One Year Pray for America Bible - Flipbook - Page 71
61
January 16
‘Look, I am sending my messenger
ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way
before you.’*
11 “I tell you the truth, of all who
have ever lived, none is greater than
John the Baptist. Yet even the least
person in the Kingdom of Heaven
is greater than he is! 12 And from the
time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven
has been forcefully advancing,* and
violent people are attacking it. 13 For
before John came, all the prophets
and the law of Moses looked forward
to this p
resent time. 14 And if you are
willing to accept what I say, he is Eli
jah, the one the prophets said would
come.* 15 Anyone with ears to hear
should listen and understand!
16 “To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a
game in the public square. They complain to their friends,
17
‘We played wedding songs,
and you didn’t dance,
so we played funeral songs,
and you didn’t mourn.’
18 For
John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s
possessed by a demon.’ 19 The Son of
Man,* on the other hand, feasts and
drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton
and a drunkard, and a friend of tax
collectors and other sinners!’ But
wisdom is shown to be right by its
results.”
20 Then Jesus began to denounce the
towns where he had done so many of
his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God.
21 “What sorrow awaits you, Ko
razin
and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I
did in you had been done in wicked
Tyre and Sidon, their people would
have repented of their sins long ago,
clothing themselves in burlap and
throwing ashes on their heads to show
their remorse. 22 I tell you, Tyre and Si
don will be better off on judgment day
than you.
23 “And you people of Ca
pernaum,
will you be honored in heaven? No,
you will go down to the place of the
dead.* For if the miracles I did for you
had been done in wicked Sodom, it
would still be here today. 24 I tell you,
even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you.”
25 At that time J
esus prayed this
prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, thank you for hiding these
things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. 26 Yes,
Father, it pleased you to do it this way!
27 “My Father has entrusted every
thing to me. No one truly knows the
Son except the Father, and no one
truly knows the Father except the Son
and those to whom the Son chooses to
reveal him.”
28 Then J
esus said, “Come to me,
all of you who are weary and carry
heavy burdens, and I will give you
rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me
teach you, because I am humble and
gentle at heart, and you will find rest
for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy
to bear, and the burden I give you is
light.”
11:10 Mal 3:1. 11:12 Or the Kingdom of Heaven has
suffered from violence.
11:14 See Mal 4:5. 11:19 “Son
of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself. 11:23 Greek
to Hades.
PSALM 14:17
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1
Only fools say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their actions
are evil;
not one of them does good!
2
The Lord looks down from heaven
on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly
wise,
if anyone seeks God.
But no, all have turned away;
all have become corrupt.*
No one does good,
not a single one!
3
4
Will those who do evil never learn?
They eat up my people like
bread
