One Year Bible.

After the Battle

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

O LORD, the king rejoices in Your strength.

How greatly he exults in Your salvation!

²You have granted his heart’s desire

and have not withheld the request of his lips.

Selah

³For You welcomed him with rich blessings;

You placed on his head a crown of pure gold.

⁴He asked You for life, and You granted it—

length of days, forever and ever.

⁵Great is his glory in Your salvation;

You bestow on him splendor and majesty.

⁶For You grant him blessings forever;

You cheer him with joy in Your presence.

⁷For the king trusts in the LORD;

through the loving devotion of the Most High,

he will not be shaken.

⁸Your hand will apprehend all Your enemies;

Your right hand will seize those who hate You.

⁹You will place them in a fiery furnace

at the time of Your appearing.

In His wrath the LORD will engulf them,

and the fire will consume them.

¹⁰You will wipe their descendants from the earth,

and their offspring from the sons of men.

¹¹Though they intend You harm,

the schemes they devise will not prevail.

¹²For You will put them to flight

when Your bow is trained upon them.

¹³Be exalted, O LORD, in Your strength;

we will sing and praise Your power.

Prologue

¹In my first book, O Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach, ²until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. ³After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

⁴And while they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss. ⁵For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

The Ascension

⁶So when they came together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁹After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. ¹⁰They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

Matthias Replaces Judas

¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near the city, a Sabbath day’s journey away. ¹³When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. ¹⁴With one accord they all continued in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

¹⁵In those days Peter stood up among the brothers ( a gathering of about a hundred and twenty ) and said, ¹⁶“Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷He was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”

¹⁸(Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong and burst open in the middle, and all his intestines spilled out. ¹⁹This became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so they called that field in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

²⁰“For it is written in the book of Psalms:

‘May his place be deserted;

let there be no one to dwell in it,’

and,

‘May another take his position.’

²¹Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²²beginning from John’s baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

²³So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. ²⁴And they prayed, “Lord, You know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen ²⁵to take up this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned to go to his rightful place.”

²⁶Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias. So he was added to the eleven apostles.

Salvation for Foreigners

¹This is what the LORD says:

“Maintain justice and do what is right,

for My salvation is coming soon,

and My righteousness will be revealed.

²Blessed is the man who does this,

and the son of man who holds it fast,

who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it

and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

³Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,

“The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.”

And let the eunuch not say,

“I am but a dry tree.”

⁴For this is what the LORD says:

“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,

who choose what pleases Me

and hold fast to My covenant —

⁵I will give them, in My house and within My walls,

a memorial and a name

better than that of sons and daughters.

I will give them an everlasting name

that will not be cut off.

⁶And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD

to minister to Him,

to love the name of the LORD,

and to be His servants —

all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it

and who hold fast to My covenant—

⁷I will bring them to My holy mountain

and make them joyful in My house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices

will be accepted on My altar,

for My house will be called a house of prayer

for all the nations.”

⁸Thus declares the Lord GOD,

who gathers the dispersed of Israel:

“I will gather to them still others

besides those already gathered.”

Israel’s Sinful Leaders

⁹Come, all you beasts of the field;

eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.

¹⁰Israel’s watchmen are blind,

they are all oblivious;

they are all mute dogs,

they cannot bark;

they are dreamers lying around,

loving to slumber.

¹¹Like ravenous dogs,

they are never satisfied.

They are shepherds with no discernment;

they all turn to their own way,

each one seeking his own gain:

¹²“Come, let me get the wine,

let us imbibe the strong drink,

and tomorrow will be like today,

only far better!”

The Blessed Death of the Righteous

¹The righteous perish,

and no one takes it to heart;

devout men are taken away,

while no one considers

that the righteous are taken away

from the presence of evil.

²Those who walk uprightly enter into peace;

they find rest, lying down in death.

God Condemns Idolatry

³“But come here, you sons of a sorceress,

you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!

⁴Whom are you mocking?

At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue?

Are you not children of transgression,

offspring of deceit,

⁵who burn with lust among the oaks,

under every luxuriant tree,

who slaughter your children in the valleys,

under the clefts of the rocks?

⁶Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley;

indeed, they are your lot.

Even to them you have poured out a drink offering

and offered a grain offering.

Should I relent because of these?

⁷On a high and lofty hill you have made your bed,

and there you went up to offer sacrifices.

⁸Behind the door and doorpost

you have set up your memorial.

Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed;

you climbed up and opened it wide.

And you have made a pact with those whose bed you have loved;

you have gazed upon their nakedness.

⁹You went to Molech with oil

and multiplied your perfumes.

You have sent your envoys a great distance;

you have descended even to Sheol itself.

¹⁰You are wearied by your many journeys,

but you did not say, “There is no hope!”

You found renewal of your strength;

therefore you did not grow weak.

¹¹Whom have you dreaded and feared,

so that you lied and failed

to remember Me or take this to heart?

Is it not because I have long been silent

that you do not fear Me?

¹²I will expose your righteousness and your works,

and they will not profit you.

¹³When you cry out,

let your companies of idols deliver you!

Yet the wind will carry off all of them,

a breath will take them away.

But he who seeks refuge in Me will inherit the land

and possess My holy mountain.”

Healing for the Repentant

¹⁴And it will be said,

“Build it up, build it up, prepare the way,

take every obstacle out of the way of My people.”

¹⁵For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,

who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in a high and holy place,

and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,

to restore the spirit of the lowly

and revive the heart of the contrite.

¹⁶For I will not accuse you forever,

nor will I always be angry;

for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me—

the breath of life I have made.

¹⁷I was enraged by his sinful greed,

so I struck him and hid My face in anger;

yet he kept turning back

to the desires of his heart.

¹⁸I have seen his ways,

but I will heal him;

I will guide him and restore comfort

to him and his mourners,

¹⁹bringing praise to their lips.

Peace, peace to those far and near,” says the LORD,

“and I will heal them.”

²⁰But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea,

for it cannot be still,

and its waves churn up mire and muck.

²¹“There is no peace,” says my God,

“for the wicked.”

True Fasts and Sabbaths

¹“Cry aloud, do not hold back!

Raise your voice like a ram’s horn.

Declare to My people their transgression

and to the house of Jacob their sins.

²For day after day they seek Me

and delight to know My ways,

like a nation that does what is right

and does not forsake the justice of their God.

They ask Me for righteous judgments;

they delight in the nearness of God.”

³“Why have we fasted,

and You have not seen?

Why have we humbled ourselves,

and You have not noticed?”

“Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please,

and you oppress all your workers.

⁴You fast with contention and strife

to strike viciously with your fist.

You cannot fast as you do today

and have your voice be heard on high.

⁵Is this the fast I have chosen:

a day for a man to deny himself,

to bow his head like a reed,

and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?

Will you call this a fast

and a day acceptable to the LORD?

⁶Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen:

to break the chains of wickedness,

to untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and tear off every yoke?

⁷Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry,

to bring the poor and homeless into your home,

to clothe the naked when you see him,

and not to turn away

from your own flesh and blood?

⁸Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will come quickly.

Your righteousness will go before you,

and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

⁹Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;

you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you remove the yoke from your midst,

the pointing of the finger and malicious talk,

¹⁰and if you give yourself to the hungry

and satisfy the afflicted soul,

then your light will go forth in the darkness,

and your night will be like noonday.

¹¹The LORD will always guide you;

He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land

and strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

¹²Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins;

you will restore the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of the Breach,

Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.

¹³If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath,

from doing as you please on My holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight,

and the LORD’s holy day honorable,

if you honor it by not going your own way

or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,

¹⁴then you will delight yourself in the LORD,

and I will make you ride on the heights of the land

and feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob.”

For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.