¹ Look down from heaven, Lord, and see from your holy house and your glory. Where is the multitude of your mercy and your pity, that you keep back from us, O Lord? For you are our Father, though Abraham did not know us, though Israel did not ackno­wledge us; but you are our Father, deliver us. From the beginning your name is upon us. Why have you made us wander from your way, Lord? Why have you hardened our hearts not to fear you? Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the tribes of your inheritance, that we may inherit a small part of your holy mountain. Our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary. We have become as at the beginning, when you did not know us, when your name had not been invoked upon us. If you open the heaven, trembling will take hold upon mountains from you, and they will melt as wax melts before the fire; and fire will burn up your enemies, and your name will be manifest to your enemies; before your face nations will be troubled. When you do glorious things trembling from you will seize mountains. From eternity we have not heard, nor have we seen a God save you; and your works are true, and you do mercy to those who wait on you. For mercy will meet those who act justly, and they will be mind­ful of your ways. And now, Lord, your are our Father, while we are your clay and you are our Fashioner; we are all the works of your hands; do not be very angry with us, Lord, and do not remember our sins in season. And now look upon, Lord, for we are all your people.

² Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

³ Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

⁴ Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:

⁵ Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

⁶ Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?

⁷ And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

⁸ The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

⁹ Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead.

¹⁰ For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.

¹¹ Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

¹² Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.

⁷ But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest.

⁸ For honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years.

⁹ But wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age.

¹⁰ He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated.

¹¹ Yea speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul.

¹² For the bewitching of naughtiness doth obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence doth undermine the simple mind.

¹³ He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time:

¹⁴ For his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted he to take him away from among the wicked.

¹⁵ This the people saw, and understood it not, neither laid they up this in their minds, That his grace and mercy is with his saints, and that he hath respect unto his chosen.

¹⁶ Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

¹⁷ But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

¹⁸ And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

¹⁹ But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

²⁰ For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

²¹ And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.

²² And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

⁸ For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.

⁹ And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;

¹⁰ That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

¹¹ Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

¹² But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;

¹³ So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;

¹⁴ And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

⁶ For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

⁷ If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

⁸ But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

⁹ Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

¹⁰ For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

¹¹ Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

¹² Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;

¹³ And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

²⁵ See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

²⁶ Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

²⁷ And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

¹ Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

² And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

³ Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

⁴ No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

⁵ And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

⁶ The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.

⁷ Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

⁸ Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:

⁹ Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.

¹⁰ Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

¹ And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

² And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

³ Give us day by day our daily bread.

⁴ And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

⁵ And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

⁶ For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

⁷ And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

⁸ I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

⁹ And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

¹⁰ For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

²³ And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.

²⁴ And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.

²⁵ And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.

²⁶ And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

²⁷ But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

¹⁷ These things I command you, that ye love one another.

¹⁸ If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

¹⁹ If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

²⁰ Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

²¹ But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

²² If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.

²³ He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

²⁵ But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

²⁶ But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

²⁷ And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

¹ These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.

² They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

¹ And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings {are here}!

² And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

³ And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,

⁴ Tell us, when shall these things be? and what {shall be} the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

⁵ And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any {man} deceive you:

⁶ For many shall come in my name, saying, I am {Christ}; and shall deceive many.

⁷ And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for {such things} must needs be; but the end {shall} not {be} yet.

⁸ For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these {are} the beginnings of sorrows. {sorrows: the word in the original importeth "the pains of a woman in travail"}

⁹ But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.

¹⁰ And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

¹¹ But when they shall lead {you}, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.

¹² Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against {their} parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.

¹³ And ye shall be hated of all {men} for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

¹⁴ But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

¹⁵ And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter {therein}, to take any thing out of his house:

¹⁶ And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment.

¹⁷ But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

¹⁸ And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.

¹⁹ For {in} those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

²⁰ And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.

²¹ And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here {is} Christ; or, lo, {he is} there; believe {him} not:

²² For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if {it were} possible, even the elect.

²³ But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

²⁴ But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,

²⁵ And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.

²⁶ And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

²⁷ And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

²⁸ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

²⁹ So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, {even} at the doors.

³⁰ Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

³¹ Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

³² But of that day and {that} hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

³³ Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

³⁴ {For the Son of man is} as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

³⁵ Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

³⁶ Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

³⁷ And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.