the vineyard. ‘I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.’

¹⁴But when the tenants saw the son, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

And when the people heard this, they said, “May such a thing never happen!”

¹⁷But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:

‘The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone’?

¹⁸Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹⁹When the scribes and chief priests realized that Jesus had spoken this parable against them, they sought to arrest Him that very hour. But they were afraid of the people.

²⁰So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor. ²¹“Teacher,” they inquired, “we know that You speak and teach correctly. You show no partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ²²Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

²³But Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them, ²⁴“Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”

“Caesar’s,” they answered.

²⁵So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

²⁶And they were unable to trap Him in His words before the people. And amazed at His answer, they fell silent.

The Sadducees and the Resurrection

²⁷Then some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to question Him. ²⁸“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him. ²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a wife but died childless. ³⁰Then the second ³¹and the third married the widow, and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children. ³²And last of all, the woman died. ³³So then, in the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven were married to her.”

³⁴Jesus answered, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵But those who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. ³⁶In fact, they can no longer die, because they are like the angels. And since they are sons of the resurrection, they are sons of God.

³⁷Even Moses demonstrates that the dead are raised, in the passage about the burning bush. For he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ ³⁸He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive.”

³⁹Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, You have spoken well!” ⁴⁰And they did not dare to question Him any further.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

⁴¹Then Jesus declared, “How can it be said that the Christ is the Son of David? ⁴²For David himself says in the book of Psalms:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand

⁴³until I make Your enemies

a footstool for Your feet.”’

⁴⁴Thus David calls Him ‘Lord.’ So how can He be David’s son?”

Beware of the Scribes

⁴⁵In the hearing of all the people, Jesus said to His disciples, ⁴⁶“Beware of the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, and they love the greetings in the marketplaces, the chief seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁷They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”

Prepare the Way for the LORD

¹“Comfort, comfort My people,”

says your God.

²“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

and proclaim to her

that her forced labor has been completed;

her iniquity has been pardoned.

For she has received from the hand of the LORD

double for all her sins.”

³A voice of one calling:

“Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness;

make a straight highway for our God in the desert.

⁴Every valley shall be lifted up,

and every mountain and hill made low;

the uneven ground will become smooth,

and the rugged land a plain.

⁵And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,

and all humanity together will see it.”

For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

The Enduring Word

⁶A voice says, “Cry out!”

And I asked, “What should I cry out?”

“All flesh is like grass,

and all its glory like the flowers of the field.

⁷The grass withers and the flowers fall

when the breath of the LORD blows on them;

indeed, the people are grass.

⁸The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God stands forever.”

Here Is Your God!

⁹Go up on a high mountain,

O Zion, herald of good news.

Raise your voice loudly,

O Jerusalem, herald of good news.

Lift it up,

do not be afraid!

Say to the cities of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

¹⁰Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,

and His arm establishes His rule.

His reward is with Him,

and His recompense accompanies Him.

¹¹He tends His flock like a shepherd;

He gathers the lambs in His arms

and carries them close to His heart.

He gently leads the nursing ewes.

¹²Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

or weighed the mountains on a scale

and the hills with a balance?

¹³Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD,

or informed Him as His counselor?

¹⁴Whom did He consult to enlighten Him,

and who taught Him the paths of justice?

Who imparted knowledge to Him

and showed Him the way of understanding?

¹⁵Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

they are considered a speck of dust on the scales;

He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

¹⁶Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel,

nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.

¹⁷All the nations are as nothing before Him;

He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.

¹⁸To whom will you liken God?

To what image will you compare Him?

¹⁹To an idol that a craftsman casts

and a metalworker overlays with gold

and fits with silver chains?

²⁰One lacking such an offering

chooses wood that will not rot.

He seeks a skilled craftsman

to set up an idol that will not topple.

²¹Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?

Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?

²²He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth;

its dwellers are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

²³He brings the princes to nothing

and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.

²⁴No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown,

no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground,

than He blows on them and they wither,

and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.

²⁵“To whom will you liken Me,

or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.

²⁶Lift up your eyes on high:

Who created all these?

He leads forth the starry host by number;

He calls each one by name.

Because of His great power and mighty strength,

not one of them is missing.

²⁷Why do you say, O Jacob,

and why do you assert, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the LORD,

and my claim is ignored by my God”?

²⁸Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary;

His understanding is beyond searching out.

²⁹He gives power to the faint

and increases the strength of the weak.

³⁰Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall.

³¹But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength;

they will mount up with wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not faint.

God’s Help to Israel

¹“Be silent before Me, O islands,

and let the peoples renew their strength.

Let them come forward and testify;

let us together draw near for judgment.

²Who has aroused one from the east

and called him to his feet in righteousness?

He hands nations over to him

and subdues kings before him.

He turns them to dust with his sword,

to windblown chaff with his bow.

³He pursues them, going on safely,

hardly touching the path with his feet.

⁴Who has performed this and carried it out,

calling forth the generations from the beginning?

I, the LORD — the first and the last—

I am He.”

⁵The islands see and fear;

the ends of the earth tremble.

They approach and come forward.

⁶Each one helps the other

and says to his brother, “Be strong!”

⁷The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,

and he who wields the hammer

cheers him who strikes the anvil,

saying of the welding, “It is good.”

He nails it down so it will not be toppled.

⁸“But you, O Israel, My servant,

Jacob, whom I have chosen,

descendant of Abraham My friend—

⁹I brought you from the ends of the earth

and called you from its farthest corners.

I said, ‘You are My servant.’

I have chosen and not rejected you.

¹⁰Do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be afraid, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you; I will surely help you;

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

¹¹Behold, all who rage against you

will be ashamed and disgraced;

those who contend with you

will be reduced to nothing and will perish.

¹²You will seek them but will not find them.

Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.

¹³For I am the LORD your God,

who takes hold of your right hand

and tells you: Do not fear,

I will help you.

¹⁴Do not fear, O Jacob, you worm,

O few men of Israel.

I will help you,” declares the LORD.

“Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge,

new and sharp, with many teeth.

You will thresh the mountains and crush them,

and reduce the hills to chaff.

¹⁶You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away;

a gale will scatter them.

But you will rejoice in the LORD;

you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷The poor and needy seek water, but there is none;

their tongues are parched with thirst.

I, the LORD, will answer them;

I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

¹⁸I will open rivers on the barren heights,

and fountains in the middle of the valleys.

I will turn the desert into a pool of water,

and the dry land into flowing springs.

¹⁹I will plant cedars in the wilderness,

acacias, myrtles, and olive trees.

I will set cypresses in the desert,

elms and boxwood together,

²⁰so that all may see and know,

may consider and understand,

that the hand of the LORD has done this

and the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

Meaningless Idols

²¹“Present your case,” says the LORD.

“Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob.

²²“Let them come and tell us what will happen.

Tell the former things,

so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome.

Or announce to us what is coming.

²³Tell us the things that are to come,

so that we may know that you are gods.

Yes, do something good or evil,

that we may look on together in dismay.

²⁴Behold, you are nothing

and your work is of no value.

Anyone who chooses you is detestable.

²⁵I have raised up one from the north, and he has come —

one from the east who calls on My name.

He will march over rulers as if they were mortar,

like a potter who treads the clay.

²⁶Who has declared this from the beginning,

so that we may know,

and from times past,

so that we may say: ‘He was right’?

No one announced it, no one foretold it,

no one heard your words.

²⁷I was the first to tell Zion:

‘Look, here they are!’

And I gave to Jerusalem

a herald of good news.

²⁸When I look, there is no one;

there is no counselor among them;

when I ask them,

they have nothing to say.

²⁹See, they are all a delusion;

their works amount to nothing;

their images are as empty as the wind.[’’]