1
King David was settled in his palace, and the LORD kept him safe from all his enemies.
2
Then the king said to the prophet Nathan, "Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but God's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!"
3
Nathan answered, "Do whatever you have in mind, because the LORD is with you."
4
But that night the LORD said to Nathan,
5
"Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, 'You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in.
6
From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now, I have never lived in a temple; I have traveled around living in a tent.
7
In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.'
8
"So tell my servant David that I, the LORD Almighty, say to him, 'I took you from looking after sheep in the fields and made you the ruler of my people Israel.
9
I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have defeated all your enemies as you advanced. I will make you as famous as the greatest leaders in the world.
10
I have chosen a place for my people Israel and have settled them there, where they will live without being oppressed any more. Ever since they entered this land, they have been attacked by violent people, but this will not happen again. I promise to keep you safe from all your enemies and to give you descendants.
12
When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong.
13
He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues forever.
14
I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him as a father punishes his son.
15
But I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king.
16
You will always have descendants, and I will make your kingdom last forever. Your dynasty will never end.' "
17
Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him.
18
Then King David went into the Tent of the LORD's presence, sat down and prayed, "Sovereign LORD, I am not worthy of what you have already done for me, nor is my family.
19
Yet now you are doing even more, Sovereign LORD; you have made promises about my descendants in the years to come. And you let a man see this, Sovereign LORD!
20
What more can I say to you! You know me, your servant.
21
It was your will and purpose to do this; you have done all these great things in order to instruct me.
22
How great you are, Sovereign LORD! There is none like you; we have always known that you alone are God.
23
There is no other nation on earth like Israel, whom you rescued from slavery to make them your own people. The great and wonderful things you did for them have spread your fame throughout the world. You drove out other nations and their gods as your people advanced, the people whom you set free from Egypt to be your own.
24
You have made Israel your own people forever, and you, LORD, have become their God.
25
"And now, LORD God, fulfill for all time the promise you made about me and my descendants, and do what you said you would.
26
Your fame will be great, and people will forever say, 'The LORD Almighty is God over Israel.' And you will preserve my dynasty for all time.
27
LORD Almighty, God of Israel! I have the courage to pray this prayer to you, because you have revealed all this to me, your servant, and have told me that you will make my descendants kings.
28
"And now, Sovereign LORD, you are God; you always keep your promises, and you have made this wonderful promise to me.
29
I ask you to bless my descendants so that they will continue to enjoy your favor. You, Sovereign LORD, have promised this, and your blessing will rest on my descendants forever."
1
King David was now living in his palace. One day he sent for the prophet Nathan and said to him, "Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but the LORD's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!"
2
Nathan answered, "Do whatever you have in mind, because God is with you."
3
But that night God said to Nathan,
4
"Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, 'You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in.
5
From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now I have never lived in a temple; I have always lived in tents and moved from place to place.
6
In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.'
7
"So tell my servant David that I, the LORD Almighty, say to him, 'I took you from looking after sheep in the fields and made you the ruler of my people Israel.
8
I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have defeated all your enemies as you advanced. I will make you as famous as the greatest leaders in the world.
9
I have chosen a place for my people Israel and have settled them there, where they will live without being oppressed any more. Ever since they entered this land they have been attacked by violent people, but this will not happen again. I promise to defeat all your enemies and to give you descendants.
11
When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong.
12
He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues forever.
13
I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king.
14
I will put him in charge of my people and my kingdom forever. His dynasty will never end.' "
15
Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him.
16
Then King David went into the Tent of the LORD's presence, sat down, and prayed, "I am not worthy of what you have already done for me, LORD God, nor is my family.
17
Yet now you are doing even more; you have made promises about my descendants in the years to come, and you, LORD God, are already treating me like someone great.
18
What more can I say to you! You know me well, and yet you honor me, your servant.
19
It was your will and purpose to do this for me and to show me my future greatness.
20
LORD, there is none like you; we have always known that you alone are God.
21
There is no other nation on earth like Israel, whom you rescued from slavery to make them your own people. The great and wonderful things you did for them spread your fame throughout the world. You rescued your people from Egypt and drove out other nations as your people advanced.
22
You have made Israel your own people forever, and you, LORD, have become their God.
23
"And now, O LORD, fulfill for all time the promise you made about me and my descendants, and do what you said you would.
24
Your fame will be great, and people will forever say, 'The LORD Almighty is God over Israel.' And you will preserve my dynasty for all time.
25
I have the courage to pray this prayer to you, my God, because you have revealed all this to me, your servant, and have told me that you will make my descendants kings.
26
You, LORD, are God, and you have made this wonderful promise to me.
27
I ask you to bless my descendants so that they will continue to enjoy your favor. You, LORD, have blessed them, and your blessing will rest on them forever."
1
Why do the nations plan rebellion? Why do people make their useless plots?
2
Their kings revolt, their rulers plot together against the LORD and against the king he chose.
3
"Let us free ourselves from their rule," they say; "let us throw off their control."
4
From his throne in heaven the Lord laughs and mocks their feeble plans.
5
Then he warns them in anger and terrifies them with his fury.
6
"On Zion, my sacred hill," he says, "I have installed my king."
7
"I will announce," says the king, "what the LORD has declared. He said to me: 'You are my son; today I have become your father.
8
Ask, and I will give you all the nations; the whole earth will be yours.
9
You will break them with an iron rod; you will shatter them in pieces like a clay pot.' "
10
Now listen to this warning, you kings; learn this lesson, you rulers of the world:
11
Serve the LORD with fear; tremble
12
and bow down to him; or else his anger will be quickly aroused, and you will suddenly die. Happy are all who go to him for protection.
1
"The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a man who went out early in the morning to hire some men to work in his vineyard.
2
He agreed to pay them the regular wage, a silver coin a day, and sent them to work in his vineyard.
3
He went out again to the marketplace at nine o'clock and saw some men standing there doing nothing,
4
so he told them, 'You also go and work in the vineyard, and I will pay you a fair wage.'
5
So they went. Then at twelve o'clock and again at three o'clock he did the same thing.
6
It was nearly five o'clock when he went to the marketplace and saw some other men still standing there. 'Why are you wasting the whole day here doing nothing?' he asked them.
7
'No one hired us,' they answered. 'Well, then, you go and work in the vineyard,' he told them.
8
"When evening came, the owner told his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with those who were hired last and ending with those who were hired first.'
9
The men who had begun to work at five o'clock were paid a silver coin each.
10
So when the men who were the first to be hired came to be paid, they thought they would get more; but they too were given a silver coin each.
11
They took their money and started grumbling against the employer.
12
'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'while we put up with a whole day's work in the hot sun---yet you paid them the same as you paid us!'
13
'Listen, friend,' the owner answered one of them, 'I have not cheated you. After all, you agreed to do a day's work for one silver coin.
14
Now take your pay and go home. I want to give this man who was hired last as much as I gave you.
15
Don't I have the right to do as I wish with my own money? Or are you jealous because I am generous?' "
16
And Jesus concluded, "So those who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last."
17
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and spoke to them privately, as they walked along.
18
"Listen," he told them, "we are going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. They will condemn him to death
19
and then hand him over to the Gentiles, who will make fun of him, whip him, and crucify him; but three days later he will be raised to life."
20
Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus with her two sons, bowed before him, and asked him for a favor.
21
"What do you want?" Jesus asked her. She answered, "Promise me that these two sons of mine will sit at your right and your left when you are King."
22
"You don't know what you are asking for," Jesus answered the sons. "Can you drink the cup of suffering that I am about to drink?" "We can," they answered.
23
"You will indeed drink from my cup," Jesus told them, "but I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left. These places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them."
24
When the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with the two brothers.
25
So Jesus called them all together and said, "You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority.
26
This, however, is not the way it shall be among you. If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest;
27
and if one of you wants to be first, you must be the slave of the others---
28
like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people."
29
As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd was following.
30
Two blind men who were sitting by the road heard that Jesus was passing by, so they began to shout, "Son of David! Have mercy on us, sir!"
31
The crowd scolded them and told them to be quiet. But they shouted even more loudly, "Son of David! Have mercy on us, sir!"
32
Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked them.
33
"Sir," they answered, "we want you to give us our sight!"
34
Jesus had pity on them and touched their eyes; at once they were able to see, and they followed him.
