Midday Devotion

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
² Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
⁴ Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵ which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
⁸ the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
¹² Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
¹³ Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (ESV)

¹ Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!
² For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
³ Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!
⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
⁵ Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (ESV)

Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
¹ I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
² My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.
³ Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
⁴ I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
⁶ This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
⁸ Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
⁹ Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!
¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
¹¹ Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
¹² What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?
¹³ Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴ Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.
¹⁶ The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
¹⁷ When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸ The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
²⁰ He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
²¹ Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
²² The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Of David.
¹ Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!
² Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help!
³ Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers! Say to my soul, “I am your salvation!”
⁴ Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life! Let them be turned back and disappointed who devise evil against me!
⁵ Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them away!
⁶ Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them!
⁷ For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life.
⁸ Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it! And let the net that he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it—to his destruction!
⁹ Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD, exulting in his salvation.
¹⁰ All my bones shall say, “O LORD, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?”
¹¹ Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know.
¹² They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft.
¹³ But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest.
¹⁴ I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.
¹⁵ But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing;
¹⁶ like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth.
¹⁷ How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions!
¹⁸ I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.
¹⁹ Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause.
²⁰ For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit.
²¹ They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha! Our eyes have seen it!”
²² You have seen, O LORD; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me!
²³ Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord!
²⁴ Vindicate me, O LORD, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me!
²⁵ Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, our heart’s desire!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
²⁶ Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me!
²⁷ Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the LORD, who delights in the welfare of his servant!”
²⁸ Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.

To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the LORD.
¹ Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.
² For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
³ The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
⁴ He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.
⁵ Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
⁶ Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD.
⁷ How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
⁸ They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
⁹ For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.
¹⁰ Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
¹¹ Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
¹² There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise. (ESV)

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (ESV)

¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
² “How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
³ Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
⁴ If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
⁵ If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy,
⁶ if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation.
⁷ And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great.
⁸ “For inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out.
⁹ For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow.
¹⁰ Will they not teach you and tell you and utter words out of their understanding?
¹¹ “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
¹² While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant.
¹³ Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish.
¹⁴ His confidence is severed, and his trust is a spider’s web.
¹⁵ He leans against his house, but it does not stand; he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.
¹⁶ He is a lush plant before the sun, and his shoots spread over his garden.
¹⁷ His roots entwine the stone heap; he looks upon a house of stones.
¹⁸ If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’
¹⁹ Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the soil others will spring.
²⁰ “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor take the hand of evildoers.
²¹ He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting.
²² Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.” (ESV)

²⁷ Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”
²⁸ So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,
²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”
³⁰ They went out of the town and were coming to him.
³¹ Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”
³³ So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”
³⁴ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
³⁶ Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.
³⁷ For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’
³⁸ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
³⁹ Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”
⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.
⁴¹ And many more believed because of his word.
⁴² They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
⁴³ After the two days he departed for Galilee.
⁴⁴ (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.)
⁴⁵ So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. (ESV)

¹ The LORD said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely.
² Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.”
³ And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.
⁴ So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt,
⁵ and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.
⁶ There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.
⁷ But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’
⁸ And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.
⁹ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

¹ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
² “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.
³ Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.
⁴ And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.
⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,
⁶ and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
⁷ “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
⁸ They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.
⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.
¹⁰ And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.
¹¹ In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover.
¹² For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.
¹³ The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
¹⁴ “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.
¹⁵ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
¹⁶ On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you.
¹⁷ And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever.
¹⁸ In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
¹⁹ For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land.
²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”
²¹ Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb.
²² Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
²³ For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
²⁴ You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever.
²⁵ And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service.
²⁶ And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’
²⁷ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
²⁸ Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
²⁹ At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.
³⁰ And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead.
³¹ Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said.
³² Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”
³³ The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.”
³⁴ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders.
³⁵ The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.
³⁶ And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
³⁷ And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.
³⁸ A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.
³⁹ And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
⁴⁰ The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years.
⁴¹ At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
⁴² It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the LORD by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.
⁴³ And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it,
⁴⁴ but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him.
⁴⁵ No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it.
⁴⁶ It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.
⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
⁴⁸ If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.
⁴⁹ There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”
⁵⁰ All the people of Israel did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron.
⁵¹ And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts. (ESV)

¹¹ Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.”
¹² But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer.
¹³ Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?”
¹⁴ But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
¹⁵ Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted.
¹⁶ And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.
¹⁷ So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
¹⁸ For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.
¹⁹ Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.”
²⁰ Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.
²¹ The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.”
²² Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!”
²³ And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”
²⁴ So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”
²⁵ And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
²⁶ Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.
²⁷ Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him.
²⁸ And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
²⁹ and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
³⁰ And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.
³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.
³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull),
³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.
³⁵ And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.
³⁶ Then they sat down and kept watch over him there.
³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
³⁸ Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.
³⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads
⁴⁰ and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
⁴¹ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying,
⁴² “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.
⁴³ He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
⁴⁴ And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
² You have given him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
³ For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
⁴ He asked life of you; you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever.
⁵ His glory is great through your salvation; splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
⁶ For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
⁷ For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved. (ESV)

¹ I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything,
² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.
³ In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.
⁴ But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
⁸ Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
⁹ But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
¹⁰ You observe days and months and seasons and years!
¹¹ I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.
¹² Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong.
¹³ You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first,
¹⁴ and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.
¹⁵ What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.
¹⁶ Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?
¹⁷ They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.
¹⁸ It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you,
¹⁹ my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!
²⁰ I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.
²¹ Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?
²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.
²³ But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.
²⁴ Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.
²⁵ Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
²⁶ But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
²⁷ For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”
²⁸ Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
²⁹ But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.
³⁰ But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.”
³¹ So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

¹ For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
² Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.
³ I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.
⁴ You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.
⁵ For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
⁷ You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
⁸ This persuasion is not from him who calls you.
⁹ A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
¹⁰ I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.
¹¹ But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.
¹² I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
¹⁴ For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
¹⁷ For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

¹ Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
² Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
³ For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
⁴ But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.
⁵ For each will have to bear his own load.
⁶ Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.
⁷ Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
⁸ For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
⁹ And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
¹⁰ So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
¹¹ See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.
¹² It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.
¹³ For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
¹⁴ But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
¹⁵ For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
¹⁶ And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
¹⁷ From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
¹⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

¹ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
² As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way,
³ the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”
⁴ John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
⁵ And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
⁶ Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
⁷ And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
⁸ I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
¹⁰ And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
¹² The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
¹³ And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,
¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
¹⁶ Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
¹⁸ And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
¹⁹ And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.
²⁰ And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
²¹ And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.
²² And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.
²³ And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,
²⁴ “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”
²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”
²⁶ And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.
²⁷ And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
²⁸ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
²⁹ And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
³⁰ Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.
³¹ And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
³² That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.
³³ And the whole city was gathered together at the door.
³⁴ And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
³⁵ And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
³⁶ And Simon and those who were with him searched for him,
³⁷ and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”
³⁸ And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”
³⁹ And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
⁴⁰ And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.”
⁴¹ Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”
⁴² And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
⁴³ And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once,
⁴⁴ and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”
⁴⁵ But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter. (ESV)