One Year Bible.

BOOK IV

From Everlasting to Everlasting

¹A prayer of Moses the man of God.

Lord, You have been our dwelling place

through all generations.

²Before the mountains were born

or You brought forth the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting

You are God.

³You return man to dust,

saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.”

⁴For in Your sight a thousand years

are but a day that passes,

or a watch of the night.

⁵You sweep them away in their sleep;

they are like the new grass of the morning—

⁶in the morning it springs up new,

but by evening it fades and withers.

⁷For we are consumed by Your anger

and terrified by Your wrath.

⁸You have set our iniquities before You,

our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

⁹For all our days decline in Your fury;

we finish our years with a sigh.

¹⁰The length of our days is seventy years —

or eighty if we are strong —

yet their pride is but labor and sorrow,

for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

¹¹Who knows the power of Your anger?

Your wrath matches the fear You are due.

¹²So teach us to number our days,

that we may present a heart of wisdom.

¹³Return, O LORD! How long will it be?

Have compassion on Your servants.

¹⁴Satisfy us in the morning with Your loving devotion,

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

¹⁵Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us,

for as many years as we have seen evil.

¹⁶May Your work be shown to Your servants,

and Your splendor to their children.

¹⁷May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;

establish for us the work of our hands—

yes, establish the work of our hands!

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹A few days later Jesus went back to Capernaum. And when the people heard that He was home, ²they gathered in such large numbers that there was no more room, not even outside the door, as Jesus spoke the word to them.

³Then a paralytic was brought to Him, carried by four men. ⁴Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat.

⁵When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking in their hearts, ⁷“Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

⁸At once Jesus knew in His spirit that they were thinking this way within themselves. “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?” He asked. ⁹“Which is easier: to say to a paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? ¹⁰But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...” He said to the paralytic, ¹¹“I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.”

¹²And immediately the man got up, picked up his mat, and walked out in front of them all. As a result, they were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Jesus Calls Levi

¹³Once again Jesus went out beside the sea. All the people came to Him, and He taught them there.

¹⁴As He was walking along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.

¹⁵While Jesus was dining at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Him and His disciples — for there were many who followed Him. ¹⁶When the scribes who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Questions about Fasting

¹⁸Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were often fasting. So people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t Your disciples fast like John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees?”

¹⁹Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them? As long as He is with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

The Patches and the Wineskins

²¹No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, and a worse tear will result.

²²And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.”

The Lord of the Sabbath

²³One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain as they walked along. ²⁴So the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

²⁵Jesus replied, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? ²⁶During the high priesthood of Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests. And he gave some to his companions as well.”

²⁷Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Signs of the Coming Captivity

¹Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.

³Therefore, son of man, pack your bags for exile. In broad daylight, set out from your place and go to another as they watch. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house. ⁴Bring out your baggage for exile by day, as they watch. Then in the evening, as they watch, go out like those who go into exile.

⁵As they watch, dig through the wall and carry your belongings out through it. ⁶And as they watch, lift your bags to your shoulder and take them out at dusk; cover your face so that you cannot see the land. For I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”

⁷So I did as I was commanded. I brought out my bags for exile by day, and in the evening I dug through the wall by hand. I took my belongings out at dusk, carrying them on my shoulder as they watched.

⁸And in the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ⁹“Son of man, hasn’t the rebellious house of Israel asked you, ‘What are you doing?’ ¹⁰Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are there.’

¹¹You are to say, ‘I am a sign to you.’ Just as it happened here, so will it be done to them; they will go into exile as captives. ¹²And at dusk the prince among them will lift his bags to his shoulder and go out. They will dig through the wall to bring him out. He will cover his face so he cannot see the land. ¹³But I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, and there he will die.

¹⁴And I will scatter to every wind all the attendants around him and all his troops, and I will draw a sword to chase after them. ¹⁵And they will know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the countries.

¹⁶But I will spare a few of them from sword and famine and plague, so that in the nations to which they go, they can recount all their abominations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

¹⁷Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ¹⁸“Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with quivering and anxiety. ¹⁹Then tell the people of the land that this is what the Lord GOD says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: ‘They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in dread, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who dwell in it. ²⁰The inhabited cities will be laid waste, and the land will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

The Presumptuous Proverb

²¹Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²²“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel:

‘The days go by,

and every vision fails’?

²³Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will put an end to this proverb, and in Israel they will no longer recite it.’

But say to them: ‘The days are at hand when every vision will be fulfilled. ²⁴For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations within the house of Israel, ²⁵because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass, declares the Lord GOD.’”

²⁶Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²⁷“Son of man, take note that the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many years from now; he prophesies about the distant future.’

²⁸Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘None of My words will be delayed any longer. The message I speak will be fulfilled, declares the Lord GOD.’”

Reproof of False Prophets

¹Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Tell those who prophesy out of their own imagination: Hear the word of the LORD! ³This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit yet have seen nothing. ⁴Your prophets, O Israel, are like foxes among the ruins. ⁵You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD.

⁶They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.

⁷Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken?

⁸Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. ⁹My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.

¹⁰Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built, ¹¹tell those whitewashing the wall that it will fall. Rain will come in torrents, I will send hailstones plunging down, and a windstorm will burst forth. ¹²Surely when the wall has fallen, you will not be asked, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’

¹³Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: In My wrath I will release a windstorm, and in My anger torrents of rain and hail will fall with destructive fury. ¹⁴I will tear down the wall you whitewashed and level it to the ground, so that its foundation is exposed. The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

¹⁵And after I have vented My wrath against the wall and against those who whitewashed it, I will say to you: ‘The wall is gone, and so are those who whitewashed it — ¹⁶those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw a vision of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Lord GOD.’

Reproof of False Prophetesses

¹⁷Now, O son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them ¹⁸and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils for the heads of people of every height, in order to ensnare their souls. Will you ensnare the souls of My people but preserve your own? ¹⁹You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.

²⁰Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I am against the magic charms with which you ensnare souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. So I will free the souls you have ensnared like birds. ²¹I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, so that they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

²²Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies, even though I have caused them no grief, and because you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways to save their lives, ²³therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will deliver My people from your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”