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

The Wedding at Cana

The Power of Love: Finding Rest in the Father’s Love

How God Used Prophets in the Bible

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 ch11" data-usfm="MAT.11">
 <div class="label">11</div><div class="s1">Jesus and John the Baptist</div><div class="p"> 1After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.#11:1 Greek in their towns</div><div class="p"> 2When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3to ask him, &#8220;Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Jesus replied, &#8220;Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy#11:5 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin. are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7As John&#8217;s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: &#8220;What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings&#8217; palaces. 9Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written:</div><div class="q1"> &#8220;&#8198;&#8216;I will send my messenger ahead of you,</div><div class="q2"> who will prepare your way before you.&#8217; # 11:10 
 Mal. 3:1
 </div><div class="m"> 11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence,#11:12 Or been forcefully advancing and violent people have been raiding it. 13For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15Whoever has ears, let them hear.</div><div class="p"> 16 &#8220;To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:</div><div class="q1"> 17 &#8220;&#8198;&#8216;We played the pipe for you,</div><div class="q2"> and you did not dance;</div><div class="q1"> we sang a dirge,</div><div class="q2"> and you did not mourn.&#8217;</div><div class="m"> 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, &#8216;He has a demon.&#8217; 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, &#8216;Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.&#8217; But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Woe on Unrepentant Towns</div><div class="p"> 20Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21&#8220;Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.#11:23 That is, the realm of the dead For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">The Father Revealed in the Son</div><div class="p"> 25At that time Jesus said, &#8220;I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.</div><div class="p"> 27 &#8220;All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.</div><div class="p"> 28 &#8220;Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkMAT">
 <div class="chapter ch12" data-usfm="MAT.12">
 <div class="label">12</div><div class="s1">Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath</div><div class="p"> 1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, &#8220;Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3He answered, &#8220;Haven&#8217;t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread&#8212;which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5Or haven&#8217;t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7If you had known what these words mean, &#8216;I desire mercy, not sacrifice,&#8217;#12:7 Hosea 6:6 you would not have condemned the innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, &#8220;Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11He said to them, &#8220;If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Then he said to the man, &#8220;Stretch out your hand.&#8221; So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.</div><div class="s1">God&#8217;s Chosen Servant</div><div class="p"> 15Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. 16He warned them not to tell others about him. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:</div><div class="q1"> 18&#8220;Here is my servant whom I have chosen,</div><div class="q2">the one I love, in whom I delight;</div><div class="q1">I will put my Spirit on him,</div><div class="q2">and he will proclaim justice to the nations.</div><div class="q1"> 19He will not quarrel or cry out;</div><div class="q2">no one will hear his voice in the streets.</div><div class="q1"> 20A bruised reed he will not break,</div><div class="q2">and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,</div><div class="q1">till he has brought justice through to victory.</div><div class="q2"> 21In his name the nations will put their hope.&#8221;#12:21 Isaiah 42:1-4</div><div class="s1">Jesus and Beelzebul</div><div class="p"> 22Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23All the people were astonished and said, &#8220;Could this be the Son of David?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, &#8220;It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 25Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, &#8220;Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.</div><div class="p"> 29 &#8220;Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man&#8217;s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.</div><div class="p"> 30 &#8220;Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.</div><div class="p"> 33 &#8220;Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">The Sign of Jonah</div><div class="p"> 38Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, &#8220;Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 39He answered, &#8220;A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. 42The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon&#8217;s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.</div><div class="p"> 43 &#8220;When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, &#8216;I will return to the house I left.&#8217; When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Jesus&#8217; Mother and Brothers</div><div class="p"> 46While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47Someone told him, &#8220;Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 48He replied to him, &#8220;Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?&#8221; 49Pointing to his disciples, he said, &#8220;Here are my mother and my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1JN">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="1JN.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">The Incarnation of the Word of Life</div><div class="p"> 1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched&#8212;this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our#1:4 Some manuscripts your joy complete.</div><div class="s1">Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness</div><div class="p"> 5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all#1:7 Or every sin.</div><div class="p"> 8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1JN">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="1JN.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="p"> 1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father&#8212;Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.</div><div class="s1">Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers</div><div class="p"> 3We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4Whoever says, &#8220;I know him,&#8221; but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5But if anyone obeys his word, love for God#2:5 Or word, God&#8217;s love is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.</div><div class="p"> 7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.</div><div class="p"> 9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister#2:9 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God&#8217;s family; also in verse 11; and in 3:15, 17; 4:20; 5:16. is still in the darkness. 10Anyone who loves their brother and sister#2:10 The Greek word for brother and sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God&#8217;s family; also in 3:10; 4:20, 21. lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.</div><div class="s1">Reasons for Writing</div><div class="q1"> 12I am writing to you, dear children,</div><div class="q2">because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.</div><div class="q1"> 13I am writing to you, fathers,</div><div class="q2">because you know him who is from the beginning.</div><div class="q1">I am writing to you, young men,</div><div class="q2">because you have overcome the evil one.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 14I write to you, dear children,</div><div class="q2">because you know the Father.</div><div class="q1">I write to you, fathers,</div><div class="q2">because you know him who is from the beginning.</div><div class="q1">I write to you, young men,</div><div class="q2">because you are strong,</div><div class="q2">and the word of God lives in you,</div><div class="q2">and you have overcome the evil one.</div><div class="s1">On Not Loving the World</div><div class="p"> 15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father#2:15 Or world, the Father&#8217;s love is not in them. 16For everything in the world&#8212;the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life&#8212;comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.</div><div class="s1">Warnings Against Denying the Son</div><div class="p"> 18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.</div><div class="p"> 20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.#2:20 Some manuscripts and you know all things 21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist&#8212;denying the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.</div><div class="p"> 24As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he promised us&#8212;eternal life.</div><div class="p"> 26I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit&#8212;just as it has taught you, remain in him.</div><div class="s1">God&#8217;s Children and Sin</div><div class="p"> 28And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.</div><div class="p"> 29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1JN">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="1JN.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="p"> 1See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,#3:2 Or when it is made known we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.</div><div class="p"> 4Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.</div><div class="p"> 7Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil&#8217;s work. 9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God&#8217;s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God&#8217;s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.</div><div class="s1">More on Love and Hatred</div><div class="p"> 11For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother&#8217;s were righteous. 13Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,#3:13 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God&#8217;s family; also in verse 16. if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.</div><div class="p"> 16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.</div><div class="p"> 19This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24The one who keeps God&#8217;s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.</div>
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