9    A widow who is put on the list for support must be a woman who is at least sixty years old and was faithful to her husband. 

10  She must be well respected by everyone because of the good she has done. Has she brought up her children well? Has she been kind to strangers and served other believers humbly? Has she helped those who are in trouble? Has she always been ready to do good?

11  The younger widows should not be on the list, because their physical desires will overpower their devotion to Christ and they will want to remarry. 

12  Then they would be guilty of breaking their previous pledge. 

13  And if they are on the list, they will learn to be lazy and will spend their time gossiping from house to house, meddling in other people’s business and talking about things they shouldn’t. 

14  So I advise these younger widows to marry again, have children, and take care of their own homes. Then the enemy will not be able to say anything against them. 

15  For I am afraid that some of them have already gone astray and now follow Satan.

16  If a woman who is a believer has relatives who are widows, she must take care of them and not put the responsibility on the church. Then the church can care for the widows who are truly alone.

1    Praise the Lord! Yes, give praise, O servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord!

2    Blessed be the name of the Lord now and forever.

3    Everywhere—from east to west—praise the name of the Lord.

4    For the Lord is high above the nations; his glory is higher than the heavens.

5    Who can be compared with the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high?

6    He stoops to look down on heaven and on earth.

7    He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump.

8    He sets them among princes, even the princes of his own people!

9    He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother. Praise the Lord!

46  Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. 

47  When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

48  “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

49  When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”

So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” 50  Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

51  “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”

52  And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

10  I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless. 

11  When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. 

12  But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off. 

13  The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.

14  And this is not all that is meaningless in our world. In this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good. This is so meaningless!

15  So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.

16  In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burdens here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night. 

17  I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim.

1    During the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, saw another vision, following the one that had already appeared to me. 

2    In this vision I was at the fortress of Susa, in the province of Elam, standing beside the Ulai River.

3    As I looked up, I saw a ram with two long horns standing beside the river. One of the horns was longer than the other, even though it had grown later than the other one. 

4    The ram butted everything out of his way to the west, to the north, and to the south, and no one could stand against him or help his victims. He did as he pleased and became very great.

5    While I was watching, suddenly a male goat appeared from the west, crossing the land so swiftly that he didn’t even touch the ground. This goat, which had one very large horn between its eyes, 

6    headed toward the two-horned ram that I had seen standing beside the river, rushing at him in a rage. 

7    The goat charged furiously at the ram and struck him, breaking off both his horns. Now the ram was helpless, and the goat knocked him down and trampled him. No one could rescue the ram from the goat’s power.

8    The goat became very powerful. But at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off. In the large horn’s place grew four prominent horns pointing in the four directions of the earth. 

9    Then from one of the prominent horns came a small horn whose power grew very great. It extended toward the south and the east and toward the glorious land of Israel. 

10  Its power reached to the heavens, where it attacked the heavenly army, throwing some of the heavenly beings and some of the stars to the ground and trampling them. 

11  It even challenged the Commander of heaven’s army by canceling the daily sacrifices offered to him and by destroying his Temple. 

12  The army of heaven was restrained from responding to this rebellion. So the daily sacrifice was halted, and truth was overthrown. The horn succeeded in everything it did.

13  Then I heard two holy ones talking to each other. One of them asked, “How long will the events of this vision last? How long will the rebellion that causes desecration stop the daily sacrifices? How long will the Temple and heaven’s army be trampled on?”

14  The other replied, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the Temple will be made right again.”

32  Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. 

33  Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. 

34  You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

35  So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 

36  Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

37  “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.

38  And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”

39  But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

1    O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me.

2    So many are saying, “God will never rescue him!”

3    But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.

4    I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain.

5    I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me.

6    I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side.

7    Arise, O Lord! Rescue me, my God! Slap all my enemies in the face! Shatter the teeth of the wicked!

8    Victory comes from you, O Lord. May you bless your people.

1    As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 

2    “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 

3    If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it soon.’”

4    The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside the front door. 

5    As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 

6    They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it. 

7    Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it.

8    Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields. 

9    Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

10  Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David! Praise God in highest heaven!”

11  So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples.