The Better Reading Plan

Changed: Next Steps for a Changed Life

Soul Detox

Holy Emotions - Biblical Responses to Every Challenge

A Jolt of Joy

Daily Devotions with Greg Laurie

Believing God Is Good No Matter What

Be Free

Financial Unity in Marriage: A 3-Day Biblical Guide

Time

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkMAT">
 <div class="chapter ch23" data-usfm="MAT.23">
 <div class="label">23</div><div class="s1">A Warning Against Hypocrisy</div><div class="p"> 1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2&#8220;The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses&#8217; seat. 3So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people&#8217;s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.</div><div class="p"> 5 &#8220;Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries # 23:5 That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called &#8216;Rabbi&#8217; by others.</div><div class="p"> 8 &#8220;But you are not to be called &#8216;Rabbi,&#8217; for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth &#8216;father,&#8217; for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.</div><div class="s1">Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees</div><div class="p"> 13 &#8220;Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people&#8217;s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [14]#23:14 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.</div><div class="p"> 15 &#8220;Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.</div><div class="p"> 16 &#8220;Woe to you, blind guides! You say, &#8216;If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.&#8217; 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18You also say, &#8216;If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.&#8217; 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God&#8217;s throne and by the one who sits on it.</div><div class="p"> 23 &#8220;Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices&#8212;mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law&#8212;justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.</div><div class="p"> 25 &#8220;Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.</div><div class="p"> 27 &#8220;Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.</div><div class="p"> 29 &#8220;Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30And you say, &#8216;If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.&#8217; 31So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!</div><div class="p"> 33 &#8220;You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.</div><div class="p"> 37 &#8220;Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, &#8216;Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.&#8217;#23:39 Psalm 118:26&#8221;</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkMAT">
 <div class="chapter ch24" data-usfm="MAT.24">
 <div class="label">24</div><div class="s1">The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times</div><div class="p"> 1Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2&#8220;Do you see all these things?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. &#8220;Tell us,&#8221; they said, &#8220;when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Jesus answered: &#8220;Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, &#8216;I am the Messiah,&#8217; and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.</div><div class="p"> 9 &#8220;Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.</div><div class="p"> 15 &#8220;So when you see standing in the holy place &#8216;the abomination that causes desolation,&#8217; # 24:15 
 Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 spoken of through the prophet Daniel&#8212;let the reader understand&#8212; 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now&#8212;and never to be equaled again.</div><div class="p"> 22 &#8220;If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23At that time if anyone says to you, &#8216;Look, here is the Messiah!&#8217; or, &#8216;There he is!&#8217; do not believe it. 24For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25See, I have told you ahead of time.</div><div class="p"> 26 &#8220;So if anyone tells you, &#8216;There he is, out in the wilderness,&#8217; do not go out; or, &#8216;Here he is, in the inner rooms,&#8217; do not believe it. 27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.</div><div class="p"> 29 &#8220;Immediately after the distress of those days</div><div class="q1"> &#8220;&#8198;&#8216;the sun will be darkened,</div><div class="q2"> and the moon will not give its light;</div><div class="q1"> the stars will fall from the sky,</div><div class="q2"> and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.&#8217; # 24:29 
 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4 </div><div class="p"> 30 &#8220;Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth # 24:30 Or the tribes of the land will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.#24:30 See Daniel 7:13-14. 31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.</div><div class="p"> 32 &#8220;Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it#24:33 Or he is near, right at the door. 34Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.</div><div class="s1">The Day and Hour Unknown</div><div class="p"> 36 &#8220;But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, # 24:36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son. but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.</div><div class="p"> 42 &#8220;Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.</div><div class="p"> 45 &#8220;Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, &#8216;My master is staying away a long time,&#8217; 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGAL">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="GAL.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">Faith or Works of the Law</div><div class="p"> 1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?#3:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit. 4Have you experienced#3:4 Or suffered so much in vain&#8212;if it really was in vain? 5So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6So also Abraham &#8220;believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.&#8221;#3:6 Gen. 15:6</div><div class="p"> 7Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: &#8220;All nations will be blessed through you.&#8221;#3:8 Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18 9So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.</div><div class="p"> 10For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: &#8220;Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.&#8221;#3:10 Deut. 27:26 11Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because &#8220;the righteous will live by faith.&#8221;#3:11 Hab. 2:4 12The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, &#8220;The person who does these things will live by them.&#8221;#3:12 Lev. 18:5 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: &#8220;Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.&#8221;#3:13 Deut. 21:23 14He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.</div><div class="s1">The Law and the Promise</div><div class="p"> 15Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say &#8220;and to seeds,&#8221; meaning many people, but &#8220;and to your seed,&#8221;#3:16 Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 24:7 meaning one person, who is Christ. 17What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.</div><div class="p"> 19Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. 20A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.</div><div class="p"> 21Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.</div><div class="s1">Children of God</div><div class="p"> 23Before the coming of this faith,#3:22,23 Or through the faithfulness of Jesus&#8230; 23 Before faith came we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.</div><div class="p"> 26So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham&#8217;s seed, and heirs according to the promise.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGAL">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="GAL.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="p"> 1What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces#4:3 Or under the basic principles of the world. 4But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.#4:5 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a legal term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture. 6Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, &#8220;Abba,#4:6 Aramaic for Father Father.&#8221; 7So you are no longer a slave, but God&#8217;s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.</div><div class="s1">Paul&#8217;s Concern for the Galatians</div><div class="p"> 8Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9But now that you know God&#8212;or rather are known by God&#8212;how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces#4:9 Or principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.</div><div class="p"> 12I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong. 13As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, 14and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. 15Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?</div><div class="p"> 17Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. 18It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you. 19My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, 20how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!</div><div class="s1">Hagar and Sarah</div><div class="p"> 21Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? 22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.</div><div class="p"> 24These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27For it is written:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Be glad, barren woman,</div><div class="q2">you who never bore a child;</div><div class="q1">shout for joy and cry aloud,</div><div class="q2">you who were never in labor;</div><div class="q1">because more are the children of the desolate woman</div><div class="q2">than of her who has a husband.&#8221;#4:27 Isaiah 54:1</div><div class="p"> 28Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. 30But what does Scripture say? &#8220;Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman&#8217;s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman&#8217;s son.&#8221;#4:30 Gen. 21:10 31Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

60 To StartSample

Scripture

About this Plan

Related Plans